I'm just about to post the recipes for the base gravy and masala paste in their approprate sections.

I have to say I had a fantastic time last night.As well as cooking I also had the chance to watch the chef and his assistants at close hand cooking their dishes. I had my chef's whites on as well,the bonus with this place is that it has an open kitchen so while you order your food you can see the chefs cooking...I certainly got some funny looks from some people peering over the counter!!!



There were a few important things I observed.

First,no specific spiced oil was used.I asked the chef about spiced oil and he just shook his head.Every dish was started with a chef's spoon of oil from a tin on the hob.It was in fact half and half of plain veg oil and ghee,but definetely no spiced oil.He did scoop a little oil from the top of the gravy from time to time when he was making a main dish,this was just for extra flavour he said.

Second,whilst everything(including masala and korma) was cooked very vigourously on a fairly high heat there were virtually no flames or flambe.The chef explained that the most important thing is technique.He's doing this every night and can do it with his eyes shut.No need for industrial burners.Yes a fairly high heat but nothing that your biggest hob on your gas cooker cannot achieve.The Manager was aware of what I knew and my experience(he was very impressed I have to say!!),he kept telling me that every I was seeing in the takeaway kitchen can,with a lot of practice be done at home.There are no magic or secret ingredients,just talented chefs who know their craft.I had a good look around in the kitchen,including the back storeroom,there was nothing I hadn't seen before.Arranged on the side were the usual spices,the only thing that go my attention was the chef's home made balti paste and the fresh chiili sauce that goes in his madras and vindaloo(both of which he's promised to show me next time)


The funny thing is,even though I was in the kitchen for about three hours my smell sense got so used to the place I couldn't detect any BIR aromas in he kitchen,my senses were well and truly blunted.It's only when I drove home with my goodies that I got that familiar aroma.

All I can say is the base gravy I made is nothing like I've made before.It's quite subtle and versatile enough for a korma or a madras.It does though have that smell and that moorish taste that I've never been able to achieve before.I cooked it in the take-away kitchen so in theory I should be able to do it in my own kitchen.I'll be back in the take-away soon,the manager has said I'm welcome any time.

Just got back from the first lesson in my local takeaway.It was superb,a real eye opener on how a curry house copes with a busy night's service.I'll post a full report tomorrow with recipes.I cooked a pot of massala paste and a base gravy.The chef then watched me cook a chicken tikka massala and a basic chicken curry with my ingredients.All I can say is that they had the taste and the smell,as good as anything I can get in any restaurant/takeaway,and the important thing everything was cooked by me so in theory it can be replicated at home.The Manager seemed to be very impressed with my skill/knowlege,he's actually said I can pop in any time I want,get in the kitchen and work alongside the chefs and learn their skills!!!  Happy days indeed!!

Just been chatting to the friendly Manager of my local takeaway,he's agreed to let me in his kitchen for some lessons with him and his chef.I told him about my previous tuition with Abdul and other lessons and he seemed quite impressed.He actually took me into the kitchen to have a look around,offering me a sample of some korma paste they had just made,very nice indeed.Anyway the first lesson will cover base gravy,he tells me he will show me exactly how it's made in the take-away.He's also going to show me how he makes his massala paste(he tells me it contains about 15 seperate ingredients).Watch this space guys!! No ebook,no messing about,all in all I should be in the kitchen for about six hours for the first lesson,so hopefully it should be pretty good.

Exactly what happened to me last week.My own gravy simply couldn't compare with that from the restaurant,and I bet if I tasted most genuine gravies from chefs they would be the same.There's something that these places are doing to their gravy,and I bet they're all doing it in a similar way.Why is it so hard to find out though?

Quote from: mickdabass on April 25, 2014, 03:15 PM
Hi JB
Are you sure you are getting your tandoor hot enough? I use firelighters to light my tandoor. They do leave a bit of soot on the inside. Once the tandoor is up to temp though, the soot appears to turn to ash. I always wipe down the inside of the tandoor before I try and stick a naan onto it (Welding glove essential lol). If I don't, the first one invariably drops off. I don't apply any water to the naans to make them stick either. If I do, I have a hell of a job to remove them.

With regard the kebabs, I use my keema mix straight away and don't even bother putting a piece of potato on the bottom of the skewer anymore. I made twelve the other day and only nearly lost one. If I do put it in the fridge overnight, I put it in a bowl but sit the mince on a small metal frame that you can cook a joint of meat on - don't know what they're called. I supose you could use a colander. Its suprising how much liquid comes out.

Another thing to consider is the technique you use to put the meat on the skewer. I found that if you flatten the meat into a "patty" and then wrap it around the skewer, it quite often mysteriously unwraps itself as it cooks and falls to an untimely end. What I do is fashion a very rough "dog turd" shape and then slide it onto the skewer; squeezing and stretching to the required size when in place.

Regards

Mick

Thanks for the tips,I'm pretty sure it was hot enough,if anything with the new restaurant charcoal it seemed to get even hotter than usual.A good tip as well regarding the water.I've always put some water on as per just about every BIR video I've seen,but they do seem to stick a little.

Quote from: curryhell on April 22, 2014, 09:53 PM
Good work Jason. Which restaurant we talking about?  How did your curry turn out with the base?  And more importantly, what do you think the chances are of getting in the kitchen and getting a lesson?  ;D

Hi Dave,haven't cooked with the new base yet but I'll let you know how it goes when I do.It's from the Korai restaurant in Hornchurch,not far from a bar where I occasionally do a bit of DJ'ing which is how I ended up in there.I should have just asked the Manager really about a lesson,even if it was just the chef cooking his gravy.Honestly,I'd pay a lot of money to see him do that it impressed me so much.I'll have to go back,he was such a nice bloke,him and his chef thought my curry skills were fascinating.

