Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: raygraham on August 11, 2005, 06:14 PM
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Balti Kitchen Video Review
It is obviously not a high budget video and as mentioned in a previous post is set in a fairly sterile kitchen and doesn?t appear to tell us any more ?secrets? than has already been talked about on the forum.
Having said that I feel it does show us something, and will be particularly interesting for those starting out on this fascinating hobby. Perhaps it is not deep enough for the more experienced but is a good reference to us all and reinforces the basics I think we need to remember and return to sometimes.
It gives an important and very welcome visual experience of a real chef?s methods and techniques and an idea of sizes, weight, proportion, colour, texture, amounts etc that we all strive to know. For instance what size and type are the Onions? What should my base look like? Well now we can see it first hand.
And of course the ultimate end to it all a view of the final base sauce and consequent curries that evolve from it so we can visually compare our own efforts?
I for one love pictures as they give me a ?real? comparison of how things should be and an idea if I am on track. The other notable thing is the ease the chef has doing things. He is relaxed, comfortable and a master of his skills which sends the message creating a Curry should be simple, enjoyable and fun and the rewards will follow.
From the outset instructions are clear and the chef works slowly enough to see how he chops, slices, dices and measures. You could follow the tape while you prepare and pause along the way. Once all the spices and prepared ingredients are done and Onions cooking it doesn?t take long before the kitchen will smell powerful enough to attract comments from neighbours in the next village and a frown from the wife.
However, once over this the cooked blended Onion Base looks just like on the tape and after the spices go in it is exact in colour and texture with an underlying smell which says ?my local? take -away.
Pre-Cooking of the Chicken / Meat comes next and this simple technique gives really succulent moist chunky meat that smells and tastes delicious. All that is then needed is to choose your recipe from about a dozen or more and ?marry? the Base Sauce and Pre-Cooked Meat together with a few spices to enhance it.
And the final taste???
Well, I made the standard Chicken Balti which is shown first. The smell, looks, texture and taste were strikingly close to the restaurant. I tried the taste test on at least ten friends at work and told them I had bought it from a local take-away. They all wanted to know which one it came from and did I have a menu!!
My own opinion is that it comes very close to what I want to achieve and a strong contender for one of the better sauces I have made. Not exact but certainly a good start and a good base to work from. I feel there may be one of the more powerful spices missing, perhaps a hint of Ajwain or Cardamon needed. However, I will put it on my list of ones to do again and experiment more with slight changes to see if I can get it that bit closer to the true restaurant taste! Overall this is a very good Base Sauce to follow especially a good starter for the newcomer with the additional bonus of ?seeing? how it?s done. And just in case you were wondering, I am not a sales rep for Castle Home Entertainment. Can anyone give us a review of the Bruce Edwards base, that?s my next project.
Regards
Ray G
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Nice report ray
The bruce edwards base is very good IMHO, one of the best, I would rank it close to peets 600ml oil base which is one of my favourites
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Thanks for that Mark,
I am getting the hang of this site now and realise the trend towards a few tried and trusted base sauces. I am going to have a try at Bruce Edwards one and then either your's or Pete's.
Can't wait for the Kushi book to arrive. At present it is due to hit the shops mid-Sept. Lets wait and see!
Ray
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I am just making my way through the video today, but it does make the base sauce look easy and it's got very clear instructions.
I agree as a back to basics everyone should see this video.
Stew 8)
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Can someone please convert to an AVI and upload / seed via bittorrent ?
tia
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This is the curry base
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=26.0
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The guy refers to methi in some dishes, is this seed or leaf?
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I often ask this question as no recipe seems to make itself clear which to use. I have always assumed it was Methi leaf. There is mention of "a pinch" of Methi which I reckon must be the leaf. My local shop always gives me the leaf when I ask for Methi. Some recipes suggest adding the leaf to a small amount of water first to soften it before adding to the curry. I have always wanted to know, does the seed melt in curries as it is as hard as a stone?
