Quote from: haldi on February 21, 2014, 08:48 AM
I thought gram flour might be the "missing" ingredient
I tried it in several bases but couldn't really notice it
I also tried putting in old poppadoms, after I had ground them
To be honest I have all my hopes, of a breakthrough, with Chris's ebook
I want to know what that fried mystery ingredient is, that he adds to the base

Couldn't agree more Haldi,wish he'd hurry up.He's adamant it's something that's never been discussed or shown before,I just wonder what it could be?

Another one uploaded....They make it look so easy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd_5arQVVuE&list=UU9rT1AQMqTGiOO8uEf8foSA&feature=c4-overview

I generally avoid Indian buffet meals if I can.The buffet food is nowhere near as good as when you order straight from the menu.I tried one a couple of years ago and the food was very bland indeed,everything just tasted the same.I'd been there before and ordered my own food previously and the food was excellent.

I actually do DJ'ing in my spare time and I was asked to play at a local Indian Restaurant on Saturday where they had a party and a help yourself buffet.Although the selection of dishes were impressive the actual food was not.Nothing wrong with it just very average and tasteless.Even the plain chicken tikka was poor.I could have done much better myself.I'm not sure but it could be how the dishes are cooked.They brought out one massive wok which had about six portions of tikka massala in it.Chatting to the manager(who has invited me into his kitchen soon!!) he did tell me that the buffet dishes are all cooked in large potions in a pan whereas the traditional menu is cooked in the normal way.Maybe that's where the food deteriorates,I don't know.I would give it a second chance George but order from the menu yourself.

There have been a few threads on the forum regarding the use(and apparent confusion)over the use of genuine Indian bay leaves,or tejpata as they're called.It doesn't help that some of the well known brands package their bay leaves as Indian tejpata when they are actually the European variety.Indeed I only realised recently that the ones I had been using were the wrong ones.Indian bay leaves are very difficult to source where I live,even the local Asian shops have the European bay leaves packaged as Indian tejpata.

However,thanks to Dave aka Curryhell I now have more than enough genuine tejpata to last me for a while.The difference between these and the others are unbelievable,the aroma from the bag is fantastic.They're definitely used in BIR kitchens,at least round where I live,I've found a few of these things in some of my recent take-aways.One was in a particularly tasty shaslick bhuna and the other was in a bombay aloo.Definitely worth seeking out.

Seems like the second book has a release date.I'll probably buy it,you never know it might spur Chris on to release his one!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhgoS0LUwhs&feature=youtu.be

Quote from: madrasandy on February 05, 2014, 07:48 PM
Forgot to mention that on the the 2nd attempt I also added a star anise to the oil and fried for a minute with onions then removed star anise while still frying onions, it gave it a little bit of extra flavour that I have noticed in certain BI madras's.

Can't beat a decent BIR madras,must admit they've got a bit bland round my way these days.The star anise is a very good tip indeed.I always wondered what gave my old style madras that aniseed hint of flavour,maybe fennel or indeed aniseed itself.However,I actually found half a piece of star anise in one dish a while back,so chefs do use these things,at least they used to in my local place.

Yes the recipes are very similar indeed.The resting periods seem to be the key to the success.The original recipe was kind of tucked away and was probobly misssed by most people.I'm glad I found it,just have to try Chris' recipe now.

I basically followed the recipe in CBM'S first book.I added a touch of baking powder,some tandoori powder and some mint sauce.These couple of additions bring them so close to my local takeaway's superb bhajis I struggle to tell the difference.The kashmiri massala paste definitely plays a big part.I've made them before without it and they just didn't have 'that' taste.I've also struggled with scaled down bhaji recipes being too wet and not cooking properly,but the consistency of CBM's batter is quite dry and they crisp up very nicely.I didn't make a dip,but If I did it would be Dip's mint sauce.As good,if not better than your standard BIR mint sauce.

Here's the link...

http://www.restaurantwholesale.co.uk/

Guys,I was all set to wheel my tandoori oven out today and try the much talked about naan recipe from Happy4chris.However as the weather took a turn for the worse I thought better of it and decided to knock up some onion bhajis instead.A lot of recipes I have seem to be quite similar in terms of ingredients and a lot seem to call for a spoonful of kashmiri massala paste.Now after my recent visit to my local cash and carry I managed to get hold of a catering sized tub of Pasco kashmiri massala paste.I've seen this stuff in a lot of restaurant kitchens,taste it and you'll find it's very different to your bog standard Patak's version you find in Asda's etc.Much more flavour and indeed quite hot.

Anyway here they are,I cooked quite a few but they didn't last very long....



They were very good indeed,better than some of the bland takeaway ones I seem to get these days!!