depends on which part of India you go to. Pork is abundant in Goa.Beef is extremely popular in the Southern Indian state of kerala but quite difficult to get as you travel up north. Kerala is one place where you can get beef, pork, lamb, goat,fish,duck, chicken, quail, rabbit, frog.........^

I have had Chicken Korma several times in Pakistan, India and Nepal. It is nothing at all like the Chicken Korma I have had in Britain.

For one thing, the Chicken Korma I've had in South Asia has been oily. For another, it has had zero cream.

The Chicken Korma that we are familiar with in the UK and elsewhere outside of South Asia is a Western invention.

If your Chicken Korma is "standing up" it hasn't been cooked long enough yet.

Have you ever tasted this khurma on your trips to Pakistan?

So I finally tried something a little different at my favorite restaurant this evening. I ordered the Chicken Mahkhani (sp?), which is supposedly simillar. It was pretty close (although much better still) to what I get when I order Korma at many other restaurants. The sauce was much thinner, it had a more pronounced chili flavor to it. Didn't have the depth and roundness of the Korma that I love.

Two litres of milk?! Wow.

Let me go ask the Pakistani working upstairs if we'll ever have that dish at home...!

That's butter chicken, probably the most popular curry in north America as it seems to be on every menu! It is normally a tomato based dish and most places don't use nut pastes to thicken, although some do.

My wife is the same, she loves the Chicken Korma you are talking about - very mild and more creamy than other curries. And we just ask usually if it is tomato based or you can tell from the description. I also make it at home using of those bottled sauces, which she likes as well. Here are the three we have tried and she likes the Sharwoods the best.

http://www.pataks.co.uk/products/kor...ing-sauce.aspx
http://www.seedsofchangefoods.com/ou...r_sauces&p=271
http://www.sharwoods.com/Indian/prod...king-sauce.cfm

You should be able to find these in major grocery stores, though not all three at the same time.

PWMFlyer19, (and if I may take this thread off-topic for one moment) I'm wondering if you have found any decent Indian restaurants in PWM??? We are there quite often... Please PM if you have any thoughts! ^

Back on topic, if any of you are in the DC area, we have lovely lamb and chicken korma at Dishes of India just south of Old Town Alexandria.

^

For cookbooks, I think Pat Chapman's books provide a good insight into the differences between UK restaurant dishes and what those dishes might have derived from. That said, a friend who has spent time living in India insists upon going to an Anglo-Indian with me when he comes to visit as he cannot get the 'good stuff' in India. Like the Chinese already mentioned, I accept that Anglo-Indian is just a variant on regional Indian and accept the dishes as to whether i like them or not. I worry less about authenticity because they aren't, that doesn't make them bad.

Oh, and in Edinburgh - not a well known haunt for Indian food - the Cavalry Club is still in front but we have a Michelin aspirational restaurant opened up that I need to try!

Ooh? Do tell... I'm not in EDI all that often these days, but could always make an exception for a Michelin-aspirational Indian restaurant...

But if everyone else will exclude the parochialism for a moment, I've always been disappointed by the Indian restaurants in EDI - even locals' favourites, such as Kushi's - compared to GLA, where there's a shed-load of cracking places (led IMO by the untouchable Mother India).

Whilst some of that is undoubtedly down to the more conservative nature of the menus in Edinburgh, I did once also hear conjecture that differences in cooking styles were down to an apparent difference in the background of where the chefs predominately come from. Supposedly Edinburgh's 'Indian' restaurants have more Bangladeshi chefs, compared to Glasgow's Indian / Pakistani chefs. I have no idea if that's a credible theory, though...

I lived for 11 years in Yorkshire - I generally don't eat Indian at all here because I'm just not sure what I've had is all that good. Cavalry Club has been my one exception. Kushis burned down shortly after I moved back here. It's easy to believe (and hope!) that Indian in Glasgow is better than Edinburgh.

The new one is Mithas - http://mithas.co.uk/ When I get there, I'll review it as normal in my Edinburgh restaurant review thread.

^ Thanks Jenbel, that menu looks good!

On the subject of curry, I tried a lovely new indian restaurant when I was back in the UK (completely out in the sticks of Cheshire), and it was great. I tried a Ceylon curry for the first time and it was gorgeous, lots of black pepper tempered with tomato and lemon. They did a great midweek deal, which they called a 'buffet' but really, it was plated food brought to the table - a huge selection of appetizers, and then 5 curries with naan and rice, all for about 10 pounds! I am veggie so 'opted out' and had a la carte instead which was lovely too.