;D Dropped into my favourite T/A last night ,it's over 12 miles from home but we pop in when traveling in that direction ,anyway ordered the food and was sat waiting ,the guy behind the counter although does not speak very good English is a friendly sort and so I started talking about making a Madras Curry .I asked how much Garlic and Ginger he put into a single serving and he pointed to the tip of his finger and said 'tiny bit' I said ' a teasoon ' 'No ! he said 'Garlic and Ginger very strong 'what he was basically saying was 1 teaspoon of Garlic and 1 of Ginger is too much and would spoil the flavour of the Curry,interesting then I asked about Curry Base and he replied ' what,Karahi ? I think that his what he said  uh yes  would you like to see mine  he then invited me into the kitchen whilst our food was being cooked WOW ! I couldn't believe it , a dream come true  ;D he then showed me a massive ...saucepan full of Curry Base Yellowy/Brown colour just simmering on the hob I asked what was in it and he said Onions,Carrot,Fresh Coriander,plus blah blah blah I couldn't understand some of what he said due to his not so good English. When I walked out of the kitchen I jokingly  said ' I'll pay you for some lessons '   He said NO  ...Lessons Free  ;D ;D I will soon be taking him up on his offer and report my findings ..watch this space 

Nice one! Get on that. 

I think there are more BIR chefs willing to share than we think there are.

I know my former takeaway owner was more than happy to teach. Unfortunately I was 4000 miles away. 

Do let us know how you get on Emin-J

emin-j,

well pleased for u.

if nothing else get a taste of the base - so that u know what you're aiming for.

Great stuff, if you do go back make sure you take a pen and paper for some notes 

Hi, great work. I now regularly pop into the kitchen at my local bir. it never loses its magic! Ask how they spice the base sauce, and see if they will share a madras recipe. Cheers DD

hi emin-j
it's a great buzz and it feels totally surreal, doesn't it! you can't really take it all in especially on your first visit. you should ask if you can film him making the food, you never know! but i know how you feel you can't stop thinking about it. good luck for your next visit mate.
regards
gary

Quote from: Curry King on June 15, 2009, 11:41 AM
Great stuff, if you do go back make sure you take a pen and paper for some notes 

Got to be carefull he might think i am a spy 

Quote from: parker21 on June 15, 2009, 05:21 PM
hi emin-j
it's a great buzz and it feels totally surreal, doesn't it! you can't really take it all in especially on your first visit. you should ask if you can film him making the food, you never know! but i know how you feel you can't stop thinking about it. good luck for your next visit mate.
regards
gary

Thanks gary , yes I didnt know where to look first 

Quote from: joshallen2k on June 15, 2009, 03:01 AM
I know my former takeaway owner was more than happy to teach. Unfortunately I was 4000 miles away. 

PFFFT! Some people just have no dedication to their art! 

Hi all,
Further to my tour of the kitchen of  my fav T/A last week I popped in yesterday and ordered our food and asked if I could watch the Chef cook our Madras Curries  The guy who takes the orders said " I will ask the Chef " he was gone a few minutes so I thought it was going to be a " Sorry, No " But he came from the kitchen and asked me into the kitchen  ;D I didn't write anything down or take photo's as I didn't want to seem to be probing too much  ::)The amount of spices etc were difficult to judge as he used the Chef's spoon to ' dip' into his Spice containers.
I was talking to the Chef all the time he was cooking and asking questions.

He had a 2.5 ltr saucepan on the right of the hob half filled with fresh oil and the make of oil was Taj Mahal ( yellow container )I asked if they use any residual oil and he said no only fresh oil ** with some Butter Ghee melted into it ** :)he would use his Chef's spoon to put the oil into his cooking pan , he did not use a Wok more like a Omelet Pan deep enough to take a single T/A serving of curry.At a guess it was probably about half a tea cup of oil so a fair bit !
He then added a very small amount of Methi ( the dried variety )then about 2 teaspoons of Garlic Paste then 2 - 3 tablespoons of Tom Puree ,this was then fried for a minute or so and then 2 - 3 teaspoons of Chili powder was added plus some Salt , a squirt of ** Lemon Juice ** a small amount of Salt then his 'Chefs Special' Curry Powder.They wouldn't tell me what was in it but it looked like your usual Curry powder  :-X he continued to cook for a couple of mins then added Pre Cooked Chicken and finally about 1 good tablespoon of fresh Coriander ,this was cooked for another minute or two then poured into the takeaway container and garnished with a sprinkle of fresh Corriand er a a slice of Tomato.
I asked about the Curry Base and the Chef said " Onions,Green Pepper,Carrot,Ginger,Green Chillies ( small amount ), and fresh Coriander.** The Chef did add " If the Curry Base is not right the Curry will not be "**
I did notice there was no Ginger used in the Curry .
He also had a container of water to the side , I would guess to get the consistency of the Curry right - if he needed to.
I think I have given the basics of what I wanted to know  but as to exact amounts you will have to experiment .Oh ! and our Curry was lush
If you have any questions I might have the answer  ;
PS - forgot to mention  :-[ the Curry Base : 1 ladle went in just after the Spices and a second ladle went in just after the pre - cooked Chicken.