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Hi all,
Just to add to the cunfussion about methi, it is quite hard to get hold of, but, it also comes in powder form and has a very strong taste.? In most cases a pinch would be plenty.
cheers all,
Blondie
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So, do you think Methi powder is ground seeds? The seeds do have a pretty strong bitter taste!
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Hi Ray,
Yes I think it probably is. It has a very strong taste and is quite bitter.
cheers,
Blondie
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I always grind my own methi seeds to a powder! I roast them slightly - I was told it makes them a little less hard. Then I grind it to a powder and use it much more than the dried methi leaves (known as kasoori methi). If you are supposed to use the leaves, it is written as kasoori methi. Pinch of methi refers to the ground powder. Also, the methi seed does not dissolve at all - I always prefer to use the powder because of that. All the tomato based sauces - like the makhani sauces use the methi powder to give it a very distinct flavor. I also use it in some of my dals (in the tarka).
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I have been lucky enough to see inside several restaurant kitchens
They have old yoghurt cartons with all the immediate spices and herbs required.
The general spice mix used is a blend of coriander, cummin,curry powder,turmeric and paprika.
There was chopped fresh coriander and a special mix of ground coriander and cummin.
Chopped garlic and pureed garlic ginger, ground almond, ground coconut and salt too.
There was definitely no fenugreek seeds or ground fenugreek seeds around.
But there was a whole carton devoted to dried fenugreek leaves.
In fact, I never saw anything cooked without some in.
It was in the madras, baltis,rhogan josh, vindaloos and even lentil dishes.
I reckon that any reference to "a pinch of fenugreek" has to refer to the leaf.
I am lucky in having several asian supermarkets near me.
Dried Fenugreek Leaf (Kasoori Methi) is very cheap and easy to get.
A seven inch tall box costs about 45 pence.
It also stinks the house out if it's not shut away.
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Hi Pete,
It must be different down here as two of the chefs ive spoken to about vindaloo both said no methi but im sure its the leaves that are refered to in recipes. The recipes ive seen say for a dhansak always refer to soaking it in water first before using it although ive sometimes not bothered and its made little difference.
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Hi All,
I agree with most of what you are saying about fenugreek leaf (dried) being the norm, but have you seen the Balti Kitchen Video? It is definately powder that is tipped onto the dish of sauce as it is cooking. It appears to be a deep creamy colour. This is what fenugreek powder looks like.
Cheers all,
Blondie
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Hi all,
I've converted DVD 1 & 2 to a 800mb DivX AVI file for easy download. This is available via the torrent format.
http://www.torrentspy.com/search.asp?mode=torrentdetails&id=383087&query=kitchen+balti+
PS. Thanks again for the DVD Ray.
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Sweeeeeeeeeeet
Nice one Blade and Ray.
cK
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Yep Iv'e seen it! It does look very much like a powder and not a leaf doesn't it! I wonder if it is leaf that has been whizzed up in a mill? I am going to ask my local very huge asian supermarket this afternoon what is what as they supply a lot of the restaurants around here with their spices.
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Whoops, Ive put the last reply in the wrong spot.......sorry!
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O.K. So here is what I hope a definative answer to the Fengreek issue. I visited the largest Asian supermarket in Bradford today (Pakeezah). They have a Cafe in it which sells all sorts of curries and snacks. Their chef told me he only ever uses Methi Leaves and not seeds or powder. He also said they supply spices to many of the restaurants in Bradford and none of them are supplied seeds or powder. Pakeezah don't actually stock powder as it is in such low demand. Hope this helps. Still doesn't answer why the Methi on the Video looks like powder though!
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It appears to be a deep creamy colour. This is what fenugreek powder looks like.
Cheers all,
Blondie
That is definitely ground fenugreek seeds, then.
I bought a pack of it a couple of years back.
