Topic: Chef Sam's Live Interview

[Aussie Mick]

Did anyone try the Karahi recipe I posted? If not you are missing out on a VERY nice curry, not BIR, but extremely tasty.....do it.

Where is the recipe Mick?

Les

This is it Les, don't be shy with the ghee (butter) or the salt.

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,12218.0.html

[Les]

Cheers Mick, I couldn't find it,  lol

Les

Happy Cooking ;D

[Micky Tikka]

Going to bed Mick
You lazy Buggar you should be pealing onions for tomorrow  ;D

[curryhell]

Thanks Phil, and thanks again peeps for the messages.

Although I am quite inactive, if I can answer any questions I will, just ask away.

I am not proffesing to be as knowledgable as many members on here, I am still on a learning curve all the time. There are many, many members of this site that are much, much more knowledgable than I am.

I am still enjoying every second of every day running my own takeaway/restaurant and will share anything useful. Sometimes, it's hard to get motivated after very long busy days, but please ask if there is anything I can maybe help with.

Glad you reconsidered Mick.  You're as active as your job allows you to be, just like the rest of us.  The only difference is we don't depend on our cooking skills and appreciation of the food we cook for  a living.  You do !!!!  This......................

200 is our limit Michael. We only open from 5pm - 9pm.

Many, many times, we have to stop taking orders around 7.30 pm.

Churning out 200 curries is horrendous with only me cooking, but I still really enjoy it.

It gets very awkward when we get lots of orders for Rogan Josh, Bhuna, Jhalfezi, Balti type curries. Just adding onions, peppers, tomatoes...then pastes, pickles, bunjarra etc takes so much thinking about and time....seriously.

Worse still is when we get several orders for the same dish with different contents...ie veg Jhal, lamb Jhal, beef Jhal, CT Jhal....very awkward at busy times. At least if we get 4 orders for chicken Jhal, we can cook them all together in one big pan.

Last night was extremely busy and our first table order came in at 6.00pm

- Lamb Phall
- Chicken Tikka Phall
- Chicken Kamikaze
- Beef Kamikaze
- Fish Kamikaze
- Chicken Jhalfrezi
- Lamb Jhalfrezi
- Prawn Jhalfrezi
- Prawn Madras
- Chicken Tikka vindaloo

It may not sound bad, but some certain dishes are readily prepared and easy enough to do, but ALL of these had to be cooked from scratch. Add to that the fact that we had 20 takeaway orders stacked up, and due out in the next 15 minutes, and the phone constantly ringing, well it can get a bit mad.

We normally have a "general base" prepared (my invention) which saves a lot of time preparing some dishes. probaly won't be of any use to cook at home folks, but if you would like to know, just ask.

Not complaining though......I love it....

..............tells me and everybody else, including the  stalwarts who harp on about yesteryear curries, how well you're doing it 
The bottom line is, if your food wasn't any good or only fair to middling, you wouldn't have the above problem    Long may your problems continue.  Maybe, to ease the pressure you'd consider hiring in one or two of us for a week or so, just to relieve the pressure?  Obviously, we'd pay for our own flights  ;D ;D
The most amazing thing is, that the way you make your living now was simply driven by your love of BIR curry.  This really does sum up what this site is all about. Once you learn who the protagonists are, you can simply ignore their pettiness.

[ Moderator's comments - moderated]

George, unless admin has increased your moderating remit, please stick to moderation only and not censorship !!!

[Stephen Lindsay]

Glad to see you are sticking around AM, and as for 200 covers - OMG!

[loveitspicy]

Mick

I'm looking for a job - any chance??

just kidding mate - glad you are sill here when i tuned in before the virus on the computer you were packing your bags and leaving the site.

best, Rich

[Aussie Mick]

  Maybe, to ease the pressure you'd consider hiring in one or two of us for a week or so, just to relieve the pressure?  Obviously, we'd pay for our own flights  ;D ;D

Yes please.

We can't get anyone here that is interested in learning to cook.

As Raj quite rightly pointed out, we couldn't employ an Indian to cook this food, as they would always add a bit of this and that and they would change the taste completely (not intentionally, but it is how their taste buds work.)

We had a mate over form UK a few months ago, and he couldn't believe that we were paying our kitchen hands $20/hour. At the time is was equivalent to about 14 quid an hour. But that is what we have to pay here to get anyone.

We now employ a few youngsters for weekend shifts, but they still get paid better than a lot of workers at Tesco.....lol

[Aussie Mick]

As i said last night, we have a "general base", at the ready, which we really couldn't keep up with demand if we didn't.

I have a pan so large that is sits on 3 - 4 gas rings, so it is like a big ally fry pan.

I add:

50 tbsp oil
50 tsps garlic ginger and cook
50 tsps methi and a chef spoon of salt
50 tbsps tomato puree
25 portions of base gravy
50 tsps mixed powder
50 tsps madras curry powder.
Further 25 portions of base gravy

Once this is all cooked up, it is stored in a 20 litre bucket. I will always have 3 of these ready on Friday, Saturday nights, it saves so much time. When an order comes in, I ladle 360 ml into a pan, and add everything else to it.....and it works. There are some dishes that it cannot be used for obviously korma, tikka masala (but we have buckets of these already prepped too)

I fry kashmiri chilli powder in a mix of oil/base gravy, and keep this in a tub, and add it to each dish according to how much is needed

Madras, vindaloo, phall etc are all cooked from scratch.

Like I said, no use to most members, but if anyone is going to cook in bulk, try it.

[Ramirez]

Hi Mick
whats the most curries you have cooked in one day  ;D

200 is our limit Michael. We only open from 5pm - 9pm.

Many, many times, we have to stop taking orders around 7.30 pm.

Churning out 200 curries is horrendous with only me cooking, but I still really enjoy it.

That is hugely impressive! I usually only cook 1-3 curries, sometimes 4, but I am wiped out after that. I cannot imagine how exhausting 200 curries must be - that is very admirable and it's great you seem to get so much enjoyment out of it.

[natterjak]

Time to think about franchising the business mick. In 5 years time there could be a "British Indian" in every Aussie town and you could be semi-retired and rolling in cash.