Quote from: Derek Dansak on March 24, 2010, 12:18 PM
no one is willing to seriously help cr0 members on our quest. 

I spoke to the owner of my local again today, who popped into my office. I was glad of this as I wanted to confirm everything was still on for my kitchen demo tomorrow.

He's a lovely chap, happy go lucky but he knew I was going to ask questions again and said, you have to come for the demo as it is the only way. We must show you as we can't tell you, we don't know the English for alot of it.

He's been in the game 35 years and as i've mentioned before, is very much old school. He is very keen to allow me to visit for a demo and hopefully I will manage to get a demo for the gravy (base) at some point as well.

Given all the barriers language, processes, recipes, etc. its not surprising.

I just pray that tomorrows demo is fruitful.

This Bengali online translator seems pretty good. http://www.bengali-dictionary.com/english-bengali-words-phrases-contents.html

I had thought that my local was Bengali but they call cumin Zeera, is that definitely Punjabi?

Quote from: Mikka on March 23, 2010, 09:54 PM
I find it incredible that when someone comes forward to show you things it is met with a barrage.

Mikka,
For me at least, I judge his video on the end result, after all, that is the whole purpose. I appreciate that he is trying to keep the video length to a minimum and that in doing so, his process becomes shall we say 'ragged at the edges'.

However, the end result is not what I would call a 'perfect' onion bhaji. It appears in the video that the centre is not set in a batter as you would expect. I noted that one of his bhaji almost fell apart. This suggests that the mix was very loose or not cooked.

If I had been served a bhaji like this, I would most definitely have sent it back.

For these reasons, you have to question the integrity of the demonstration and the recipe. Personally, I would rather sit through 20 mins of slow drawn out video, if the end result was a clear understanding of the recipe, its process and the finished dish.

This is why you may feel that people have been objectionable, but I would not have called it a barrage.

The trouble is, as CA has pointed out previously, he doesn't help himself with his style of demonstration. I watched his demo on the Korma where he threw all the ingredients into a cold pan before heating it. He wouldn't cook like this for a paying customer, so why does he 'demonstrate' this on video?

Just a thought. 

Hello and welcome. You'll find that this site is mainly dedicated to British Indian Restaurant dishes, but there is a wealth of information.

If you find the right place to start, let me know.

I will do my best Chris, I just hope its not to hectic. 

By definition, I have always considered Paste to be a thicker drier version of a puree. Then followed by passata, the smooth blended version of tinned chopped tomatoes, without the seeds of course.

I would agree that Passata is not a likely contender to be found in a BIR Kitchen.

The tub of puree I was shown recently didn't resemble puree or paste which I would describe as having a grainy appearance. The 'puree' was more like a tomato sauce.

I know it had been prepared, whether this was with a puree to start with and then blended further with oil etc., I have no idea. Personally, I would describe it as a concentrated sauce as opposed a puree.

You say tomayto, I say tomarto. ;D

Quote from: Razor on March 22, 2010, 05:17 PM

Quote from: Axe on March 22, 2010, 12:42 AM

Ray, is that the Pataks description? no wonder my test wasn't right.

Hi Axe,

Yeah, that's from the label on the Pataks jar, which is what I belive he uses in the video.

What was you using?

Ray

Ray,

The novice in me typed Kashmiri Masala into the search bar and made a mix using one I found on here.  : Lesson learnt.

On my quest around the internet for the illusive BIR Bhaji recipe, I came across many variants. I hadn't considered searching using 'alternative' names but none the less I found reference to Piyava Pakoda/Pakora/Baje/Bajo. If you Google Piyava Pakoda, you'll see what I mean and find some interesting recipes.

Mikka, I don't think anyone here doubts the chaps credentials.

These questions about shape i.e. flat or round, could this be the difference between a Pre-Cooked Bhaji and Fresh Cooked Bhaji.

I say this as if a Bhaji is cooked fresh, it would have to be flat in order to ensure even cooking, where as the pre-cooked obviously processed in a completely different way.

Any thoughts?

Ray, I can't imagine a BIR using more than one base, it wouldn't be practical for them.  Having now seen various mixes and the tomato sauce/puree, I am certain of this. The statement as you say, clearly points this out.

Jerry, when I was discussing the base with the owner, he was saying a very similar thing and did say you can't do this at home. What I determined from this was that he was saying this for two reasons:

1) The base if you really consider, is a very delicate blend of spices. considering the amount of onion and water used, the spice is a very small part in ratio. Trying to replicate this ratio at home would be very hard to do without any bulk cooking involved.

2) He simply couldn't understand why I wanted to replicate BIR and refer to my previous observations in that he would rather have told me how to cook 'real' curry.

Quote from: CurryOnRegardless on March 22, 2010, 02:13 PM
Don't make the mistake of confusing 'European' chickpeas and Indian chickpeas (gram or channa), totally different things.

That I didn't know, interesting read, : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chickpea

Thanks CoR