Well my chef has just left after giving me another lesson(aloo chat,sag aloo and bombay potato).All I can say is they all had the TASTE,SMELL and TEXTURE just like my Indian take-away.If I think about it they were probably more flavoursome than some round here and best of all not floating around in loads of oil.
Funny thing is after he went I thought I would make another sag aloo with the left over but exact ingredients and you know what?? Either my technique was different or something but it was not quite there yet!! It didn't have the same taste has he had done but I was using the same stuff.The point about being overloaded with spices on my original three hour session was spot-on,today the base smelt sweet,savoury but not too spicy(which is how he tells me it's supposed to be as it has to cover most dishes mild or hot)
I'm really not sure how to proceed with regards to recipes etc at the moment.The thing is I have quite a few more lessons and I don't want to give the guy the hump half way.It seems he does this off his own back and his business partner knows nothing about it.I now know the restaurant he works in(he's actually in the process of preparing a book).At the end of my lessons he's going to give me a folder of all that I have done so it may be best if I hold fire at the moment,it was a struggle to get him here in the first place!!!
Next lesson on Monday Tandoori and Tikka(marinating) and the cooking the following day