Hi Guys,

Here is a short clip making a Butter Chicken, it's all done without high heat and we don't use mixed powder or the such.

We'll be making this in our cooking classes this weekend all done in frypans and the taste will be exactly the same as what is made in the restaurant.

Due to serving customers and doing other things I didn't capture from start to finish with the garnishing but it will give you a good idea of how it is done different to BIR.

Regards,
MM

Indian Restaurant - Butter Chicken

Hi,

For anyone that is looking to learn from an Indian Chef here in Brisbane, please click on the link below to have a look at a new promotion.

http://www.ourdeal.com.au/deal/cooking-with-jj-learn-to-prepare-a-variety-of-indian-dishes-coorparoo

My first curry experience was from a restaurant at Newmarket called Raaga, we would travel 30 mins to get takeaway from there it was that good. A couple of years ago I advertised on a site here in Brisbane that I was looking to learn restaurant style cooking and I had 3 chefs respond. One of these was Chef JJ who I later found out was the Raaga chef, I still remember when he took me into the kitchen at the restaurant he was now working at and let me try the butter gravy, and I couldn't believe it.

I can vouch for JJ, he will teach you how to make at home what you have in the restaurant, I've learnt from him myself. Whenever we go to an Indian restaurant we always gauge how good it is against the food that we have had from Chef JJ. We still haven't found one that bests his cooking.

Anyway, enough of the raving, he's a great guy and love's teaching and doesn't BS any part of the cooking process.

Here's a link to his site if anyone is interested.

http://indiancookingwithjj.weebly.com

Regards,
Mark

DISCLAIMER: Just to clarify for anyone wondering, I am not financially rewarded in anyway from posting this, or if anyone signs up or not.

Hi All,

Last night I was given the task of using the tandoor at the restaurant and making the naan breads, of which I have done neither before at the restaurant. I got to make the naan dough and then do the cooking and was completely amazed at how they turned out having been the one who made them.

The chef cooked the first couple showing me how it is done in the tandoor and asked me to taste them. I said they tasted great, and he replied "that is your dough" and it hit me that it was.

The recipe is very simple and again probably not too different from what is already known here, but perhaps some of the ways in which it was done technique wise may be.

It makes about 18 naan dough balls.

Restaurant Naan Dough Recipe

Ingredients
1 litre container flour
1 tbsp kalonji
200ml container sugar
2 tbsp salt (slightly rounded) The tbsp is the dessert spoon you would eat breakfast with, not a measuring spoon.
1 tbsp baking powder (slightly rounded)
0.5 pkt yeast (7 gram packet)
750 ml warm wtaer
6 tbsp yogurt (very large heaped, greek yogurt)
oil (perhaps 2 tbsp)

Method
1. Place flour and kalonji in bowl, mix together
2. In a separate bowl, add water, yogurt, sugar, salt, baking powder and yeast, mix together
3. Make a well in the centre of the flour and add liquid, small amount at a time, mixing through
4. Knead the dough until it is soft, and free from any lumps, some extra water may be required, it will be quite sticky for a while
5. Once it is nice and smooth, it should be kneaded until it no longer sticks to the edges of the bowl, additional small amount of flour may be be added
6. Using fists, push the dough down into the bowl for a minute or so
7. Cover with oil, a fair amount(I usually add maybe a tsp if that, this was perhaps 1-2tbsp squirted over) and repeat the push the dough down again, flip it over in the bowl and cover with oil again if needed
8. Remove from bowl and give a quick knead on the bench rolling into long thick roll, fold it in on itself and knead again
9. Return it to the bowl, push down and cover the dough with cling wrap. The cling wrap should be on the dough, not on the top of the bowl.
10. Leave to sit for 1-2 hours


Making the naan dough balls
1. Pull a big handful piece of dough and using both hands push the dough up from underneath with the fingers until a smooth round ball is formed, tuck the edges in underneath and twist and remove the excess
2. Drop the ball down onto a floured surface and gently cover with flour
3. Repeat the process for the remaining dough
4. Cover with towl for an hour or so, or place covered in fridge for up to 3 days

The ball process may be a bit hard to visualize, I'll see if I can find a video on the web that shows the process as it is different to what I have always tried at home.

