Quote from: JamesJeffery on April 19, 2014, 06:38 PM

Quote from: namtin on April 19, 2014, 02:39 PM
Thanks Haldi!
As mad as it sounds I'd pay 50 quid for a cookbook that divulged the little tricks etc and I'm not that fussed on lots of recipes tbh I'd like 4 or 5 max a Balti Madras Vindaloo Garlic Chill and the like cos if i could reproduce these I'd be well happy, you recommend the Glasgow pdf is that on this site Haldi?

Thanks again!!      ps sorry for late reply my internet was gone!

What book was this mate? Care to share public or PM? I have Julians books, they're awesome. But would love to get that book you're talking about.

Thanks

I'm not trying to sell this book,but I rate it very highly
Perhaps it's just a combination of good recipes and finally learning the proper technique of cooking the curry
There are probably recipes as brilliant as this one already on this site
Maybe even some posted by me
But if you don't get it all the cooking method correct, then you will get varied or disapointing results.
If you do get this pdf make sure you follow the instructions to the letter, and watch the videos on youtube.
Two very important points for me was the Green chilli paste
This added to various curries and adds a real lift in flavour
And also the length of time to cook the onion base for
It's about four hours and it NEEDS this
The flavour really changes
A lot of my "failure" curries were wrong for several reasons
They lacked a flavour
and they had flavours in that weren't wanted
These Glasgow recipes are very simple and run very close to what I have been trying to achieve for years
One other thing of note is the length of time to cook the finished curry
In a takeaway the cooker heat is really intense, so unless you have a big burner cooker, make sure the curry gets a final boil for at least 5 minutes, and use an Aluminium pan
You willl notice a very familiar aroma coming from the curry, on this last stage
Give the curry very little stirring
Just scrape occasionally to stop burning

I got the book by emailing to this address
alexwilkie12@yahoo.co.uk

and all his videos are linked to this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D7tAuZt8Iw
A lot of the videos are actually in a BIR kitchen
They are genuine

For ?2.50 how can you go wrong?
Even if you only like one recipe (and you will) it's well worth it

I want to give this a go sometime soon
Sorry if I've missed it, but where does the main precooked ingredient go in?
Just before the last ladle of curry gravy?

I bought the first book
The only real important info, was cooking the onions for long enough, in the base.
I had previously been thrown right off the trail, by countless recipes and even a paid BIR demo, that cook the onions less than an hour

I still can't 100% get what I want
I currently rate the Glasgow pdf recipes, the highest
I saw one post that mentions the book contains a good spiced oil, but is that worth buying the book for?
I'm waiting for Chris's book
I would happily buy it unfinished, if it had the mysterious addition to the base gravy

You can eat in at Munchies, Mansfield Road, Nottingham or take out
I wouldn't bother doing either again
I'm a little late writing this up as it happened a week ago
I bought three curries from there
Vindaloo, Madras and Vindaloo and they were so dull, it was unbelievable
We never even finished them
Bland and tasteless
I can cook far above this standard, and I don't think I'm good enough
The vegetables used were from a pack of "frozen vegetables"
I reckon it was a cheap one, as well (Adsa smart price maybe?)
You can tell by the baby carrots, and bits of corn in it
A waste of money, never going there again

I got food from the Shabab, Radford Road, Nottingham last night
Chicken Roghan Josh, Veg Vinadaloo, Veg Madras,Veg Rhogan Josh ,3 Pillau Rice, 1 Naan,Poppadoms and chutneys.
(I have recently lost my favourite takeaway and this place was recommended)
I collected as they don't deliver, and there was some sort of a celebration going on
There was a gang of people outside chuffing away on their ciggies and I fought my way through
The restaurant was absolutely packed
All seats taken, and people shoulder to shoulder
They must have been making a fortune

I paid for the curries and brought them home
I'm told that this restaurant is run by Pakistanis, so I was expecting a different type of curry
Most of my locals have been Bangladeshi places

The aroma from the carrier bag filled the car and that's always a very good sign
The food was really excellent
A clean fresh taste with a hint of ground cummin and fenugreek leaves
The vindaloo was really hot & brilliant
The madras full of flavour
The rhogan joshes were smothered in fried garlic and tasty
I would definitely use them again
They aren't the best I've had, but they are pretty good
At the moment, I don't know anywhere that is better

Two of the kitchens I visited, add water to mango chutney and blend it.
I have never had mango chutney as thick as the stuff I buy, so I assume the above is a common practice.

This recipe along with his madras and vindaloo is absolutely excellent
I thoroughly recommend them
It's the closest (using fresh ingredients) that I have got to a proper BIR standard

I use East End
http://www.amazon.co.uk/East-End-Orange-Colouring-Powder/dp/B00EDQMTU6

I also use the Bright Red Colouring

It's hard to believe, how much changing the colour, also changes the flavour
It really does, you know
If I don't colour pillau rice, it just doesn't taste right
And the same goes for Chicken Tikka

Just try making Tikka and don't colour it
It's rubbish

I know it's meant to be "all in the mind" but sometimes I wonder

First bite is with the smell
The second bite is with the eye
The third bite is with the mouth

Quote from: jb on February 23, 2014, 08:03 PM
Haldi the base calls for whole cumin seeds to be added,I'm just wondering if you managed to blend these in? I keep seeing Ajowan seeds in my local Indian shop,I've also seen them in my wholesalers.I wonder if it's these that are used by some chefs and not cumin seeds,they're definitely using them in something. Also the madras recipe uses spiced oil,did you use this and if you did how was the oil made?

the cumin seeds blended fine with a stick blender
I was reading from the book and it didn't say spiced oil, so I used fresh
I think there have been 3 updates to the book, this was the first one

Quote from: PaulP on February 24, 2014, 03:36 PM


Hi Haldi, thanks for posting this. So did you buy the e-book and make everything to spec? I've also bought the e-book and was thinking of giving it a go as I've stopped trying to make BIR curries for around 18 months due to a lack of success.

Did you make the (ginger heavy) garlic/ginger paste to spec and also the green chilli puree? Did your food have the aroma you've been seeking?

Regards

Paul

The ginger garlic paste was pretty much 50:50
I made too much when I did some tikka a couple of weeks ago
I was using it up

I made the chilli puree fresh though

I quizzed Martin Why Not (he's the one who sends you the pdf) about using vegetables or other ingredients
I made Veg madras, Prawn Madras and veg vindaloo

Everything smelt and tasted very close to a bought curry
They might even be an exact match to somewhere
They taste professional
The best results I have had in years, and it wasn't using manky old oil
I never was happy doing that
It definitely is important to not stir the pan very often, when cooking the curry
It needs to "catch" on the bottom of the pan

These recipes are also quite light on the tomato puree and g/g

I had stopped making curries at home, because I felt they were sub standard
I feel quite enthused again, and will use these recipes again

Given the simplicity of these recipes I can't see a repeat success being hard to achieve

The tandoori paste in the vindaloo (it's in the red sauce mix) really lifts it

I think the book only costs two pounds  50p
The best curry money I have spent in a long time

It's important to cook the curries on a on a high heat with minimal stirring in an aluminium pan.
You've got to cook just like the takeaway.
The aromas coming from the pan are amazing
There is a pureed chillie/oil mixture
That stuff really adds to the dish
I got nothing but compliments from my family
The whole process may be long, but it's so simple
The base is pretty much all onion and it gives a brilliant background taste that other flavours can be suspended in
It's weird the way you can actually pick out the taste the lemon juice , fenugreek and garlic ginger in the curry
These must be very similar recipes used by BIR's in the 60's & 70's