Quote from: chewytikka on August 19, 2012, 12:44 PM
Welcome to the forum Rob

Watch your waistline, as I'm taking up alot more room since I started posting on cR0, probably about stone extra in fact.
On your travels around Stratford road, can you keep an eye out for the Green Naga I'm looking for, from back in the day.
Just be nice to know if it still exists.



cheers Chewy

No luck with the Naga as yet, but my spice guru friend in Sparkhill remembers stocking it and is on the lookout for some.

Reckon I?ll start quizzing the guys at a TA I know on their knowledge of ye olde BIR curry.  The main chef there looks deceptively young, but I'll bet he is in his 60s.

I think I'll just stick to the chutneys.  Just checked and its the Tandoori BBQ marinade I've got.  It's pretty thick stuff.   Ingredients and info:

Water
Garlic (19 %)
Coriander (5 %)
Cumin, Salt, Ginger
Acidity Regulator (sodium diacetate)
Food Acid (Citric)
Rusk (Wheat Flour, Salt, Raising agent (ammonium bicarbonate)
Turmeric, Tamarind (1 %), Chilli, Food Acid (Citric),
Colours: E120, E122. Vegetable Oil, Preservative: Sodium Metabisulphite.

Allergen Advice: Contains Wheat and Sulphites
E122 may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children

Water separates and may settle at the top, please stir well before use. Once opened store in a cool dry place away from direct sunlight.  Use within 6 months after opening.

On the chutney front I found the Lime & Chilli the best, with Papaya and Lime a close second (found some whole green cardamoms in this one that were very nice indeedy).  The good lady liked the Onion chutney but I didnt.  The Pineapple chutney was disappointing.  I think they were all ?1.30 or ?1.40 each from Lidl, possibly less.  Quite tempted by the Bombay Blush Mango Chutney.  Sounds nice anyway.

Rob

Who do you call for 5 tonnes of curry paste?

http://www.curryhouse.co.uk/scene/simtom.html

This article sort of backs up comments that not all TAs/restaurants have the time (or skills) to make the curries of old any more.  It seems this company supply a lot to the trade and apparently have also been going since the seventies.  Their online brochure is also quite interesting (link is at the bottom of the page).

http://www.simtom.co.uk/

Some time ago I rang them to find where I could buy the products.  Couldnt find any in Birmingham anywhere.  Turns out you have to be a trader to get their pastes etc, but they suggested that I try my local Lidl or Aldi, who sometimes sell some of the range.  Sure enough, I found some jars of Simtom ?Restaurant Style? Tandoori marinade and some of their pickles/chutneys in Lidl.  This paste I felt was similar to Pataks but superior (I?m not sure why).  Tell you what though, their Lime & Chili chutney and the ?Award Winning? Papaya & Lime chutney are very nice indeed.  Way better then anything I?ve tasted before.

Rob     

My first TA was from a place called Naffees in Leeds circa 1982 I think.  There werent the names of curries were accustomed to now either.  So typically I would order mince and spinach, with a chapatti. I recall the food as being really good, but the trouble is I would have been comparing then with my mums curry attempts, which were heavy on the sultanas.  I do remember more clearly though the curries of Wilmslow Road from the late 80s to the mid-90s.  Some were truly amazing, some not so great, and many of the restaurants were inconsistent at best.  When I found the Dharbar it was the banker for a long time.  One of the young waiters there (Wasseem) would always remind us that, "this place is the best on strip", it was imo, but eventually that also went downhill.  I can?t remember when exactly but the turning point did coincide with more and more restaurants popping up next to each other.  The prices went up and the portion sizes reduced.  The curries were missing something it seemed. The standard of service dropped. And to cap it off, garlic salt on the naans!  I gave up going and started eating pasta. 

Perhaps part of the problem was adding the pastes and I didnt realize it then.  On discovering BIR cooking myself about a year ago I was quite surprised to see Pataks pastes being suggested as a way to lift a curry to another level.  I kept thinking, surely, ?supermarket level?.  Did try the usual 3 recommended but Im afraid they have now all gone in the bin.  So I would agree pretty much with Secret Santa, it has no place in my curry at the moment.  I dont really bother with CTM; made a few early on for the good lady, who said they were pretty good, ?like a takeaway?.  But have since made her 976bars Chicken Pasanda and she has been much more complementary; ?This is restaurant food?, ?The best curry I?ve ever had?, etc.  So it looks like the CTM has had its day in our house. However, I still regularly make a lot of chicken tikka.  I sometimes add a small amount of Simtom Tandoori paste to the marinade, but wouldnt panic if Id forgotten to put it in.  What I find odd about Pataks pastes is that basically all of the Asian shops and supermarkets seem to pack their shelves with it (Sparkhill for example), both the standard size jars and the trade size tubs.  Yet, during all my visits over the past 12 months, when queuing for the checkout, I have never seen anyone buy a single jar/tub.

Rob

Ps. If anyone like me is new to BIR cooking and someone in your house likes the sweet creamy dishes, do check this one out.  Its a cracker.

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=8175.0

Many thanks for this Chris. My next project/investment. The ready mades I've been buying have been sort of OK but they contain quite a bit of fat that I could do without.  Do you have a ratio for wholemeal flour, or is it the same?  Cheers, Rob.

I've had some sucess reproducing a garlic chilli similar to (actually better than) my local TA.  Not unlike the receipe above but without all the garlic and chillies (although I'm sure this is a great recipe).  Instead I added 1 1/2 tsp of "Janu's" garlic chutney (hot with olive oil) I found at an asian store.  The flavour of this stuff is deep and really intense roasted/caramelised garlic, and it is seriously hot.  Sort of Mr Naga levels but with standard hot chillies. 

Have tried several TAs and restaurants around Birmingham with naga dishes on the menu.  They seem quite popular. Most often it's a Chicken Naga Jalfrezi and described as very hot.  One restaurant does a Chicken or Meat Nagahwala, also really hot.  I've made a few myself adding about a tablespoon of Mr Naga.  Also found it good stuff to have as I'm relatively new to BIR cooking and when something goes wrong, a good dollop of Mr Naga saves the day.  A more subtle addition has also worked well.  Must have a go at making a Jaflon soon.  A few TAs say they make their own Naga pickle.  Seem to remember one of the video links in Mick Crawford's book where the chef stated that he made his own, although I could be wrong. 

Made this recently.  Very simple with no base gravy.  The recipe includes julienned fresh ginger, which works well.  I bunged in some finely sliced onion and used just one tsp of chilli.

Aloo Gobhi Adrakhi

Cheers, Rob.

You?d think the shear numbers of TAs in most of the big cities would mean only the best would prosper.  But it doesn?t seem to work that way.  There are loads of TA?s near me and they?ve been there for several years.  At the one I used to go the phones started ringing as soon as they opened.  People must in general be happy with the food.  Each to his own I suppose.

I do know a pretty good takeaway in Tamworth.  They?ve been there since the 70s.  Although the last time I went it wasn?t anything like as good as I remembered.  I didn?t notice one of the usual chefs being there, so that may explain the difference. Or, I could be been making comparisons with my own newly acquired BIR skills (efforts).  Did note that their sheek kebabs had doubled in size since my previous visit though.  This proved to be down to a different recipe including lots of binder, flour or whatever.  This could be a bad omen.