Quote from: hotstuff09 on June 30, 2011, 10:50 AM
Welcome to cr0 Abdul.
Don't have any questions, But would like your opinion on this base gravy if you would please, It is from a bangladesh resturant in Bradford, To me it seems more of the old style of base, but i could be wrong.

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1894.0

HS

Hi, and thank you for asking for my opinion on the base gravy. It is the old style base
and it will turn out great, compliments to the chef.
However I feel there are a few important ingredients that are missing, but I cannot share this with you as yet because I have started on volume 2 of my book and this has the ingredients and method for the base sauce.

thank you

Hi Abdul,hope you remember me from when I had my lessons from you some time ago(Jason from Grays in Essex).I've since lost my phone(and number) so if you've tried to get in touch with me that's the reason I haven't answered.Enjoyed the lessons immensely.Still cooking away perhaps you can have a look at some of the stuff I've cooked......

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=5113.0

Welcome to the forum!!!!

Jason

Quote from: abdulmohed2002 on June 30, 2011, 01:00 PM
Hi, and thank you for asking for my opinion on the base gravy. It is the old style base
and it will turn out great, compliments to the chef.
However I feel there are a few important ingredients that are missing, but I cannot share this with you as yet because I have started on volume 2 of my book and this has the ingredients and method for the base sauce.

thank you

Thanks Abdul for your opinion, and yes it does work well, If the old style sauce is in your volume 2 book then it is a must buy for me.

Best of luck with your books,

HS

Quote from: abdulmohed2002 on June 30, 2011, 12:40 PM
thank you, I hope have answered your questions

Thanks for your answer to my questions Abdul.

If my maths doesn't fail me, you therefore started working in British Indian Restaurants in the mid 80s?

If not all the restaurants were Bangladeshi, what were the others and how do they differ please?

Regarding the "gravy sauce", the one thing I can deduce from your reply is that they cooked a chicken in it too?  What other significant differences were there please?  For instance, did they (or do they now?):

• pre-fry the spices?
• chop the onions or boil them whole?
• add MSG?
• add any other stock?
• use cabbage, or any other unusual ingredients (compared to nowadays)?
• add pre-used ("spice infused") oil?
• filter it before use?
• etc?

You also say that chefs now "add different flavourings".  What "flavourings" do they now add now please (besides "lots of mixed veg"?)?  What do you mean by "lots of mixed veg" please?

You say that the "gravy sauce" in your book is "old style".  But, as far as I understand, it doesn't include chicken?  What is it, specifically, that makes it "old style" please?

Thank you for your forbearance Abdul.  I would really like to understand the specifics (rather than the generalisations) behind "old style" and "new style" curry bases.

I hope you can willingly oblige my questions! 

Well done CA straight to the point - hope we get sum answers that can help - sounds promising .....

Quote from: Cory Ander on June 30, 2011, 03:14 PM

Quote from: abdulmohed2002 on June 30, 2011, 12:40 PM
thank you, I hope have answered your questions

Thanks for your answer to my questions Abdul.

If my maths doesn't fail me, you therefore started working in British Indian Restaurants in the mid 80s?

If not all the restaurants were Bangladeshi, what were the others and how do they differ please?

Regarding the "gravy sauce", the one thing I can deduce from your reply is that they cooked a chicken in it too?  What other significant differences were there please?  For instance, did they (or do they now?):

• pre-fry the spices?
• chop the onions or boil them whole?
• add MSG?
• add any other stock?
• use cabbage, or any other unusual ingredients (compared to nowadays)?
• add pre-used ("spice infused") oil?
• filter it before use?
• etc?

You also say that chefs now "add different flavourings".  What "flavourings" do they now add now please (besides "lots of mixed veg"?)?  What do you mean by "lots of mixed veg" please?

You say that the "gravy sauce" in your book is "old style".  But, as far as I understand, it doesn't include chicken?  What is it, specifically, that makes it "old style" please?

Thank you for your forbearance Abdul.  I would really like to understand the specifics (rather than the generalisations) behind "old style" and "new style" curry bases.

I hope you can willingly oblige my questions! 

Hi Cory, there are many questions on here and I will try to answer them as best as I can  ;D


- Yes I had started working in the mid 80s and have worked with chefs who had worked during the late 70s.

-The other restaurants were pakistani and they differed by doing pot cooking and put them on display on a hot tray. As you order, they would take it from the hot tray, heat it up and serve you. They still follow the same concept today.

Bangladeshi : any restaurant you go to, they will prepare the food as you order rather than have them displayed. They also follow the same concept today.

- Chop the onions, no adding other stock, no unusual ingredients, normal oil, filtering the whole spices before blending (used to be done manually) and they did cook a chicken in it too.


- What I had meant by lots of mixed veg are: carrot, green chillies, capsicums, lemon, peeled tomatoes or coriander and these give different flavourings and different chefs have different preferences of how many they would like to use.


- The gravy sauce in volume 1 of my book is NOT old style, volume 2 will contain the old style and the new style so you should be able to see the difference.

