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I visited my local Asian food store a few days ago to top-up my spice cupboard.
Unfortunately they were out of stock of MHD Deggi Mirch.
The shop owner said that all I needed to do was crush/grind(?) some dried Kashmiri chillies and add the merest touch (tiny amount) of red food colouring.

Do you know whether this is a viable alternative?

Thanks, James

Hi to all,

I have had this question for years and it wasn't until I had a take away from my local curry house last night and cut into a chicken tikka piece that I asked myself the question again - why can't I achieve that deep marinade that enters into the chicken pieces and not just on the surface as I get?

This is a freshly cut piece and you can see ( I hope) that the orange colour penetrates quite a long way into the chicken.
Any tips on how to achieve this please?

Can't remember where I posted a question regarding the type of tawa to buy but I did visit my local Asian store only to be presented with what looked like a pile of rusty pans.
This put me off and I continued using my standard frying pan for making naan bread (Happyeater chris)

Anyway I bit the bullet and purchased a tawa from the same shop choosing between the non stick variety and the 'rusty' steel type which was piled up.
The man at the counter said that the 'rusty' one was the best and handed over

Another one from my archive.

BBC 2 Good Food Programme Beef Bhuna Gosht recipe edited from the original broadcast in the early(?) 90's.
Worth a watch for all curry fans.


http://youtu.be/7wM680P-4aM

I wonder whether anyone can point me in direction for pre cooking stewing beef.
I'd like to have a go using my pressure cooker.

I normally make Chewytikka's chicken madras but this time I'll try beef.

Any recommendations please?

Cheers James

New video just posted from h4ppyleader on YouTube.

Good picture quality of a working BIR kitchen.
17 mins long, so should be very interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmpHnOWqRJY

Hi,
I just bought my first pressure cooker.
I have a question about what went wrong with my first attempt at using it.

Firstly it may not be the best cooker. Tower 7Ltr aluminium 11 or 12 PSI.

I did read the user guide and thought I followed the instructions.

I made a Pat Chapman non pressure cooker madras using a whole chicken chopped up with a chopped onion with spices.
This is where I'm questioning myself.
I added about a pint (500ml) of tinned chopped tomatoes and small amount of stock according to the recipe.

Locked on the lid and on with the gas.
The hissing soon started but the weight never turned.
After a few minutes I flicked the weight with my finger but it only turned a little and stopped. This went on for 10 or 15 minutes.
Still hissing away I left it a bit longer as I didn't know how long it would take to get up to pressure.
Finally the safety valve blew and that was it.

The contents was cooked but the bottom of the pot was covered with thick burnt on hardened crust

My questions are
1. Why didn't the weight turn, I checked that it wasn't blocked?
2. Are tinned tomatoes not good as the liquid?
3. Should I have added 1/2 pint (250ml) of water for a 15 min cook?

After I spent an hour cleaning the pot I ran a test with 300ml of water only and tried again.
The weight turned properly as described in the instructions.

This has lead me to the conclusion that it must be about the liquid content, or lack of it, in the recipe.

Thanks for reading and I value any replies.

Regards, James

Hi all,

The other half is asking every 5 minutes what I would like for Christmas.

Any ideas from forum members as to what would be a good curry related Christmas gift.
Anything goes, just looking for inspiration.

Thanks for any comments.

Cheers, James

Sorry to start a new thread. I was directed to do so.

I have looked through this and associated threads

Mick's/Taz's Curry Base Gravy can be found here:  https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4163.0

Mick's/Taz's Dopiaza recipe can be found here:  https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4165.msg37738;topicseen#msg37738

I'm sure I saw a reference to a video related to the technique used.
Is there a video?

Hi all,

I've been on a diet since Jan 2012 and not had a take away's since Dec 2011.
The wife caught me off guard a couple of nights ago and text me after a stressful day and suggested we got an Indian take away on a Wednesday. The local take away was celebrating their 13th anniversary and were offering 2 for 1.

OK I finally gave in and chose a meat madras.
I ate half of the main dish and frozen the rest.

The reason i'm writing this is because i just defrosted the other half (on  Friday) and it smells wonderful compared to the BIR curries I've been making, but why?

The aromas are so full. I can detect a full rich gravy smell with tomato and a hint of green pepper and something else I can't put my finger on. There is a smokey aroma with a slight sweetness element which i do not achieve with my recipes.

I guess everyone says the same thing but I wanted to register this after soooo long in not having a take away and only making my own.

