This is from the book that started me on the curry trail
31 years later and I'm still making this Bindi Bhajee
I love it
Main flavours are Cinnamon and Cardamon
Although there's lemon and sugar in it too
Definitely a sweet and sour thing going on
One of my all time favourite home made curries
I made chapattis to go with it
also mixed vegetable pakora
I used a standard  raita but also Alex  Wilies Glasgow Takeaway's "tomato pakora sauce"
Such a nice meal!

A  few times I've made some really nice raita using fresh mint
I bought it from the local Asian shops
I'd like to grow some (quite expensive to buy a bunch)
Does anyone know what is the common Asian mint sold?
It's always there, along with, the fresh fenugreek and coriander

There are many different recipes for naan
But which flour gives the best result?
Plain or self raising?
All the takeaways I have seen use self raising but there are many home recipes that use plain
What difference  does it actually make?
Does it affect the gluten?
What do folks think?

Can't leave this book completely alone
Every now and then I do another recipe
This time it's Saag Paneer
I made the Paneer too (recipe in the book)
The picture shows what you how much paneer you get
I used 2 litres for that, so it's not much of a yield
You have to weigh down the curds to make them solid
Reckon they use a lot more pressure when it's made commercially
My paneer was sort of light and fluffy!
I pre deep fried it (like they do in the takeaways)
It didn't half bubble in the oil!
I made Kris's base in my big pot
Very good pot that
The spinach was canned (as per recipe)

I always finish of the poppadoms in the oven
It really does make a big difference
If you haven't done it before then try it
They turn out less greasy and it adds an extra layer of flavour

the naans were made in my tandoor
Paul Clearey's recipe (Pacman and it's on this site)

served with raita, mango chutney and lime pickle  (only a quid at Morrisons at the moment)

very enjoyable curry

Ok Folks, who's used any  Madhuban Curry Sauces?
http://www.madhuban.co.uk/index.html
this is what they say
At Madhuban we pride ourselves on our truly authentic restaurant-style curry sauces. They don't just taste like the real thing......they are the real thing. No Pale imitations these - they come straight from the curry house kitchens. We think they're perfect. With the help of the recipes on this site, so will you.


I finally found out my local supplier, which was about 12 miles away, so I bought two sauces
Madras and Balti
I tried the madras and it does taste different
Certainly not home made, in either aroma or flavour
But there's no way it tasted anywhere near as good as a decent takeaway curry
It's got a slight twang to it
Think it might be star anise
When heating the sauce it doesn't smell "wrong"
But lacks any real attractive flavour and (dare I say it) the spices seem a little grainy, maybe raw?
I wouldn't buy again, but glad I tried it
My wife , by the way, gave it a big thumbs down
Far prefers my BIR cooking

I have seen a veg byriani demo
And what can I say?
These chefs are absolutely amazing and there is no way you could copy this as well as they do it
Listen to this:-

Vegetable Byriani

This is an odd curry, made in two stages
A sauce, and a sauce mixed with cooked Pillau rice, in a wok
The sauce with the Pillau rice is almost identical to the first sauce

The sauce

Ingredients:-
4 tablespoons curry gravy oil
2 desertspoons of runny ginger garlic puree
1 desertspoon tomato puree (slightly watered)
1 ? dessertspoon spice mix (turmeric,paprika,madras curry powder,,coriander & cumin)
? teaspoon chilli powder
? teaspoon salt
1 ladle of curry gravy
1 tablespoon frozen peas
1 tablespoon cooked chick peas
?  portion of precooked veg
1 tablespoon fresh coriander
1 tablespoon dried fenugreek

Heat the oil for a couple of minutes
Add the garlic ginger, tomato puree, salt, chilli powder and spice mix
Cook a couple of minutes and reduce down
Add a little curry gravy (a couple of dessertspoons)
Cook and dry the mix
Add the peas and stir a minute
Add the chick peas
Cook another five minutes
Then add the precooked veg and the rest of the curry gravy, fresh coriander and dried fenugreek
Cook until fairly dry

