A lesson in my local take-away

[Razor]

He had never heard of hing

I find that truly unbelievable!   

Funny you should say that SS.  I went to a local Asian supermarket last Friday (not my usual one) and they had had never heard of Hing either.

How bizarre is that?

now who is going to be the first to try it in there base ;D

JB 1/1
Razor 2/1
SS  3/1
CA  7/2
JM  4/1
Moonster 25/1  ;D (rely far too much on you guys for me to try first)

If I wouldn't had just knocked up 14 litres of my own base on friday, i would have defo give it a go.

However, I did simmer 1kg chicken in it for about 10 minutes, near the end of the cooking, not really to add anything to the base, just to give me a load of lazy pre-cooked chicken, really.

Great work JB,  Bit suprised at some of the ingredients like onions and peppers in the Madras, unless they were blended, which I don't think they were, was they?  Is that usual in and around Essex?

The base seems fairly standard doesn't it, with the exception of the coconut block?

Im so envious, you're a lucky lad.

Great job.

Ray

[George]

Right here goes I'll try not to ramble too much but I spent so long in the takeaway last night I don't know where to begin.

JB - your posts really are first class - the forum at its best again. It's so good of you.

[joshallen2k]

JB - awesome posts! Fantastic stuff.

Just a couple of questions:

- How would you rate the curries from this restaurant? Did they have the taste we all associate with the best ones?

- Did the mini-base recipe look / taste exactly like the full base they were using in the restaurant?

Really looking forward to more on the chilli sauce, and the other recipes!!!

Great stuff!

-- Josh

[chriswg]

Hi JB

Really great work. We are all so pleased to have you on the site!

I had a quick question:

The precooked onion/pepper - was it discernible as onion and pepper chunks or was it cooked right down to a paste? If this was a paste, did they have slightly less precooked onion / pepper for adding to dishes that required them or would they go in raw?

On the base subject, I'm so glad they mentioned the chicken. This is coming up more and more. I bet a couple of Knorr stock pots added to a base would have the same effect without having to boil chicken bones.

I guess a good comparison would be it is the difference between cooking normal gravy for a roast dinner with or without adding the meat juices to the gravy. The one with the juices is 100 times nicer.

I think these guys could really crack the secret for us. As they are so liberal with the info, why not ask if you can take a camera and film the lot? The worst they can say is no, but I reckon they will be okay about it.

[Peripatetic Phil]

On the base subject, I'm so glad they mentioned the chicken. This is coming up more and more. I bet a couple of Knorr stock pots added to a base would have the same effect without having to boil chicken bones.

As you may have seen from some earlier messages of mine, I use chicken or rabbit stock whenever possible, but rather than stock cubes you might like to consider trying Knorr Stock Pots : they are really good 

[moonster]

Hi all,


14l razor ;D you dont do things by half mate ;D

Razor your base recipe on this site makes 3l. I will be making a new batch on monday but i am very interested in using these knorr pots in your base and then doing the chicken bones to see if it makes a difference.

considering its your base i replicate, when would you add the knorr pots and how many?  I am assuming you would add one pot at the stage where you add the 1.5 litres of water.

also to add the boiled chicken bones, would you just boil a full carcass seperatley in boiling water and make up the 1.5 litres that way?

another question, would one carcass be too much or not enough for 3 litres of base and the same goes for the knorr pots.

thanks in advance


Alan ;D

[Yousef]

JB,

Are you going to post the base rsauce ecipe in the 'Curry Base' Section or do you want me to do it?
Just a thought as it will get lost in this thread otherwise.

Fantsatic post, these are always the best.

Keep up the good work mate

Stew

[jb]

A quick post before I have to return to work.I opened the fridge about 10.30 this morning and the smell of the bombay potato was just too much!!!  A quick blast in the microwave and it was quickly devoured!!!  A relative called in and said blimey your house smells like a curry house!!!  As it had been in the fridge a couple of days there was a settling of spicy orange oil in the bottom...the stuff that stains everything in sight and makes your fingers smell and stain as well.

On the subject of smell when I first entered the takeaway the smell immediately hit me as I walked in,that familiar takeaway/restaurant smell.I could really smell the dishes been cooked but the funny thing is after a while I couldn't smell it anymore,my senses must have got accustomed to it as I'm pretty sure it does when I cook at home.

I too was surprised that the manager had never heard heard of hing,or asofoetia as I explained to him.He was pretty certain on that,funny thing my chef who taught me at home had also never heard of it either.On Saturday kitchen the other week Madhur Jaffrey used it and I actually found it in my local Indian grocers,so whether it is normally used for home cooking I really don't know.

The onion /pepper mix he had was really well cooked down and soft in texture.When it was added to the madras it just seemed to melt away if that makes sense with no big chunks.When the chef cooked a jalfrezi he had a separate tub of chunky peppers/chillis etc.

[Curry King]

Great posts JB, the whole chicken bones thing reminds me slightly of Petes chicken jelly posts!

[gazman1976]

well done JB - so when r you going to try and replicate the stuff you learned at home - will b interesting to see how it turns out

Garry