Went for a sneaky curry the other night at West Bars Tandoori Chesterfield. I had a Madras, plain rice, keema naan, the mrs had fish tikka, chicken korma and cauli bhaji.....lovely it was. But what made the night so great was there was a waiter who has done 15 years in the kitchen and once I mentioned that I cooked my own he couldn't stop chatting, it was great.
Here's a few tips that came out for this restaurant were:
They use a little celery in their base
They use a little potato in their base
They don't use cabbage
They just use cheap onions
They don't pre cook service onions just chop the peppers and onion finely so it cooks quick
They don't use Kashmiri chilli just normal powder - usually Rajah brand
Their garlic/ginger paste is 30/70 for curries
They cook there bhajis the night before and then zap them in oil to re heat
He loves using their bhaji oil
He recommends for home use pre cook your chicken in the base you are about to use then pour it in the pan once the g/g, powders etc have cooked out
They use fresh mint in their tikka
Ed