I dont think a domestic oven will reach anything like the temperature of a tandoor.  Agree blades chicken tikka takes some beating.  No comparision to the miserable 4/5 bits of soggy steamed/microwaved tikka my local TAs serve up as a starter, and always garmished with those orrible greasy slimey onions. Yuk!  But, I'm  off out to an Indian restaurant tomorrow night for the first time in yonks.  Looking forward to make a few comparisions, including the chicken tikka.  I would like a tandoor oven though for the naans

Had a go at making a biryani yesterday myself.  Not a fan of TA biryanis as the sauce tends to be on the bland side. Made some saffron/peswari pilau rice (sort of KD2).  Had a go at colouring some of the rice (red and green).  Over-did that part. Heated 1 tbsp sunflower in a frying pan.  Added a few sultanas and cashew nuts.  Mixed in the rice and Blades chicken tikka.  That was it basically it.  The sauce was C2go base, a good helping of C2go bassar mix powder (with Jalpur GM), and a bit of chili powder. Garnished the dish with fresh chopped green chilies and julienned ginger.  Mighty spicy and mighty fine I thought.  Got a bit of the rice left over so will make it again this evening with some mushrooms, and a perhaps a boiled egg.  Will try to get a photo. I gather traditional biryani involves layering and so forth.  A bit beyond me at the moment .   

And a large spread in the Daily Mail:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2214164/Vinda-year-Curry-king-makes-spicy-dishes-family-365-days-year.html

Dan had a feature in the Mirror yesterday:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/dad-feeds-family-curry-every-1365625

Rob

Quote from: Secret Santa on October 06, 2012, 09:44 PM

Quote from: Robert on October 06, 2012, 08:23 AM
as feared there were digestive "issues" throughout the night.

Second, add a good amount of asafoetida as it's an anti flatulent and is a normal addition to most vegetable dishes in traditional Indian cooking for that very reason.

Made a Moong Chilka the other night with 1/2 tsp of  compounded asafoetida.  Ok for a few hours, but after that I was blasting like a ships fog horn.  Woke the misus and I expect the neighbours.

Quote from: timeless on October 05, 2012, 10:48 AM
Looking at heading out to spark hill in 2 weeks when i am in birmingham for the supersonic festival in digbeth apparently its easy to get to by bus? been told to head to ladypool rd?

Yes, it should be easy to get from Digbeth to Sparkhill by bus; its about a mile or so.  Ladypool Road together with Stoney Lane and Stratford Road comprises The Balti Triangle, and covers parts of Sparkbrook, Sparkhill and Balsall Heath. I think bits of Moseley as well.  Not really tried much of the BIR there myself.  I?m from Manchester originally and have only started exploring the area over the past year, mainly for shopping.  I gather many of the most popular eateries are on Ladypool Road. Let us know how you get on.

http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/balti

Rob

Off to Sparkhill later today and panch poran is on my shopping list.  Looking forward to giving it a try. Seeing those other masala mixes has reminded me of my last visit there.  I usually stop at a kebab/TA/restaurant, who do a rather nice chicken tikka wrap for a ?1.  Last time I noticed the chef had inadvertently left out a box of Shan Biryani Masala on one of the work surfaces.  I wondered if it was used an ingredient for their tikka marinade.  The place is mainly kebabs etc. but there is a back part with seating and a limited curry menu.  So it may have been used to make, erm, a biryani.  Just struck me as a bit odd as it was early and the restaurant side was empty. 

You can get these boxed spice mixes for pretty much everything these days, but in many the main ingredient is salt, so care is needed not to add too much.  I do use the Mangal Chat Masala for Kashmiri Chat (Kris Dhillon's second book, p 39).  Absolutely love that recipe; I recently swapped my home-made GM for the Jalpur GM when making it.  Awesome! 

Rob 

I got Micks book as hardcopy soon after starting up about a year ago.  My first proper base.  Absolutely fantastic!  It opened the world of BIR cooking.  Still use the recipes for pre-cooked chicken, lamb, daal, vegetables, etc. Cant see me changing. After reading this thread I must get around to making the onion paste.  It anyones new to BIR cooking this book makes for essential reading.  If Mick ever decides to write a follow-up it would be an auto-purchase for me.

My first base. One of those moments when you just know youve got something right, and youre on your BIR journey. Thanks Mick!





Rob

Quote from: stevious on October 02, 2012, 06:33 PM
Hi ,
     I stumbled across Julians youtube videos and thought i would try his recipes.I have so far cooked Onion Bhaji's and his base sauce.Bhaji's were excellent and base sauce came out fine too.It was from youtube i found this site and what a goldmine it is! I know he has a takeaway in Chorley, Lancashire called Curry to go was wondering if anyone had tried his curries before?

Yes indeed. If you search c2go there are many threads about Julian on here.   Julian's first ebook (The Secret to that takeaway taste) is the best out there, by a mile, in my opinion.  His videos are already legendary. Enjoy!

Rob

 

Quote from: Secret Santa on September 27, 2012, 09:33 PM

You mean it hadn't been Pataked to death.  ;D

Quality! PTD could be a useful curry-related acronym? 

Very nice looking TC by the OP.

Rob