A few years ago we used to buy chicken chasni from the delicatessen at asda, but it wasn't around for long - maybe a limited edition or possibly because it wasn't selling, but we loved it! I have looked on the site for such a recipe but I can't see one. Is this a traditional Indian dish?

Think it is actually Scottish! - from the BBC website:

But there is a another curry threatening to take its crown in Glasgow.

It is called Chicken Chasni and in Sanjay Majhu's chain of Indian restaurants it easily outsells Chicken Tikka Masala 10 to one.

So just what is in a Chasni?

Sanjay said: "It doesn't taste like a curry. In fact it tastes like anything but a curry.

"In fact, it is more like a sweet and sour chicken, that the Chinese have.

"But it is an absolutely beautiful dish because it has Indian spices running through this sort of sweet and sourness.

"I'm just surprised it has become a number one."

Full Recipe for Chicken Chasni

Fry chopped onion, add teaspoon of turmeric and chilli powder

Add chicken - Stir until brown

Add mango chutney and tomato ketchup, equal quantities (about 200g), plus teaspoon fresh mint and teaspoon lemon juice

Simmer until chicken cooked, about 15 - 20 minutes

Add cream to taste

Word on the street has it, a former chef, now a restaurant owner, named Balbir created the Chasni.

I hit the streets of Glasgow to track him down.

And let's just say he was pretty easy to find.

After more than 30 years he is still in the curry trade running a restaurant called Balbir's.

He said the Chasni came from catering for people who did not think they liked Indian food.

"The Chasni that is popular in Glasgow is my recipe. I created it in 1982," he said.

"I tend to experiment a lot in the kitchen. There were people who said, 'I can't eat Indian but I like Chinese', and that's how the Chasni came about.

"I tried a few different versions but the one that became the most popular wasn't the one I liked, it was too mild for me."

Truly Scottish

Having tried the sweet and sour Chasni myself, I wondered just why Balbir's brand of unique Indian cooking is so popular with Scottish diners.

Paul, who's been a customer for years, explained its success.

He said: "Balbir is not a follower. He tends to blaze his own trail and others follow him. If you are here you should come and try one. Because afterwards, you'll try another and another and will never leave."

I think this dish derives from chasnidhar (not sure of spelling) which is really a sweet syrup. The recipe given above is obviously not Indian, and in name only.

I have a book which was first printed before 1970 that mentions the chasnidhar. People of Scotland seem to like this dish, but by looking at the other stuff they consume (or don't consume) they could hardly be called descriminating when it comes to food!

From what I remember of this dish it was aromatic, sweet, and creamy. I guess there are many variations of this like so many other curries.

one of the big problems with Indian food, because most of it was handed down verbally, there are few (if any) cookery books, one of the earliest being written by a Brit!

Of course, 'Indian restaurants' are a law unto themselves, I've even seen fireworks served in a biryani!! The 'cooks' get away with anything.

Of real Indian food, as on this site, variations abound because of region, and probably because many of the dishes are homestyle, and open to 'interpretation', shall we say. It takes a while to realise that the dishes of India are from many sources, from Royal kitchens, festivals, celebrations, even funerals. And don't forget street food, as well as regional/cultural differences.

If you like something in a restaurant, you probably won't find any 'specials' outside of it, so either ask (you may well be told it has 'special spices and herbs'), or you may never find it again!!.

Indian food is like any other food, constantly evolving, new dishes being developed by enterprising chefs. The dishes you see served at an English restaurants and shown on cookery programmes these days were not even heard of when I cam to England 40 years ago. They are all new, mixed and matched with many other European, Middle eastern and other dishes. New ones are being developed all the time. It is the same with Indian food. I am sure Chicken Chashni comes into this group. Someone must have decided to add some sugar to a chicken dish and the punters liked it.

In Gujarat, sugar is added to many dishes anyway, but I had not seen it in meats/chicken curries before, but why not. Purists will say that it should be pronounced as Chicken Chashni, not Chasni.

