Base                ->  https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,876.0.html

Chicken Tikka  ->  https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,874.0.html

Fried Rice        ->  https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,396.0.html

Chicken Tikka Bhoona Madras   ->   https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,880.0.html

3 tbl reclaimed oil
6 pieces of Chicken Tikka
1 tbl Tomato puree (slightly watered down)
1/2 tsp methi
1 tsp Chilli powder
3 green chillis, sliced
1 lvl tsp spice mix  (equal parts ground coriander, turmeric, garamasala, curry powder)
1 lvl tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 or 5 Ladles of gravy
1 tbl chopped coriander

1. Heat oil on medium for 1 min
2. Add tomato puree and stir until it splits into fragments (30 secs)
3. add the everything except curry gravy and fresh coriander and stir (30 secs)
4. Add 1 ladle of gravy and stir until the oil separates and it almost dissapears (1-2 mins)
5. Add cold chicken tikka pieces and coat
6. Add remaining gravy, stir an cook for 4-5 mins on medium (use a spatterguard)
7. Turn off heat, add fresh coriander, stir and and let it rest for 5 mins.

This dish was inspired by many of the original final dishes gleaned from this site, so thanks to all who contribute to make this site what it is.

Here's a base that I've now had my best results from. I'll post the final curry recipe later.  This base has some of the originality of the KD base but the beauty of it is you don't get the boiled onion smell/taste as this base has so much oil (that can be reclaimed). A restaurant owner told me this was the way he did it. It makes sense to keep it all in one pot if you're running a BIR.

12 onions (2kgs), roughly chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
600 ml veg oil
water, enough to just cover the onions in the pan
1 tbl salt
1 big bulb of garlic,  chopped
1 hpd tbl ginger paste
2 tbl tomato puree
1 tin tomatoes
2 tbl coconut cream
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbl ground coriander
1 tbl turmeric
1 lvl tsp garamasala (I use Natco)
1 cinnamon stick (2 inches)

1. add everything except the spices to the pan and bring to the boil
2  once boiling added the cumin, coriander, turmeric, garamasala, cinnamon stick and cook for 80 mins, lid on stir occasionally
3  discard cinnamon stick,  cool down mixture (I put pot into a sink filled with water to rapid cool). I think this cooling is important to the final taste.
4  blend using a strong hand blender until the mixture is completely smooth. Add water to get a very runny soup type consistency
5  bring to boil and skim off the frothy scum that floats to the top for 15 mins.
6. once the mixture looks 'clean' boil on medium until the oil separates and collects at the top. Should get a nice thick layer of deep red oil floating at the top.

I've not posted much recently, but I've been working away to try and come up with something new. This recipe was inspired by a recipe that used tamarind. Honestly guys, you really should try this if you get a chance as it beautiful.


600g Chicken  - 4 or 5 breasts
1 hpd tbl Pataks tandoori curry paste (the KEY ingredient as it includes lots of tamarind)
1 tsp mint sauce
1 hpd tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
2+2 tbl lemon juice (Jiff is ok)
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 dsp spice mixture (equal parts ground coriander, turmeric, garamasala, curry powder). I use this same mix for my curries.
1/4 tsp orange food colouring (much nicer than red)
1 lvl tsp methi
1 lvl tsp salt
2 tbl veg oil
3 tbl water

1. Chopped chicken breasts into 2 or 3 pieces each
2. Mix in 2 tbl lemon juice to the chopped chicken, leave for 15 mins
3. Meanwhile mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl (including the additional 2 tbl lemon juice)
4. Add the runny spice mixture to the chicken, cover and leave in fridge for 2 hours minimum .
5. Put 3 of 4 pieces of Chicken onto skewers.
6. Heat oven grill to highest temp and leave on full blast for 5mins to ensure it is HOT
7. Place skewers on a dish where both ends of the skewer are supported at both sides of the dish making sure the dish is deep avoid the chicken touching the bottom (ie ensure the chicken is suspended)
8. Place dish under grill (I try to get the chicken pieces about 2 inches from the grill element0
9. Cook for 4 minutes, turn once and give them another 4 mins.

Let the tikka rest for 5 mins before eating,. They freeze really well.

This recipe is actually better than anything I've eaten in a BIR.. honestly.

Ashoka
Ashton Lane
Glasgow

The food was awesome. I've actually eaten here before and it was OK at the time, but may last visit re-ignited my view of what "the  taste" really is and how far I'm actually away from re-creating it at home it in reality.

Firstly, the Chicken Pakora was so succulent and the Nan Brad was the best I've tasted in a long long time.

For the main course I had Chicken Tikka Karahi Bhuna Madras which was amazing. In fact it is the best curry I've had in the last 10 years.

I remember posting a while back that curries from years ago were much better than the ones you get served up today - this one was a blast from the past !!!

