Folks I am just back from the afternoon in heaven. I got more or less 3 hours behind the scenes in the above BIR the latest in the famous Scottish Chain of BIRs. I was given full permission to share with you what I found although I did explain it was for the personal use only of the members.
The Owner kindly gave me permission to spend the afternoon with their award winning chef in the working kitchen with clients still ordering and eating and while they prepared the buffet for the evening trade.
I have taken notes and I managed to record most of it on my iPhone which has just completely justified its existence.
I will take time over the next wee while to bring it all to you but I do have a busy couple of weeks ahead of me.
For starters some highlights, They take pride in the base and believe it is critical,without it being perfect all else is worthless. It contains amongst other things tomato puree (White Tower Brand) but any should do, curry powder medium (East End Madras Brand) turmeric,chili powder again East End brand, he swears by this make. Blocked Coconut Cream and wait for it vegetable margarine and vegetable oil. The full recipe I will post asap.Bye the way not a lot if any oil is recovered.
Two other stand out ingredients was a pre cooked Garlic and Ginger Paste which has oil and turmeric with a 70/30 Garlic Ginger proportion. The really important ingredient was a caramelised onion sauce, which is extensively used along with the Garlic,Ginger Paste. This onion sauce may be what was substituted in the controversial Onion paste posted elsewhere.
So much to report,he also showed me how to make the Pakora with some secrets and how the chicken ismarinaded before pre cooking,however the same marinade was used to cook my take home Chicken Bhuna to prove that pre cooking is only a convenience thing while actually cooking fresh is so much better and boy did it taste amazing.
I was shown how to make the Ticka Marinade, how to cook Korma and how he pre cooks his lamb the most melt in the mouth lamb I have ever tasted. I can go on and on, They use ali pans as they feel they are safest and don't burn, they don't use ghee other than for dressing nan breads. The never use Worcestershire sauce they pointed out that your nostrils adjust after a short time in the kitchen so you cant really smell it after a while so I had my theory posted elsewhere vindicated. They don't eat these meals for no other reason than their home cooked has no pre cooking is so much better they say and more healthy. They don't eat Kormas or Patia or such things though they would eat the Bhuna. The chef does all he can to cook the food as near as he can to Indian home cooking. There is absolutely no food dyes used.
Korma is made with the base sauce(yellow in colour)and UHT Single Cream only. The addition of coconut or nuts etc is just for simple variations on the menu.
I need to stop now since I have a life beyond this addiction (just) and will edit my recordings and decipher my noted before posting below in due course. I had the time of my life, bye the way they do not flame the food claiming after initial high heat they cook on a slow flame. I could go on but need to stop now, cheers a delirious Panpot.
Topic: Ashoka at the Quay (Read 73352 times)
