Topic: Just got my Kushi Balti Book!

[George]

I am sure this is a genuine book by a genuine chef
There is a lot of usefull information in it too
But you are never going to make anything like a BIR using this base
You might as well use a can of Baxters Country vegetable soup, then add a teaspoon of curry powder.
Sorry George, you were right.

The author cannot cook as this book describes
I don't believe it
I  had a bought veg Balti only a week back, and it was absolutely delicious
It was full of extra tomato & onion and it also had the "taste"

Hey, what's happened to Blondie?
No posts so far on this
He tried a few of these recipes before publishing, didn't he?

I'm sorry if my, and some others, scepticism proved correct but I hope there are sufficient nuggets of useful information, tips and tricks in the Balti Book to add to the huge knowledge base which we have already. I can't start to suggest, though, how we can reconcile the viewpoints, with which I agree, that:

(a) I am sure this is a genuine book by a genuine chef, and
(b) The author cannot cook as this book describes

Yes, where has Blondie got to? The conspiracy theorists might suggest he/she was connected with the book. I'm not suggesting that but it must be a possibility with a likelihood somewhere between 0 and 100%. I hope this slur pulls Blondie back into the debate.

Regards
George

[raygraham]

I dunno,

You guys sure have dampened my spirit. I am sat here with a Kushi Base, ready to go. Kushi pre-Cooked Chicken, ready to go. Kushi Spice, ready to go and a family that I have hyped up to expect something special. Maybe once they have eaten it they will be "ready to go" too!!
I am in two minds whether to bin it and get one delivered tonight instead.

But then again I am not blaming anyone, it's just that my hopes were up on the arrival of this book and now I am not sure we have got that bit nearer to what we have already got. Perhaps the opposite.

I must agree with you Pete, there is already something about this base that say's "not quite right" but I can't see exactly what. On the face of it there is a resemblance to the Bruce Edwards base but that's about it.
The Kushi spice seems o.k. , a bit similar to Bruce's spice mix. The pre-cooked chicken's rather garlicky but otherwise bland. There is a better pre-cooked chicken in the Balti House video.

I am going to go ahead with it I think as then I can say "tried it, bought the T-Shirt etc" then put the book to bed!

My nearest BIR Pete is about a mile away. In fact we have 6 about this distance even though we are a fairly small village. Most of these are very good but the best are in Keighley and Bradford.
My nearest town (Keighley) has some great Asian shops but none that sell Mace. One guy looked at me in bewilderment when I asked for it. "Mice". he said, "we don't have mice!".
Must have tought I was taking the P--s!

I am not that dedicated to trailing miles for a bag of spice. I happened to get an emergency call while I was working which co-incidentally took me to Bradford so by luck managed to get some Mace there. George was on standby ready to kindly send me some.
You could say I drove to Bradford at 90 m.p.h. in an emergency for a bag of spice!!!

The book "Bombay Brasserie Cookbook" uses Mace, mainly in it's Garam Masala. I will dig it out and see if there is anything of interest for everyone.

As for Blondie, I am wondering where HE ( yes it's a fella ) has gone myself. He did tell me in an e-mail he has had success with recipes from the book before it was published so it would be good to hear what one's he made and what results he had.


Regards

Ray

[DARTHPHALL]

And there are also some Aliens among us ?;D.
I came all the way from Pluto ?just to join this forum please don't alienate us non earthers ?;D
 I didn't get here by push Bike Pete but it was cold in space just the same ).

[DARTHPHALL]

Mice !!!!!
Thats it, the missing ingredient, so its a secret Mice Mix not Spice mix, its all clear now, squeak squeak !!! .

[raygraham]

Yes. it is Mice.
It was a misprint in the book!
Got one out of the trap and tried it. Works a treat but makes it a bit cunchy though! Strangely enough the cat seems to love it?!

Wonder why?

Ray

[Blondie]

Hi all,

I haven't gone away, but stopped posting because there are quite a lot of people here who tend to be dismissive of others.  There is another camp here that reads into a post what they want to read and do not take what is actually meant by the post.

If you read my posts about the Kushi book correctly, I never said that the curry I had cooked from the book was like any BIR I had ever had, but that it was exactly like the meal that I was served in the Kushi restaurant.  I even went on to say that if you have a Balti dish from a BIR it will be nothing like a Balti served in an authentic Balti restaurant.

If this isn't clear enough then I give up, AGAIN,

cheers all,

Blondie

[pete]

Hi Blondie
? ? ? ? ? ? ? you were put in a very awkward situation
You must have been busting to say something but obligated not to
I respect that
But now it's all out
Cards on the table
Do you rate this book?
Have you made anything you actually like?

I'm sorry if my, and some others, scepticism proved correct but I hope there are sufficient nuggets of useful information, tips and tricks in the Balti Book to add to the huge knowledge base which we have already. I can't start to suggest, though, how we can reconcile the viewpoints, with which I agree, that:

(a) I am sure this is a genuine book by a genuine chef, and
(b) The author cannot cook as this book describes

Regards
George

Hi George
? ? ? ? ? ? ? what I am trying to say, is that whilst this chef may be able to cook,
he may not be able to explain what he does

[Blondie]

Hi Pete,

Yes the basic chicken balti that I cooked was very nice and was just like the Restaurant version, but the flavor is so very distinctive you would never say that it was from a BIR (and it isn't).  My other half prefers me to cook Kushi recipes rather than any others.

Hope this helps,

Blondie

[CurryCanuck]

Haven't received my copy of the book as yet , but based on the comments thusfar , I think that I may well be disappointed . Back to the drawing board?

CC

[Mark J]

Folks, I wouldnt give up just yet on this book, I think we have only had 1 report so far of using the book start to finish on base/pre cook/main certainly worth several attempts IMHO