Quote from: jb on December 01, 2012, 10:15 AM

Quote from: ELW on November 29, 2012, 06:53 PM
What smells a little to me is the amount of vegetable ghee buckets(yellow ones) i've seen in the kitchens, yet there isn't much about its use coming to light, for whatever reason. I suspect it may be used extensively in my neck of the woods rather than oil. I would also like to hear from anyone who has used oil from the catering sized drums for home cooking & noticed any difference?

Regards
ELW

That's a very good question.I'm always told BIR's use veg oil to make their curries,yet out the back of one takeaway near me there's always at least a dozen of these empty yellow ghee buckets.Apart from brushing naan breads with the stuff what else could they be doing with it I wonder?

jb, Veg Ghee is used in some base gravy's also used in main dishes instead of Veg Oil.
Our favourite t/a used to make their Curry's using Veg Oil ( I watched while they made my Curry ) , recently they have started making Curry's with Veg Ghee this has not improved the flavour and I'm not keen on Curry's made with Veg Ghee 

Thanks' all will look into the ones mentioned 

Hi all  can  anyone recommend a good stick blender ? I recently bought a Kenwood Tri Blade and that lasted about five minutes  It seems most blenders have a runtime of about 1 minute then rest for 5 minutes  :

Spotted the Chef of one of our local t/a cleaning his feet on the worktop through a partly open hatch into the kitchen  got a refund and don't use the t/a anymore !

Yes mate been out for a while now,quite an interesting read 

Hi CH  the chef did say ' most of their customers don't like their curry's too spicy' 
When the chef See's me come in he comes to the counter and shakes my hand  then adds extra spice to my curry's  ;D
Perhaps we should start a new section ' Traditional BIR' 

Some weeks ago I was lucky enough to be invited onto the kitchen of my local t/a and watched them cook a chicken madras and was surprised to see no spice or salt added to the dish  When I asked the chef about this he said 'everything is in the gravy,nothing extra is needed'  he also used no oil at the start of the curry and instead used a chef's spoon of base and fried this down before starting with the g/g etc etc.
I asked if I could make my lamb madras and he agreed,I started with a small amount of veg oil plus added about a heaped teaspoon of mix powder ( to his disapproval  ;D ) when finished I tasted both and my curry was best  ;D
Whether this 'all in the base' is a relatively recent practice I don't know but it might explain why t/a curry's seem to be
lacking in flavour compared to even a year ago 

Fantastic Bob  all looks wonderful  Good to see a crO member showing em how to do it  ;D
Bob,what was the reason for using the Taz base is it your favourite at the mo ?

Quote from: chillihothot on October 06, 2012, 05:07 PM
Ok base is bubbling away I also fried the onions and garlic for much longer than usual as well.
BTW the base recipe is Admins base based off that rick stien show where RS stole the recipe from a real curry house.

15 bulbs of garlic. Mmmm I think thats what gives it that authentic flavour.

15 bulbs of garlic  or 15 cloves 

Quote from: pauly58 on October 05, 2012, 08:51 AM
I went to the freezer to get my last tub of base gravy only to find it was cooked lentils, problem.

So, in desperation really, I finely diced half an onion, fried it gently until lightly golden brown, added a heaped teaspoon of ginger/garlic paste, then a tablespoon of tomato puree , a tablespoon of mix powder, a teaspoon of chilli powder, two finely chopped green chillies & a couple of cherry tomatoes cut in half.

I loosened the mix with a little juice from some tinned tomatoes, now what to do for some sauce. I dissolved half a chicken oxo cube in less than half a pint of water & added it to the pan along with my pre cooked chicken. Simmered until the oil lifted to the surface, then a pinch of sugar & some salt.

Time for tasting. Amazed myself, it was really a very tasty curry, something of a hybrid between BIR & home cooked, delicious.

Try adding a tin of tomato soup to what you have above (without the chicken stock ) ,you might be even more amazed