This is the second sauce which goes with the rice
It is almost the same

The second sauce

Ingredients:-
4 tablespoons curry gravy oil
2 tablespoons of finely chopped garlic & ginger
2 desertspoons of runny ginger garlic puree
1 desertspoon tomato puree (slightly watered)
1 ? dessertspoon spice mix (turmeric,paprika,madras curry powder,,coriander & cumin)
? teaspoon salt
2 desertspoons fresh chopped onion
1 ladle of curry gravy
?  portion of precooked veg
1 tablespoon fresh coriander
1 tablespoon dried fenugreek
2 dessertspoons of curry gravy oil
1 portion of precooked Pillau rice

Heat the oil for a couple of minutes
Add the chopped garlic ginger
Fry for a couple of minutes the add the garlic ginger puree, tomato puree, fresh onion, salt and spice mix
Cook a couple of minutes and reduce down
Add a little curry gravy (a couple of dessertspoons)
Cook and dry the mix
Add the precooked veg and a little curry gravy, fresh coriander and dried fenugreek
Cook until nearly dry

In a wok heat two dessertspoons of curry gravy oil for two minutes
Stir fry the rice for a couple minutes
Add the second sauce and mix well
Heat right through
In another pan, fry a one egg omelete
Pour rice mix into a carton with the omelette on top
Pour the first sauce into another carton
Serve

I think this only cost ?6 and the kitchen would be totalled, if you did it at home
It's a lovely meal and I'm sticking to buying it
Fantastic!!

I got another couple of demos
This place was proud of it's fresh ingredients and presentation of the meals
I was told how their curries reflected new trends for healthier food
Everything was very clean
All the pans were spotless before the start of each meal
Very friendly people and first class curries
The curry gravy oil was in a pot on the stove (check out your local, it's there!)

Chicken Tikka Masala and Chicken Korma Demo


Ingredients
4 desertspoons of curry gravy oil
1 portion of precooked chicken tikka
100 ml single cream (approx)
3 ladles of curry gravy
1 desertspoon tomato puree (tower brand slightly diluted)
1 desertspoon restaurant spice mix
1 desertspoon of tandoori spice mix
(this is a bright red blend of tandoori paste, tikka paste, kashmiri masala, sugar, ground almonds & coconut powder)

This is a very easy curry to make but rather high on the calories

Heat the oil for a minute and get it really hot (lovely aroma)
Add a little curry gravy, tomato puree and spice mix and stir for two minutes
It becomes a hot dryish paste
Add the special tandoori spice mix
This is a vivid red
Really bright
No extra colouring is used, it all comes from the pastes
Stir another minute then add more curry gravy
Stir in, then add precooked chicken and half the cream
Heat through for about three minutes
Add the rest of the curry gravy and cook on for a couple of minutes
Stir in the rest of the cream then serve

Chicken Korma


Ingredients
4 desertspoons of curry gravy oil
1 portion of precooked chicken
1 tablespoon pre fried onions
(cooked in oil, turmeric, spice mix & tomato puree)
100 ml single cream (approx)
3 ladles of curry gravy
1 desertspoon tomato puree (tower brand slightly diluted)
1 desertspoon restaurant spice mix
1 tablespoon ground almonds
1 tablespoon coconut powder
1 tablespoon of coloured almonds
1 teaspoon finely chopped coriander

This is very similar to cook as chicken tikka masala

Heat the oil for a minute and get it really hot
Add a pre fried onions, tomato puree and spice mix and stir for two minutes
It becomes a hot dryish paste
Add a ladle of curry gravy
Shake the pan vigourously
Stir another minute then add more curry gravy
Stir in, then add precooked chicken, ground almonds, coconut powder and half the cream
Heat through for about three minutes
Add the rest of the curry gravy and cook on for a couple of minutes
Stir in the rest of the cream then serve
Garnish with the coloured almonds and coriander

I have just been shown how to cook Vegetable Rhogan Josh
You can substitute precooked chicken instead and it will work
This is very different to recipe I was shown at Bengal Cuisine and a much nicer meal
It is cooked again in two pans
The amount of garlic used is frightening
Very interesting, the use of ground coriander late into the recipe
Also used is oil, from the deep pan fryer
We've talked about that before, and how the oil picks up flavours of bhajees etc
I mentioned black cardamoms in curry gravy
This place doesn't use them
Neither do they use panch poran in precooked veg
The veg are cooked in oil,garlic ginger mix,onion and spice mix
They "do" in their own steam
I checked on the mystery "tomato" powder
It is definitely paprika
It seems everything I learn comes with two "facts" that I find are wrong
Never mind
Here's the recipe

