The mystery ingredient looks very much like the last of the previous batch of base gravy reduced down in some spiced oil (maybe extra whole spices added??) into a thick paste till it caramelises.

I've used a few of these sites - just-eat.co.uk, takeaway.com, hungryhouse.co.uk. They all have a similar business model which is to provide the takeaway vendor with a promotional service for which they take a cut of the order value. It has some drawbacks.

First the takeaways quickly caught on to the idea that their chances of a customer in any given area ordering depends on the number of competing restaurants which show up in that area. So perfect solution is to sign up many times using different restaurant names and addresses and fulfill all the orders from the same kitchen. So now you have much more market share and even if people order from you and don't like the food, they could be ordering from you again the next week using one of your other aliases! Not really conducive to high standards... People have reported finding takeaways registered on just-eat using the address of another flat in their own block!

Then there's the incentive to diss the competition by writing fake reviews of their food. And the temptation to cut corners and reduce portion sizes to cover the fee deducted by the website.

Although I've used them many times before I'm coming back around to the idea that I'm better off just phoning a known local establishment with actual bricks and mortar premises, preferably one I know has been in business a good long time.

That said I do find takeaway curries in this area pretty dismal in general and have no qualms about being able to cook way better BIR at home. Not sure why so many folk seem convinced they can never reach the same standard as a real takeaway or restaurant.

Hi all

I spotted frozen methi on offer at asda, the brand is Shana - just wondering if anyone's used this for murgh methi, etc? Not to be confused with dried methi leaves of course.

I'm tempted to buy some but freezer space is always at a premium so I need to convince myself I'll use it within a reasonable time period!

Quote from: Secret Santa on June 03, 2013, 10:30 PM

Quote from: natterjak on June 03, 2013, 10:08 PM
I must confess I'm not sure exactly which aroma you mean.

Ah, maybe that's the point!

At home I don't ever achieve the wonderful aroma that restaurant plain boiled basmati rice has. Or, in fact, is it that the restaurant rice no longer has it either? I confess that it's years since I had plain boiled Basmati at a restaurant/takeaway and it may be that the wonderful fragrance I remember of old no longer exists in the restaurants either.

Would you say then natterjack that your own and the restaurant/takeaway plain, boiled basmati rice have no discernable aroma/fragrance - or, at least, no really alluring aroma?

Well I'm stymied by the fact I never order boiled rice in a restaurant and rarely eat it at home, as my regular habit is to prepare and freeze into portions large batches of pilau (to the CH method more or less). However in the spirit of experimentation I had plain boiled basmati last night (Veetee Supreme brand bought in 10kg plastic bag from Asda) and the aroma and flavour was delicious. I was surprised as I always considered pilau to be an essential part of the curry experience.

But whether this is "the" aroma you seek, dunno!

Quote from: Secret Santa on June 03, 2013, 07:28 PM

Out of interest do you (and others) find that the characteristic Basmati aroma is there in the raw rice or does it need to be boiled to bring it out?

I must confess I'm not sure exactly which aroma you mean.

Not sure about click n lock,  but the lock'n'lock range is quite well described with capacities and part numbers here:
http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/acatalog/Lock-and-Lock-Food-Containers.html

Are you cooking your rice by the absorption method SS? This seems to bring out all the basmati flavours and aromas compared to draining water out of the rice on completion. Also have you tried a 50/50 milk/water mix to boil the rice in?

Not all recipes are good ones! If that's a recipe from this site I trust you will report back your experience in the relevant thread. Only in this way can people judge which recipes are worth making.

Well of course if you don't like the idea of including mass manufactured ketchup in your curries you could make your own:

http://youtu.be/utCRI9bTbe4

You would have to be a bit loopy though, fun vid though.

I make the Julian version of this onion/green pepper sauce as the basis for Dopiaza (it will portion up and freeze ok) but one point to note, I've always found it took quite a lot longer to cook than he describes in the video. Maybe 50-100% longer and then it takes on the gorgeous complex sweetness which works so well when you add it to a curry to make dopiaza.