I plan to cook a bog standard madras with my new gravy sample,alongside a madras using my own(Little India) gravy.I don't think my madras will come even near I hope I'm proved wrong though.There's just something about the other gravy that has that genuine BIR taste and aroma.I don't think it was just the case that the onions were cooked for a long time,there is something more going on here.From what I understand Chris has enlisted some help in writing his book so hopefully it will arrive sooner rather than later.It's just a shame the information he gleaned from Sam wasn't given to someone on here who was more keen to share it with others.

It's strange that the only other sample of a genuine base gravy I got from a local BIR was in fact nearly identical to my own one.I thought it was the end of my base gravy quest but after this new sample I have my doubts,it's like a I've taken a step back.I'm beginning to doubt whether my first sample was,in fact the fineshed gravy but was ready to have that special 'something' added.Indeed I'm also wondering whether the Little India video showed the full story.All sounding a bit like a conspiracy theory I know but this new gravy has really got me going.

I went for my usual Friday night curry,a different place from my usual but both the food and service were both excellent.Anyway halfway through the meal the Manager came up and we got talking about all things BIR.I told him about my cooking skills/lessons etc and he was very impressed,I told him I had my own tandoori oven and then he realised I wasn't pulling his leg.

Anyway,it turns out his chef uses two gravies(or garabis as he called them).One for spicy dishes and one for mild,non-spicy dishes.I said this was unusual to me and he said that's just the way his chef likes to do it.He said his chef puts very little oil in his gravies,no scooping off the top of the gravy to start a dish,just plain vegetable oil.He said an oily gravy means oily curries-no good.The main thing though to making BIR curries is the garabi,if this is not right then the curries will not have 'that' taste.He said this a few times and said it was very,very important your gravy is cooked right.

I cheekily asked him if I could get a sample of his gravies and he smiled and said ok.Off he went into the kitchen(it was open planned so you could see what was going on).I watched the chef spoon the gravies into some foil dishes and he looked highly amused.He then came out and shook my hand and said in all the years of being a chef no-one has ever asked him for a sample of his garabi.He kindly labelled the up for me.

Anyway here is the mild gravy,its actually in two separate dishes....





The first one was really,really watery.Not much taste at all,just a hint of star anise,more a like a stock than a gravy.The second was like a thick paste,tasting just really of coconut(no sugar)and little else.

I couldn't work out how these were actually used by the chef,the manager had a strong accent and was hard to understand at times.He said they were used for all mild dishes,kormas,massalas etc.It was certainly a new base technique to me.

This was the spice gravy,for madras,bhunas etc....



Now this REALLY blew me away.It was definitely base gravy,I watched him spoon it out of the big pot.It was very similar to my own base gravy I use(or rather the Little India base gravy.)However there was an incredible depth of BIR flavour and smell.The sort you get when you open a take-away bag.I compared it to my own gravy and there was no comparison.I've never made a gravy that has 'that' smell or taste.It's almost as if my gravy is not quite finished,as though there is something else that goes in it to finish it off.It got me back to thinking of Chris' magic paste,I've tried to dismiss that as just another bhager of some sort but now I'm  forced to think again.This gravy was way out of my league,I just wish I knew what they'd put in it.It's great getting into kitchens but this made me realize that maybe my curries are missing that certain something.

Quote from: natterjak on April 11, 2014, 07:48 AM
Nice looking food there jb... What tikka recipe do you use?

Was the keema straight out of the fridge onto the skewers or had it come up to room temperature due to filling the naans?  Just wondering if that might affect the consistency and let it depart the skewers before it's cooked enough to stay put. Shot in the dark though as I'm no expert.

The filling had come up to room temperature,I'm pretty sure the onion was the culprit though.

Tikka was this one,still the best recipe I have,a bit less mustard oil and a touch more paste,not Patak's but Pasco.

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,4934.0.html

I had my tandoor oven out today,I've been meaning to try Chris' new naan bread recipe for ages.I made some naans as well as some chicken tikka and sheek kebabs.




plain naan.....



balti chilli keema naan...



Inside of a keema naan...



peshwari,plain and balti chilli keema



chicken tikka...



The tikka was,as always top-notch,in fact better than most of the bland stuff I seem to get from most places these days.The naans were excellent,I have to say Chris' recipe was spot on.Tastewise the naans were definetely BIR,and they also had the right consistency,you could fold them in two without them breaking.In fact they were pretty much identical to the standard of naans I already had,using Pacman Pete's old recipe.That too came from a T/A so it's not suprising that the recipe's good.I thnk the key is the resting of the dough.At last I've got the knack Of putting the filling in the bread and rolling it without the contents spilling out!!

The restaurant charcoal seemed to keep hot all day,although for some reason I still get some soot around my tandoor when it's hot.I don't know why,could it be the firelighters I'm using...any ideas??

I'm afraid the sheek kebabs were a complete and utter disaster!!! The mix itself was spot on in taste(I used the same mix for the keema naans).However I realised the mix was wet,and you guessed it as soon as I put it in the tandoor the meat began to fall off...here is what I had left!!



As you can see an utter disaster!!!  I know a few people have had this problem so any thoughts on where I went wrong would be most welcome.The keema mix contained onion and I left it overnight in the fridge so I guess the moisture came from this.I did add some gram flour to it but it still went wrong.I still have some naan dough left,I'm going to cook them on my tawa tomorrow and see how they go.