Quote from: Stephen Lindsay on January 06, 2013, 12:18 AM
Sounds brilliant - shame about the book though.

As a frequent visitor to the Shish Mahal when I lived in Glasgow back in 1980-82 I bought the book as soon as it came out, and have to agree that it's a big disappointment if you're trying to replicate the restaurant's excellent cuisine. BIR it most definitely is not!

However, there are some good recipes in there, and this is one I still make to this day:

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,8068.msg71230.html#msg71230

Quote from: michael.t on January 02, 2013, 10:23 AM
Emailed him this morning about filming my TA and if he had said no I will come in for a meal and thank him for the videos and to say that our Forum are much appreciated of them.
Got a lovely reply saying You can Film what you want bring a friend and the meals on me . I arrive at the restaurant about 6.30pm
How nice 
I will insist on paying as he hasn't seen my order  ;D
I was thinking of going tomorrow or Friday does anyone want to join me as Natterjak is busy 

He really is a nice chap. I asked him a question about naga chillies recently, and after a detailed reply he offered to send me some fresh nagas by post. I sent him my address, and really wasn't expecting to hear any more, but a few days later a parcel arrived containing about 30 lovely fresh nagas.

I'm about 75 miles from the restaurant, but the next time I'm heading up north I'll definitely make a detour to pop in, say hello, and have a meal.

Likewise!

Have a hot and spicy one folks!

I saw somewhere (possibly here) a method of preparing g/g paste by heating the oil in a pan, adding turmeric (fry for 30 secs), then the garlic and ginger, heating through for a bit, then blending to a paste after cooling.

In terms of flavour and the improvement to your curries, this was claimed to punch g/g paste beyond the dense, cloying boundaries of Earth's troposphere and up through the stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and towards the exosphere, and, possibly space itself.

Actually, I made that bit up, but whoever recommended it did so with much enthusiasm.

It's something I plan to try, as I'm a big fan of turmeric and love the smell it makes when it hits hot oil. 

I've tried so many bases over the last 30-odd years that I've lost count (though admittedly 30-odd years ago the base concept was not so widely disseminated), but in recent times the ones I regularly make and enjoy good results with are (in no particular order):

Zaal/Little India, CA, CT, C2G, Taz.

I say "no particular order" because these days I tend to borrow a little of what I know to work from each, plus a few tweaks of my own, to make a base that suits my predilection for the hot and spicy. I'm sure that many of you do the same.

But as I've mentioned before, I sometimes go back to what I like to think of as the 'Ur' base, which is simply onions, garlic, ginger and minimal spicing to create a 'neutral' canvas upon which to wreak artistic havoc.

Damn... What a load of crap I talk sometimes... None of that really helps, does it?

Perhaps I should think about canning the heavy morning drinking...  ;D

Quote from: Stephen Lindsay on December 18, 2012, 06:03 PM
aye ah ken whit ye mean

Ah... that brings back memories of my time in Glasgae.

When I first arrived there I was completely baffled when I was asked "De ye ken?" (Such and such a person or place/thing.)

But not as baffled as my mate when he came to visit.

His name was Ken....

That looks bang on, GOTG!

Great to see it venting a goodly amount of warp plasma, too!

Now that's my idea of a cold remedy!

A damn hot curry has always worked wonders for cold relief. Not only do you get the vitamin C benefits of the chillies, but they also release endorphins, which act as the body's natural painkillers (as well as giving you a much needed feelgood factor.) They also act as a natural decongestant, bringing relief quickly without any side effects at all. With a full stomach and the ability to breathe temporarily restored, it is often much easier for someone with a cold to get the sleep the needed to fight off the virus. The capsaicin in chillies also helps the veins and arteries to open up and begin to flush out elements that could eventually lead to blockages in the body. Then there's the garlic, ginger, turmeric and...  And I could bang on all night about curry being the ultimate health food, but I've done so elsewhere in this forum already, so I'll STFU and wish a full and speedy recovery, Chewy.

But before I go, I must say that phall sauce looks superb. So many restaurants round my way get it so badly wrong, and serve what looks (and tastes) like a foil container of chilli powder to which base gravy has been added and stirred in.

Just looking at that picture of yours is making me salivate, and I've only just finished off tonight's Chewy style Madras!

Quote from: Stephen Lindsay on December 13, 2012, 05:16 PM
SD - do you save your seeds or do you buy from stock and if so where's a good supplier online?

I mainly save my seeds, but I also use seeds from chillies (fresh and dried) that I've bought - or occasionally 'borrowed'. (The wee orange habaneros came from a plant I came across at the Eden Project down in Cornwall.)

I know that using seeds from fresh/dried chillies rather than commercial seed stock is supposed to be a hit and miss way of doing it, but I must have been lucky as I've only had a few that haven't fruited over the last 30-odd years of growing.

Quote from: Naga on December 13, 2012, 03:43 PM

PS: BTW, can I ask where you got your Kashmiri chilli seeds? I can't find any for sale online and I was thinking of buying some dried Kashmiri chillies to see if I could harvest the seeds and try growing them on.

The seeds came from a packet of dried Kashmiri chillies I bought from my local Asian store, Naga. I didn't hold out much hope for them as I started them late (end of May), and they took a few weeks to germinate, but I ended up with two beautiful plants that grew to a good 4ft. 

They didn't produce a particularly high yield though. I only got 15-20 chillies from each plant, but they're pretty large, and what fantastic tasting fruits they are. When fully ripened they turn a really deep, dark red (hence the gorgeous colour of the chilli powder that comes from them), and have a deliciously sweet flavour.

I'll definitely be growing them again next year, but will try growing a few from commercial seed stock (if I can find any) and a few from dried chillies and see how they stack up against each other.

Well, my nagas, ripe Kashmiris, jalapenos, various finger chillies and larger, milder varieties have all been cropped and either frozen, consumed, or turned into pickles/sauces long ago, but here's the last of the summer crop, picked from the greenhouse this afternoon.

It never ceases to amaze me how long they go on for, but I don't think I've cropped them this late in the year before.

The green ones are the Kashmiris that didn't ripen to red, and the rest are various types of habanero (oh, and a rogue tomato!):