Curry Recipes Online
British Indian Restaurant Recipes - Main Dishes => BIR Main Dishes Chat => Topic started by: Panpot on November 07, 2009, 11:54 AM
-
Guys I have a dark secret to share, ON my last visit to The Ashoka the Chef actually gave me a copy of the Chefs Handbook. Yes the insiders guide to all the recipes, they are in real time quantities and I have them all. He did however ask me to never share it full but said I could share a few. So below I will outline two further "Essential Base Sauces" and a couple of recipes.
South Indian Garlic Sauce: http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3908.msg35388;topicseen#msg35388 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3908.msg35388;topicseen#msg35388)
Rogan Josh Curry Base Sauce: http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3909.msg35390;topicseen#msg35390 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3909.msg35390;topicseen#msg35390)
-
Never have i heard of almond powder ........cream............or creamed coconut in a rogan josh !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-
Nah I think this is real. Prepping the kitchen is fundamental and done before opening times. I see no reason why you wouldn't have various pastes on hand for different dishes. I've seen cream in Rogan Josh too. There are many recipes that call for it and the actual recipe is just about global and not BIR.
Nice one PP. Jealous now of course since I'm search. Oh well, onwards and upwards. ;D
-
i dont dispute various pastes being pre made
what i am saying is tha ashoka is BIR so global dont come in it
-
Not arguing with you, Rogan Josh doesn't change much at all, is all.
what i am saying is tha ashoka is BIR so global dont come in it
-
Mikka just tell me
would you put coconut cream ... cream and almond powder in your rogan josh
-
Guys, I got pissed off the last time I posted stuff from The Ashoka when folks were questioning what I had reported. I've said repeatedly that there are substantial regional variations and these recipes I am giving you are right out of the handbook used in the kitchens in Glasgow. They may not be what you are used to but they are used as bases for recipes as you will see below. I have had to split the post due to the weird thing that seems to be happening when I type deep into the typing panel then loose sight of what I am typing so have done it as Parts. I will just keep posting on this thread now until its done.
-
Rogan Josh: http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3910.msg35391;topicseen#msg35391 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3910.msg35391;topicseen#msg35391)
-
Balti Butter Masala: http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3911.msg35392;topicseen#msg35392 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3911.msg35392;topicseen#msg35392)
-
If it tasted good?
Heck sure I would.
Mikka just tell me
would you put coconut cream ... cream and almond powder in your rogan josh
-
Final one,
Jalandri: http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3912.msg35393;topicseen#msg35393 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3912.msg35393;topicseen#msg35393)
As you can see we will need to experiment to get the individual amounts right here as this is how it is written in the handbook. The original posts give the method and amounts so it should be easy to knock this up. good luck, I feel better now that this is off my chest. PP
-
Guys, I got pissed off the last time I posted stuff from The Ashoka when folks were questioning what I had reported.
Hi PP,
This is unfortunate when some members go out of their way to bring information to the forum, what makes it even more frustrating is when the put downs come from members who probably haven't been through the kitchen doors,
I for one appreciate your efforts and thank you,
Bob
-
Final one,
Jalandri
Thanks for the recipes ...I think I'll give it a go
-
Mikka i to would use anything if it tasted good
so you try it and let us all know
but anyway forget it now eh
-
I have had to split the post due to the weird thing that seems to be happening when I type deep into the typing panel then loose sight of what I am typing so have done it as Parts
PanPot,
You're no doubt using IE 8. You need to go to "tools" and select "compatibility view" to avoid this problem.
-
Yup. If you don't try stuff you'll end up leading a one tracked life. Nothing to forget.... ;)
so you try it and let us all know
but anyway forget it now eh
-
I'm with billycat on this one Panpot. I'm not disputing that you are just reporting what you have been shown but, whatever that recipe is, it ain't a Rogan Josh!
The Ashoka so called 'rogan josh base' is far closer to a tandoori masala, containing as it does large amounts of cream, almond powder, and creamed coconut. You even call it a masala in some of the recipes.
Without meaning to piss you off, are you sure you (or they) haven't got your wires crossed somewhere along the way?
P.S. It does sound like a very tasty recipe though, just not RJ.
-
Guys, I got pissed off the last time I posted stuff from The Ashoka when folks were questioning what I had reported.