They went into the tandoor on the pillow, sprinkled with a little water to help stick, and pulled out after a minute or so. Brushed with butter/garlic butter, sliced and served.

It was all very simple really, couldn't believe how hot the tandoor was though. Was grateful for the tip of turning it down before putting the breads in and then adjusting the heat. I was scared stiff at first when the chef told me to try putting my hand in there, the heat was incredible.

Cheers,
Mark

Hi All,

With all the posts about others around the world getting together for bbq's I thought I'd put this out there.

If anyone's in Brisbane and interested in going to/trying different Indian restaurants around the place to meet up have a curry and a beer(ale) or two then let me know.

Depending upon how things go other activities could be organized.

Cheers,
Mark

Hi,

Here's another recipe using the pastes from the lesson I had with an Aussie IR chef.

It's a recipe based on a dish I had in Edmonton last year which I had not tried before in a IR.

The dish is called Dum Aloo, it was served as potatoes and peas in a very rich tomato, onion, nut sauce. It was quite different from traditional versions of the dish, in which whole potatoes are deep fried and are heavily fennel based, this was definately 'restaurant' style.

Using the Onion Gravy and Tomato Gravy pastes I was able to reproduce it last night, below is the recipe used.

Cheers,
Mark

Dum Aloo

Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp Ginger/Garlic puree (50:50)
- 2.5 heaped tbsp Onion Gravy Paste https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4923.0
- 2.5 heaped tbsp Tomato Gravy Paste https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4922.0
- 0.5 tsp Kasoori Methi
- 250 ml Water
- 3 tsp White Sugar
- 2 tsp Tomato Paste, heaped
- 1 tbsp Tomato Sauce
- 1.5 med Potatoes, quartered
- 0.25 cup Frozen Peas
- 100ml cream
- 0.25 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Coriander Leaves

Prep Work:
- Pre-cook potatoes in 0.5 tsp turmeric and 0.5 tsp salt for approx 10-12min until just cooked, remove and rinse in cold water to stop further cooking, coat in a little oil and store in fridge
- Ginger/Garlic puree is made 50/50 rough ratio with a little water to aid processing
- Blend the Tomato Gravy with 50ml of water with stick blender to ensure fine paste

Method:
1. Heat oil
2. Add ginger/garlic paste and cook till just brown, stirring constantly using the back of the spoon to spread/mash/move it around
3. Add onion gravy paste, mix well through & saute a couple of mins, add 100ml of the water, when bubbling away add the frozen peas and cook a couple of mins
4. Add methi, tomato gravy paste, tomato paste, tomato sauce, sugar, salt and mix through, add remaining 150 ml water and return to a simmer
5. Add potatoes and cook for 5 min
6. Add cream, mix through and simmer 2 min
7. Garnish with the chopped coriander leaves.

Beef Rogan Josh

Ingredients:
- 3 Tbsp Oil
- 1 small piece Cassia Bark (1 inch by a quarter of an inch roughly)
- 1 Green Cardamom Pod
- 2 Cloves
- 2 pieces of Bay Leaf (these were broken bits from big Indian bay leaves, inch by an inch each roughly)
- 2 tsp Ginger/Garlic puree (50:50)
- 1 Tbsp Mixed Powder
- 0.5 tsp Kasoori Methi
- 1 Tbsp heaped Tomato Paste
- 3 Tbsp Onion Gravy https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4923.0
- 125-250ml Water
- 0.5 tsp White Sugar
- 0.25 tsp Salt
- 1 Tbsp heaped Yogurt
- 1 Tbsp Coriander Leaves
- Pre-cooked beef

Prep Work:
- Ginger/Garlic puree is made 50/50 rough ratio with a little water to aid processing

Method:
1. Heat pan, add oil, when warm, add whole spices and fry 30 secs, should see little bubbles at sides of spices
2. Add ginger/garlic paste and cook till just brown, stirring constantly using the back of the spoon to spread/mash/move it around
3. Remove from heat add mixed powder, tomato paste, onion gravy and methi
4. Return to heat, mix through
5. Pour in 125ml of water, mix well and bring to a simmer
6. Add the sugar, salt and pre-cooked beef, mix through and simmer for 5 min or so
7. Add the yogurt and mix through stirring constantly to not curdle, simmer 2 min
8. Add coriander leaves

Notes:
- Depending upon what consistency you prefer, add more water if needed.
- There is quite a bit of salt in the Base Gravies so very little is added, adjust to your taste though.

