This base is excellent. I used my last frozen portion this week, with chicken tikka which went down very well with the missis again. Not the heat that I prefer, but very, very good curry.  I will be making a fresh batch this weekend, using my electric pressure cooker rather than the boil for an hour method. On its own, it makes a very good, not hot curry full of flavor.  Used as a base, with added spices, chillies etc, it makes a fantastic dish for me. A strong recommend.

I will also be making the balti paste our good friend Livo posted a link to somewhere on this thread. Managed to find a packet of cardamom seeds so don't need to husk a load of the pods and very excited to try that. Yes, very excited.  Curry does that.

Robbo

Wow that bread looks amazing. Puts me in mind of the first time I had dosa and it came out extending a foot over both sides of the plate. Delicious.

Robbo

With so many fruit this year, no option but to smoke them. Check these babies out.

Habaneros, jalapeños, serranos.  Lovely.

Robbo

I used Mick's base again yesterday with a couple of variations.
1. Cooked at lunchtime to let the curry rest for 7 hours or so till dinner, rather than the full overnight.
2. Used some meat from a rotisserie chicken from Costco rather than raw or BIR pre-cooked.

I cooked with a few spices, ginger garlic paste and some fresh Thai chillies, as per my heat preference.

Verdict:
OK but nowhere near as good as when using fresh chicken.
And next morning had improved a bit, but not as much as last time.
Lesson learned. Overnight is next trial, although cooking and then not eating is going to be tough.

This base is definitely going to be repeated.

Robbo

From what I can see, Livo seems way ahead in terms of regularity. When I was single (ah, those tinned Pataks vindaloo sauces...) I probably cooked a curry of sorts twice a week. Not proper BIR, that was much less frequent. Now, living in the US, with no option of BIR, when I get a batch of base done, once a week is probably about the norm.  The missis likes a curry but I'm always wary of over doing it.  I'd honestly have Indian 3-4 times a week if I could. And Thai and Mexican the rest.
So, how often do you guys cook Indian?

Robbo

Gotta upsell those job descriptions somehow.  Weirdos.

I made 2 curries using Mick's balti base last night.
One following the recipe to the letter for the missis that she described as delicious.  I thought it very tasty too, with a slight background sweetness.


Served with frozen naan's from our local Trader Joe's.  I noticed on the packaging they're actually imported from India. Who'da thought?  Sprinkle with a little water and heat them up in cast iron skillet, adding butter and flipping a couple of times.

The 2nd curry for myself was a variation, adding:
10g fresh ginger, minced
1clove garlic, minced
Good pinch kasuri methi
5 Thai chillies
1/2tsp extra hot chilli powder
1/2tsp coriander powder
2 green cardamom pods, split
1 black cardamom

Last night I thought it was a decent dish, but this morning at 9:30 (my elevenses get earlier and earlier), WOW!  Absolutely spot on BIR for me. I don't say that very much about my curries, but Mick's base is bringing some great results.

@LahoreBob, I know you love the standard dish as is, but give it a bash, using the base as a base. You won't be disappointed.

Robbo

Wikipedia not to be trusted.  Can be written by any old fool, like me even.  I've been to Chennai a number of times (my God it's hot and humid there) and no way is Madras in any way related to that place.

Regarding the B word, when I took my Indian cookery night school back in the early 90's, My mate made the mistake when grumpy teacher Rajnee asked if we had any particular dishes we'd like her to help us cook. I asked her to show us vindaloo but he asked for Balti.
The indignant reply was along the lines of "WHAT!?? Balti is a bucket! You want to cook in a bucket?"  She was a diminutive little thing but firey.  We never did cook the B word, and I only have one printed recipe with me, that I shared here some time back.  Happy times.

Robbo

She had a good innings. A sad day indeed.

Robbo

This Thai plant is the gift that keeps on giving.


Tiny little hot buggers are lovely. We've only grown the typical longer version in the past but this little plant is the Ornamental Thai and the fruit are smaller.  Lovely little thing and a definite repeat next year.  Worth a try if you can get the seeds.
Robbo