Recently I have been gradually reducing the spice mix of late to try and reproduce that more subtle Balti taste I get from my local bir.
I was making a curry last night using CA?s Base and BE?s spice mix and mistakenly  added the ingredients in the wrong order to usual.
Normally I will add tomato puree and g&g paste to the hot oil but for some reason I added the spice mix first!
At first I didn?t realise the error of my ways...but thought that something didn?t quite smell right!
The spice mix foamed up in the oil, but in no time at all (15-20 secs) the foaming was reducing (see https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=2815.0).
I suddenly realised my mistake and quickly added the tom puree and g&g.
I quickly stirred them in - worrying about burning the spices, I immediately added a good ladle of base.
After that I continued to cook the curry as normal.
The finished dish was much more golden in colour (probably due to the reduction in spices) and the taste was by far the closest I have ever got to reproducing a balti at home
I am not sure why this is but I will be definitely be trying this method next time.
Has  anyone else had a lucky result from getting things wrong?

Mistakes often create the best results. The challenge is to remember what you did to recreate it. Fortunately you seem to have this noted down.

Out of interest, when would the spice mix be added normally. I'm certainly no expert, but adding the spice mix later would perhaps result in not cooking them through properly.

One of the things you notice in the Dipurajah balti video, is when he makes a point to say that the spices must be cooked. I think he actually says 'burn the spices' but you get the point.

Good result though.

My usual technique is to fry tom puree and g&g paste first for a minute or two depending on the oil temp - mainly to cook out the rawness of the garlic. I then add the spices usually chilie powder first, quickly followed by the mixed spice. As soon as I think that is cooked enough to release the essential oils etc, I then add some base to stop the spices from burning. Pretty standard practice as far as I can gather from reading loads of stuff on this forum over the last few years. What about you? Which bases/spice mixes do you recommend?
Havent really checked out Dipuraja. Wheres their restuarant? Have any members checked out their cuisine?
Regards
Mick

Mick, is wasn't a criticism my apologies if you thought it was.

Naturally, I would recommend the IG Spice Mix and the IG base but i'm going back for that shortly, so will have that up as soon as I can.  I can't vouch for dipurajah's food but some members are enjoying it.

Quote from: mickdabass on April 21, 2010, 06:12 PM
Havent really checked out Dipuraja. Wheres their restuarant? Have any members checked out their cuisine?

Hi Mick

It's one of those imponderables to me as to why no one ever tries out the various BIRs that get mentioned on this forum. There are after all several thousand members (supposedly) so just by chance there should be a handful of people within easy reach of any of them. 

I know that if one were by me I'd be round there sharpish!

No problems Axe. I didnt think for a minute you were being too critical. If you dont ask-you dont find out!
But at the end of the day we are all critics - thats what this forum is all about  ;D

And yes SS i cant understand why anyone hasn't been round one of these birs either! Im sure Jerry or someone else could work out
from the stats exactly how many people on average live within say ten miles radius of any of these restaurants!
Anyhow I digress. If I can replicate that Balti "Style" Dish again; I will consider it a major breakthrough for me. I will post my results as and when 

Quote from: Secret Santa on April 21, 2010, 08:18 PM
I know that if one were by me I'd be round there sharpish!

Me too! I can't understand why nobody has reported visits to the place(s) with webcams or the BIR of the chap now posting lots of videos on youtube.

SS/George,

If you cast you minds back, I did report on 'East' in Ashton-under-Lyne, Manchester.  Do you remember, it was the one with the webcam?  And as I reported then, it was crap :-X

As for the Dipuraja, maybe it's the location of that one 'Penrith' that's making it difficult to report on?

Ray

i think it's crucial to make a few mistakes in order to learn.

adding green chilli to base in place of chilli powder (and vice versa) is a recent one for me.

as for the web cams. i have it on my mind to try maliks - i just don't seem to be able to time being there late on or evening. penrith is a place i know too but work don't take me there now and it's a 100 mile stint near enough.

the thing for me is to learn from them - not what quality they produce - my local TA produces all the quality i need and is what i'm aiming for. only by trying various ideas do i feel i have a chance of getting there.

Mick, what's funny about this is that I had the same thing happen last night. With a small amount of base thawing I decided to use it in a dish. Having had a crack at Dopiaza the other night, I thought i'd do it again but see if I could better it for me somehow.

So anyway, started to pre-cook the lamb by adding ghee then frying G&G Paste then spicemix and curry powder, added my lamb and topped with water to simmer away for an hour.

I was also on the forum at this time and kept going backwards and forwards from kitchen to PC. I must have got engrossed at one point because I managed to miss that the water had all but boiled from the pan. What was left was 'dry' curry in oil with chunks of lamb in it. It smelt great, looked great and even better, it tasted great. If it wasn't for all prepared onion and spices I had done for the Dopiaza, I would have eaten the lot there and then.

As for visiting some of these restaurants, given what I have seen on Webcam's and Video, they don't compare to my local which is far superior, in my opinion. Funny that Malilk's should be mentioned. I was watching this last night and almost posted a new topic in amazement. I watched as dirty pans were used over and over to create dishes. It might be the pans were stored dish specific, so a korma gets cooked in the korma pan, but where is the food hygiene in that! Granted though, that dishes that required hot frying, were done in clean pans.