By the way, I developed an entirely new dish 2 days ago, at least it is new to me, unaided by any recipes anywhere. See what you think; Baby Green Cabbage Cups Topped With Eggs.

Hello Mamta

Thank you for your efforts in teaching us novices.

Your baby cabbage recipe looks great. Sadly my partner although french, hates cheese (top of the list stilton), so another time.

I have a question, please. Can I use any substitute for fresh curry leaves?

Also, in answer to Lapis, there are very few problems with Indian food, but lack of books may be one. Meanwhile, I have learnt many things on this site, long may it live.

Hello Eve

You don't have to use cheese, you can use other flavours and leave the egg on top with salt and pepper only.

There isn't really a substitute to curry leaves. You can buy dry curry leaves to keep in your kitchen cupboard. For a supplier, follow the link at the end of each of my recipes. They have reasonable flavour.

Mamta

I understand Mamta's view about culinary evolution, and I have embraced it over my lifetime. However, when developing new dishes, I have found that there are simple rules that apply to cooking dishes which could be described as curries, and many other curry-like dishes (chilli con carne, tajines, etc.).

However, when 'older' Indian recipes are followed, and maybe altered to accommodate Western tastes, there seems to be a synergy from the ingredients and methods of cooking that may be lacking in a more modern approach. For example, I have tried over the years to develop a rogan josh worthy of the region (J&K), and have found ways of getting close, to the point that the one I sampled in Bangalore, cooked by the executive chef of a big hotel, himself a Pandit, was a benchmark, and very similar to my efforts.

What I am trying to say is that sometimes going back to more traditional recipes shows us that it is very difficult to improve on traditional methods.

Absolutely agree with you Lapis, some old recipes are impossible to improve, they are already perfect. All I am trying to say is that new and very nice recipes keep evolving all the time.

Chefs today are very knowledgeable about ingredients and techniques. Even housewives and lesser mrtals like me know a lot more about different cuisines, regional and international, than the previous generation. In my grandmother or mother's days, most people even refused to eat cuisine of a different state, let alone of a different country. There is a lot more sharing of ideas, specially since the internet has become widely available. For example Lapis, you and many others share a lot of scientific knowledge about food, make it available even on a small forum like this. We all learn from it. There is a lot of mixing/experimenting/absorbing of ideas these days, very often with excellent results, sometimes not!

Yes the old recipes are probably the best! I use Mamta's recipes and my Grandmother's cook book and don't try to change them.

However I use this website for help with interpretation of recipes using Mamta's wealth of information and Lapis's knowledge as our resident 'Heston Blumenthal'

Isn't this all what makes the website so brilliant?

The "chicken tikka chasni" that I have had a couple of times is a creamy type of sweet and sour dish.

Correct me if wrong but I would compare it a bit like a "massaladar" ... question is ... is a massaladar Indian??!!!!

Yes, masaladar is Indian or Pakistani.

Masala=Spice mix

Dar=with or of

Masaladar=with spices or of spicy nature

Mamta

I have invented my own recipe for making a chicken chasni and I have made it twice this week - tonight being the second time. It went down a treat every time and tonight I served it with plain naan and salad.

I can see people here like sweet and sour ;-)! Lets have your recipe too. Is it like winton's?

Come on Andrew ... share your secret!!!!

Pics would be great as I'm interested in the colour.

CW

Ha ha, there is no secret, but below is my recipe for making chicken chasni. Unfortunately I haven't taken any pictures of it. I don't add any chillies or chilli powder into this dish, but I guess you could if you wish.

I do use olive oil in Indian cooking, but it depends on how spicy the dish is. For something mild like this I would avoid adding olive oil because it would impart a flavour.

If you think it is up to par, Mamta, then feel free to add it to your database of recipes.

