Topic: Hola from Spain

[millsoni]

What a great site!

I have been cooking curries for years, mostly successfully, but always from scratch.  The results can be fantastic but I have always wanted to reproduce the BIR style with no idea how to do it.

Since moving to a small town in the south of Spain I have been motivated to find out the secrets for a couple of reasons.  Firstly the quality of take away curries is very poor with one exception, and secondly I need to earn some money.  Presenting curry nights in the local pubs and maybe selling to friends and by word of mouth is an opportunity, but as most people want BIR style food I have to learn how to do it right.  I have an evening booked in a couple of weeks for approx 20 diners, so I am practising hard.

Not sure if I can link another site, but my first hopeful find on the net was http://menuinprogress.com/2008/01/indian-takeaway-curry-base-sauce.html
I have tried this base twice and was pleased both times, but having stumbled upon your site via a Yahoo question reply I am really excited.

I will be making a madras style and a korma for my pub curry night, and am going to use the Mark J base as it seems to be suitable for both madras and lorma, according to the recipe in George's post.  I am making a 10 onion batch today and will go from there.  I will post elsewhere in the forum how it all turns out.

Sorry to go on so long but there's more!

Spain is a terrible place for curry fans, partcularly in small towns.  Ingredient availability is often non existent and always very expensive.  I have been forced to order online from the UK in the past and amazingly this is cheaper than buying here if you buy enough quantity.

Enough already, so thanks to those who have spent years on here perfecting and experimenting, I hope I can add something useful in the future.

Nick

[Cory Ander]

Welcome to cr0 Nick,

Hope you find this forum useful to your curry cooking exploits! 

[PaulP]

Hi Nick,

I've noticed in my travels around Spain that the Spanish don't seem to like Indian food.
I think France is the same too. I did notice Chinese restaurants in places where mostly Spanish people live and I've seen Spanish people eating in these Chinese restaurants.

Another poster today has commented that the Americans he has met are really wary of spicy food too.

I wonder why we Brits seems to like it and they don't?

Good luck with your ventures - I've been at it a few months now and my confidence is growing. Almost ready to host a curry night dinner party!

[millsoni]

Thanks for the replies.
My first base attempt from this site was the 10 onion Mark J version and I was very impressed with the end result.  I think I used too little oil, as there was not a lot on the surface to use for subsequent curries.

From the base I decided to make a korma, as I already had a spicy chicken pathia in the fridge made from a base recipe found elsewhere.  That was for me and the korma for my girlfriend.

I followed George's recipe and was really satisfied with the flavour, colour and consistency, and so was my girlfriend.  It was definitely equal to the ones sold in the curry places here in Nerja.  I did not use precooked chicken, just fried the pieces to seal and then added them when required as they cook in 10 minutes and stay tender and tasty that way.

I am putting up pics of the two curries, which do them little justice, and the rice I should be ashamed of!  Basmati rice here is a luxury, and the long grain is hard to cook.  Anyway the rice did its job to bulk up the meal.

[millsoni]

Yesterday I had 4 friends round for dinner and decided to  use them as guines pigs!  Firstly  I prepared the Mark J 10 onion base the day before.  The result was really good, tasty enough to eat on its own.
On the day I precooked pilau rice, following CA's recipe, and it worked perfectly.  The aroma was just like the BIR steaming dishes of rice.
I prepared the onion bhaji batter mix but used a recipe from elsewhere, because it requires baking of the bhaji not frying, and my kitchen could not handle another pan on the stove for oil.  It worked well though http://jeenaskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/11/baked-onion-bhaji-recipe.html

Also prepared dough for Puris, using Stephen Lindsay's recipe, but added a bit of dry yeast.  Originally I had intended to cook the bread dry in a steel paella pan but the pan would not get hot enough without burning so changed to Puris at the last minute.

I was a bit worried that everything might not come together as planned but with the prep done it was easy.  The mint dip courtesy of CA again, minus mango powder (this is Spain!) was delicious and so like a BIR.  Everything else worked well too, and the madras was made yet again using CA's recipe,with a different base.

Another poor photo but there was nothing left on the plates.

I was wondering before how many portions the base would make and I reckon about 15 to 20 depending on how much liquid is added when cooking the final curry.

[Mikka1]

Hi Millsoni.
Don't knock yourself. Looks good to me  ;D

I had the same trouble with long grain here too. I found with that you defo had to wash it several times and allow it to dry before it ever came close.

Nice one. When can we all come round?  ;D