Hi PP,
This is unfortunate when some members go out of their way to bring information to the forum, what makes it even more frustrating is when the put downs come from members who probably haven't been through the kitchen doors,
I for one appreciate your efforts and thank you,
Bob
Achmal, it's not a question of not appreciating Panpot's efforts, which I think we all do. It's a matter of questioning what to me is highly dubious recipe for a Rogan Josh.
Edited
-
Guys, I got pissed off the last time I posted stuff from The Ashoka when folks were questioning what I had reported.
Hi PP,
This is unfortunate when some members go out of their way to bring information to the forum, what makes it even more frustrating is when the put downs come from members who probably haven't been through the kitchen doors,
I for one appreciate your efforts and thank you,
Bob
Achmal, it's not a question of not appreciating Panpot's efforts, which I think we all do. It's a matter of questioning what to me is highly dubious recipe for a Rogan Josh.
Interesting input ss, on a couple of points,
The list of ingredients is dubious because you say so, have you had a rogon from the Ashoka, all ingredients don't have to be the same nationwide, whose to say differing ingredients are not used? and how much they come through in the final curry, given that this is a paste that is added to a rogon if I'm not mistaken,
Thank you for your most valued input,
Bob
Edited
-
Thank you for your most valued input,
Bob
You're most welcome. ;D
But just so you know, a Rogan Josh does not contain cream, does not contain nuts, and does not contain coconut. If it does it ain't a Rogan Josh!
-
Thank you for your most valued input,
Bob
You're most welcome. ;D
But just so you know, a Rogan Josh does not contain cream, does not contain nuts, and does not contain coconut. If it does it ain't a Rogan Josh!
I am fully aware of the basis of a Rogon, those that I have seen but as the Ashoka seems to use a lot of made up pastes for various dishes adding to curries in small or large amounts, who knows, I don't , I've never been in the Ashoka, the possibility might exist though,
or we can just tell PP he's wrong, plain and simple, ::) that makes it easy,
-
Anything that anyone brings to the table by way of inside info is always welcome in my book. It's about cooking not wars.
Jerry has been a big help I'm pretty sure that PP's offerings will only add light into a dim world. If there were no trade secrets everyone in the land would be able to create a near perfect dish which is as good a match as any restaurant. I'm not blowing my trumpet but I'd wager you'd like my food more than I do perhaps?
And this is the point I truly don't and never have understood. Why are there no restaurant owners/chefs showing anyone what the ingredients are, method and so on.
All I see is a flick of the wrist in the pan but home style cooking is nearer than you might think at first.
Anyway I want to thank PP. Pity I'm not near you, Jerry, Achmal, others too.
I feel with a few open minds many would get in real close like. ;D
-
Never have i heard of almond powder ........cream............or creamed coconut in a rogan josh !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You do have a good point BillyCat.....I think you're right to question these things.
However, it does seem (with PP's subsequent posts) that PP's first recipe is not actually for a rogan josh main dish, but rather for a rogan josh curry base which is, thereafter, used to make a rogan josh? If so, it probably changes the perspective a lot? I'm sure that wasn't particularly clear from PP's first post.
It seems to me that the Ashoka restaurants are more "New Wave" (for want of a better term) restaurants focused more on South Indian dishes and cooking? Some of the dishes that Panpot mentions (e.g. Jalandir, Chasni, Jaipuri) are totally unfamiliar to me....In fact I've never heard of them.
-
Guys, I got pissed off the last time I posted stuff from The Ashoka when folks were questioning what I had reported
Please don't get p*ssed off with (what I would see as) valid questions PP. I'm sure all of us greatly appreciate your efforts and posts 8)
-
Posts moved from other Ashoka thread ("part 1"):
From BillyCat:
isnt deggi mirch and red chilli powder more or less one and the same thing
i really cant see a restaurant messing about with two types of chilli can you ?
From PanPot:
Billycat it does seem strange but it is what is written in the handbook I can assure you. He recommends a particular brand called MDH and the stuff comes in Little cardboard packs. I have just gone to Brick Lane in London and bought there Deggi Mirch and also there Red Chili Powder they call Kashmiri Mirch. I am prepared to trust it and will see hoe it comes out. Since he introduced me to Deggi Mirch that's all I use now.
From Mikka:
I have MDH Spices. I've mentioned these to lots of folks who scoffed at me
Nice one again PP.
