Akash brand basmati rice, anyone used it?

[Salvador Dhali]

Hi CH

Sorry, not sure about the particular brands you are asking about, but just in case wondered if you would be interested in any Tilda pure original basmatti rice?

I don't know if all Sanos are doing this deal but the 2 near me are selling 4Kg bags half price. Think they are down to 5.99 or something like that.

It certainly does make lovely plump separated rice!

That's a great price for 4kg (8 quid in Tesco). In fact, it's the same per kilo as buying a 20kg bag, as the cheapest I can find 20kg of Tilda down here is

[colin grigson]

Gutted !!

All this talk of cheap basmati .. you guys are really lucky living in UK .. all your curry stuff seems so cheap. I had to pay 40 Euros on Friday for a 10kg bag of Tilda .. there's only one Asian shop to my knowledge in Slovakia so we have to pay whatever they ask or go without. Green cardamom were 3.50 Euros for 50g !!

I swear by Tilda and agree with SD .. the longer you have it the better it tastes.

[Whandsy]

Gutted !!

All this talk of cheap basmati .. you guys are really lucky living in UK .. all your curry stuff seems so cheap. I had to pay 40 Euros on Friday for a 10kg bag of Tilda .. there's only one Asian shop to my knowledge in Slovakia so we have to pay whatever they ask or go without. Green cardamom were 3.50 Euros for 50g !!

I swear by Tilda and agree with SD .. the longer you have it the better it tastes.

I got lucky with Tilda at sainsbury's 2 weeks ago. A 4kg bag of the pure basmati was on offer at ?6.50. Staff had put a 5kg bag in the space where the offer was so without realising I took it to the till, when I questioned the price (?20) they honoured the ?6.50 price and put it down to staff error. Result

W

[Salvador Dhali]

Gutted !!

All this talk of cheap basmati .. you guys are really lucky living in UK .. all your curry stuff seems so cheap. I had to pay 40 Euros on Friday for a 10kg bag of Tilda .. there's only one Asian shop to my knowledge in Slovakia so we have to pay whatever they ask or go without. Green cardamom were 3.50 Euros for 50g !!

I swear by Tilda and agree with SD .. the longer you have it the better it tastes.

Sheesh! That's expensive rice!

But that price for cardamoms isn't too bad, Colin. Depending on where you buy them over here, online a 50g bag can set you back anything from 1.95 (or 2.40 euros) from Spices of India to an eye-watering 6.01 (Bristol Botanicals. Not that anyone in their right mind would get them from there).

I can pick them up a little cheaper than 1.95 from Asian stores, but cardamom is a notoriously expensive spice.

I've heard of restaurants reusing whole spices such as cardamoms two or three times when making stocks, etc. It's not something I've tried, but might be worth a go?

[curryhell]

May as well get your money's worth out of the little buggers.  Chef Az told us at our recent BIR visit that they reuse two or three times during the week the spices that are infused to create an akni stock which is then added to the curry gravy

[natterjak]

Makes you wonder what else gets recycled in the typical BIR.  Whole spices picked out of the pilau and reused?  Untouched chunks of chicken fished out of curries not finished by restaurant customers and returned to the pre-cooked meat tub?  It probably all goes on!

[Salvador Dhali]

Makes you wonder what else gets recycled in the typical BIR.  Whole spices picked out of the pilau and reused?  Untouched chunks of chicken fished out of curries not finished by restaurant customers and returned to the pre-cooked meat tub?  It probably all goes on!

One of my mates works for a pest control company and regularly has to call on restaurants to deal with unwanted wildlife, and...

And I'm not going to say anymore as you've probably seen it all on Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares and the like, but after some of his discoveries suffice it to say that I know where I'm not going to eat in future.

Mind you, I've seen some domestic kitchens that beggar belief.

You should have seen mine after the weekend's baseathon!