Hi,

Here is the Madras recipe which is very different to the BIR Madras from the look of things.

All the IRs in our local area all have coconut listed as one of the key things in their Madras ie...

QuoteMadras - $13.50 (Mild)
A Goan style curry prepared with traditional Madras spices and coconut, creating a unique flavour.

As a side not, my wife and I went out for dinner a couple of weeks ago to an IR in the trendy part of town and I decided to order a Madras not having had one before. I must have picked the one restaurant here in Brisbane that didn't use coconut in theirs though, very similar to a vindaloo except no tang from vinegar. Probably more like the BIR type of Madras.

I took pictures of the pastes as I unfroze some of them for dinner use on Thurs night, shall post them as soon as my wife uploads the pics to the pc!

Cheers,
Mark


Beef Madras

Ingredients:
- 2 Tbsp oil
- 2 tsp Ginger/Garlic puree (50:50)
- 2 tsp Mixed Powder
- 2.5 Tbsp Onion Gravy https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4923.0
- 2.5 Tbsp Nut Gravy https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4921.0
- 2 Tbsp Coconut Milk Powder
- 125-250ml Water
- 0.25 tsp Salt
- Pre-cooked beef/chicken/veg etc
- 1 Tbsp coriander leaves

Prep Work:
- Ginger/Garlic puree is made 50/50 rough ratio with a little water to aid processing

Method:
1. Heat pan, add oil, when warm, add ginger/garlic paste and cook till just brown, stirring constantly using the back of the spoon to spread/mash/move it around
2. Remove from heat add mixed powder, onion gravy, nut gravy, coconut milk powder
3. Return to heat, mix through
4. Pour in 125ml water, mix well and bring to a simmer
5. Add the salt and pre-cooked beef, mix through and simmer for 5 min or so
6. Add coriander leaves and remove from heat

Notes:
- Depending upon what consistency you prefer, add more water if needed.
- There is quite a bit of salt in the Base Gravies so very little is added, adjust to your taste though.

Hi,

Here is the Beef Vindaloo recipe, the only one that he did where he used a store bought paste.

He did mention that at times they may make their own vindaloo paste, but he said it is easier/quicker to use the bought one.

Kind regards,
Mark

Beef Vindaloo

Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 small piece Cassia Bark (1 inch by a quarter of an inch roughly)
- 1 Green Cardamom Pod
- 2 Cloves
- 2 pieces of Bay Leaf (these were broken bits from big Indian bay leaves, inch by an inch each roughly)
- 2 tsp Ginger/Garlic puree (50:50)
- 2 tsp Mixed Powder
- 0.5 tsp Kasoori Methi
- 2 tsp Vindaloo Paste (Ashoka was the brand he favored)
- 1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
- 4 tbsp Onion Gravy https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4923.0
- 125-250ml Water
- 1 tsp White Sugar
- 0.25 tsp Salt
- Pre-cooked beef/chicken/veg etc

Prep Work:
- Ginger/Garlic puree is made 50/50 rough ratio with a little water to aid processing

Method:
1. Heat pan, add oil, when warm, add whole spices and fry 30 secs, should see little bubbles at sides of spices
2. Add ginger/garlic paste and cook till just brown, stirring constantly using the back of the spoon to spread/mash/move it around
2. Remove from heat add mixed powder, vindaloo paste, tomato paste, onion gravy and methi
3. Return to heat, mix through
4. Pour in 125ml of water, mix well and bring to a simmer
5. Add the Sugar, salt and pre-cooked beef, mix through and simmer for 5 min or so

Notes:
- Depending upon what consistency you prefer, add more water if needed.
- There is quite a bit of salt in the Base Gravies so very little is added, adjust to your taste though.