Rhogan Josh


Ingredients:-
4 desertspoons of curry gravy oil
2 desertspoon prefried onions
1 desertspoon garlic ginger puree (very runny, oily and yellow)
1 desertspoon tomato puree
1 desertspoon spice mix (turmeric,paprika,coriander,curry powder no chilli or cumin in it)
1 desertspoon chilli powder
2 ladles of runny curry gravy
1 precooked? potato
? fresh tomato
1 large precooked cauliflower floret
3 tablespoons of precooked mixed veg (peas,cabbage aubergine,ladies fingers)
1 desertspoon fresh chopped coriander
1 teaspoon dried methi
2 teaspoon ground coriander


Heat the curry oil for a minute on high
Add the prefried onions and fry for a minute
Add the garlic ginger and shake the pan vigourously while stirring, for another minute
A few flames happened here
Add the tomato puree and stir a couple of times
Add the spice mix, chilli powder and fresh tomato
Cook for another couple of minutes stirring
Add 1 ladle of curry gravy and stir a couple of minutes
Add precooked potato, cauliflower and stir
Add the precooked veg and mix in fir a couple of minutes
Add fresh coriander, dried fenugreek and just one teaspoon of the ground coriander
Stir for a minute then add the other ladle of curry gravy
Put a lid on the pan for three minutes to get it really hot
While this is heating, start the second part of the recipe

Ingredients 2:-

3 tablespoons of oil taken from the deep pan fryer (used for onion bhajees and pakora etc)
4 desertspoon of finely chopped garlic
1 desertspoon fresh chopped coriander

Heat the oil for a minute then heat up the garlic
Cook for about two minutes until it goes a nutty brown (not black)
Take of the heat, add the fresh coriander and stir it in

Go back to the first pan and take lid of and add the remaining spoon of ground coriander
Stir in then pour into a take away carton
Pour the fried garlic/coriander/oil on top and it?s ready

I raided my deep freeze last night and served up three curries
Two were mine, one was from a restaurant
The restaurant curry was a vegetable dupiaza
This is desribed as a medium curry cooked with pepper,tomatoes, onion and special spice
One of my curries was a vegetable vindaloo, and was almost identical to the dupiaza, in texture flavour and taste
The only difference was obvious
The vegetables from the restaurant had an aroma of panch poran
Check below, for spice break down
http://cooking4her.blogspot.com/2005/07/panch-poran-five-spice.html
I am moving house, but when I am settled I will experiment with this stuff
It has been mentioned before (Bruce Edwards article for precooking)
but maybe it's a whole lot more important than I realised
It's definitely a missing flavour, if I am trying to match my local takeaway
Has anyone else cooked with it?

Has anyone got access to a catering gas cooker?
I think the heat from these gas rings plays a very important part
This is the missing element
It transforms the curry gravy from a "boiled" taste to a fried one
Last night I heated up small amounts, of previously cooked curries, in the microwave.
It almost dried them out and I needed to add a little water back
But it turned these curries very savoury and sweet
It also boosted the aroma
I can't get that intensity of heat, from my gas cooker, with the quantities I cook in
Surely, after all our research, there is nothing else it could be
Noone has turned up a missing ingredient
All the demos reveal no special way to cook them
In fact when you see them cooked, it almost seems to be done in a leisurely way
No hurry about anything
I have seen chefs heat the oil, and a bit of curry gravy with spice, then sit down for two minutes before inspecting the pan!

