Topic: Cooking Lessons with Az

[mr.mojorisin]

maybe we should start up a masonic style secret curry room for all those in the know with whom the great "secret" is entrusted ......zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[solarsplace]

Hi

Just a quick couple of images from the day. Also have lots of video footage of all the various things being cooked such as the base sauce and several individual curry dishes and sides. Will endeavour to sort through and post as soon as possible. JB has taken thorough notes too, so hopefully everyone on the forum can get some good tips from the lessons.

Big thanks to ChrisWG for organising the event and Az of Zaal restaurant in Fleet Hampshire (http://www.zaalfleet.com/index.php) and his staff for putting on superb lessons.

Good to meet all the other chaps face to face, Natterjak, JB, CurryHell.

Az does cook very, very fast and very, very hot - and yes - I did rather singe my Vindaloo

(Click on the image to see the whole thing! - Most of the dishes we cooked)



(Click on the image to see the whole thing! - Front of house, about to sit down and sample)


Regards

[natterjak]

Az does cook very, very fast and very, very hot - and yes - I did rather singe my Vindaloo

"Singe*...? Well that's one way of putting it. 

[curryhell]

Well guys, what a fantastic day .  A big thankyou to Chriswg for organising this event.  But for his interest in BIR and his friendship with Az this could not have taken place.  Thanks also to the rest of gang of "chefs" for making it such a social event as well as educational.  What a great bunch of guys.  A BIG thankyou to Jb for being the secretary for the majority of the event, taking notes on the proceedings as they unfolded.  That little note book is worth a few bob mate ;D.  Guard it well until you manage to transcibe all the info   Not  a task i envy you doing mate .  Of course he had to be excused scibing duties a couple of times when he was called upon to exercise his skills loading the tandoor and cooking his lunch . Things picked up pace consdierably and pen was barely touching note paper at some stages : during the session.  Thanks to Solarsplace for being the camera man, again backed up by Jb when he got time off from his note taking.  I wasn't going to mention about the burning of the vindaloo Russ, we'll put it down to turning the knob on the stove the wrong way .  In two seconds it was all over.  Besides, it wasn't burn just singed .  I mustn't forget to thank the chef and his assistant who were trying to do the normal prep for the evening as well as having to  duck and dive around the CR0 mob and they still found time to explain stuff to us.  But by far the biggest thank you must go to our host Az.  What a splendid genuine guy who was as much up for the day as the rest of us.  A superb host, excellent chef and a fine teacher.  I really do hope today's event is only the first of series.  Put my name down for take two Chris
Kids in a sweetie shop does not even begin to describe the scene

[Stephen Lindsay]

sounds like a great day well done guys!

[Whandsy]

Well done gents, glad you all enjoyed it!!

Has anybody done anything notably different in preparing the base and converting it into a curry dish?
Was the finished results noticeably different to previous homemade efforts??

Chuffed for you all, hopefully something similar will crop up up t' north, thats if you all don't convert us to BIR standard chefs after todays experience first ;D ;D

Wayne

[natterjak]

Nothing special or exotic in terms of ingredients, spice mix or base sauce. The big revelation to me was the extent to which Az singes his spices, G&G and garlic in the case of the Roshney chicken.  JB is the guy for the details because I was suffering information overload but spice mix was just curry powder, coriander, cumin, haldi and garam masala (1 measure garam to 22 of curry powder).

Base sauce has onions, potato, green pepper, carrot, water and oil, plus a spiced water made with whole spices (removed prior to the water being added to the other ingredients), then a fried tomato, garlic and ginger mix is added and the whole thing given another cook. Fundamentally though it didn't taste different to any of the base Sauces I've cooked at home. Just mild curry flavour.

The fresh garam masala we made was a revelation in its flavour and aroma, has convinced me to try this at home as its not complicated and far better than any bought garam I've smelled.

The roshney chicken and CH's phall were quite stunning though. I didn't personally love Az's tikka, I'll stick with Blade's mix. The vindaloo was, umm.. smokey! 

[natterjak]

As for the secret ingredient - well, I have to say I would never have guessed it.  Thanks to Az for entrusting us to keep this amazing trick secret.

Not the statement we've all been waiting to hear 

Legs well and truly pulled  ;D (sorry guys, just couldn't resist!)

[curryhell]

Well done gents, glad you all enjoyed it!!

Has anybody done anything notably different in preparing the base and converting it into a curry dish?
Was the finished results noticeably different to previous homemade efforts??

Chuffed for you all, hopefully something similar will crop up up t' north, thats if you all don't convert us to BIR standard chefs after todays experience first ;D ;D

Wayne

You can't beat hands on tuition from an expert Wayne, that's for sure.  And in answer to your question what we've all been doing at home is virtually the same as in the kitchen today.  One big difference is obviously the huge burner heat output, as Russ found out to his disgust>.  But don't despair.  When i mentioned the fact that i cook on electric, his reply was simply, no worries it'll take a bit longer but you'll get exactly the same result .  And you do have to "singe" the spices.  We were all choking when i was cooking my phall and even more so once Russ got the pan in his hands .  Loads more will be revealed as we all have time to reflect on information overload.  Thankfully we can start to put it all together once Jb has chance to review his notes and Russ has reviewed his video footage.  I was too busy chopping onions (safely as taught by As), dipping into containers of spice and some pastes and grinding "chef's special garam masala", which jb noted down the recipe.  I can hear it now - "oh no, not chef's special garam masala" again

[curryhell]

As for the secret ingredient - well, I have to say I would never have guessed it.  Thanks to Az for entrusting us to keep this amazing trick secret.

Not the statement we've all been waiting to hear 

Legs well and truly pulled  ;D (sorry guys, just couldn't resist!)

Chris, it just had to be done mate, didn't it ;D ;D
Shall we let on  the secret as told by Az???