Its a flavour enhancer widely used by Chinese Takeaways, I bought some a while back as most Chinese recipes listedit as an ingredient, it eventually got thrown out due to the fact that it is regarded as unhealthy by a lot of people and I cut down on salt (which it is)as much as possible.

I almost bought some more because a Chinese curry recipe I had been working had it as an ingredient  but after seeing the BBC2 Chinese cookery program where they basically rubbished its use as unnecessary I decided not to.

I've never heard of an Indian recipe that uses it.

I quite like Ramsay, okay the Nightmares series is cleverly edited for entertainment but at the end of the day its real business's and real livelihoods that are at stake.

I enjoy most cooking programs I'm not really that bothered if they are sensationalised or not as long as they are interesting, its 'popcorn' entertainment.Some of my recent 'watches' are Hells Kitchen US, Iron Chef and  The Next Iron Chef.
A good site to catch up these and lots of other series is http://www.surfthechannel.com/

A few nights after first reading these threads I was bored so opened up a jar of coriander seeds and pushed about 30 into the belfast sink (don't ask) that my wife uses as a 'nursery' for her young plants.
After a few days to my surprise they all sprouted and it was suddenly as though I was a new 'dad' all over again, by the time they got to about 3 inches I found myself with a huge cheesy grin on my face. ;D
Then I went out one morning to find the birds had eaten all but two of them, I am gutted. :-[

Time to buy some pots and compost and grow them indoors methinks.

Next to my friends cooking range he has a number of metal containers attached to the wall, from memory these contained.

Methi,Salt,Chilli powder,Masala mix,Tomatoe Puree,Turmeric so these seem to be his main ingredients.
He also has a large jar of homemade Ginger/Garlic puree in oil on a shelf.
Also there are jars of homemade mixes he uses for various meals like balti's,korma's etc and surprisingly, (to me),quite a few of the Patak brand of pastes etc,when I asked him about those he said some were as good as he could make so saved him valuable time in the prep.

I'd give it a try if I were you BB,like CK says you haven't anything to lose, and you may gain a lot.

I watched my friend prepare his base yesterday but hit a problem almost straight away when I asked him the quantities of each ingredient as his answer was "I don't measure, I just know".
Of course I came home and tried a rough scaled down version trying to equate the quantities I saw.
I use an extra hot chilli powder and so misjudged the amount when using the base to make a madras, the curry tasted fine but nearly blew my head off, I'm going to remake the madras tomorrow using a smaller amount of chilli powder and force 2 of my friends to test it for me.
His base is quite simple compared to some and he uses a LOT less oil,just enough to put a film over the base is the way he put it.
Its a waste of time me putting the base up at the moment because in the final 10 minutes he turns the heat up and adds his 'masala mix' and I haven't yet coaxed the recipe out of him.
I also need to work out a definitive scaled down version depending on the outcome of future taste tests.
My wife is already sick to the teeth with eating curry and being my 'taste tester' ;D

Sorry, I've been really busy for a while but tonight I finally found the time to take my friend up on his offer to 'pop into the kitchen' anytime I wanted to.

The first thing that struck me was the fact that I seem to have more spices in my cupboard than he has in his kitchen, on mentioning this to him he simply asked me why I needed so many.

Him and his guys were quite busy so I never really had time to quiz him in any detail (and also because I was busy scoffing all the food he kept asking me to taste). ;D

Amongst the freebies he plied me with was a carton of what he calls his 'masala mix', he then gave me a quick run through of how to use it to create a Madras, (he knows its my wifes favourite curry).
I came home and knocked up a base from the Saffron recipe and added the few spices I saw him use (including his masala mix) and the result was the nearest I have ever come to recreating the taste of the BIR (or at least the BIR as it is in the NE).
He seems to work on the principle that using spices for the sake of it is pointless and that making a BIR should be simple and effortless, and from the taste of his dishes I have to agree.
I'll hound him like mad now to find out his 'masala mix' recipe and to a lesser extent his base as his 'mix' worked quite well with the Saffron base.
He knows I visit a BIR forum and has no problem with that though I would obviously ask him before posting anything he may not want me to.

I make mine similar but use a rice/water mix of 150% (eg 300ml rice 450ml water).
I add my rice to the water cold in a pan with a tight lid (a little tin foil helps if the lid is not tight)then bring to the boil.
Once it has started to boil I put it on the smallest ring at the lowest heat for 10 mins then switch off the heat completely and allow to stand for 10-15 mins before taking the lid off.
I get perfect fluffy rice everytime with this method.

I've been pondering this for a while and I may have an answer that doesn't tie me to the takeaway for 7 nights a week.

I'm going to offer him about a 'deal', a while back he asked me about making a website for him, my deal will simply be that I will make him his site if he will allow me to go in and watch how his chef prepares the food, I think he may go for that.

Fingers crossed  ;D

I have a Pakistani friend that has recently opened a takeaway in  Sunderland,I have to admit the meals are excellent though a bit lacking on the portion size. ;D

I now have a dilemma,I have talked about my love for 'curries' for a long time with him and he now wants me to work there and amongst other duties he has said I can learn off the chef.The problem is it is a 7 days a week operation from around 5pm till way after midnight and I have other things I need to do regarding friends,family and what I term 'night work' mainly to do with coding various sites and repairing pc's.

Do I go for it and try to fit everything else into a morning/afternoon timeframe or do I carry on as normal but wish I'd said yes and learn from an excellent chef ?.

Thanks for the welcome everyone, as you can see by the threads I have already attempted the saffron base and will work my way through a lot more  ;D

My fave curries are madras and vindaloo CQ, though I have recently developed a taste for jalfrezi and rogan josh, tbh I like 99% of all curries  ;D