Hi SS.

I agree with what you are saying but there is no way that we are ever going to know for sure. For one thing no one in the biz up here would ever admit to having ever used old oil wether they did or not. Years ago some bright spark in our local council decided it would be a good idea to lump or zone all the T/As into one small area of the town center, why I dunno but the net effect just seems to compound all the ills that befall town centers up and down the country come the weekend i.e. the place turns into WW3 with every pissed up chav in town battling and vomiting and then battling again, you know the scenario. Anyway the T/As eventually got done for bunging up the towns' drains with old grease because for years they had just emptied the stuff down the nearest grid. These days they have to pay to have it disposed of properly and they are monitored to ensure they comply, so you see why asking about old oil is met with great suspicion.
As to those onions, they ain't letting on how they do them, I've asked loads of times only to be told it's "Chefs Secret".

Regards
CoR

Hello JerryM.

The sauce is just a starting point, you can play around with it and add anything thing that takes your fancy, I like to add a touch of tamarind concentrate for a nice dipping sauce or you can add mint or whatever but when you have it hot and liberally drizzled over a large shish and chicken on naan so that it soaks into the bread....heaven

Cheers

Hi Charlie180.

Do you maybe mean the hot chilli sauce that some kebab shops do? I managed to get one to tell me how they did theirs a couple of years ago, it's very simple but very good.

14oz can tomato blended (or small can tom puree diluted with 2x water).
Dried red chillis (as many as you like, the more the merrier, experiment) ground.
Sugar to taste.
Lemon juice and/or white vinegar about 2/3 tsp.
1 or 2 tsp cornflower or (better) arrowroot.

Heat the toms in a saucepan till simmering.
Add the ground chilli and sugar and keep simmering (gently) for 20/30 mins.
Dissolve the cornflower/arrowroot in a little water and add to tom/chilli, continue to simmer until sauce thickens to your desired consistency.
Take off heat, stir in vinegar/ lemon juice and use immediately or cool and keep covered in fridge for a couple of days (I've used this stuff after a week and I ain't dead yet).

Have fun and feel free to play around with it, great with egg & chips and can come to rescue of a bland curry.

HTH

Regards
CoR

Got a take away last night from one of the few T/As I still rate round here. It was early evening so they weren't busy and I watched them like a hawk, it being one of those open plan places. First thing the chef did was go out back and carry in a big 20 litre tin of KFC long life veg oil. He decanted some oil into a small (2Lt?) plastic tub on the counter along with all the other tubs of pastes and spices. This was the oil that ours and the other couple of phone orders he was making, were made with so no old oil in the curry. The flames on the burners where quite high but also "lazy" looking, when he cooked each meal there were the usual sparkly flames shooting up round the edge of the pan as he added the base but no real pyrotechnics just a few gentle sparkles. Further proof that the flames although high were in fact not particularly hot came when chef # 2 started doing some chapattis. These started off on the tawa but when almost done on the first side he transferred them to a large round wire scoop thing and finished them off over the high open flame on the burner, tossing each one as they puffed up like a football, if the flame had been fiercely hot the chapattis would have burnt given the time each took. We gave him a round of applause so he started showboating and did a couple spare which we were given along with some gratis chutney to munch while our meal was done, great stuff.
So, no evidence here of any old oil but they did have 2 huge stockpots of base on the go which he kept transferring ladles full from old to new which would make sense keeping some sort of consistency between batches.
The curry was excellent, one of their specials with fancy onions and capsicums, goodness knows how they do them but they are bloody lovely!

Cheers
CoR 

Not dumb at all, if you don't know simply ask, there will be someone here who could answer practically any curry question you may have.
As far as roasting spices goes it is actually quite easy. Heat a dry frying pan over a medium heat for a couple of minutes and then use a small amount of spices to just cover the base of the pan. Shake the pan gently to turn the spices over and after a minute or so the spices should start to darken and give off an aroma, agitate them once or twice more to ensure they are even and you're done. Keep a dry bowl handy and pour the roast spice into it to allow to cool before grinding.
Continue with small amounts of spice till you have enough (little and often is the way to go) and believe me the first time you smell freshly roast and ground spice you'll never go back to buying the pre-done commercial stuff. Start with coriander seeds and prepare to be amazed at the results.

HTH

Regards
CoR

Gordon f*****g Ramsey in full f*****g flow, you have been warned ;D

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CoR

Quote from: Secret Santa on July 28, 2009, 08:46 PM
It's damn funny looking back...hehe! It looks like a vesta curry UB! And flour to thicken the sauce..wtf?

Well, strange as it may seem, there are 2 T/As local to me that DO use flour (probably rice flour but not sure of that) to thicken their curries. Interestingly they are both Indian as opposed to Pakistani/Bangladeshi owned and run and are two of the best T/As for miles, they are also the cleanest, by a long way. They also have a more varied menu, one of them makes a fantastic kofta dish and the other does the best onion bhajis ever and something they call "rectangular" onions which are served with the tandoori grill meals (and no they wont let on how they do them, it's a "secret of the trade" and "takes years of dedication and practice" apparently).
I'd seriously like to get hold of the spice mix they use as well, it's very aromatic but spicy with it and very nice indeed but when asked you get fobbed off again, "Chefs' secret". I suppose I'll just have to force meself to keep going back, all in the course of research you understand!

Cheers
CoR

I had a similar response to Josh, one place the guy just starred at me like I was from another planet and another one told me, in no uncertain terms, that they don't use old oil only fresh and kept pointing to a food hygiene certificate on the wall (I don't think I'll be too welcome back there for a while).


Regards
CoR

Quote from: canicant on July 21, 2009, 01:42 PM
My steak has to be cremated, I was a butcher for many years and the amount of tapeworm cysts found in raw beef is an eye opener 

Really, whereabouts are you, in the UK meat should be adequately inspected before human consumption. Tapeworm infestation in the UK is very rare, these figures are from NHS Direct,

Tapeworm infections in the UK
In the UK, tapeworm infections in people are very rare, although some types are found more often than others. For example, in 2005:
    * There were 71 reports of infection with the beef and pork tapeworms (taeniasis) in England and Wales. One case was reported in Scotland. It is not possible to tell from the data collected whether the people became infected in the UK or abroad.

Even meat from abroad should be safe as tapeworm is not only killed off by cooking (it dies at 56C) but also by freezing (below -5C) so it should not be a cause of any great concern.

Regards
CoR

Sounds good to me SC look forward to that, I'm a big fan of Kofta curries, never seen (or had) a Kofta Doop, great stuff.
How do you make your meatballs, with or without breadcrumbs/egg? I've been told to do them both ways so just wondering how others do them. Have you tried steaming the koftas before adding to the sauce, according to one T/A I use that's the thing to do but when I tried it they dropped to bits! Keep us posted and welcome to crO>

Regards
CoR.