From BillyCat:
Panpot
I too use deggi merch only nowaday
i just thought it strange they use two different chilli powders when one will do
but respect to you what you do mate
From CoryAnder:
Yes, valid observation and question Billycat...that thought immediately struck me too.
What actually is this please Panpot? Is it a curry base? Or is it an additional ingredient used with a curry base?
From CoryAnder:
What actually is this "Chef's Handbook" PanPot? Who is it for? Is it like the "standard operating procedures" for all of the Ashoka chefs?
-
Guys I have a dark secret to share, ON my last visit to The Ashoka the Chef actually gave me a copy of the Chefs Handbook. Yes the insiders guide to all the recipes, they are in real time quantities and I have them all. He did however ask me to never share it full but said I could share a few. So below I will outline two further "Essential Base Sauces" and a couple of recipes.
South Indian Garlic sauce
Water 12 litres Vinegar 2 litres
Garlic Puree 1.5 Kg Sugar 1.5kg
Red Chili Powder 150gms Salt 1 chefs curry spoon
Deggie Mirch 100gms Corn flour 400gms
Method
Add all the ingredients except the vinegar and corn flour. Cook for 30 minutes for the sauce to thicken a little then add the vinegar and bring to the boil. Cook for a further 20 minutes add corn flour mixture in water add to the pot slowly to prevent lumps after 5 minutes sauce thickens. Cool and store ready to use.
Rogan Josh
Plum Tomato 2.55gms @2tins Almond Powder 1 c 650 plastic container full
Coconut Cream 198gms @2 Pkts Garlic/Ginger Paste 2 chef curry spoons
Single cream I litre @4 Cartons 4 English Onions Sliced
Whole Zeera 50 gms Salt 60 gms
Vegetable Ghee 1Kg Red Chili Powder 15gms
Haldi 40gms Garam Masala 15 gms
Hi Panpot,
You don't have anything in your handbook that would point us all in the right direction of a Bhuna by any chance do you please?
Regards,
Bob
-
Guys I realise I have caused a lot of confusion here but only because of the issue with the typing panel not allowing me to see what I was typing in what would have been a fairly long post. It would have had a logic to it and all would have been much clearer before I got sucked into justifying myself and therefor breaking up the flow.
Perhaps CC you could help by listing my recipe posting as one single post otherwise it will continue to cause confusion. I understand why you would want to split them up into the appropriate sections of the site but in this case I feel they deserve to be together. I may be wrong but I am sure we have never had a base sauce for Rogan Josh before but that is in effect what I have posted followed by the recipe for Rogan Josh itself.
The handbook is the actual one used by the chefs to maintain standards across the many restaurants in the chain. The ingredients and the amounts are as they use them for batches in the kitchen. We clearly have a challenge to guesstimate proportions to downsize to realistic portions for ourselves.
Its less than encouraging though to be replied to as if I am some kind of fool or indeed liar. I don't know why folks seem to so easily jump to such stances and I am sure they will discourage new contributors from adding value to something as special as this site. I realise too that its probably not meant just an expression of the passions we all have for this great hobby but could clearly be misunderstood. I have thick skin and wont be put off from enjoying my involvement here.
What has come out of this whole exercise for me is the wide degree of variation across the UK never mind those from other countries doing all they can to remember tastes and other characteristics of dishes. I have said repeatedly that if you travel extensively like I do not only in the UK but around the world then you will know that a great deal is different in different locations. Names of dishes change, spelling too and the actual meals can have little or no resemblance to similarly named dish elsewhere. Over and above this in the case of The Ashoka restaurants in the Glasgow area (most if not all curry loving Glaswegians would rate them highly ) throw up a wider variation that of the owner and chefs cultural origin.
In Glasgow and I am sure elsewhere in the beginning of the Indian food explosion Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and others were involved in carving out their own niche and in addition they would have been influenced by their geographical roots and clearly as CC alludes to the South and the North of the subcontinent alone would through up considersable differences. I know in Glasgow alone that BIrs run by Indians vary to those run by Pakistanis and knowing religious persuasions of some this has an influence too and personally thank "God " since this is what makes the adventure and it is for me so appealing. I never really know what to expect when I sit down in a BIR new to me but hey I love it.
In Brick Lane yesterday there were countless BIRs all along that street and much of what was on the menus looked familiar to anything available in my home town but likewise much was unfamiliar and that's how it seems to me it should be. We all probably think we come from the Curry Capital of Britain and I can assure you Glasgow could rightly make acclaim just like your town and of us would be right and all would be different.