PS. I've heard the "Wee Curry Shop" which is just across the road on Ashton Lane is very good also - so that's my next visit. Interestingly Ashoka (aka Harlequin Leisure) have a few restaurants dotted around the West of Scotland and they are not all equal - in fact, the "Ashoka Shack" currys shops are very very poor. On the other hand, Ashoka South Side in Clarkston used to be stunning, but I've not been there for years.

Use 1 tablespoon of this lovely stuff for your final curry dishes.

Heat 4 tbl oil, add 2 tsp turmeric and cook for 30 secs then add  6 small onions finely chopped (the type of onions that make you eyes water). Turn down to med-low and cook for 30 mins.

Right click each image, then play


http://www.straughan.com/food/indianvideos.html

from this recipe - added Green and Red chillies

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=320.0

EDIT : Whoops posted in wrong section....admin to the rescue pls

Remember that "impossible to find madras/vindaloo ingredient" posted here a while back. Well Chilliworld have it in stock now.

http://www.chilliworld.com/SP6.asp?p_id=173

Here's hoping

Does anyone know where I can buy a frying pan that the typical BIRs use. They are about 10-12 inch diameter, sloping sides and all metal - not sure if they are stainless steel or aluminium.

The only ones I can find are all teflon coated and that just won't do due to all the scraping around with the chef's spoon

High street or online.


Many thanks.

After my recent spying misson to a local BIR, I decided to try making a final dish without any spices. Here's what I did (cheated a little)

1. Added 1 tb base sauce to hot frying pan (no oil)
2. Mixed 1 tbl caramalised onion with 1/4 tsp curry powder an 1/4 tsp of chill powder and added (this is the cheat - trying to mimic the yellow onions used in the BIR)
3. Added 1 tbl green chille paste - Ideally use red, but I didn't have any
4. Added 2  chef spoons of thick pasatta (I would have used 1 tbl of tomato puree - once again didn't have any)
5. Blast and reduce for 1 min
6. Add 1/2 lvl tsp methi and 1/2 tsp chopped chillis and cook for 30 secs
7. Add 2 big ladels of base and mix around
8. Add pre cooked chicken and 2 x 1/4 of fresh tomato and cook on full power for 4 mins.
9. Add 1 tsp fresh corriander and 1 chefs spoon of passata and cook for 1 more minute

That's it. Now I went outside for 5 mins to clear my nostrils.

This was delicious and I think had the taste - I say I think because I was wasn't exactly sober at this point, so I'll try again later today. The kitcken smells exactly like a BIR.

So for me, no dry spices is looking like the road to perfection.

PS. I'd call this Chicken Bhunna Madras

I ordered this from an open plan BIR tonight. This is based on what I could see going in - couldn't get talking to the chef. Apologies for the ingredients that I'm not 100% sure of - these were my best guess

1. 1 tbl oil (that's all). He used the unwashed pan from the previous dish. High Heat all the way through.
2. 1/2 chef spoon of yellow stuff ( this was really hard to tell, but looked like fried onions cooked in oil and turmeric - maybe curry powder)
3. 1/3 chef spoon of tomato puree (definitely the texture of puree - not ketchup)
4. 1/3 chef spoon of what look like Chilli pickle
5. Fried all this for 30 secs.
6 Added 1 tbl deep fried onion and 1 tbl deep fried Green and Red peppers and 1/4 fresh tomato
7. pinch of methi and a pinch of green chillis and fry for 30 secs (about 1/2 tsp each).
8. Added pre cooked Chicken Tikka
9. 2 big ladels of base and cooked from 4 mins
10. Pinch of fresh coriander
11. 1 chefs spoon of white solid/liquid emulsion stuff (possibly MSG/Salt/Sugar/Water combo ?? - not all dissolved )
12. This is another vague one, he sneaks under the counter in front of him and added 1/2 chef soon of some red liquid - looked like passata, but I can't be sure it wasn't some red liquid spice mixture.
13. Cooked for another min, then put in in the dish.

Sorry if this takes us back rather than forward because some of it is pretty vague.

Most interesting thing I noticed  was there was no dry spices in here at all !!

PS. The texture of the final dish was very similar if you were to make a curry from say the MarkJ base, but add very little oil to the final dish. I've now cut this down to 1 tbl in my final dishes and prefer the result.

This is the best I've made and it had the taste.

Here are the steps - most a mixture of tips/tricks I've picked up from this site. Thank you all.