Hi,

And the other Korma from the lesson, Navrattan Korma.

Cheers,
Mark

Vegetable Navrattan Korma - (Sweet Version)

Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp oil
- 2.5 heaped tbsp Nut Gravy paste https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4921.0
- 125ml-250ml Water
- Pre-cooked Vegetables
- 1 tsp Sultanas
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 2 tbsp Coconut Milk Powder
- 100ml Cream
- 0.25 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Coriander Leaves

Prep Work:
- Pre-cooked vegetables, approx two cups worth

Method:
1. Heat pan, when oil warm, add the Nut Gravy paste and mix/stir through
2. Add coconut milk powder and mix through
5. Pour in 125ml of water, add sugar & sultanas, mix well and bring to a simmer
6. Add the pre-cooked vegetables, simmer for 5 min or so
7. Add in the cream and mix through, returning to a simmer for two mins
8. Add salt
9. Remove from heat and add chopped coriander leaves

Notes:
- Depending upon what consistency you prefer, add more water if needed.

Hi,

Here's another recipe from the session.

A savory version of a Korma, nut based dish but not sweet at all. They do a Navrattan Korma as well which we did and I shall post separately, it is very similar to the other Kormas on the site, ie sweet with coconut milk and cream, and sultanas.

Cheers,
Mark

Vegetable Korma - (Savory Version)

Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp oil
- 2 tsp Ginger/Garlic puree (50:50)
- 3.5 heaped tbsp Nut Gravy paste https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4921.0
- 125ml-250ml Water
- Pre-cooked Vegetables
- 1 tbsp Mixed Powder
- 100ml Cream
- 0.25 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Coriander Leaves

Prep Work:
- Pre-cooked vegetables, approx two cups worth
- Ginger/Garlic puree is made 50/50 rough ratio with a little water to aid processing

Method:
1. Heat pan, when oil warm, add ginger/garlic paste and cook till just brown, stirring constantly using the back of the spoon to spread/mash/move it around
2. Remove from heat, add the mixed powder and mix through,
3. Return to heat, add the Nut Gravy paste and mix/stir through
4. Pour in 125ml of water, mix well and bring to a simmer
5. Add the pre-cooked vegetables, simmer for 5 min or so
6. Add in the cream and mix through, returning to a simmer for two mins
7. Add salt
8. Remove from heat and add chopped coriander leaves

Notes:
- Depending upon what consistency you prefer, add more water if needed.

Hi,

Chicken Tikka is the next one on the list that we went through. It seems to be quite a bit different to the BIR versions on the site.

Essentially, more onions from the addition of the Onion Gravy paste, less sugar and less cream make it a more savory dish then the Butter Chicken but very similar.

Again, very little in terms of spicing.

I'll be making a few dishes this coming Thursday evening and will take pictures of the Gravies/Pastes to give a better idea of what they look like. The menu so far will be...

• Paneer Makhani (Butter Paneer)
• Beef Vindaloo
• Palak Paneer
• Veg Korma (Savory version)
• ...and some rice of course

Cheers,
Mark

Chicken Tikka Masala

Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp oil
- 0.25 Green Capsicum diced one inch cubes
- 0.25 Onion, diced one inch cubes
- 2 tsp Ginger/Garlic puree (50:50)
- 3 heaped tbsp Onion Gravy https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4923.0
- 3.5 heaped tbsp Tomato Gravy https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4922.0
- 1 tsp Kasoori Methi
- 125ml-250ml water
- 1 tsp White Sugar
- pinch Ground Black Pepper
- Pre-cooked chicken tikka, approx half a chicken breast worth of pieces
- 50ml cream
- 0.25 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Coriander Leaves

Prep Work:
- Cut Chicken Tikka into bite sized pieces
- Ginger/Garlic puree is made 50/50 rough ratio with a little water to aid processing

Method:
1. Heat pan, when oil warm, add onion and saute a few mins, till just softened
2. Add capsicum and cook as above
3. Add ginger/garlic paste and cook till just brown, stirring constantly using the back of the spoon to spread/mash/move it around
2. Add the Onion Gravy paste and mix/stir through, followed by the Tomato Gravy paste
3. Add Kasoori Methi and mix through
4. Pour in 125ml of water, mix well and bring to a simmer
5. Add the Sugar, Black Pepper and Tikka pieces, simmer for 5 min or so to heat the chicken
6. Add in the cream and mix through, returning to a simmer
7. Add salt and mix through
8. Remove from heat and add coriander leaves

Notes:
- Depending upon what consistency you prefer, add more water if needed.
- There is quite a bit of salt in the Base Gravies so very little is added, adjust to your taste though.