There is however enough commonality on this site for us all to enjoy what we contribute and make use of. Lets try and be more accommodating of where we are each coming from, please.
Can I suggest that when in future we post a recipe we have actually cooked and have eaten that we give it a score on 1-10 scale for comparison with Local Birs. Hope as ever this helps Panpot
-
976bar, the recipes from my original Ahoka posts are all the same in the actual handbook and if you take a closer look you will see an excellent Bhuna recipe there and I would score it 9.5 but of course that is based on my local BIRs and is still not the same as I remember from yesteryear.PP
-
To refer back to the O/P, the South Indian Garlic Sauce looks very interesting to me. The two best T/As local to me are both Indian rather than Pakistani or Bangladeshi run and they both definitely use flour to thicken their sauces. They are both open plan kitchens yet I could never spot them adding the flour to the dish, it never occurred to me that it was in the base, must investigate further.
Regards
CoR.
-
Panpot
i never for one minute tried to imply foolishment or indeed lying
sorry if i have upset you
-
I've locked this thread since discussions can now continue in the individual recipe threads as follows:
- South Indian Garlic Sauce Recipe: http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3908.msg35388;topicseen#msg35388 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3908.msg35388;topicseen#msg35388)
- Rogan Josh Curry Base Gravy Recipe: http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3909.msg35390;topicseen#msg35390 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3909.msg35390;topicseen#msg35390)
- Rogan Josh Recipe: http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3910.msg35391;topicseen#msg35391 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3910.msg35391;topicseen#msg35391)
- Balti Butter Masala Recipe: http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3911.0 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3911.0)
- Jalandri Recipe: http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3912.msg35393;topicseen#msg35393 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3912.msg35393;topicseen#msg35393)
Any problems, please message me :)
-
Cheers, billycat thanks for coming back to me. PP
-
I have been requested to temporarily unlock this thread and see how it goes.
I would request that comments on the recipes still be made in the individual recipe threads though (please see above).
-
Hi CA , the link to the balti butter masalla seems to bring up the wrong recipe. all else loads great. cheers for separating them into separate sections. The ashoka kit is one of the finest areas of this forum. many thanks to PP. I still have very fond memories of making at least 3 batches of that base sauce, and some mind blowing lamb bhunas. I will be knocking up a new batch nearer xmas. When I shall re visit these classic curries once again. nice one guys
-
Thanks DD, I've changed the link to the correct one.
-
CA thanks for bringing the recipes back into one place above as as I suspected I am now getting personal messages regarding detail on the recipes as they are unclear at the start of the thread. Perhaps you could post the 5 recipes right after my opening so as to save me getting more personal requests and any clarity required could be provided up on this thread. Bye the way I welcome the enquiries but don't want to get into repeating the answers. PP
-
Guys I have had a go at answering directly some questions using the message system but I am not sure they have got through. If anybody else has questions regarding this thread can you post them here rather than by emailing me since I can answer them for everybody Else's perusal. I am more than wiling to do so and welcome them. For the beginners and others I personally don't think there are any silly questions all are of value. I felt today for someone among us who didn't appreciate what BIR meant as it took me a wee while to get that too. I still don't really know how to post photographs and respond to private messages either so dont hesitate in posting anywhere on the site those who are thinking about it. PP
-
I would think it best if any general queries, regarding the Ashoka recipes, can be made here and any specific queries, regarding specific Ashoka recipes, can be made in the relevant recipe threads (see above links)?
-
Hi curry kings and queens ! can someone with real experience of the whole ashoka kit rate some of the recipies, so i know which to try next. I have not got time to try them all unfortunately. So far i just made the ashoka lamb, and the bhuna korai, and the banjura paste. what would you guys recomend making next time? cheers my dears !
-
DD,
i'm aiming to start trying out the new stuff next week. i have interest in the South Garlic Sauce so i'm aiming then for the Jalandri.
the one missing from your list that i make regular is the pathia - it's not exactly what i'm used to but it stands in it's own right as a real good pathia. it's missing something for me (green and a veg - i had thought chive but now seeing the other new recipes i've noticed spring onion - it could be that). for the pathia mix i just use 1 heaped tsp mango chutney and 1 tsp tom sauce - it's simplified from the original but just the job for me.