Topic: Last night's effort

[Garp]

Garp you must have a sweet tooth 

I do mate; I also have a savoury one, on the other side of my gob - the rest fell out years ago 

[curryhell]

I do mate; I also have a savoury one, on the other side of my gob - the rest fell out years ago 

 ;D ;D

Absolutely brilliant job there jb.  It's all i can do to stop myself licking the screen    As already said, very heavy on the prep, but the end results and comments must have been very satisfying.  If you want an expert opinion and consultation on your BIR quality, i'll volunteer my services for free  ;D  Well done Jason, all those hours are really now beginning to pay off 

[Stephen Lindsay]

Great pics jb, everything looks delicious.

[Gav Iscon]

All looks top nosh jb. I could quite happily dive into that.

[ELW]

Not only good honest pics jb, the experience behind the posts really comes through.

Regards
ELW

[Naga]

The NIS is well-documented (a firm favourite in my house!) and the IFFU method a little less so, jb, but can you tell us anything about the other recipes you used? Did they originate on this forum - maybe with your own tweaks - or are they something different? Your base is clearly a hit and it would be good to know how you are making your curries.

[jb]

Thanks for the kind comments guys.Like any good curry chef(!!) the hardest bit is in the prep.The actual curries themselves don't take that long to cook.

I did indeed use the bombay aloo method from Ifindforu here...

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,7538.0.html

I also add a couple of Indian bay leaves as well as up the oil a bit so I have enough spiced oil for the cooking of my curries.It's still by far the best method I've seen for pre-cooking potatoes,the finished article looks exactly like the pre-cooked potatoes I've seen on my various vists to takeaway kitchens.

The base gravy I used is the one I recently posted,as is the sweet masala paste.The non sweet massala paste is Chewytikka's.To be honest I don't really follow any specific recipes.They're all just generic ones that can be found on the forum.As long as you have a decent base,good technique and a good bit of BIR knowledge you should be able to produce a decent curry.I do have a few tweaks here and there.I always add a small star anise to my madras.I've spotted them quite a lot in my local takeaway's version.I also add a small touch of mango powder to my bombay aloo.I know some people add mango chutney.I can't recall who told me about mango powder,just a pinch certainly brings my bombay aloo close to my local take-away flavour.I wouldn't be without spiced oil now,to me it maked the difference between an average curry and a true BIR tasting one.

I actually got my usual Friday night take-away and thought my effort was so much better.Actually apart from my balti rezalla it was pretty awful really.The wife's tikka tasted bland,visually unapealling and was not very good at all.My bombay aloo was even worse.It was like a few potatoes were boiled up,devoid of any spice or BIR flavour and a tomato chucked on top.Whether the place was too busy or it was an off night I'm not sure,but it was really poor in comparison to what I can produce.

[Naga]

Thanks, jb. Always good to learn how others do their stuff. Every day's a school day!

Balti being the flavour of the moment, is there anything particular you do in making your Balti dishes?