Hi, 

Here is the first of the recipes from the lesson in terms of actually putting it all together and making something to eat. 

It's very simple in some regards, ie no spices bar the Methi and Coriander leaves are added, the key being the proper frying/browning of the onions in the making of the Tomato Gravy to get a nice smokey flavor and the subtle hints of the spices when making the sauce. 

Cheers, Mark 

Butter Chicken

Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp oil
- 2 tsp Ginger/Garlic puree (50:50)
- 3.5 heaped tbsp Tomato Gravy paste https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4922.0
- 1 tsp Kasoori Methi
- 125ml-250ml Water
- 1 tbsp White Sugar
- Pre-cooked Chicken Tikka, approx half a chicken breast worth of pieces
- 100ml cream
- 1 tbsp Ghee/Butter
- 0.25 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Coriander Leaves
- Red Food Color powder (optional, we didn't use but he mentioned they do)

Prep Work:
- Cut Chicken Tikka into bite sized pieces
- Ginger/Garlic puree is made 50/50 rough ratio with a little water to aid processing

Method:
1. Heat pan, when oil warm, add ginger/garlic paste and cook till just brown, stirring constantly using the back of the spoon to spread/mash/move it around
2. Add the Tomato Gravy paste and mix/stir through
3. Add Kasoori Methi and mix through
4. Pour in 125ml of water, mix well and bring to a simmer
5. Add the Sugar and Tikka pieces, simmer for 5 min or so to heat the chicken
6. Add in the cream and mix through, returning to a simmer
7. Add the butter and blend with the sauce
8. Add salt
9. Remove from heat and add chopped coriander leaves

Notes:
- Depending upon what consistency you prefer, add more water if needed.
- There is quite a bit of salt in the Tomato Gravy so very little is added, adjust to your taste though.

Hi Folks,

Here is the Tikka recipe that was made during the lesson, it was only marinated for 2 hours and tasted pretty good.

Cheers,
Mark

Chicken Tikka

Ingredients:
- 1 chicken breast
- 0.5 tbsp Ginger/Garlic puree (50:50)
- 2 tbsp vinegar (white was used)
- 1 tsp Garam Masala
- 1 tsp Coriander Powder
- 1 tsp Cumin Powder
- 1 tsp Deggi Mirch
- 0.5 tsp Red Food Color powder
- 1 tsp Kasoori Methi
- 1 tsp Salt
- 3 tbsp yogurt

Prep Work:
- Dice chicken into Tikka sized pieces
- Ginger/Garlic puree is made 50/50 rough ratio with a little water to aid processing

Method:
First Marination:
1. Add chicken, ginger/garlic puree and vinegar to a bowl
2. Give it a good massage, leave for at least 15min

Second Marination:
1. Mix all the other ingredients in a separate bowl, when well mixed, pour into the first bowl
2. Mix it well through again, and leave marinate for 24 hours in the fridge of course.
3. Cook using your preferred method, grill/broil etc

Hi folks,

Just thought I'd ask if anyone has read or got the Shish Mahal Cookbook?

If so, what were your thoughts on the book and is it worth getting?

I've been trying to find a Contents/Recipe Index online to see what is in the book but haven't been able to locate anything.

Not sure either if they recipe style is for individual dishes rather then preparing with a base gravy.

Cheers,
Mark

Hi Folks,

Well here is the last of the gravies. Dish recipes will be coming over the next couple of days. Hopefully you'll find them as exciting as I found it when waiting for jb's posts, and still looking forward to more of his with much anticipation!

One of the other chefs that I spoke to regarding lessons used 3 gravies as well, but from what I could gather he made a big base onion gravy and then created the 3 gravies from that. I'm still trying to get him to come around, to see another method in action.