I thought it might be the missing "taste"
I couldn't find many recipes using it
If you grind the fenugreek leaves (as Kris Dhillon suggests) it remains a dirty green colour
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I've converted DVD 1 & 2 to a 800mb DivX AVI file for easy download. This is available via the torrent format.
http://www.torrentspy.com/search.asp?mode=torrentdetails&id=383087&query=kitchen+balti+
Hi Blade
I've downloaded the file
What program does it play in?
It's throwing up errors
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Hi Pete,
I havn't finished getting it yet but its an AVI file so you will need the DIVX codec to play it in windows media player or a DIVX player.
Have a look here: http://www.divx.com/
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Pete, I use BSPlayer to play these files but you still need AVI codec (eg the Divx codec in this case) to decode the file and allow it to play.
Player -> http://www.bsplayer.org/
Codecs -> http://www.free-codecs.com/FFDShow_download.htm
If you install both of these, you should be up and running. CK is right about using the Divx codec for this particular file, but the FFDshow program allows you to playback loads of different formats in addition to Divx (eg xvid).
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I dont know how many people are indians on this site but I am and we dont use the dried methi very much. A certain few dishes have it - but otherwise, we always grind the seeds ourselves to use - I have not even bothered looking for the powder in a supermarket because the quantity used is so little, it is better to grind the seeds fresh each time. But maybe here in the UK for the "currys" the leaves may be used - I am new to the UK and we dont really have "currys" in India - most of the restaurants dont even use onions or garlic in their cooking!!! But the food is very very tasty anyways. My parents never saw an onion or garlic clove growing up because they never ate it! It seems the indian food in the UK is totally different from what is found in india - I have not found any restaurant to my liking here in the UK. I am from the US and the food is more authentic there than here!
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There are a few "authentic" curry shops dotted around, but you need to seek them out. Which area do you live and maybe someone can help you locate a good one ?
I've got to disagree with you on American food - surely not. Any Indian food I've tried in the US has been worse than any Indian food I've tasted in the UK - authentic or otherwise. I totally agree the majority of Indian Restaurants here don't offer up authentic Indian food but we've become acclimatised to the 'Restaurant' taste - with tons of onion and garlic.
While we're on the quest for 100% Indian Restaurant taste, maybe you could post a few Authentic recipes ?? What about some starters ?
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Yes, a few traditional recipes would be great. While you cook traditional Indian food can you cast some light on what Basaar Mix is used in? I bought some from my local Asian supermarket on recommendation as most Asians use it in home cooking. It smells awesome and is sold from plastic dustbins with a scoop so I reckon it's an important spice mix for some folk.
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? My parents never saw an onion or garlic clove growing up because they never ate it!
No onion or garlic?
What are the curries, are they just meat and spices?
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No meat! Most people are still vegetarians - at least everyone i know is. there are no such things as "curries". The liquidy type of dishes have either tomato or even yogurt as a base. Plus, we dont eat "curry" type things often...we eat lentils each day and once in a while, there is special dish like a Kofta curry (made with veggies) or paneer makhani or something like that. I do use onion and garlic not just for taste, but for the health benefits....but i can easily do without them too. I will look into posting a recipe or 2 from the official Bombay palace cookbook.
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Yes, a few traditional recipes would be great. While you cook traditional Indian food can you cast some light on what Basaar Mix is used in? I bought some from my local Asian supermarket on recommendation as most Asians use it in home cooking. It smells awesome and is sold from plastic dustbins with a scoop so I reckon it's an important spice mix for some folk.
I have never heard of that mix - thats a new one to me!! i dont think it is genuine to be honest. Maybe a certain part of india uses it but not the north. Have you tried searching online for it? I will try that just to be sure.
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I'm going to bump this one, because I'd love to have a look at these Kitchen Balti videos and the torrents are obviously long gone.
Any chance a kindly soul could upload a new torrent for the series? I'm sure others new to the site would also like to see them.
I'm happy to seed them for a while so others can grab 'em, I have a PC left on 24/7.
Thanks guys.