Veg Vindaloo

I know most of you probably don?t have Vegetable Vindaloo very often, but it?s a goal of mine to make it.
I had another demo with this dish
The fact is that weather it?s a veg, prawn or chicken vindaloo, they still have the taste of the amazing sauce with them
In truth, I think that?s the best part

Ingredients

3 ladles Curry gravy
Curry Gravy oil
1 desert spoon sliced fresh mushrooms
1 precooked small potato
1 desert spoon  garlic ginger puree (looked like a yellowy thin horse radish)
1 desert spoon tomato puree (thick paste)
1 desert spoon restaurant spice mix
1 teaspoon coriander/cumin mix
1 ladle precooked mixed veg
1 desert spoon canned chick peas

Heat ? a ladle of oily curry gravy in a pan
Cook for a minute
Add the mushrooms and garlic ginger puree and fry for a couple of minutes
Add the tomato puree and restaurant spice mix
Stir until it dries almost out
Add the potato
Then add a ladle of the curry gravy
Stir another minute and add the mixed veg and chick peas
Stir a couple of minutes and reduce down
Then add the last of the curry gravy along with the coriander/cumin mix
Stir and add a large spoon of Curry Gravy oil

I have seen this done a couple of times now:-
The chef covers the pan with an upturned frying pan and lets it fiercely boil for a couple of minutes
When he took the frying pan, off the top, the aroma was fantastic
As always this was a superb curry

I asked for some of the spice mix and, they are such nice people, they gave me some
It?s a ?darker than turmeric? colour
It was explained that it?s made of five spices
Turmeric, cumin, coriander, paprika and curry powder
I have compared it to the Bruce Edwards spice mix.
It?s very similar but has slightly more paprika
It tastes and smells almost the same

The spices don?t add any real flavour to the curry, when cooked for such a short time
They really just add aroma
I have asked on several occasions for extra sauce with my curry
They serve this in a side order carton
This extra sauce is made up from just the curry gravy, curry gravy oil, garlic ginger puree and spice mix
The only thing that has to be right, to make this succeed, is the curry gravy
However we are making the curry gravy, it has to be good enough to eat on it?s own
I was given a large sample of that too
And I did eat it on it?s own
It?s very,very nice
It has that ?eat the lot of it? flavour with a taste of  oily, boiled, fried onions with a slight spiceyness
The curry gravy is the only area where there is still some element of doubt
The closest , on this site, is probably Mark J?s full sized base
I was told, to make up the large pot on the stove, you need a lot of onions
The chef gestured to a large washing up basin
He said he fills  that with the peeled onions
It probably would hold about 30 onions (same as Mark J too)
He said never use Spanish onions
They are far too watery
There isn?t much spice in the gravy either
For this base only about 6 desert spoons of spice mix

What spice mix do people use for their BIR cooking?
I've managed to get a few from chefs
My current favourite is this ratio

coriander x2
cummin x1
curry powder x 1/2
turmeric x2
paprika x2

I am suspicious of garam masala unless the make is specified
It varies so much
Did you notice how the Kushi site would give no brands for garam masala or curry powders?
What's wrong with a recommendation?
My spices tend to be either East End or Rajah

I made a really good veg vindaloo at the weekend
Here's the pictures
From left clockwise
Curry oil and gravy, selection of uncooked veg, finished curry & preboiled & prefried veg with spice mix.
As soon as you had the oil and the spice mix in the pan, you knew you had something special
Sorry I still can't post pictures here!
I get the warning
The attachments upload directory is not writable. Your attachment or avatar cannot be saved.
Image shack has had picture hosting problems too
I can't post there
Ideas, anyone?

This is the KD base sauce from the restaurant curry secret book.

How To Make The Curry Sauce

For approximately eight main course dishes.
Preparation and cooking time: 1 hr 30 minutes approx.

2 lb (900g) cooking onions
2 oz (50g) green ginger
2 oz (50g) garlic
2? pint (I litre 570ml) water
1 teaspoon salt
1 tin (8oz/225g) tomatoes
8 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon tomato puree
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon paprika

Stage One

Peel and rinse the onions, ginger, and garlic. Slice the onions and roughly chop the ginger and garlic.
Put the ginger and garlic into a blender with about ? pint of the water and blend until smooth.
Take a large saucepan and put into it the onions, the blended garlic and ginger, and the remainder of the water.
Add the salt and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat to very low and simmer, with the lid on, for 40-45 minutes.
Leave to cool.

Stage Two

Once cooled, pour half the boiled onion mixture into a blender and blend until perfectly smooth. Absolute smoothness is essential. To be certain, blend for at least two minutes. Pour the blended onion mixture into a clean pan or bowl and repeat with the other half of the boiled onion mixture.
Wash and dry the saucepan. Reserve about four tablespoons of the sauce at this stage to use in cooking the chicken and lamb.
Freezing. Freezing is best done at this stage.

