hi ,Pete AND Yellowfingers
i am pretty sure that they re-use the oil from one curry to another and they don't care about meat eaters or not .
every one i asked told me they through out the stock , i believe that, because the kitchen is alaways very hot and they don't refergate the curry gravy it is alaways out side on the cooker day and night,
if they use the chicken stock in the gravy and keep it outside like this it will turn sour and mold will form, any way try some and see..
if the turn out in the restaurant is not full the kitchen staff told me they boil the gravy for at least 10 minutes in order that it will not go bad even if it is covered with oil,it is very hot in there i have been there.
thanks
ghanna

hi, blondie
thank you very much it is a very very good and powerful article.I kept reading it more than three times until now.
at last i find some one that share my view of the secret ingredient.
thank you for sharing this with us all .
you are a very good  person
GOD bless you
ghanna

Dear Pete
well done  GOD bless you  you are a great person.
please keep as informed
thanks
ghanna

hi,pete
i made a curry gravy before with Worcester sauce it didnot make any difference i.e not that missing taste.
once i made the proper FRENCH chicken stock with chicken bones and flesh , onions, garlic ,celery,turnips,theme(same flavor as Indian ajwan seeds )black pepper,salt,and all the classic ingredients .boiled slowly for long time .it is out of this world strained the stock used instead of water in the curry gravy it was very nice FRENCH - INDIAN meal  but not really like the gravy we are enjoying in the restaurants, the chiken stock flavor is very strong .
lamb bones got a very very strong flavor ( it smells like live lamb  do you know what i mean?) French chefs never use it to make stock .they use beef ,chicken ,some kinds of fish and vegetables to make stocks.
i made lamb stock before the whole house smelled very bad and
the whole family left the house and only returned after i opened all windows for 6 hours and used a lot of air freshener.
thanks
ghanna

hi ,all
the reason of not peeling the onion when it is raw is they make you cry and the kitchen staff do not like this specially there is a lot of onions (sacks).
the garlic is small and very difficult to peel as well, when they soak it in boiling water overnight the skin peels easily.
most of the ginger flavor is in the skin and just under the skin   like the potatoes because of that they don't peel the skin,  as well they use huge amounts of it and they don't want to spend the whole day peeling ginger and at the end you will not notice it in the gravy,
i forget to mention that the chef put some fresh herbs in the gravy and he put that with the spices.(he bring these herbs ready chopped from home and mixed together )
the kitchen staff told me the whole place smelled like  mint, dill , coriander and another herb that he thinks is sacred basil.i made some inquires and i find out that this sacred basil is used a lot in Thia cooking.it is stronger than normal basil.
thanks
ghanna

hi , yellowfingers
tomato puree is canned tinned tomato with juice ,big tins 400g small tins 230g
tomato paste  is tomato with much of the water been removed  ,you can find it in tubes or even small tins  30p a tin at sainsbury near to the dry pasta.
thanks
ghanna

hi,all
i bribed one of the kitchen staff once , this is what he said ....
don't peel onion,garlic or ginger just but them in boiling water the night before,
next morning they are going to be very easy to peel ,peel onions and garlic but not the ginger
don't chop garlic or onions but put them whole in the big gravy pot ,chop the ginger coarsely and add to pot.
cover with water and bring to boil, boil until every thing is cooked (he don't know for how long but he said for ages )
the chef will come after that and add a lot of powder ( this is what he told me when i asked him what is there in the powder   I DO NOT KNOW  THE CHEF ALAWAYS BRING IT WITH HIM  FROM HOME IN THE SAME DAY THAT WE ARE MAKING THE GRAVY ) , i tried to put some pressure on him  but really he didnot know,he is a very honest man and i know that from a previous experience.
after that the chef but new oil and as well the oil from the old gravy  he told me we don't through any oil away we use it and re-use it over and over again.
the chef add a big tin about 1 kg of tomato puree  and a medium tin of tomato paste.some salt, boil for a long time  then puree until it is very smooth .
cook again until oil rises to the top of the gravy .
they don't use it in the same day but the following day.
when they are making the curries they alaways fry some onions garlic and ginger(slightly cooked previously ) in the beginning then they add some   tomato paste and spices and the main ingredient (chicken, lamb or prawn ) then the curry gravy and boil for some time  then they add one of these ingredients ( coconut , almonds, cashewnut or evaporated milk, rose water or kewra water  .it depend which kind of curry you want  i.e KORMA . pasanda   .......etc.
in some of the curries they add fenugreek leaves at the end but not in all of them
as well they add chopped coriander leaves at the end.
this what he told me .all of us know that but we don't know what is there in the powder that the chef use.
when they arrive in the kitchen at about 4:00 they start cooking the chicken ,lamb and defrost the prawn in just boiling water.
they use garlic,ginger , curry powder,salt , water to cook the chicken and lamb
the lamb will take longer to cook so they use some thing green called papaya as a tenderizer in order to cook the lamb quickly.
i hope i helped
i like this  site . all the people her are very friendly and every one trying to help
thanks .
GOD bless all of you
ghanna

