Ok here we go with the results

Base - Day 2

I skimmed all the oil from the base I could but still only managed to get back 300ml.
I put the base in a narrower saucepan to reduce the surface area so that the oil was deeper on the surface, I skimmed off a further 100ml but the base still looked a little heavy in oil.

I really want to work out some method of extracting more of the remaining oil.
I?m thinking of investing in a turkey baster to suck the oil from around the edge of the pan.

This base really has depth of flavour.


Chicken Tikka

Very nice but I?d use less mint next time, it was a little bit strong in the final dish.

When mint is required do people use standard Coleman?s style mint or is there something at an Indian supermarket I should use.


Chicken Tikka Balti

Most Baltis I?ve had are more like a BIR, just sizzled to make them seem more exciting.

I just love the combination of spices of the tongue and warmth in the throat.? Every mouthful is a different combination of flavours.

WOW, everything was here, the flavours on the tongue, the warmth in the back of the throat; it really did have that certain something.
This was the 1st of the 2 dishes I made and as such I followed the recipe to the letter, including the initial oil to fry the garlic and ginger.? This may have been a mistake as my base still had 100ml of oil in it.

The best BIR I?ve ever made at home.

I found that deep frying the onions and peppers in the KD base always diluted the final dish with grease.? There was so little here (and it was skimmed oil) the final onions and pepper tasted exactly as I have had in a BIR.


As Ray says the final sauce reduced down and made a thick sauce, very unlike the KD dish.


Chicken Tikka Masala

I ignored the bit in the recipe saying add oil to fry the base and just used base mixture, added ? of a teaspoon of chilli to add a little heat.

Jane cleared her plate and was gushing about the dish she said this was easily as good as any she?d had in a restaurant, if not better as it wasn?t just creamy.


Pilau Rice

Yet again another winner, I used very heavy cast iron casserole dish for the rice and before putting it in the oven I tried some of the rice, it was under-cooked, I was very concerned as all the water had already been absorbed.

I shouldn?t have worried though, 20 minutes later out came the pot and off came the lid, OH YES, real restaurant Pilau rice, and I mean real.? The rice had gone from a flat pitted surface to fluffed up. The grains were so loose it was like it had not been cooked.? Definitely the best method I?ve ever tried for rice.? And so easy, I cheated and didn?t even wash the rice, just used an old tip from Chinese cooking, add the oil(or butter in this case) first and stir rice until all the grains are coated, then add the water and leave.

When both plates were cleared they had the characteristic red/orange coating of oil which is always left after a restaurant meal.

I can honestly say this has given me a big boost in trying out some more recipes; I was very down hearted to read of the poor results from the Kushi book and thought that we were back at square one.

Have spent more time today skimming off the oil and I have to say at this stage it's the best base I've ever made.

I could happily eat it with very little else added.

I can taste the black pepper which is giving it a nice bit of warmth in the throat.

Sorry I'm posting so much but I really haven't been so excited about a base since my 1st go at a KD base many years ago.

This has got something about it.

For this base I've peeled the ginger, but if no-one provides a strong enough reason not to next time I'll trim of the dried knobbly bits and use it with the skin.

This base looks much more promising than the KD one, maybe because it's got less water (not sure on this as don't have KD base recipe to hand) but the flavours seem much fuller.

Definitely looking forward to this evenings meal.

Have decided to make a CTM for Jane and a CT Balti for myself.

Did you think the measures for the spices in the video looked a little larger than those in the instructions?

Some of them looked as though a heaped spoon must have been used.

Having watched the above DVD I believe that the ginger should not be peeled before placing into the blender.

Here is a screen grab from the DVD.



Is it just my eyes or does the ginger look unpeeled, it's easiest to see on the right hand piece.

Is there any reason why the ginger should be peeled?

This is my first recipe from the above discs, kindly sent to me by raygraham, many thanks.

I watched both discs a couple of times to familiarise myself with the techniques.

I?m going to make a Chicken Tikka Balti

I was running low on some ingredients, the main item I needed was menthi (spelling as from DVD);  I assumed this was ground fenugreek leaves.  I?d recently thrown out a jar so needed more.  While scouring the shelves for more items to buy I actually found some powdered methi, so used this instead of buying the leaves and grinding them myself.
Interesting note though the powdered methi is actually yellow, looks like cornmeal.

I still believe that the ginger should be used whole, I have a screen grab from the disc which I will post to gauge opinion.

I broke from the DVD instructions in some ways:

I added 500ml of oil to the onion boiling at the beginning (DVD states 2 tbsp)
I boiled it for the required time then pureed the whole lot.
Thought I?d made a big mistake though in not removing the oil before blending as the when the blended mixture was returned to the pan no oil was evident at all.

I added the rest of the base ingredients as directed, the oil started to come to the surface after heating for a short time.

I skimmed oil off for 20 or so minutes and got back around 300ml
This is as far as I have gone to at the moment; I?ll be making the remaining items tomorrow for our evening meal.

The chicken Tikka is made as per the DVD.

The base actually tastes nice at this stage and has a much better consistency than the KD base.  My partner tasted it and she thought it had much more depth of flavour than the KD base too.

I?ve left the base off the heat now for over an hour and yet more oil is coming to the surface, I will skim this off tomorrow before making the final dish.

The smell of the raw base cooking was much less noticeable this time; I can only assume the oil creates a barrier reducing the smell.

I personally don?t mind the smell and my partner copes with it as she knows it?s the prelude to a curry, (sound like a good name for a pop group)

I will post the outcome of the recipe tomorrow evening.

I agree with Ray that watching the curry being cooked gives a much better idea of how things should look.

Watched the vegetarian disc this morning.

Spotted at the beginning while the restaurant kitchen is being shown one of the chefs skims the oil from the dish he's cooking and places it back into a large pot 

After posting the above I went back to the DVD's to do some screen grabs of the ingredients to use as a shopping list.

I watched some more of the disc and noticed something I'd not seen on the 1st viewing.

The ginger is not peeled, even though the ingredients page says that it should be.

Can anyone else who has seen the disc confirm this, I have a screen grab I could post that may help.

Received the discs from Ray (Many Thanks), watched the 1st one this evening.

The base looked more substantial than the KD base, the final dish (Chicken Balti) looked very like the kind of thing I'd expect in a restaurant.

Will be getting the ingredients ASAP to have a go at this and will post my findings on here.

I think it would be very helpful if we could have a new posting of the complete method in the appropriate forum.

Many thanks to Mark and everyone else on this forum for solving this puzzle.