Andrew's Chicken Chasni

1 lb chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks

1 large onion, peeled and finely diced

2 garlic cloves, peeled and grated or crushed

1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated

200g (half a tin) tinned chopped tomatoes

100 ml warm water

2 heaped tsp tamarind pulp

2 tbsp golden syrup

150 ml single cream

4 tbsp oil (anything except olive oil and carotino oil)

1 tsp salt

---

1 heaped tsp coriander seeds

1 heaped tsp cumin seeds

1/2 level tsp fenugreek seeds

1/2 level tsp kalonji seeds

1/2 level tsp fennel seeds

4 whole black pepper corns

1/2 level tsp black mustard seeds

---

Seeds of 2 green cardamoms, ground

1 level tsp white poppy seeds

1/4 level tsp turmeric

1/2 level tsp paprika powder

Method:

Dry roast the top list of spices, allow to cool, and grind to a fine powder. Combine with the ground cardamom seeds, white poppy seeds, turmeric, and paprika powder. Mix well and set aside.

Heat the oil in a suitably sized pan and add the onion, ginger, and garlic. Mix well and cook until the onion is golden brown.

Add the spice powder, mix well, and cook, stirring constantly, until the oil begins to seperate from the mixture.

Add the chicken and turn the heat up slightly. Cook until the chicken is sealed.

Meanwhile, blend the tomatoes and water together into a thin puree.

Once the chicken is sealed, add the tomatoes and water, tamarind pulp, and salt. Mix well and place covered in a pre-heated oven at 200 C for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes remove the pan from the oven, stir, and add the golden syrup. Mix well and place back in the oven for a further 10?15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and stir in the single cream.

Serve garnished with chopped fresh coriander leaves.

Andrew, it looks nice. Can you get in touch with me via E-mail (contact lik above), so I can communicate with you about it. You have to take pictures next time you make it.

Mamta

Thanks for getting back Andrew, your recipe is not on site;

Chicken Chasni

Mamta

I think that should be NOW on site!

For Eve in France:

There are many books on Indian cookery by Madhur Jaffrey (apologies if you already know this).

For me, Mamta Gupta and Madhur Jaffrey are the queens of Indian cookery in Britain (even though I live in France). I've learned so much from both of them.

A Frenchman who doesn't like cheese: ?a, c'est un peu sp?cial!

Phil

thanks for that Mamta. I have forwarded the spice pictures onto you again, only this time they are not zipped. They are in high resolution and altogether they come to 87.91MB so it may take you a while to download the message.

Andrew that might be too much for the email account to process in one go !

My hotmail account will send/receive 10meg at a time.. but I know when I send to other people that I have to lower it to 5meg for some and one mate can only get emails under 2meg !

Steve

I attached them to a reply message to Mamta, and looking at the e-mail address it isn't the one on this site so hopefully they sent.

Sorry about the spelling mistake there kavey, well spotted!

I had copied the images from your Flikr account already Andrew, but thanks anyway. Your images are downloaded and on my computer now. Thanks.

Hello all,

Just thought I would let you know about my curry bible I use for cooking apart from this great site of course!!!!

Some on you might have seen this book already but it was written as the author was complaining there were no proper curry cookbooks so she was told to write one.

I have loads of curry cookbooks but this one I keep coming back to and my favourite receipe is Chicken Parsee Curry and Rogan Josh (unlike a rogan josh, I seen in other cook books)

Well worth a buy:-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Curries-India-Camellia-Panjabi/dp/1856265463/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263828581&sr=1-1

50 great curries of India by Camellia Panjabi

Also just to say on previous post, I book mine dead cheap from the book club however one of the big complaints about this book is the measures which are plainly wrong but I'm confident people will be able work it out. A lot of complaints were based on people not reading the recipe correctly.

Hi Em

Have heard of this book, and read good comments about it!

Andrew

You say not to use olive oil ... would sesame or peanut oil work? Vegetable oil even?

Keen to know what works best.

CW

I normally use vegetable oil or sunflower oil.

Andrew's Chicken Chasni

last night i made andrews chicken chasni for my boyfried and i and what a delicious dish. it really went down a treat and i think you must be mad andrew to share a recipe as nice as that you shuld have kept it a secret. plus what do u serve it with when you make it please.

