Hi guys,

Been meaning to post for a couple of weeks just haven't had chance.

I was in my local the other day and I was speaking to the manager as usual and asked him what I should go for, he suggested going for a North Indian Garlic Chilli dish, I agreed, then he said come with me....... I'll cook it in front of you  ;D  So into the kitchen I went!

This is how it went:

1- Pan on over the burner on a medium heat

2- 1 Chefs spoon into a pot on the hob containing fresh veg oil

3- Heat oil then add approx 1 tbsp of G&G paste for a minute stiring. This looked like ready made stuff to me rarther than 'homemade'

4- Then he stuck his spoon into another pot on the hob which was filled with precooked onions and peppers, out came a heaped chefs spoon full adding it to the pan.  It looked like 2/1 mix of onion/pepper and he told me they were precooked in a bit of oil and turmeric.  They were cut really fine like you would find then in your bag of salad with poppadoms

5- After adding the onions and pepper he mixed it about a bit then stuck the tip of the spoon into a pot of tomato paste, so about a tsp worth.  Tomato paste looked a deeper red than the dbl concentrated stuff I buy in tube form and it looked smoother.  He also said he was adding it to give it a bit of colour

6-  After another minute he then added the spices...... approx 1 tbsp of spice mix, 1 tbsp chilli powder, 1 tsp dried fenugreek, tip of spoon into salt then mixed it in.

7-  Then took a chefs pinch of sliced garlic cloves and the same of chopped green chilli's aswell as adding a chefs spoon of melted butter from another pot on the hob.  I asked if this was ghee but he said no, it is normal butter

8-  After adding the above he then turned the heat up to infuse the spices, the flames were now licking around the top of the pan.  Then a minute or two later he added just one laddle of base.  Laddle was propably about 250ml at a guess, but there base sauce is quite thick, certainly not like the thin soup bases we are accustomed to on here

9-  Another couple of minutes pass and its ready, transferred into the container and sprinkled with fresh corriander.  I walk out a very happy customer, trying to get back as quick as I can to write it all down  ;D

This is what it looked like served on their veg pilau rice, it was delicious!





Going to give it a go with the new slightly thicker batch of CR02 base I made today!

Cheers

Del

Thanks for the post and info. Dellydel.

I admit, when I first looked at the photos I thought "Who's stuffed up their rice and curry then!?  I hope it's not from one of MY recipes!!!  )

Then I saw it's actually from your BIR!  Just goes to show how little I know then!  :

Thanks for the account dellydel, seems like you remembered the order of everything!
I bet when the chef added the precooked onions/peppers the BIR smell was there. Yeah? If so that's really frustrating!
So did the garlic come out pungent/raw tasting or did it get browned? Most curries seem to have the garlic lightly browned at the start so this looks like a different technique. I suppose cooking it this way makes it stand out and dominate more?

I hope you showed your appreciation so you might get another demo! 

Really good post, well done. I'll be very interested to hear how your version compares to the BIR one.

The ingredients look like it probably tasted similar to a Madras but a drier, more garlicky version - my idea of food heaven! I'm going to have to give this a go some time very soon. One question - when he added the slices of garlic, did they look raw or partially cooked? A minute or two for raw garlic doesnt sound enough to me.

@ CA - What do you mean by your post 'looks like someone stuffed up', does it not look good to you  ;D

@ Chinois - To be honest the smell was there when I walked into the kitchen as there was other stuff going on, so I didn't notice a difference when he cooked my dish..... It certainly didn't go away 

Regarding the garlic, I was a little concerned when he took a big pinch of sliced garlic and added it so late, not something I would of ever considered!  But after doing so the heat went right up so at this stage it would of been softened.  When I came to eat it though, the garlic slices didn't appear to be browned, I was expecting a raw taste, but there wasn't!

It is also the same case for the green chillies, adding them late meant they were very flavorsome and had a little bit of a crunch to them which helped them stand out imo.  Although any dish with chillies from there, they seem to have a slight crunch, adding later on is key I believe!

I would like to know their spice mix though, maybe I will ask next time I'm in, until then I will probably go with the old trusty BE spice mix!

Quote from: dellydel on February 23, 2010, 01:25 PM
@ CA - What do you mean by your post 'looks like someone stuffed up', does it not look good to you  ;D

No, to be honest, to me it looks like an awful mess! 

No doubt it tasted great though....

Quote from: Cory Ander on February 23, 2010, 01:44 PM

Quote from: dellydel on February 23, 2010, 01:25 PM
@ CA - What do you mean by your post 'looks like someone stuffed up', does it not look good to you  ;D

No, to be honest, to me it looks like an awful mess! 

Don't hold back Cory

Quote from: AchMal on February 23, 2010, 01:46 PM
Don't hold back Cory

Just being honest Achmal, I'd be embarrassed to serve up food like that  :-X

I'm not knocking dellidel's post, just the appearance of the food.  The post is a good post and most informative 

Perhaps we should post more photos of the curries from our favourite BIRs?  It makes me feel whole heaps better about my own! 

Lol, I appreciate your honesty Ca. I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder!  Looks great to me  ;D

Quote from: Cory Ander on February 23, 2010, 01:49 PM

Quote from: AchMal on February 23, 2010, 01:46 PM
Don't hold back Cory

Perhaps we should post more photos of the curries from our favourite BIRs?  It makes me feel whole heaps better about my own! 

That may be a good idea, seeing how a Madras, for example, looks from different parts of the country or  the world, for that matter,

Even a Madras or Vindaloo from American Indian Restaurants would be good,

Mick