Mamta,

Do you ever cook your curries in a slow cooker.

OH got me one and dying to make curry in it. The foodie board seems to think lamb or beef curry should be ok.

What about daal? Or rice?

PSD

Hi Fiona

If you prepare your spice (onion/ginger/garlic/spices) mix in a pan in the usual way, brown the meat and then cook it in slow cooker, it should make a really tender curry. Come back and tell us how it comes out :-).

Mamta

slow cooking is best with tougher cuts of meat. So, in Indian cooking, proper lamb kormas would be ideal cooked this way. I have found rogan josh (a Kashmii korma) cooks very well by this method.

A word of warning. Recently, many 'slow cookers' sold have been altered by the manufacturers so that they will no longer maintain a low temperature (85-90 ?C). It may be best to check yours with a thermometer, one of mine got up to 100?C on the low setting, and cooked the meat in two hours instead of the 8 I intended!

Hi Mamta - Happy Birthday,

We made the curry sauce and browned the beef in the balti dish then put it in the slow cooker.

We cooked on high for about two hours then put it down onto a low heat for a couple of more hours.

The real problem was not lifting the lid two much although we all did, and even a visitor who dropped in on the way home was like - AHH smells good can't sit here have to open lid.

So we will be eating the curry tonight and will let you know tomorrow the final verdict.

PSD

I've had the same problem as you Lapis, my slow cooker isn't slow enough and if I leave food in unattended for the recommended time it actually burns on one side of the pot. I suppose the remedy is to buy a new one but how do I know I'm not going to have the same problem again?

There are many complaints about this on the internet. Two suggestions given by cooker makers are; cook for less time or add more water. However, this defeats the purpose of a slow cooker, i.e. leaving the food to cook while you go and work. It is worth complaining to the company and asking for a refund since it doesn't do the job as it is supposed to.

yes Mamta, that does seem a silly reply from the makers (note they don't own up to the problem!!) As you say, higher temperatures - shorter cooking times, rather defeats the objective, and with a lot of water there,the 'gravy' is too thin and the meat shrinks and gets tough. However, the remedy is quite simple. Just raise the pot up from the base, a pile of loose change might work, so long as there is plenty of (hot) air around the base of the pot.

I bought three slow cookers (at discount prices.... wonder why?) but have only tested the one. Fortunately, I can install bimetal strip thermostats or similar, but I can't find a supplier of 90?C ones, curiously.

came across a forum for engineers that got over the problem of slow cookers getting too hot by placing short tins under the cooking pot, they recommended 1.5 inches, and used tuna tins (mt of course!)

Glad I'm not the only one that thinks "slow cookers" cook too fast. I bought a new one recently and was sure it cooked much too quickly but thought I must be mistaken.

Thanks for the engineers tip, I'll get some bits together and sort mine out.

An egg ring like this one will do the trick;

www.charliesdirect.co.uk/product_pages/product_image_popup.asp?ProductID=19231&Name=Egg-Ring

or

www.amazon.co.uk/TALA-POACHETTE-RINGS-TEFLON/dp/B000SA6GSW/ref=pd_sim_dbs_kh_img_1

However, this will increase the height of your pot and may make it difficult to close the lid.