Had yet another thoroughly enjoyable evening in the takeaway last night.The place seems to be getting busier everytime I visit.Weekends are manic,but even midweek the phone doesn't stop ringing with orders.

As usual I arrived just before the place opened,that way I can see the guys do a lot of the prep work before any customers arrive.I still find it strange how they let me in their kitchen,watching and taking notes whilst they cook.I suppose they know I have a passion for BIR cooking and at the end of the day I still order food from the guys so everyone's happy.

I always take my trusty note book with me,and now I'm beggining to see some of the prep work repeated so I can actually re-check all of my notes to make sure I've missed nothing.This week I helped the Chef make a big batch of massala sauce,my next challenge is to make a smaller scaled down version for home use.The Chef also made a big pot of pilau rice,everything was done by eye but I have to say the rice he made was spot on.

As usual I ordered some food before I left,by now the place had quietened down a bit so the chef invited me to cook my own food while he did some other jobs.It all turned out very nice,indeed the chef tasted and gave his nod of approval.The only thing was the portion sizes I cooked,I literally had trouble pushing the lids on top!! I cooked aloo chat,chicken garam massala,sag aloo and a vegetable rice.....



garam massala...




aloo chat...



sag aloo....



veg rice....

This is all great stuff, JB, but one question (if I may ?) -- when you try to replicate the dishes which you have cooked in their commercial kitchen in your kitchen at home, how close do you feel you get ?

(And another totally unrelated question) -- I don't suppose, by any chance, they offer murgh-e-mussalam (whole chicken stuffed with boiled eggs and mince) ?  I ask because I increasingly yearn to taste this dish again, but the only place I knew of that served it closed decades ago ...

** Phil, currently trying to re-create the authentic Malagasy chicken piri-piri that he was taught far too loing ago ...

Good stuff jb

Great stuff Mate.

London.

Great post jb.

Great post it's making my mouth water

CAB.

JB, your curry gravy is the best I have ever made
it's even got what I call "the taste", but I still can't reproduce an exact takeaway curry flavour and aroma.
So I am asking the same as Phil:-

when you try to replicate the dishes which you have cooked in their commercial kitchen in your kitchen at home, how close do you feel you get ?

To be honest I think I can now get an almost exact match.I've been in the takeaway so many times now,probably about eight or nine months in all,watching the chef cook just about everything on his menu.I've been allowed out the back,where he stores all of his ingredients and there's nothing there out of the ordinary or any 'magic' stuff.Having said that,there are still dishes on other places menus that I would like to replicate,or a certain taste that is distinctive to some menus,but as far as my current takeaway is concerned I think my food is more than a good match.

I had some spare time yesterday so I thought I would try and replicate some of the dishes I usually get from the takeaway in my kitchen.On the menu,chicken tikka massala,balti pathia,chicken garam massala and garlic naga chicken...

tikka massala..



balti pathia...



garlic naga...


chicken garam massala...

As per usual whilst cooking I got very little of 'that' BIR smell,your smell senses really do suffer in the kitchen.I get the same thing while I'm actually in the takeaway.However,after popping out of the house for a while my return to the house was greeted with a big waft of what smelt like an indian takeaway.I thought it would be a good idea to take the food to work and share with my colleagues.They've been pestering me for ages.I reheated the curries in the oven,the same lovely BIR smell immediately returned to the house.Even better was the smell from the food bag in the car,it was like I'd been to a takeaway and was on my way home with the food.

My collegues couldn't believe their eyes when I turned up with the food,I think they were just expecting some plain curry and rice.They said it was delicious,as good as any takeaway.It was very good,even I thought,every now and again I got a taste of that elusive but very delicious BIR smell and taste.One joked that I'd brought the food in from the takeaway.'If you can cook cook food as good as this why the hell do still buy so much food from takeaways',that made me laugh.

Looking at the rice dish shown, how do you get such 'long' grains?

for my sins I use Saint Delia's 'perfect rice method' (lightly coated in hot oil, 1.75 times the rice volume for the boiling water, 13 minutes lowest possible simmer, lid on and leave....) with supermarket Basmati.

I did try a microwavable pouch of Tilda coconut basmati last week (hangs head in shame emoticon) and was astounded by the length of each grain seemingly twice as long as I get with the above method. SO.... is there a particular variety or brand I should be using instead?