It just reminds me to to compare, even occasionally, with the real thing.
I was thoroughly enjoying mine creations until now

It's only a picture but this is what I'm trying to describe.

I did a test last night after achieving great success last weekend with a butter chicken recipe which involved a smoking technique.
For me this produced the smokey tandoori flavour I often found in my local TA curries which I could never replicate.

With the butter chicken recipe it was a perfect match.
But, would it add anything to to a non cream/butter based curry?

I decided to give it a go with a generic based chicken vindaloo.
The result was more subtle than the butter chicken but still added a smokey flavour which contributed something extra to the finished curry.
I will definitely try it again and experiment with other recipes.

This is my first video attempt and apologises for the quality.
Next time I'll use a better camera.

I credit this site at the end.

http://youtu.be/_VEpRaE4fVA

Back in the 90's one of my favourite Saturday night curries was made using Patak's tinned (not Jars) Vindaloo sauce.

When i gave up on trying to replicate the dishes my beloved take away served, I turned my attention to my favourite commercially available sauce.

I bought more books, watched tv programmes and consumed as much information as possible.
As with the BIR cooking I failed to get close.
It had a rich tangy, slight vinegary taste which I loved.
I think Fenugreek was mentioned in the ingredients along with the standard spice list.

Of course there was no internet or network of like minded people then. Not on a mass scale anyway.
There was Pat Chapman's Curry Club, but, I'd bought his  books and they didn't help.

I'm not sure whether Patak still sells this sauce. I can't find it on their site and I never see it in my local super markets anymore.

Does anyone remember it? and more importantly any information about how to replicate it at home?
I would be very interested in hearing your thoughts.

Cheers, James

Hi all,
just bought CurryBarkingMad's BIR book and made his gravy (from the book not the same as the videos)
Wow! The flavour is great and although still mild, same as all the others I've made, it has a distinctive one.
I watered it down to the correct, I believe, consistency and it produce a beautiful silky, golden coloured gravy with a loverly aroma.

I used a 450ml portion, in the vindaloo from the same book, although it calls for only 300ml.

This is my problem.
Recently I've noticed that all my curries seem to use up all the gravy I pour in, usually 350ml.
So I decided that the gravy portions were not large enough to produce a finished saucy curry.

I made the vindaloo and had to keep adding water after the gravy (450ml not 300ml) because the sauce was so thick.

If left over night then virtually all the sauce dried up. Maybe this is to be expected. Although my usual take away always has remaining sauce the next day.

I wonder whether I should check the measurements I'm using for the spice mix and other spices.
I could just be adding too much.

Any comments welcome.

Regards James
PS: CBM PDF book loaded on to the iPad (pictured)

Hi all,
Can you advise me regarding where I can buy Kashmiri chilli powder?
I've had a good look round various local Indian food stores and the chilli powders on sale are just labelled 'Chilli powder'
with perhaps the addition of 'Hot' in the description.

I have bought whole Kashmiri chillies (dark red) as shown and used in Julian's Curry2go vindaloo video.
Can I get the same effect by grinding these down?

Thanks, James

Hi Chewytikka,
I don't know whether this has been said before but I certainly find that your video's are some of the best I've see on the net.
I particularly like the clear step by step approach with the ingredients listed as they are added.
I like to follow the video in 'real time' on my iPad which sits on the kitchen shelf.

I made your recent chicken madras last weekend and it is one of the best curries I've made.
Just one suggestion for any future curry videos, I would like to see a full range of the ingredients used shown at the start of the video for about 10 seconds before the cooking commences. This can be used as a preparation list which can be paused on any play back device. It can be a bit of a pain on phones/tablets pausing and rewinding etc.

Just out of interest, what video editing software do you use which allows the addition of  text animations?
Thanks.

Regards, James

My name is James and I live in Northampton UK (Midlands)
I started cooking Indian food about 20 years ago when I discovered the Curry Club books.
My introduction to curries was in the 70's with my mum's saturday night attempt using Vesta boil in the bag curries.
In almost all that time I have tried to replicate the takeaway flavour.
I noticed that the quality of Indian takeaway food improved when I moved North.
When I got a job that took me all over the country I notice regional differences.
I guess things have changed now but in those days 80's/90's curry quality improved the more you travelled north.

Since then I am what you might call a curryholic!

I'm really pleased I found this site and look forward to renew my interest in making my own curries.

Thanks for any help offered.
James