hi ,all
i cooked every gravy recipe in this forum.
i cooked different curry gravies from the net ,from chefs. from Friends that they got it ?from their take away or the restaurant that they go to and from different cookbooks.
i got about 50 recipes for the gravy some of them they use milk instead of water to cook the gravy , some of them they used a spicy stock called AKHNI, some of them used red lentils ,some used chana dal .
some recipes said brown the onions .some said no just boil them
some said brown the garlic and ginger and some said no just boil them.
some said fry the garlic and ginger in the beginning of making the gravy , others said no just add it at the end.
some of the recipes said use potato some said no
some of them used red pepper and some of them didnot use it.
some of the recipes used some kind of ?raddish called (mooli) ,others used raddish.
some of the recipes used CELERIAC and some just use celery.
some used tomato puree and others used tomato paste, as well some recipes didnot use tomato at all.
some recipes used oil others used ghee.
some used curry powder ?others used different kinds of spices.
some of them used ajwan seeds others used black cumin seeds and others used black onion seeds ?still others used a spice blend called ?PANCH FORAN and fry them ?in oil before they add any thing else.
some use fenugreek leaves in the gravy some say no just add it at the end.
some ?use coconut ,almond , cashewnut ,condensed milk or evaporated milk.
some use whole garam masala in the beginning some do not use it at all.
some use ready made masala paste some just stick to curry powder.
some use monosodium glutamate (MSG) some not.
some use tomato ketchup in the gravy
some use tamarind in their base others use plain yogurt.
some fry a spice called ASAFOETIDA in oil before they add any thing else.
some other use coconut milk.
some use a very expensive spice called SAFFRON.and some use turmeric.
some use a spice oil some use just plain oil

Believe me i try ed every one of them ?but none of them tasted like the proper gravy with
that very very nice taste ?.there is something missing ?a very nice taste i cannot duplicate it.

some of the recipes i used 10 kg of onions i thought may ?be if i cook in bulk i will get that taste but i didnot get any far .
some times i leave the gravy for two or three days and then cook with it but no luck in getting that missing taste.
i try ed every recipe ,every technique but i am not getting far.
could you please tell me why ?
thanks
ghanna

?

hi,all
i try ed my self to buy the basic gravy different times but without luck .
their reason is .......   it does not taste nice by it self let us make you a tasty curry sauce instead.
have a very nice weekend all
thanks
ghanna

Dear Pete
from my previous experience with chefs  i am 100% sure that they are hiding something.
your goodself and the curry queen went to the same place and shown two totally different ingredients for the curry gravy , the proportion of the ingredients as well are  not right at all .
In one gravy they are using 2 onions ,1 carrot , 1 pepper with different spices.
In the other gravy they are using 2 pounds of onions ,1 carrot ,1 pepper  with just  curry powder .
Pete do you think this is right?
George  in a previous link said that  your chef showed you his gravy , the curry queen  chef showed her his gravy , and the restaurant gravy remained secret .
there is a very very nice taste missing i can not duplicate it  i cannot explain enough how nice is this taste, if they are telling us the truth why is our gravy missing that taste.
They are deceiving us ,getting our money ,showing us only the basic ingredients but not that very very important ingredients which make that huge difference.
Once i took a sample  from your gravy ( which use 600ml oil) to my restaurant and asked the chef about his opinion he told me the same as the other chef told you  it is nice  laughed and told me only salt is missing.
his assistance came after a few minutes  i asked him as well about the gravy  he was very honest and told me there is some thing missing, i asked him to tell me but he refused and told me  (SECRET ), i asked him again why then the other chef said it was o.k and the only thing was missing is salt  ?  he told me because if he said there is something missing you are going to ask him what is it and he don't want to tell you and the restaurant does not want to loose you as a good customer .he is just been diplomatic.
The restaurant owners are earning a lot from the curry gravy and as MR PAT CHAPMAN  said in his web page that the turn over for  the Indian restaurants in the UK  is ?2.5  billion per year. when they are earning this amount of money i don't think they will be willing to tell their secret  and i don't blame them but i want them to be honest and not deceiving us by telling us different ingredients and spices.
thanks
ghanna