Agree with that Mick. Loads of TAs near to me (over 40 within delivery range) and most produce terrible curries, obviously thrown together carelessly, and loaded with jar pastes. It is a problem. A few of the quality chefs I've met refer to people working as "gravy chefs". There are several types. A typical gravy chef would like to make a decent curry, does his best, but has little or no idea how to do it. There are also individuals who are referred to as "dosey" gravy chefs, who can't cook, and really couldn't care less. Finally, there is the "dodgy" gravy chef. This is a restaurant owner's worst nightmare. Can't cook, doesn't care, and won't even clean the kitchen properly. A TA owner told me that he had employed several gravy chefs in the past, as he struggled to assemble a decent team. He reckoned he'd soon know when he'd got "a crap chef", as he would need to double his order of onion bags from the cash & carry, and the tandoori chef would somehow have ran out of masala pastes. Complaints from customers/reduced trade, would follow. Another problem, apparently, is the highly skilled, typically older chef, whose had enough of it all, and changes into a gravy chef.
I think at the moment though I'd be stuck without pataks tandoori curry paste as, like George, I'm a fan of blades' recipe. I have another recipe to try out, but this actually involves more pastes When I started out cooking at home I resorted to jar pastes because my curries lacked flavour/taste. Not so much an issue these days and I haven't used any pastes (in a curry) for quite some time, but still would like to experiment with them. Chewy mentioned a balt paste/naga combo recently, for example.
Balti paste is a funny one though. From my work at a TA it is does seem that curry punters, in general, love the stuff. The "balti" is still one of the most popular ranges of dishes on the menu.
I am reliably informed that 1 rounded tsp of pataks balti paste, or less, is the optimum dosage, per curry.
Rob
Topic: How to make Indian Kashmiri Masala Paste, one you're not supposed to know about! ( 37,094 )