This has probably been asked a thousand times but what would be the best ratio for GG paste, is it 60 ginger 40 garlic?
Also I have been diluting three Tbs water to one tom puree and then using One Tbs of that mixture to my currys.
I watched Misty Ricardos Vid and he uses the whole mixture which leads me to think I have been getting it wrong.
Could someone please clarify this for me please?
                                                                    TIA Tom 

I have asked this elsewhere with not much success.......

My cousin has brought me back from Tunisia a box containing 10 various spices after I tormented him about how nice some spices that a friend got me from Goa were.
Although much more professionally packed the spices from Tunisia are a bit more confusing to work out.

The Harissa I have identified as a chilly powder but why has it got couscous printed underneath it. The cumin has fish printed underneath it. Are these just suggestions as to what they go with?

I have posted a pic and would like to know if anyone could throw some light on some of theses spices, the Rose with Marie written underneath it in small letters for example is obviously Rosemary (excuse my ignorance I didn't even know it was a spice).

Or the "the a la menthe" I have found translates to mint but it seems in seed or leaf form.
There is one called "Sarafan" which I take may be saffron but the colour does not appear the same as the google pics I can see, not that I would know saffron anyway or how to use it.
All and any advice welcome. Tommy

I am making julians base again. The first one he put up on youtube.
He mentions putting a chefs spoon of curry, cumin, corianda, paprika and turmatic powder at the second stage.
I can't remember how I done it before but does he mean literally a chef spoon of each or a mix made up of a teaspoon of each?
I recall people saying it was over spiced but I just don't recall.
I have his first ebook but it doesn't seem to mention his first base as in the video. Has anybody any info on this please.
It's a close call as my onions are on at this very minute although it's on so low and I'm out at the min. Hopefully I'll be on the case in three or so hours.

I have been adding a small amount of Gheetas Papaya & Orange Chutney to a few of my dishes lately and I must say it adds a nice bit of zing.
I will probably get tired of it eventually as I tend to go overboard with any new discoveries I make...
Nice stuff though.

Now it may be the way I go about things... (mispelling ETC)

I have some mango powder "amchoor" I do believe... (google backs me up on the spelling?)
I was hoping to put it to use in some manner so I put it in to the search bar. Now maybe it is so unusefull that it has never been used by anyone on here but all I seem to get is "Do you mean Armchair"?#

I am fortunate enough to live somewhere that most spices are avaliable to me. How could I make use of this spice please.

I made a base last night followed by the making of a curry for me and a friend.

As Id had a fair amount of drink all my judgement went out the window and I woke this morning after having what I can only presume as heartburn all night and saw the base I made was on the thick side.

Ive added about another Ltr of water to it but as yet not seen my freind yet to see if he also had a rough night.
Has anybody else experianced this in the past?

There's no getting away from it, it has to be mentioned....
The dog or cat curry scandal!
I never saw the program but it's been on the radio today, all the more reason for knowing how to make your own.
For those not in the know here it is...
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/dog-cat-curry-fears-over-1789118

I am having trouble hunting down Blade's Tikka recipe.
I have found plenty of threads covering it but doing a forum search entering Search For "tikka" from User "Blade" does not turn up results.

I have also looked under the Main dishes section and cannot track it down.

This maybe regarded as a spice kit set up... (It is?)
I have my favourite base and mix powder and I predominately make a madras or for the point of this question it could be any dish.

Seeing that for the time being I am using this as my staple recipe does it not make sense to make a container with the mix plus the required amount of chili per volume and the methi and the ground cumin seeds Etc... Don't slate me, it may not be a Madras, not the point.

I see that in some vids 30secs or so is given between the addition of a few things (IE methi) but is this really necessary.
The chefs in retraunts can throw it all in second nature but at my stage I still get In a tizzy getting it all in order and precise timing.

