Thanks guys,the whole thing actually took me a couple of days to get together,but it was well worth it.It certainly had the taste and the smell of genuine BIR food.Actually it was probably better than some of the medicore bland tasting stuff I often get these days.

I was specifically asked to do some milder dishes,hence the korma and chasni.I've never actually cooked a korma,the last one I ate was many years ago.Kind of made it up but it tasted pretty good,my young guest said it was the best she'd had in ages.The chasni was also suprisingly good,very tasty;a bit like the punjabi massala recipe on the forum.

All in all,everything went as planned,a lot of effort but a great success.

I had my curry pans out last night for some friends.I cooked Elachi North Indian Special,chicken tikka pathia,chicken tikka sizzler,chicken tikka massala,korma,chicken tikka chasni,sag aloo,bombay aloo,aloo chat and pilau rice.

Elachi NIS cooking...



aloo chat cooking.....



dips for popadoms,spicy red onions,Dipuraja's mint sauce



chicken tikka massala...



chicken tikka sizzler...



I had so much to cook I cooked in stages and kept the dishes hot in the oven...

Pathia and korma...



From left sag aloo,bombay aloo and aloo chat



korma...



chicken tikka chasni...



sag aloo....



pilau rice....




ready to go!!!

Very interesting,all these cash and carry places seem to do the same selection of spices.I did see that they sell kilo bags of ajwain seeds.I wonder how many of these they sell and exactly how BIR chefs use such a big amount.Looking at what these places sell though,if there was such a thing as a magic or secret ingredient that BIR chefs use,do you think that these sort of places would have such a thing? Or is it the case that the 'magic' ingredients are already there and it's just how you use them?

Thanks for the kind comments guys.Like any good curry chef(!!) the hardest bit is in the prep.The actual curries themselves don't take that long to cook.

I did indeed use the bombay aloo method from Ifindforu here...

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,7538.0.html

I also add a couple of Indian bay leaves as well as up the oil a bit so I have enough spiced oil for the cooking of my curries.It's still by far the best method I've seen for pre-cooking potatoes,the finished article looks exactly like the pre-cooked potatoes I've seen on my various vists to takeaway kitchens.

The base gravy I used is the one I recently posted,as is the sweet masala paste.The non sweet massala paste is Chewytikka's.To be honest I don't really follow any specific recipes.They're all just generic ones that can be found on the forum.As long as you have a decent base,good technique and a good bit of BIR knowledge you should be able to produce a decent curry.I do have a few tweaks here and there.I always add a small star anise to my madras.I've spotted them quite a lot in my local takeaway's version.I also add a small touch of mango powder to my bombay aloo.I know some people add mango chutney.I can't recall who told me about mango powder,just a pinch certainly brings my bombay aloo close to my local take-away flavour.I wouldn't be without spiced oil now,to me it maked the difference between an average curry and a true BIR tasting one.

I actually got my usual Friday night take-away and thought my effort was so much better.Actually apart from my balti rezalla it was pretty awful really.The wife's tikka tasted bland,visually unapealling and was not very good at all.My bombay aloo was even worse.It was like a few potatoes were boiled up,devoid of any spice or BIR flavour and a tomato chucked on top.Whether the place was too busy or it was an off night I'm not sure,but it was really poor in comparison to what I can produce.

Have to say actually my best effort to date.The taste was there,as well as that unmistakable BIR aroma.Indeed it was actually better than some of the more lacklustre curries I seem to be ordering these days.Everything went down a treat with empty plates and positive comments.

Took quite a while to prepare but the actual cooking of the curries didn't take that long.Must stress though that there were no special/magic ingredients,industrial burners etc...just a decent base/set of recipes and a good technique.

Two things that I think gave me that BIR result is technique and my spiced oil.

I'm probably gulity of usually under cooking my curries as well as over stirring.This time,I left them bubbling away for far longer and resisted stirring,leaving a nice residue around the pan and only stirring this back in from time to time.This is how I've witnessed genuine BIR chefs do it on my various lessons.

The spiced oil is,I know contoversial.I've dismissed it in the past,yet I've seen chefs use it(and some not).It was in fact the residue of oil left after pre-cooking the potatoes(which was by the way Ifind4you's old method-still by far the best method I've seen).I left the oil for a day,lifted the lid and there it was...that unmistakable BIR smell.The sort of smell you get when you open the lids on a good take-away meal.Get it on your hands and it lurks for hours.

I dusted down my curry pans last night.Haven't cooked for ages,thought I'd better use some of my spices up before they go past their best and use up some gravy lurking in my freezer.

I cooked Elachi North Indian,madras,chicken tikka massala,balti garlic pathia,chicken tikka sizzler,bombay aloo,sag aloo,aloo chat and a portion of mushroom bhaji.

Chicken tikka marinating...



Cooking in the tandoor...



Finished tikka...



Some pre cooked stuff...pre cooked potatoes...



Potatoes,tomato puree,non sweet massala paste,sweet massala paste,spiced oil and tikka...



chicken tikka...



Elachi North Indian...



madras...



Balti garlic pathia...



Tikka massala...



sag aloo...



bombay aloo...



mushroom bhaji...



Finished article!!!

Curryhell,have you tried the Rezalla,or even better the balti rezalla from Spices??  I normally have this and I have to say it's one of the tastiest dishes I've had in a long time.I have no idea how they make it(although I have asked of course!).I've tried it at other places and it's nothing like the Spices' version,usually milder with mango pulp.If I could replicate that I would be more than happy.

No not been back to the Preem,my two young kids seem to take up most of my time these days! I will get back in there though.I have another place on my radar as well,Spice Hut in Stifford Clays.Whether they'll let me loose in their kitchen is a different matter,I can only ask.One dish has caught my attention in much the same way as the Elachi NIS did.It's called chicken khaleda,quite unique but utterly delicious,full of tandoori flavour.I've tried to recreate the dish at home but to no avail.Apparently the chef is ranked as the 40th best curry chef in the country.Anyway,enough rambling,next job Elachi NIS!

Looks fantastic Dave,better than most of the average looking take-aways I seem to be ordering these days.I too haven't been cooking much of late but looking at that has fired me up again.It's a shame the dish has vanished from the original place.As you say a change in chef/management etc now means the dish is nothing like it used to be,a real shame as it used to be such a lovely thing to order.Still yours does look as good as the original so I'll have to get myself back into the kitchen.

Quote from: rshome123 on September 16, 2014, 12:11 PM
Have been meaning to give JB's base a go for ages now, and finally have the need for more base gravy, so I intend to make it this week sometime.

There is a huge number of pages on this thread, and rather than read through each post, can someone please answer some questions...

1) Onions 3kg - Is that peeled weight or unpeeled.  Probably being pedantic right ?
2) Red AND Green Pepper, or either ?
3) After adding the garlic tarka to the base, and then cooking further, the base is blended again right ?
4) I plan to use 2Kg onions, so will scale recipe down accordingly.  I'll use about 4 cloves of garlic for the tarka.  Seem right ?

Thanks in advance.

It was unpeeled onions,both a red and green pepper(they were quite small).No need to blend after adding the tarka,just simmer again for about half an hour and the tarka seems to disappear itself.Four cloves seem about right.Hope you enjoy it.