Stage Three

Open the can of tomatoes, put into the rinsed blender jug, and blend. Again, it is important that they are blended perfectly smooth, so blend for two minutes.
Into the clean saucepan, pour the oil, tomato puree, turmeric, and paprika.
Add the blended tomatoes and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and cook, stirring occasionally, for ten minutes.
Now add the onion mixture to the saucepan and bring to the boil again. Turn down the heat enough to keep the sauce at a simmer.
You will notice at this stage that a froth rises to the surface of the sauce. This needs to be skimmed off.
Keep simmering for 20-25 minutes. Stirring now and again to prevent the sauce sticking to the bottom of the saucepan.
Use immediately or cool and refrigerate for up to four days.

OK, I posted my demo prawn madras
I made it at home and got a very close result
CK & Yellow Fingers tried it and it clearly wasn't what they were aiming for
I think Curry Queen and Mark were trying too
Tell me what happened, I can take it
All I can say is that what I described is exactly what they did.
I still have a small sample of the restaurant curry base
KD's really does look identical but there still is a little something that is not exact.
The same difference is noticable in the finished curry.
This "something" is in the home made curry base but not it's quite as strong
I think CK said something along those lines
So any changes I make, will not be to the methods of cooking the curry, but to the base.
I know that everything else we are doing is exactly right.
I am sure this can be done at home
See picture
KD's sauce is the red arrow
http://img465.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kdandcurryhousegravy7dz.jpg
Actually, looking really close
The genuine curry gravy looks more jellied.
Chicken Jelly?

I saw this cooked last night too
There are a few ingredients which I knew, but would have liked to know more about
The tandoori marinade is probably what we have posted on this site already
But I don't know that for sure
This coconut/sugar mix is new too
Has anyone heard of that?
So a little mystery here

Chicken Tikka Masala

7 pieces of chopped pre cooked chicken tikka
3 desert spoons curry gravy oil
1 desert spoon garlic ginger puree
1 desert spoon of curry mix
3 ladles Tandoori Marinade
1 ladle Curry Gravy
2 tablespoons coconut/sugar mixture  (white ground powder)
2 tablespoons single cream


As usual , have the gas ring on high
Things don?t tend to burn because you are using old oil
Fresh oil gets a lot hotter
Heat the oil and fry the garlic ginger puree for a couple of minutes
Stir every now and then
Add the curry mix followed quickly by  2 ladles of the tandoori marinade
Reduce for about three minutes
This mixture is a vivid bright red
Add the curry gravy, cook a minute, then add 1 tablespoon of coconut/sugar mix
Cook another couple of minutes then add the chicken
Cook another three minutes then add the single cream (from a carton)
Then the rest of the coconut/sugar mixture, followed by 1 more ladle of tandoori marinade
Heat another couple of minutes and it?s ready

There is a certain attitude towards curry house cooking
I have read articles about more "upmarket" restaurants
Their attitude to the humble curry house, is one of "all the meals are the same"
Well, after seeing the chef make only three meals last night, I was very impressed by his cooking skill, and just how many different ingredients go into various dishes
True, they all have a slop of curry gravy, but it made me realise how little I know.
These chefs are artists and true professionals in every sense of the word

I managed to get another demo at a restaurant.
The chef even let me cook some of it!
Here you are:-

Prawn Madras

Thawed Frozen ?Ocean Beauty? Prawns (about twenty)
Curry gravy oil (kept in a ghee pot on stove)
1 tablespoon garlic ginger puree (very runny)
1 desertspoon chilli powder
1 desertspoon curry powder mix
2 desertspoons tomato puree (very thick paste)
Curry gravy (soup consistency)

Gas ring on maximum all the time
Heat 2 tablespoons of curry gravy oil for a minute
Add 1 tablespoons of garlic ginger puree
Cook for a couple of minutes
It doesn?t brown at all, just turns a bit darker and small bits solidify
Add the chilli powder, curry powder, tomato puree and half a ladle of curry gravy (in that order)
Stir then let bubble away for five minutes
Stir and add two more ladles of curry gravy
Five more minutes than get the prawns and squeeze the water out of them, before adding to the pan
Cook another three minutes then add a little curry gravy oil
All in all it takes about 15 minutes

No lemon juice, coconut or fresh coriander used!