Cheers and happy reading,
Mark

Onion Gravy

Ingredients:
- 0.5 cup Vegetable Oil
- 2 Indian Bay Leaves (broken into bits)
- 4 big Onions, (sorry no measurement on this one, minimum tennis ball size)
- 2 big Tomatoes (sorry no measurement on this one, roughly same size as onions)
- 1 tbsp Ginger/Garlic puree (50:50)
- 2 tbsp Salt level
- 1 tsp panch phoron ( cumin, mustard, kalonji, fennel, fenugreek seeds)
- 1 tbsp Coriander Powder
- 1 tbsp Cumin Powder
- 1 tbsp Garam Masala
- 1 tbsp Kasoori Methi
- 1 tbsp Kitchen King Masala ( or curry powder)
- 1 tbsp Deggi Mirch

Prep Work:
- Very finely chop the onions
- Very finely chop the tomatoes
- Ginger/Garlic puree is made 50/50 rough ratio with a little water to aid processing

Method:
1. Heat oil till just shimmering
2. Add the panch phoron, this should crackle a little, immediately add the bay leaves and stir
3. Add onions and mix well, then add the salt and cook until light golden brown
4. Add a little water to cool the pan ready for the spices
5. Add the powdered spices and fry for a min or so
6. Add the tomatoes and continue cooking till the tomatoes have mushed completely and the onion pieces are barely discernable. This took about 45mins, essentially all the water had to be cooked out and the oil separated, this was his indication of when done. It will be a very dark color once completed.

If it is sticking to the pan too much, add a little water to loosen off, this may happen later on in the process, remember to keep stirring from time to time.

Use:
- From this sauce, 2 1/2 heaped tablespoons of it would be used in a single serve curry
- Used in Madras, Vindaloo, Rogan Josh, Tikka Masala and non-veg Korma dishes (that was an interesting point of his)

Notes:
- Again, this was a very thick paste by the end of cooking. You could still see onion bits though, I questioned him about this and he said they disintegrate in the final dish preparation.
- It is always the same ratio of onions to tomatoes 2:1.
- Cooking to a thicker paste will store better in the fridge rather then the consistency used in the restaurant
- The Panch Phoron was his little addition to the restaurant he works in, he said others may just use cumin seeds. He told me the owners brother was doing the cooking for the first 6 months of this IR opening and apparently nearly bankrupted the owner as his dishes were so bad, he was then given a little leeway with the dishes to try and turn things around, the Panch Phoron was one of his little additions which has apparently been well received.

Here is gravy number two that we did. And again I was even more disheartened when I saw all of the whole spices that he was putting in thinking they were going to way over power everything. Once done though, it was one of those ones where you can put your nose above the dish and just inhale till your lungs are full it smells that good. Surprisingly the whole garam masala did not overpower at all.

The biggest drawback again as mentioned in the Notes section below is the quantity it makes, for home cooking it is not at all practical but very delicious. Not sure how it will be when I take some out of the freezer next week.

It's just coming up to midnight here, so gravy 3 will have to wait till tomorrow!

Tomato Gravy

Ingredients:
- 0.5 cup Vegetable Oil
- 8 sticks Cassia Bark (approx 5cm long by 1 cm wide)
- 8 Green Cardamom Pods
- 2 Indian Bay Leaf (broken into bits)
- 10 Cloves
- .5 kg Onions
- 1 kg tomato puree (tinned, but not paste)
- 2 tbsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Ginger/Garlic puree (50:50)
- 1 tbsp Coriander Powder
- 1 tbsp Cumin Powder
- 1 tbsp Garam Masala
- 1 tbsp Kitchen King Masala (or Curry Powder, KK was his personal pref)
- 1 tbsp Degi Mirch Powder
- 1 tbsp Kasoori Methi
- 250g Cashews/Cashew pieces
- 250g Almond meal

Prep Work:
- Fill a food processor with as much of the cashews as possible and add water, puree to a very, very fine puree. Repeat until all done.
- Blend onions in a food processor to a very fine chop, not puree. If the processor does end up pureeing them then it will take longer to cook and require more oil.
- Ginger/Garlic puree is made 50/50 rough ratio with a little water to aid processing

