curry lovers please help

[whitewash]

im after some recipe help for indian cookery that non of my fathers indian cookery books seem to be able to find, i know there are alot of curry lovers in this forum so i thought id atleast ask and see if anyone knows!


when you go to a restaurant (the restaurant bit is very important) they give you 4 condiments with your popadums, mango chutney, lime pickle, mint yoghurt (riata?) and an onion salad.


noW we are trying to recreate the yoghurt and the onion salad but we cant seem to find the recipes anywhere.

we have attempted to make the mint yoghurt using yoghurt and mint but there is definetly something missing (tamerind?) can anyone help with this.

also the onion salad, it appears to have a red spice powder on it, does anyone know what this is?


Cheers folks, hope you can help,

i have an indian restaurant recipe book at my house which will more than likely have the answers but im not there til next week!

 

[ChrisMClark]

Have you thought about hitting an ethnic market and asking for some help there? That's what I've done a couple of times when I was looking for help with Thai food.

 

[Jimmy_Lemon]

http://www.foodiesite.com/recipes/2000-05:riata ? Says it includes cucumber which is what I always thought, but that seems to depend on the restaurant.

The onion salad I am not sure about. I know I love it, but again it seems to change from restaurant. Asda use to sell it and that was coated in a red sweet sugar sauce, but the stuff we get up here is just pure chopped white and red onion with coriander I think.

 

[kelack]

Have you tried this:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/cucumberandmintraita_67787.shtml

or this:

http://www.cookitsimply.com/category-0020-064u7.html

Will ask our local for their onion salad recipe if you want but it won't be til tomorrow

 

[whitewash]

ive just attempted the rhiata with dried mint, yoghurt and half a tsp of chilli powder, just letting the flavours infuse before i give it a taste.


we are trying the trial and error approach with the onion salad at the moment, but i think (as jimmy_lemon mentioned) there is so much regional variation from restaurant to restaurant that its going to be hard to find without asking at the table in the restuarant!

 

[ChrisMClark]

we are trying the trial and error approach with the onion salad at the moment,

I tried to same thing trying to recreate Brandy Sours after a 3 month tour of Cyprus...you know I can't remember if I ever got it right...funny that

 

[who?]

Not dried mint I dont think. JL's link looks about right, but we skip the honey and use corriander.

 

[jenny]

This is my onion tomato relish;-
2 chopped onions, cover with tomato ketchup, 2 teasp mint sauce, 1 teasp chilli powder and leave in fridge for a few hours...yumyum

I make my mint yoghurt sauce by using small pot of plain yoghurt..add 1/2 teasp ground cumin, 1/2 teasp ground coriander and plenty of mint sauce to taste..usually about 1 1/2 tablesp mint sauce

I taste both whilst mixing and add more or less depending on your taste.. i like mine quite minty

 

[Geordi69]

I make the mint sauce by using a pot of natural yoghurt and adding chopped onions, cucumber and mint sauce. I find it is best if it is thined out a little bit with some water. To add a bit of heat to it I use fresh garlic and or dried chilli flakes.

Enjoy