Quote from: Admin on January 27, 2009, 03:15 PM
Now i know why curries are super fattening, when you see that lump or margarine dissolving in the base combined with the oil you know this is a serious tummy buster....the price you pay for the real deal.....

Try substituting a small tin of evaporated milk for the marg, works a dream!

Quote from: haldi on February 07, 2009, 09:01 AM
Any recipe that states "brown the garlic or ginger" is not BIR.

Disagreed. Strongly.
Quite a statement that.

The oil does apparantly decrease in flashpoint but we dont know how much by.
A lower flash point means the pan will catch fire easier, which has been witnessed countless times in BIRs. Reaching the flashpoint obviously isnt a negative thing and doesnt ruin the oil or the dish, despite what some reference sites might tell you.
I cant see atristpaul's evidence on BIRs frying the spices for longer. All the BIRs and videos i've seen show the chef's cooking the spices for hardly any time before adding tom puree or base. They are usually added off heat too.

One thing to remember is that restaurants' burners are not necessarily as hot as you think. Having something like 'their burners are 5 times stronger' in your head is misleading i think. I know people will disagree with this but matching the statistics from their specs doesnt tell you the full 'real life scenario' story IMO. There are so many factors which explain why their garlic doesnt burn as quickly as you think it might.

Quote from: Cory Ander on January 27, 2009, 11:34 AM
I blitz the onion paste, in a mini blender, then freeze it in an ice cube tray (tablespoon and teaspoon sized portions) and then transfer them to a sealable sandwich bag for freezing and storing until required.  Then it's a simple matter of defrosting (one lump or two) when you add it to a final curry.

I also do the same (ice cube tray and sealable bags) for ginger and garlic made from blended fresh (blended with water or oil).

CA, how do you rate the taste/strength over fresh? I am reluctant to try it as the ginger/garlic paste and the onion paste lasted 2 weeks in the fridge when i made them.

Quote from: CurryOnRegardless on January 29, 2009, 02:16 PM
you could use a (tiny) pinch of red food colour if you want...

Dont use your fingers for 'pinching' though!  ;D

Wow that looks brilliant! Top notch photo also! 
As for peanut oil, it's flavourless isnt it so will be no different to using any other standard cooking oil with regard to taste.
How come you didnt use the bunjara oil exclusively?

Quote from: Derek Dansak on January 28, 2009, 08:02 AM
surely reclaiming oil from base will only ever provide enough oil for at most 20 customers? 

That's what i've always thought.
The oil from the bunjara works well i think. It smells amazing when heating it up!
You just top the oil up afterwards, stir the oil into the onion paste and put it back in the fridge. Mine didnt taste 'oniony' as the onions were consistently dark brown and so the taste was sweet, savoury and curry-like.

Nice looking korma. The rice is rather colourful(!)
Try getting asian bay leaves (tej patta) if you can find an asian supermarket. They taste indian rather than french/english.
While you're there see if you can get cassia bark. It's a lot cheaper than cinnamon so you'll save money. It looks similar but is thicker bark and not rolled up in quils.

Also available at this shop behind bangla city:

BANGLA TOWN CASH & CARRY
020 7377 1770
67-77
HANBURY STREET
TOWER HAMLETS
LONDON E1 5JP


..and Taj stores, a few doors down. The prices vary a bit, i think one shop sells them for ?7

112 Brick Lane,
London, E1 6RL
Telephone
020 7377 0061

That pic i posted isnt a shotkora. It seems i posted a lime  :
I dont seem to be able to edit my post though...