- What makes it old style is the way the gravy is made, if you look at the paragraph I numbered '1' and compare that to paragraph '2' you can see the differences between old style and new style curry bases.

1) Old style: They would roast all the garam masalas and put it a side. When they made the gravy, they added big chunks of chopped onions; put the whole roasted masalas (example, cinamon sticks, cloves etc) into the pot with the chicken; all the other masalas and oil. Boil, then filter and blend manually.

2) New style: Chop all the onions and place into a pot, adding the vegetables and all the masalas. Boil and then once it has cooled down, you blend. You do not add chicken and all the masalas that are used are powder form.

What is 'MSG'?

I hope that I have answered all of your questions. If you have any further questions then I will try to answer them from the best of my knowledge.

thank you

Thank you for answering my (many!) questions and clarifying Abdul.  I appreciate it 

To summarise (if I understand you correctly):

1.  "Old Style" curry base:

• Coarsely chopped onions
• Other vegetables?
• Raw chicken (whole? on-the bone parts? or boneless parts?)
  
• Roasted whole garam masala spices (Cinnamon sticks, cloves, etc)
• Other masalas
• Fresh oil
• Water (presumably)
• Heat/boil
• Whole spices (and chicken) removed (actually filtered or manually removed?) before manual blending

2.  "New Style" curry base:

• Coarsely chopped onions
• Combination of mixed vegetables (capsicum, green chillies, carrots, tomatoes, coriander, etc)
• Powdered masalas
• Fresh oil
• Water (presumably)
• Heat/boil
• Cool and blend

I have a number of additional questions (please refer to question marks above), if you don't mind, notably:

• What other vegetables (besides onions) were added to "old style" curry bases?
• What sort of chicken was used (whole, parts, boned or boneless?)?
• What other masalas were used besides the whole garam masala spices?
• Was the curry base actually filtered (through some type of sieve) or were the bits manually picked out?

Once again, thank you for your forbearance, Abdul, I really appreciate you trying to clarify these things for us 

PS:  "MSG" is "monosodiumglutamate", a flavour enhancer that is (used to be) prevalent in Chinese (and, I suspect, British Indian Restaurant) cooking.

Quote from: Cory Ander on July 01, 2011, 02:10 AM
Thank you for answering my (many!) questions and clarifying Abdul.  I appreciate it 

I have a number of additional questions (please refer to question marks above), if you don't mind, notably:

• What other vegetables (besides onions) were added to "old style" curry bases?
• What sort of chicken was used (whole, parts, boned or boneless?)?
• What other masalas were used besides the whole garam masala spices?
• Was the curry base actually filtered (through some type of sieve) or were the bits manually picked out?

Once again, thank you for your forbearance, Abdul, I really appreciate you trying to clarify these things for us 

PS:  "MSG" is "monosodiumglutamate", a flavour enhancer that is (used to be) prevalent in Chinese (and, I suspect, British Indian Restaurant) cooking.

Hi Cory, thank you for your interest in the old style of gravy. I cannot answer any further questions specifically about the old style as I had mentioned earlier as it will be a key aspect in volume 2. Once it is published you can ask me as many questions you wish for you to get it correct as I have done the same as volume 1.

If you have questions for any other recipe then I will try and answer them to the best of my knowlegde.

As far as my memory serves I have not used 'MSG' in any of the dishes.

thank you

Abdul

Quote from: abdulmohed2002 on July 01, 2011, 01:33 PM
Hi Cory, thank you for your interest in the old style of gravy. I cannot answer any further questions specifically about the old style as I had mentioned earlier as it will be a key aspect in volume 2. Once it is published you can ask me as many questions you wish for you to get it correct as I have done the same as volume 1.

If you have questions for any other recipe then I will try and answer them to the best of my knowlegde.

As far as my memory serves I have not used 'MSG' in any of the dishes.

thank you

Abdul

Hi Abdul,

Thank you for your comprehensive replies Abdul 

I think it's a great pity that you feel unable to answer questions about the "old style" curry base. 

I understand that it's a topic for your future book, but I guess I am hoping/waiting for a BIR chef who is sincerely willing to help our members (including me) truly replicate BIR curries, rather than one who seems more interested in promoting their current (and future) book.

I'm sure many of our members would still be most interested in any information you are otherwise willing to share. 

Meanwhile, I'll keep searching, waiting and hoping 

Good luck with your books! 

Quote from: Cory Ander on July 02, 2011, 02:38 PM

I think it's a great pity that you feel unable to answer questions about the "old style" curry base. 

I understand that it's a topic for your future book, but I guess I am hoping/waiting for a BIR chef who is sincerely willing to help our members (including me) truly replicate BIR curries, rather than one who seems more interested in promoting their current (and future) book.

Agree with you 100% CA.

Everything comes down to money these days, And how can we rip of the punters a bit more, And i woulden't mind betting some of the recipes (with slight changes) from this site end up in book 2

I stupidly thought this guy wanted to help us, How wrong was I :