Topic: A lesson in my local take-away

[emin-j]

Not sure about all the excitement with these Pastes  I can understand why  a busy BIR would benefit from using them to save time but surely we would get the same results from using the individual ingredients that would go into a paste which is probably what we are using already 
My mind constantly goes back to watching my and the Wife's Curry being made in our favourite takeaway , I just asked the guy at the counter if there was any chance I could watch my Curry being made (  shocked look from the Wife  ;D ) and he said yes !
There was nothing ' special ' or any pastes used just the ' normal ' ingredients most of us have been using , their base was simple and the Chef made his own ' Spice Mix ' which had a coarse consistency a bit like Garam Masala to look at ( probably made from ground whole Spices ) but this Curry beats all our other local T/A for flavour but their Bhaji's are crap ! 

[jb]

I just thought it was clever how they had managed to combine all the necessary ingredients into 1 paste I had never seen that before.The smell from the tikka massala was lovely sitting in the tray.It must have taken him all of two minutes to cook!!!

On the subject of onion bhajis I could have kicked myself for not asking him what he puts in his.Unlike most of the flat,dryish(and tasteless I might add) offerings in some takeaways near me he manages to get his really crispy with a wonderful flavour.I've noted some sort of strange seeds in his before....Another question for my return I think.

[JerryM]

Not sure about all the excitement with these Pastes  I can understand why  a busy BIR would benefit from using them to save time but surely we would get the same results from using the individual ingredients that would go into a paste which is probably what we are using already 

emin-j,

real fundamental question this for me. how long have you got as i could talk this one all day.

for me these are pastes that BIR's make themselves. pataks are pataks for me not pastes.

all we need to know (well for me) is what pastes do they make themselves.

[haldi]

Base Sauce
------------------
5 large white onions
1 spring onion
3 chillis
small piece of lemon
1 carrot
handfull of coriander leaves and stalks
half a green pepper
small spoon of tomato puree
1/4 of coconut block(this one surprised me)

chef spoon of ginger/garlic paste
1/4 teaspoon each of Cinnamon,coriander,cumin,garam masala(he actually makes his own-I smelt it and it was wonderful)

I've just made this recipe, and it's cooling, before blending
I followed it exactly, but there is no salt
Is that right?

[adriandavidb]

[Also the chicken bones they have are boiled and the result is also put into the gravy.

At last !!  Coroboration that 'home-made' (not commercial) chicken stock is used in BIR.  I've banged-on about his many times (My local BIR chef told me he did this), and I do it myself ALL the time.  I've mentioned it a few times in posts on this site, and people have questioned it without trying it for themselves.  THIS GETS ME CLOSED TO THE BIR TASTE THAN ANY OTHER SINGLE THING!

[dellydel]

Excellent stuff JB!  I'll give this base a go tomorrow but I was wondering exactly how much lemon you used in the base.  You say a small piece but is that a slice or 1/4 of a whole lemon... can you please clarify?

Cheers,

Del

[jb]

Haldi I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure there was no salt,to be honest there was so much going on in the kitchen that I may have missed it.Not much lemon at all,he cut the end of it I'd say about 1 centimetre thick.

[haldi]

My base went belly up
Something isn't quite right
The onions remained bitter
I think it may be a salt issue (salt turns onions sweet)
The finished base colour was sort of a green as well
It took on the only real colour from the ingredients i.e. the half green pepper
There was a little tomato puree (I used a teaspoon)
This isn't enough to colour it
The spicing I used was the same as the JB home demo
I hope JB tests this at home, and works out where it's different, because I really have high hopes for his recipes
I precooked the potatoes and they really did seem very good
But it got mucked up in the final curry, because of the gravy
The precook method is very similar to Bruce Edwards Curry House Cookery recipe.
It's well worth doing
I'm going to hold on this, until someone else reports in

[adriandavidb]

The onions remained bitter

The finished base colour was sort of a green as well

It's not the onions,  it's too much ginger that causes both of these effects.

[gazman1976]

ginger would not cause the bitter taste im afraid