Method:
1. Heat oil till just shimmering
2. Add whole spices and fry till aromatic and sizzling
3. Add onions and mix well
4. Add salt and mix well
5. Continue cooking the onions until golden brown, this may take some time ~30mins depending upon how chopped and the cooking medium, ie gas/electric etc. The oil will separate from the onions once they are cooked, this is the visual to go to the next step.
6. Add garlic & ginger puree and cook for a min or two
7. Add ~1 cup of water and mix through, the heat in the pan should be enough that the mix is bubbling away when the water is added in
8. Add powdered spices, mix well and fry a min or two
9. Add 1 cups of water, mix through and bring to a boil
10. Add tomato puree, mix through, bring back to a boil
11. Add cashew paste, mix through, bring to a boil, cover and simmer, it will plop and splatter the lid to no end
12. Add almond meal and cook for another 30 mins. The almond meal will thicken the mix considerably, additional water can be added to get back to the consistency mentioned above, or leave as is and add additional water when making a curry.

No extra water was added in the lesson, it was left very thick, and thickened up much more in the fridge. If keeping for a few days or longer then the thicker/drier the mix the better.

Use:
- From this sauce, 2 1/2 heaped tablespoons of it would be used in a single serve
- Again, huge quantities leaving me from having to cook this ever again this year!
- Used in Butter Chicken, Tikka Masala

Notes:
- It is always the same ratio of tomatoes to onions to nuts, 2:1:1. The split of nuts is 50/50 but will not be affected if the nut ratio is altered, ie more cashews/less almond meal etc.
- Cooking to a thicker paste will store better in the fridge rather then the consistency used in the restaurant

Hi all,

Sorry for the delay in getting these posted. I can see know why pics & vids make such a difference as it's kind of hard trying to describe some things like the consistency of things at various stages.

I'm sure a lot of you will go 'Huh?' when you read one of the dishes that this goes in. I asked him two or three times if he had the right dish. The end taste of the dish in question was great though.

Reading through the recipes/discussions on this site there are often discussions about what makes this dish, this dish if that makes sense. There do seem to be big variations in different IRs recipes though. Within our suburb here in Brisbane, there are 3 IRs that we frequent. Each one of them makes a completely different Butter Chicken. One is very heavy on tomatoes but thinish consistency, another is strong tomato but very very thick with a great smokey flavor coming from fried onions, and the other one is heavy on nuts and you can only get a hint of tomato. Each tastes great but very different.

As with all things it is easy to judge and criticize things before we try them. I must admit that after making this gravy and talking with him about what it was used in, I felt like I had been duped and wasted a lot of money and time, on the chef and all the ingredients.

But 5 hours later my scoffing had changed to 'scoffing' down the food!

On to the first of the gravies...

Nut Gravy

Ingredients:
- 0.5 cup Vegetable Oil
- 2 sticks Cassia Bark (approx 5cm long by 1 cm wide)
- 6 Green Cardamom Pods
- 1 Indian Bay Leaf (broken into bits)
- 5 Cloves
- 1.5 kg Onions
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Ginger/Garlic puree (50:50)
- 1 tbsp Coriander Powder
- 1 tbsp Cumin Powder
- 1 tbsp Turmeric Powder
- 350g Cashews/Cashew pieces
- 350g Almond meal

Prep Work:
- Fill a food processor with as much of the cashews as possible and add water, puree to a very, very fine puree. Repeat until all done.
- Blend onions in a food processor to a very fine chop, not puree. If the processor does end up pureeing them then it will take longer to cook and require more oil.
- Ginger/Garlic puree is made 50/50 rough ratio with a little water to aid processing

