I'm not sure where to start with this really, and I know I'm going to get a lot of feedback with the usual coments, "Don't knock it until you have tried the complete recipe in it's entirity" etc etc.... But!

I made the bassar spice mix to the book

I made the tomato puree to the book

I made the "Magic Sauce" to the book except I reduced everything by half as I did not want to make such a large quantity first time round.

I made the Chicken Tikka Masala today out of the Curry2go recipe and I have to admit that it did not taste anything like a BIR CTM that I have ever tried before...

I do have to admit that I used Taz's base, but apart from that everything else was the same....

I have been using Taz's base for quite some time now cooking lots of different dishes and I am more than happy with the results, it's a good base sauce and I really don't think it would have been any different using CA's base, or the SMS base or even Chewy's base, they are all really good base sauces. So the rest of the ingredients should have produced in my mind an outstanding BIR quality CTM....

It tasted bland, and with no real depth of flavour in my opinion... I had to introduce quite a number of additional spices and more coconut powder and almond powder even to get that taste in the background....

I did find that the mint from the "Magic Sauce" stood out quite a lot even though it's only a tiny amount.....

I have to say, that CA's CTM, even the shorter version is a lot more towards a BIR CTM than that of the C2Go version...

However one thing else I did make today was my Garlic Chilli Chicken Masala and when I was at my local Asian store today I bought a jar of "Ahmed Foods" Chilli Pickle in Oil, containing......

Chilli 60-64%, Soyabean Oil, Salt, Acetic Acid, Red Chilli, Fenugreek, Anisseed, Fennel, Cumin Seed, Turmeric & Onion Seed.

I added 1 tsp of this to my Garlic, Chilli Chicken Masala and as mentioned in the C2Go book about special ingredients, this lifted the dish to a totally different level altogether...

So, I am not knocking his book as I have have both good and bad results today.....

Has Anyone else tried any dishes from this book yet?

Don't get me wrong, I will try the spiced oil from the Onion Bhajis and his base sauce, but I really don't think they will make THAT much difference from the bases I have already tried from here.....

PEOPLE HAVE FORGOTTEN WHAT TIKKA MASALA REALLY IS , ITS TOO SWEET TOO COCONUTTY NOWADAYS