Chicken Balti

Ten pieces of spoon sized precooked chicken
2 desertspoons prefried onions (Hi Mark!)
Curry gravy oil (kept in a ghee pot on stove)
1 ?? tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1 desertspoon curry powder mix
1 ?? desertspoon tomato puree (very thick paste)
1 tablespoon dried fenugreek
1 teaspoon ground coriander
Curry gravy (soup consistency)
? a takeaway carton of cold water
1 sliced (like a cucumber) tomato
Sliced mushroom (probably one big one)
Fresh coriander

Gas ring on full
The ring is about 5 inches wide
Heat 2 tablespoons of curry gravy oil
Add the garlic
Cook for a couple of minutes
Add the prefried onions
These are yellow strings of onion, 3mm wide
Stir in for a couple of minutes
Add the tomato puree, curry powder mix and cook till it gets a little dry
Add the water (secret ingredient!)
Let it bubble away for a couple of minutes
It takes no time on their cookers to reboil
It should reduce by about half then add the fresh tomato
Add the chicken soon after and bring back to the boil
Cook for three minutes
Add fresh coriander
Add 1 ladle of curry gravy bring back to the boil
Add the mushroom, dried fenugreek and ground coriander.
Add another ladle and a half of curry gravy
Cook another 5 minutes and its ready


Other Observations

The oil drum was KTC veg oil in a very large drum
Cartons about were full of chopped garlic (bit blue), precooked lamb, precooked chicken, precooked veg, dried fenugreek, thick tomato paste, mixed tandoori marinade, garlic ginger puree (bit oily), chopped fresh coriander, curry mix (yellow but darker than turmeric), chilli powder, turmeric, salt, coconut powder and sugar mix (new to me), single cream, ground coriander, precooked spinach, precooked onions, peas, chopped uncooked onions, chopped mushrooms, chopped fresh chillies

The rice is all micro waved back
It clearly has been cooked earlier
Very nice it is too
The cooking pans are made of aluminium
About 12 inches wide and 2 ? inch deep
They are not as light as I thought they would be

The chef told me the difficulty of getting the same flavour at home
He reckons (here we go again) you can?t do it in small quantities
He clearly has tried himself
He said his base comes out a different colour
It?s more yellow if you make it at home
His curry gravy pots are not the massive size we have heard of
About 15 inches tall by 12 inches wide
They are loaded with oil too (which he saves for cooking)

I reckon the most important restaurant tecnique is reusing the curry gravy oil
It might also be worth noting that this curry gravy was not new
It had therefore had time to mature
If it had been new the ?taste? might not have been there

I have tasted the curries
The prawn madras is very hot!
Both are brilliant
Complete with the ?taste?
One flavour in it, is that distinctive ?Kris Dhillon? curry base
That book never goes away does it?

I was having an amazing time with flambeeing my curries today.
The flames were massive and burnt a long time
Very difficult to photograph on a digital camera
Something called shutterlag, messes it up
The picture is not taken at the time you press the button!
Here are a couple of shots and the finished curry
The house absolutely stinks like a take away now, my wife's going to kill me!
I have decided that flambeeing really does add something to the curry
After having gone all round the houses I think that the Bruce Edwards Spice Mix is the best one, too.
I was very pleased with what I made

Clockwise from the brown curry
Tarka Dhall (using green lentils)

Chicken Tikka Masala (100 best baltis posted by Ray G)
I didn't add any extra colouring

Vindaloo sauce.

All the curries were really good
But I know they still missed the aroma/taste
The restaurants are doing something that we don't
And whatever it is, it's in the curries
I am sure it's just a communication problem and they would tell us.
They do it regularly
A strong very spicy smell that drifts halfway down the road.
It's the strongest smell they create
I can tell the other smells of what they do now
I know when they are reheating the curry gravy
The same for frying garlic ginger and spices
I recognise tandoori chicken cooking smell

I emailed the Kushi Balti Restaurant about this
Maybe they will shed some light
We are so close
Don't get me wrong, I thought my curries were excellent it's just that I know a restaurant could do better.

Has anyone tried these sauces?
http://www.currysauce.com