Stu, on here everyone wants to share their recipes to help everyone learn good techniques, good recipes and help share good food with all.

I've been cooking for years and we are always having friends and family coming around to eat. Going back some years they would always be asking how I made this or how I made that and I would give them a rough idea but would keep my little secrets (sort of like a chef in a restaurant wouldn't want to give people the recipe to his/her top selling dishes..)...

Then one day I had a meeting with myself and realised that I'm not going to be around forever and I'd just become "do you remember that lasagne/stifado/spicy chicken.... he used to make.. yeah used to love that... pity we can't make it"... and then in my meeting (with myself) I then had images of them opening up a frozen box meal and putting in the microwave shudders...

Although all my children and grandchildren, nieces and nephews have helped out in the kitchen and can do very well (my youngest daughter now works in a kitchen making meals for over 40 people)

(thinks you should be able to see these grandson helping out http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1368512&l=0f215cbd89&id=759322738 and Niece making her own pizze which included rolling out the base ! http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1732358&l=cab24e47cf&id=759322738 )

It occured to me that sharing the recipes and teaching them how to cook/chop/slice/what to watch for/how to get around that etc was a much more important part of our lives than I had originally given credit to....

Which is why personally I'm giving out all my ideas and recipes so everyone can share them....

Steve

How very true, Mamta. I don't really see the point in keeping a recipe secret and what is the point of taking it to the grave with you?

As for what to serve it with, then I guess that is a personal choice. I usually serve it with naan bread or a saffron and toasted almond rice dish that I created.

If you think about it, very few recipes are purely our own. They evolvae from somethings you learnt as a child or in a cookery class or saw in a magazine or TV show etc. or ate in a some part of the wordl, an amalgamation of various recipes in your head (like Steve AskCy?s meetings with Himself ;-)) or modification of them.

Personally, it makes me very happy that in some small way, I help people to learn what little I know. In return, they teach me what they know. I have to say that I loved a lot about cooking since i opened this website.

So Stu, please try sharing your recipes with your friends and see how proud it makes you feel that they love it :-).

Mamta

PS This is not a criticism, just a suggestion.

I made "Kedgeree" for my lunch at work today... as I will be missing the sunday breakfast I came up with an idea on a theme...

so I fried off some pancetta lardons, black pudding, mushrooms and onions and then added some cooked rice and finished with a beaten egg.. creating a sort of kedgeree...

Its sort of my recipe.. made up on the spot taking an idea from an existing recipe and making it my own...

black pudding kedgeree

Steve

Link didn?t work!

I seem to remember that it doesn't like links to the site....

you might just have to copy and paste the link into the browser

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3360148&l=71087137bb&id=759322738

(not a brilliant picture as its off my phone...)

Steve

Guest, yes I can see what your saying and agree with it but.. If I was going to try and make money from my recipes then I wouldn't be publishing them here there and everywhere. I'd be putting them in a book and getting it copyrighted etc...

So if someone did take a recipe and claim it as their own I'd be a little miffed that they hadn't at least credited me (and they would get an email over it) but I can't say that it would bother me too much... after all the reason I post them is so people will make it...

The other thing is who would buy a recipe book of someone they haven't heard of, who would want me on tv talk shows selling it etc... I'd be lucky to sell a few copies at a local shop and it would probably cost me more money in production than I could ever hope to get back... So if a top chef made millions on the back of using my recipe I could hardly say he's taken it off me...

Steve

Steve is spot on Guest. If anyone wants to copy your recipe, they will. Take it as a compliment. If they are making money from it, good luck to them, because I certainly am not known enough to be able to publish a book and make money from it! Even if I was, what will stop someone copying it from my book and then calling it their own? Who will police the internet?

I have been sent e-mails by people where they have seen that people have not only copied my recipes, they haven?t even bothered to change my introduction!

best wishes

Mamta