The most important step is to foillow the fast (full heat) cooking of the final dish to the letter.
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Base - The MarkJ 10 onion version

vegetable oil to cover large pan upto a height of 1/2 inch
3 tbl Garlic & Ginger paste
1 tbl curry powder
1 tbl Turmeric
1 lvl tsp Chilli powder
10 tennis ball sized onions, chopped
2 celery stick chopped
1 green pepper chopped
2 large carrots chopped
1 tsp Salt
1.5 lvl tsp Garamasala
3 tbl pasatta
1/2 tbl tomato puree
handful of fresh coriander ripped or chopped
3 tbl Knorr 'Touch of Taste' liquid chicken stock concentrate.
boiling water

1) Heat oil until hot add the garlic and ginger and fry until light brown, keep stirring
2) Add curry powder, turmeric and chilli powder and stir fry. Add some cold water (few tablespoons) when it starts to stick to the bottom of the  pan. This frees it up instantly
3) Add the onions, carrots, green peppers and celery and fresh coriander
4) add salt and garamasala and mix around
5) add tomatoes then add boiling water to cover the vegetables by an inch
6) once up to the boil, add liquid chicken stock and simmer on lowish flame for 1 hour
7) Liquidise - easiest way is to use a hand blender straight into the pot
Boil hard for 10 mins - the top of the sauce rolls just like the base you may have seen in BIRs
9) cook on low for another 5 mins, then leave overnight.

all measures are rounded spoons unless it says lvl
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Final Dish - Chicken Bhuna Madras

   Cook on full power
   2 tbl veg oil
   Add 2 tbl pre cooked onions and 1 tbl chopped fresh chillis
   Cook for 30 seconds
   Add 1 tbl kethup, cook for 30 seconds
   Add 1.5 TSP curry powder, 2 TSP chilli powder, 1 TSP fenugreek leaves, 1/4 TSP salt, Cook for 30 seconds
   Add 1/2 ladel base sauce & evaporate the sauce
   Add 1/2 ladel base sauce and cook for 30 seconds
   Add precooked chicken, 1 tbl lemon juice, 1/4 whole tomato
   Add 1 tbl chopped fresh coriander
   Add 2 ladels of base sauce and rapid boil until oil floats
   add pinch of Garamasala and rest for 5 mins, then serve
______________________
Precooked Onions -

1. Peel and halve four onions and cut into thin slices.
2. Heat a large pan over a high flame add 2 TBL veg oil.
3. Add the onions and 1 TSP salt.
4.  Stir, coating the onions with the oil. Continue to saut? for about five minutes over the high heat.
5. Turn the flame down to medium-low, leaving the onions to saut? slowly. Stir them often, for about 20  more minutes, until they reach
a golden brown color.

You can freeze the precooked onions in ice cube trays.
________________________

I used the 'Curry House' method for pre-cooking the chicken. it turns out fantastic !!!

I stumbled on this while searching usenet..........

_______________________

I know the secret of the Karachi curry.

I've often wanted to share my secret with the group, even started
typing once or twice then changed my mind, I mean, the secret cost
me a lot of time and a lot of money, why should I pass it on for
free.

I'm feeling generous tonight, I'll tell you all the secret ingredient
and how I found it.

The secret is not realy an ingredient...it's the lighting.

I spent a long time experimenting, trying every combination of the
usual spices, then some not so usual spices, even some damned rare
spices, all to no avail, I ate curry every day for months but never
got it right. Then I slipped a waiter there 50 quid to get me the
recipe, I followed the  instructions to the letter, it still wasn't
right.

Eventually I sat in the Karachi night after night watching every move
the cook made, memorising it, then I went out and bought pans and
utensils which exactly matched theirs, I set about making an exact
copy of a  Karachi curry...it still wasn't the same...something was
missing.

I racked my brain, didn't sleep nights knowing I'd missed something,
racking my brain as to what it could be. Then in desperation I decided
to try the lighting, it was the only thing different, the Karachi has
a row of flourescent lights over the range, maybe the ultraviolet
light somehow affected the taste.

Next day I bought a florescent light and hung it over my cooker, that
night I made a batch of curry and left it simmering on a very low
light, next morning I got up and got a spoon...I'd done it...I'd made
a perfect Karachi curry...it was the greatest day of my life.

You see what happens is the moths hit the flourescent light and knock
themselves out.
_________________

This is one thing I struggle to  replicate at home. The Takaway Tikka is red with and doesn't have a coating of dried up thick  marinade when cooked.

I've tried many of the yougart based marinades but I'm convinced the Takaway boys don't use this. Any ideas ?

Like many of you, I've spent years trying loads of different base + final sauces but they were always a little lacking. Here's the secrets I think are key

For the base
1. Use a good, subtle base sauce  - add 2 or 3 tbl liquid chicken stock in addition to the usual onion, garlic, ginger and tomato mix.
2. Keep spices to a minimal - tumeric, cumin, corriander, chille powder per the recipe.
3. Use a jar of Passata instead of tinned tomatoes - less bitter.

I prefer to fry the onions first, then add the water (keeps the smell down)


For the final curry
1. Add a few tbls base sauce to a few tbl oil
2. Add cooked (or raw) chiken - cook as required
3. Add 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp corriander, 1/2 tsp garamasala (methi optional) and fresh and/or powerded chilli
4. add 2tbl Tomato ketchup <----------- this makes a HUGE difference
5. add a couple of ladels of sauce
6. 1 tsp salt
7. add a few tbl fresh corriander

Use good quality spices - I love Gatco.

In summary, keep the spices subtle (use sparingly) and add Ketcup to the base just after the dry spices. Don't add dry spices after the ladels of base sauce - this ruins it.

Good luck.......