I had my first lesson today from my curry house chef.Very,very interesting to see an authentic chef in action in the comfort of your own home i can tell you.

I will post a full report later when I have more time(I have another lesson on Wednesday by the way).Originally we planned to have a two hour session but it stretched to three hours and we ran out of time in the end.I took plenty of pictures and because there was a hell of a lot of info he brought an assistant to take notes which he's going to type up and give back to me on my next lesson.

All I can say is that there were no magical ingredients or special techniques.Everything was cooked or prepared in much the same way as has been described on the forum over the years.The base sauce reminded me of CA's curry base here...
https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3772.0

The only difference was the addition of a fresh lemon and a small amount of yogurt.
Although I brought ten chillies only three actually went into the base.Only fresh oil went into the base(I asked him about spiced oil and he said he did not do it that way although some chefs might.)He did say that the oil that rises to the top on the base sauce should be ladled off and used when you actually cook the curries.

He showed me how to precook the chicken as it's done in the restaurant and then made a chicken jalfrezi...it was lovely by the way.No flames he said chefs do this just for effect and it makes no real difference to the taste.

Disappointments???  Well I guess the only one is the fact that he uses a spoonful of pre made pataks paste when he finally makes his curries.I was really hoping he was going to say he makes his own pastes etc in his restaurant but as he said they are convenient and any way in which he can maximise profits is good.I shouldn't have been surprised really as most of the take-aways kitchens I've seen around here have jars of the stuff on the shelves.

All in all a very interesting day.Like I said no real suprises,I feel sure that we have the right techniques and ingredients on this forum already.It just needs practice and a bit of patience.

Good post jb,
One question,  did he tell you which pastes he used in which curries?, I have only ever seen the Balti paste used in some Balti dishes, and tikka, tandoori, kashmiri masala pastes in tikka and tandoori dishes,
Thanks,
Mick

It was actually Pataks jalfrezi paste.Forgot to mention he also showed me his secret spice mix.I'll have to look at my notes to see exactly went into it and ratios but it was the usual suspects(turmeric,cumin.garam massala.coriander etc).Oh and no mention anywhere in his recipes did he use asofetida(hing)

Awesome, good stuff. Thanks for sharing something that you're paying for  ;D

It says a lot for how the forum has moved on that you haven't reported anything earth shatteringly new (as yet). It's interesting that some myths have been debunked already, e.g. the use of fire power and off-the-shelf Pataks paste as opposed to special "in-house" blends.

This is a great post jb and, like TyeNoodle, I'd like to take the opportunity to thank you for sharing your lessons.

well done on yer first lesson jb, quick question u seem dissapointed ? i take it you didnt get the bir flavour u were expecting from the final dish ? i have just scoured the net and found someone in glasgow who does lessons like your chef , waiting on a reply mate !

Well the Jalfrezi was very nice I was just expecting something earth-shatterring or a big eureka moment I guess.My favourite curry is madras,this he said is done just by making a basic chicken curry with the addition of chillie powder and lemon juice.I'm sure when I saw it made in my takeaway recently there was methi thrown it at the beginning(although he did agree some chefs use this).The only problem is that because he was there for so long we ran out of time and I didn't have much oil floating on my base to reclaim for my final dishes(he did say this is important).Next time i make another base sauce I will ensure that I get plenty of oil.

However it's still fantastic to see an actual chef go through the basics right in front of you(and someone to take notes so you can take pictures!)

Quote from: jb on August 03, 2010, 07:38 AMsomeone to take notes so you can take pictures

I know you have to have a certain amount of confidence in any 'contractor' and it's hardly a 'them and us' situation BUT, in your position, I really wouldn't want his assistant to be taking the notes. I'd want to be taking the notes, perhaps via a video camera or dictation device, or have a scribe from 'my side' - who I might trust just that bit more.

Quote from: jb on August 03, 2010, 07:38 AM
Well the Jalfrezi was very nice I was just expecting something earth-shatterring or a big eureka moment I guess.

Hi jb

Thanks again for sharing your experiences.

Also, don't forget, that you have been cooking solidly for around 3 hours and so it is likely your sense of taste and smell will have been stifled and you may not have been able to appreciate the true taste of your efforts. Plus it is still early days in the lessons.

Did you have any left-overs in the fridge that you can taste again?

Cheers

Some good points.Afraid i scoffed the lot straight away,thinking about the dishes again the jalfrezi was very moorish and had a subtle hot flavour and lovely taste.I don't normally eat basic chicken curries(I'm a madras or chilli sort of guy) so I guess that's why the basic curry may have tasted a bit blander to me.Certainly we were cooking for a long time(the wife took the baby out for a shopping trip because of the fumes from the spices she said!!)

Tomorrow I am doing garlic chicken chilli,sag aloo,and aloo chat.I will save it and eat it for the following day to see any difference.

I have to say his assistant was busily writing away throughout the three hours, I guess she must have taken about six sheets' worth of A4 notes,so I'm quietly confident she has written everything down for me.He said after I have finished the lessons I am more than welcome to visit his restaurant and see the chefs in action.