Topic: The Holy Grail....

[emin-j]

I'm sure many of you (and me  ;D) have bettered some of your local T/A Curries so I think we are closer than it sometimes might seem,using a tried and tested Base and Curry Recipe from the Forum I reckon with well practised technique you would be within a Gnats Whisker of many a takeaways Curry and probably better than some.For me there is only one TA (which is our favourite) that I cant match on quality Onion Bhaji's are another story  mine are just crap !

[Peripatetic Phil]

I would go along with Emin-J : there are a number of restaurants and takeaways that I would not willing return to because I found their food unsatisfactory in some way, and immodest though it may sound, I am certainly willing to claim that my normal home-cooked curries are better than theirs, even if they cannot match the very best of BIR cuisine.

I do find it very worrying that our Government is about to ban non-EU-nationals from coming to Britain as chefs in fast-food and take-away restaurants.  Does our Government not recognise the enormous contribution that these people have made, and would continue to make, to our national cuisine (I'm referring, of course, to ethnic takeaways rather than to "Happy Eater" and its friends).

** Phil.

[Masala Mark]

Hi,

Unless you can get in with a chef to his restaurant and watch/participate in the process from making the gravy to the actual dishes it is pretty much a never ending holy grail type thing.

Having had both chefs out and been in kitchens and now making gravies at one restaurant I can say going in is the only way to achieve what you want at home.

How I got hold of chefs was to search for restaurants doing lessons and ask if they were doing restaurant style in their kitchen. I also contacted any chefs who had placed ads in a local free classified site and asked if they would be willing to teach until they found some work.

I know JB had someone to his house and also went into a restaurant for lessons. In their kitchen, they are in their element and there is no stress for them, ie they know where everything is, spices, tools, pots/pans and are familiar with them. One chef I had at my place had never used a ceramic electric stove and struggled immensly with getting the cooking temp he wanted etc.

Yes, it cost me, and quite a bit, but the cost was far better then the frustration of cooking only to be disappointed with the end result. My wife and family were very happy with the dishes, but for me it wasn't quite there and that bugged me.

In the end, it's a very easy process once you know what you're doing and the only real way to know what you're doing is to follow someone who knows what they're doing.

Also too, if you find a place that is willing to teach, eat their dishes for a while so that you are ready for them to taste that way rather then at your local which will most likely have a slightly different or perhaps vastly different taste.

Cheers,
Mark