Does anybody else make pre made tubs of individual dishes, to me it would make each dish uniform to the last, thrown in with a bit of precise timing etc.
Hope this make sense... Tom

Not exactly festive but seeing me and the other half are not on good terms at the minute I only had myself to worry about this Xmas...
I treated myself to this for today's dinner and thoroughly lovely it was too.
It was Mickthebass Chicken Tikka in with Chewytikkas base and mix and Madras.
I added some precooked onions and peppers, some ahmed chilli pickle and a mild sliced chilli.
I also threw in a pod of crushed cardomon seeds.
The rice was cooked via c2go pressure cooker method but with Chewys tip of Shan pilau Biryani mix.
It may of turned into a Jalfrazi at some point?
Probably one of the better ones I have made.
I'll pop around her's and pick my Christmas dinner up tomorrow so everyones a winner. 
Thanks to all for me getting this far... Happy Christmas.

My apologies if this has been on here before...
I should imagine many of you would have seen this, and maybe someone here actually posted it to youtube. But for those who have not it's worth a look.
Talk about grass roots street market cooking! The only flames I can recall seeing in a market when I was a kid was the roasted chestnut man doing his business, I think health and safety would have a few words to say about this. 

I would like to try this at some point with half the ingredients for the size of my pressure cooker. I don't know what is meant by old sliced ginger but hopefully ordinary will do, and as for sour yogurt, the comments seem to say ordinary is ok.
Edit: Without trying to open a can of worms this is one of the comments...
"Why? do you call it KARAHI, its Bhunna Gosht, looks tasty"

Mutton Karahi by Fazal E Haq

Just putting the shout out really... Asda are knocking out 10k Kohinoor basmati for 9GBP. I'm not familiar with this brand but my local Asda have got a mountain of bags of it as soon as you walk through the door.

I'm out of my Badshah so may be picking some up.

Edit: On second thoughts whilst writing this to conform my information was correct I came across this webpage which seems to be around 9 months ago, so maybe not such a good deal after all?
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/kohinoor-10kg-basmati-rice-only-4-asda-instore-1106216

Sorry, couldn't help throwing this one in... Rioters stoop to new low!

Could anybody please tell me if it's possible to over cook a base.
I don't mean as in burn it I mean is leaving it the longer the better or will this impair the flavour or would it even improve it?

EDIT: I am referring to the initial melting of the onion stage?

Don't know if anyone has seen it and I should imagine many wouldn't even want to bother, but for me I thoroughly enjoyed watching his programs this morning.

I think they was initially on CH4 but this morning was on a freeview channel called 4seven?

Putting aside the recipes it is a fast moving program with plenty of tips, IE to stop chilli burn on your finger tips wipe hands with lemon before touching.
Simple stuff like how to hang chillies to dry them out and so on.
There was a good section on cooking with spice.
For someone with basic kitchen skills there was a good few tips to be had.


Speaking for myself I totally enjoyed a sunday morning of this TV given the option of whats on the other sides like how to make puff bl##dy pastry etc...

Don't knock it till you view it!

My pride of my kitchen bits and pieces (and I don't have many, even my tin opener is a stab it in and jiggle it around one) A Cuisinart soup maker and blender!
It cost me a fortune for what it does and how much I actually use it..

Not exactly recipe of the year and I'm not exactly recommending it but just to feel like I've made something today I made a cheap and cheerfull Mint Riata.

Just the usuall culprits... 50p tub of yogurt, Tbs mint sauce, coriander, salt and milk. The only unusual addition was to throw in a half tsp of Mr Naga.
Since discovering this stuff it has gone in my baked beans and everything else I can get away with it in.

I nearly polished the whole of the riata off before I got it the arms length to the fridge!
Would this be able to be used in a curry, I know people use it to cool one down but for us curry heads would it tarnish it?
Maybe just a tsp at the end of cooking... Just a thought?

Just watching the sendoff, Coldplay not really my scene but I have to admit tonight mixed in with the rest of the show it's a very good night.
Very humbling actually, brings home how fortunate most of us are.

I have read that another name for Kashmiri chili powder is Degi Mirch.
Could someone please confirm this for me please as if this is the case then it has been staring me in the face for ages.
TIA

Just brought my first jar of the famous/infamous Mr Naga today, I have yet to decide how to put it to it's best use but it gets plenty of thumbs up on here so I'll work it out.

In the mean time I also came across this bottle of mango chili sauce, I don't know if anyone is familiar with it but it packs a lovely punch.
I will add a bit to the next Madras I will make...

I don't know if it's just me but I've found frying off G/G mix in a non stick pan causes it to spit mega time in comparison to my ally pan?
It certainly doesn't like it!