Topic: Just had a demonstration by the chef at my local restaurant

[Mark J]

Hi Gareth,

I fried them in oil slowly, after a few minutes I added a tablespoon of curry base.

For the balti I tried something different, I fried them slightly in oil, then added a TSP of restaurant masala (see Pete's curry house cookery ebook), then added about half a cup of water and simmered.

In short the pathia turned out better but I felt the balti wasnt right, I didnt have any pataks balti paste so used pataks kashmiri paste instead

[Gareth]

Hi Gareth,

I fried them in oil slowly, after a few minutes I added a tablespoon of curry base.

For the balti I tried something different, I fried them slightly in oil, then added a TSP of restaurant masala (see Pete's curry house cookery ebook), then added about half a cup of water and simmered.

In short the pathia turned out better but I felt the balti wasnt right, I didnt have any pataks balti paste so used pataks kashmiri paste instead

Thanks again.

I'll try using this recipe - if I can get it half as close to the real thing as you have I'll be happy!

Gareth.

[Mark J]

Just made this again and it was awesome, even better than the first time I made it.

Differences this time were: I forgot to put the fresh tomato in, I used ghee and veg oil and used pasata instead of tomato puree.

[pete]

chicken pathia

First off he started with the chicken pathia, on a medium-high heat he added a ladle of hot oil from a pot on the stove (not curry base oil, plain veg oil) then quickly added about 2 TSP garlic puree (no ginger), after about 10 seconds of spreading this around the pan he added about 3 TBSP medium chopped pre cooked onions (they looked a little yellow so I presume had been cooked in oil and curry powder, turmeric etc), he chopped these about a bit and then added about 1.5 TBSP tomato puree (very surprised to see this go in at this stage but the same was true of the balti, I wonder if this fried puree is the rich taste I am after?). He fried this for about 10-20 seconds more and then added the pre cooked chicken, about 2 TSP curry powder, 1-2TSP chilli powder, 1-2 TSP sugar, a few pieces of raw tomato, 1 TSP fenugreek leaves and maybe some salt. He quickly stir fried this mixture for about 10 seconds and then added a ladle of curry base which he evaporated off, he added a few chopped coriander leaves, a bit more curry base and a wedge of lemon and then left this to simmer as he got on with the balti. Whilst cooking the balti he stirred this occasionally and added a ladle of the curry base.
Both curries were simmered slightly then served garnished with fresh coriander (and they tasted superb as always)

I made the chicken pathia last night and was very impressed.
I like the way that the pre-fried onions seem to disappear into the base sauce
I was surprised at using sugar
I had wondered if that was something that we had made up.
That is what I love about these genuine recipes
You know that it's right, it's NOT a calculated guess.
I used Rajah Mild Madras Curry Powder.
The chef from my Bengal Cuisine lesson said they used Rajah.
What did you use?
I watered down the curry base too (Bengal Cuisine gravy was very runny too)
Anyhow the result was excellent
So, thanks!

[Mark J]

Excellent, glad it worked out pete. For curry powder I used the restaurant masala mix from the curry house cookery you posted. (And for the curry powder element of that I used sharwoods medium curry powder).

Both chefs gave me some flannel about it being their secret spice mix (I thought at the time "yeah right, straight out of a rajah or east end packet"  ;D)

[Curry King]

I made this last night and it was very nice.

I used my own spice mix instead of a packet curry powder and didnt add any precooked onions.  Im not a pathia eater myself but even I thought it tasted ok, a bit sweet for me so it must have been right!  I didn't have any batteries in my camera so I couldn't take a pic but it looked the business.

Cheers
cK

[John]

Just made this again and it was awesome, even better than the first time I made it.

Differences this time were: I forgot to put the fresh tomato in, I used ghee and veg oil and used pasata instead of tomato puree.

did you use the pasata in the first dish (not so good) or in the second dish (awesome) ?

[Mark J]

Pasata, they are definately using pasata and not concentrated tomoatoe puree in the 2 kitchens I have been in.

[curryqueen]

They use a cross between passata and double concentrate.  If you go into an Asian shop you can buy tins tomato paste.  It is not no concentrated.

[George]

Here's another possible approach. Please see:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/eastmidlands/series7/curry_chefs.shtml

It seems the UK has a shortage of curry chefs. The article goes on to say "The only large scale training academy is based in London. The Academy of Asian Culinary Arts at Thames Valley University launched the UK's first curry course in 1999."

I assume they teach the 'UK curry' style in order for the course to be of much use. If they taught how to cook 'proper' or 'fine dining' Indian food like served at top hotels in India, then the guidance wouldn't be of much use in many of the 10,000 Indian restaurants in the UK.

Students might welcome some extra income. Stand outside and offer cash to anyone prepared to pass on some knowledge!