Method:
1. Heat oil till just shimmering
2. Add whole spices and fry till aromatic and sizzling
3. Add onions and mix well
4. Add salt and mix well
5. Continue cooking the onions until golden brown, this may take some time ~30mins depending upon how chopped and the cooking medium, ie gas/electric etc. The oil will separate from the onions once they are cooked, this is the visual to go to the next step.
6. Add garlic & ginger puree and cook for a min or two
7. Add ~1 cup of water and mix through, the heat in the pan should be enough that the mix is bubbling away when the water is added in
8. Add powdered spices, mix well and fry a min or two
9. Add 2 cups of water, mix through and bring to a boil
10. Add cashew paste, bring to a boil
11. Add more water, another 2 cups was used, and continue to cook for another hour covered. It should be a sloppy but not running consistency, it should pour off the spoon rather then fall and dollop.
12. Add almond meal and cook for another 30 mins. The almond meal will thicken the mix considerably, additional water can be added to get back to the consistency mentioned above, or leave as is and add additional water when making a curry.

No extra water was added in the lesson, it was left very thick, and thickened up much more in the fridge. If keeping for a few days or longer then the thicker/drier the mix the better.

Use:
- From this sauce, 2 1/2 heaped tablespoons of it would be used in a single serve Korma
- The quantities listed above made enough for our family to have a Korma a week till early 2011 I'd say!
- Used in Korma, Navrattan Korma, Madras (yes, Madras! I'm still kinda surprised by this, but it tasted great. The only Restaurant Madras that I have had was tomato based so this was a very new experience for me. I looked at the 7 IR takeaway menus that we have and to my surprise they all have coconut milk/cream mentioned in them, this too goes into the Madras, more info on that one to come...)

Notes:
- It is always the same ratio of onions to nuts, 2:1. The split of nuts is 50/50 but will not be affected if the nut ratio is altered, ie more cashews/less almond meal etc.
- Cooking to a thicker paste will store better in the fridge rather then the consistency used in the restaurant

Hi folks,

Well this is my first post, and hopefully one of many!

After seeing jb's posts a month or so ago about having a chef around to his house I thought I would try the same thing here in Australia.

I found a free classifieds web site where people would place ads for jobs, there were numerous posts of Indian chefs looking for work in restaurants. I thought I would send them a post and ask them if they would be interested in some casual work until they found full time employment at a restaurant.

After a couple of meetings with diffent people and weeding out a few, particularly the one that said you don't need many onions, I had my first lesson on Saturday.

4 kg's of onions, green chilies, tomatoes, tomato purre, cashew nuts etc etc the list went on and on.

Apparently there's more then one way to cook a restaurant curry...

He went on to make 3 base gravies, two of the other chefs that I spoke to said exactly the same as well.

1. Tomato gravy - basically loads of tomato puree, a little onion, some spicing, cashews and almond meal
2. Korma/Nut gravy - lots of onions, some spicing, cashews and almond meal
3. Tomato & Onion gravy - lots of onions, little tomato and some spicing, similar to the base gravies

To make his dishes in the restaurant he will take a spoon of this one and a spoon of that one, for a different dish it might be two spoons of one gravy and one of the others, and then you add some powders etc just like the other recipes.

The dishes made were Butter Chicken, Chicken Tikka Masala, Veg Korma, Navrattan Korma, Beef Vindaloo, and Beef Madras.

The remains of the dishes were finished off tonight and my wife's comments were that she felt like she's eaten in a restaurant the last couple of nights. So in terms of did they hit the mark, yes they did.

As for practicality though, I think it is much easier making the base sauce as done in the forum and then adding tomato paste, almond meal, spices etc to make individual curries. In a restaurant they will go through a big batch of each type of sauce a couple of times a week. I however, now have 3 kgs of Korma/Nut gravy of which you only use 2 heaped TBSP in one single serve curry! Hopefully the 20 or so packets I made up will defrost well!

I did tell him I wanted to make it just like they do in the restaurant, so I shall not complain!

Unfortunately I don't have any pics to post as it was difficult enough trying to watch and write everything down, so I shall post everything as well.

He did mention to me while we were making the gravies that when he's in the kitchen he can't smell a thing. The only time he notices the aroma is when he goes outside for a break/cigarette and comes back in.

A little different to BIR but hopefully it will interest some of you, and there do seem to be a lot of differences between our British vs Australian dishes. Ie a Tikka Masala here never has coconut powder in it, but pretty much every Madras is always coconut based.

Curry on,
Mark