Quote from: RubyDoo on October 16, 2012, 03:37 PM
Hi.

New to forum but not to 'building'. ( I will post on intro when time permits. )

Burning question though having just read Dave Loyden's Undercover Curry from beginning to end ( twice ! ) -

2 whole 'curry spoons of salt?' ( page 22 ) in the base gravy.  Now I realise that this is a large pot we are building but it still seems like one shed load of salt. Is this right? = approx 20 teaspoons.

While salt is undeniably an important part of BIR cookery, how much to use is entirely a subjective matter and down to personal taste.

Each chef will have their own take on this, and will season their base accordingly.

However, even for an 18L base, that is a lot of salt! Or is it... ?

A big problem with Mr Lloyden's book is that, in attempting to tell us how it's done by chefs in BIR kitchens, all this talk of curry / chef spoons and 'dipping' is rendered nonsensical when you consider that there is no such thing as a 'standard' size of chef spoon. For instance, I have three chef spoons, all different in size, but then I tend to use the medium one, which equates to roughly two tablespoons, and seems to be the size I've noticed used the most in BIR kitchens I've been fortunate enough to visit.

So, using my favoured chef's spoon, two chef spoons equals 12 teaspoons of salt. Still more than I'd personally use in even an 18L base, but a little more acceptable than 20.

I've only ever made the scaled down version of Mr Lloyden's base, and remember using less than his recommended dessert spoon of salt (for a two-litre base).

It may be that the chef(s) in the kitchens that Mr Lloyden frequented (or worked in) preferred to salt their bases heavily and use less salt in the final dish. I'm not sure, but whatever all we can do I guess is to rely on our own taste buds and adjust accordingly.

Pass the salt, someone... 

Quote from: stephenperry on October 14, 2012, 02:37 PM
Well, that's not strictly true - I ruined my madras by putting in a whole teaspoon of Mr Naga chilli pickle.  I hadn't tried it before and was unsure on how much to add.  It completely overpowered the dish, not in a good way!

The pickle didn't add the heat I was expecting, just an off-putting smoky kind of taste that for me, detracted from the whole dish - couldn't taste anything of the other flavours and I couldn't eat much of it.

It was slightly better after sitting in the fridge overnight but has made my wary of using it again.

How are your experiences with this pickle and how much do you typically use?

I'm a huge fan of Mr Naga and tend to use a good tablespoon in each dish, but as you've discovered it does have a distinctive taste and aroma (for which the naga is indeed most prized). It changes the characteristics of a curry dish completely (but wonderfully, IMHO) - you just need to be aware that whatever you add it to ceases to become a 'Chicken/Lamb Madras' or 'Chicken/Lamb Vindaloo', or 'Bhuna', or whatever, but a 'Chicken Naga'.

At least, that's what the restaurants and takeaways do round these parts, instantly elevating a standard dish from the basic menu to the chef's specials menu and hiking the price up from

Quote from: chewytikka on October 10, 2012, 02:21 PM

Quote from: ELW on October 09, 2012, 11:25 PM
This is frequently blended & added as a paste in RJ's in Glasgow. "moreish" is right!. A key part of the what people call the Glasgow taste is coconut, both in the base & in pastes. when it all comes together it produces a moreish taste thats quite hard to figure out
ELW

This all seems a bit odd to me, is this your theory or do you have first hand knowledge of this.
____________________________________________________________________________________

Anyway, not to detract from Ray's RJ recipe, but I'm amazed BIR Roghan Josh isn't covered much on CR0

Bengali Restaurant Rogan Josh is a 2 stage dish or a combined curry.

(Circa 1970's) and still the same today here in Geordieland.
First they make a dopiaza with added precooked chunky onions and put it in the serving dish.
Second, they quickly make a stir fry topping of caramelised tomatoes and onion.

Method = Hot Wok, oil or ghee in, touch of G&G, touch of mixed powder and tomato puree dilute
more onion, (thin sliced lengthways), a tomato cut into wedges or Cherry Tomatoes (2012 Style)
1tbs of sugar.
Flash fry this vigorously to caramelise the onion and tomato, add a chefs spoon of base sauce to combine and finish.

Add the topping onto the Dopiaza and you have a Rogan Josh.

The Chef that taught me this dish, used to call it The Dream Topping, probably
because of the moreish flavour of sweet caramelised tomatoes and onion.

Hope you can follow this , Cheers Chewy

p.s. I might do a video of this when I get the time.

Many thanks for this, Chewy - yet another top tip.

Would be great if you could add it to your video library, but I'm going to try it out tonight anyway.

Quote from: fishy on October 08, 2012, 06:02 PM
I got one of those from ebay, similar price, good burner but the frame that comes with it was powder coated so when cooking the paint burnt off and made a hell of a mess of my pan and curry, the smoke residue was near impossible to remove, utterly horrible.

I didn't suffer that problem, Fishy - at least not to that extent. I didn't get any of the acrid smoke you describe, but after a few cooking sessions the coating did start to blister and a few bits of it were sticking to the bottom of my pan, so while it was still warm I scraped most of it off.

Since then we've become inseparable, much to the chagrin of my good lady...

It could be a combination of things.

I haven't been in one BIR kitchen and found deggi mirch (too expensive). Instead they tend to use the standard hot (usually Rajah or similar) chilli powder, which is more orange because it contains far more seeds, and mix it with paprika to calm it down a bit and give it a more red colour.

Next suspect is tomato puree (diluted). While there are some dishes on the menu that don't include it, you'll find it in many BIR curries to some extent or another.

And there may well be a touch of red food colouring involved - especially if the chef has added a little red masala sauce to the dish. (Red food colouring is found in the commercial pastes used to make the masala sauce).

Quote from: Ader1 on October 07, 2012, 07:26 PM
I'm looking for a Wok Gas Burner so that I can create better stir fries.  I'm very much into Chinese dishes at the moment.  Ideally, I would like something I can use indoors......in the garage at least.  I'm not connected to the gas mains supply.  Any recommendations?   My knowledge of gas appliances is pretty basic so please don't be to technical.  :-)

I was looking at the following on ebay?   Any good?  Oh damn!  Just notice it's for outdoor use only. :-(

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HotWok-Original-Wok-Gas-Burner-Set-HW3711-/271033385833?pt=UK_Home_Garden_BBQ_s_Accessories_LE&hash=item3f1ad94369

As Phil says, you'll find you're paying well over the odds for brand names in the burner market - only to find that they use generic parts that cost a fraction of the price.

Take a look around this website: http://www.gasproducts.co.uk/acatalog/Large_Tripod_Gas_Boiling_Ring.html

I bought a superb burner from this company for the grand total of

Quote from: Stephen Lindsay on October 04, 2012, 08:40 PM
SD I like the idea of a blind tasting. I think it's a great way of benchmarking your curries and must try this sometime soon.

It is indeed, as it takes you and your cooking/spice assaulted senses out of the equation. I'm confident that the 'missing 5%' people talk about here is almost entirely down to sensory overload, and getting other people to do a genuine blind taste is a great way of getting some 'real world' feedback.

Quote from: stevious on October 02, 2012, 06:33 PM
Hi ,
     I stumbled across Julians youtube videos and thought i would try his recipes.I have so far cooked Onion Bhaji's and his base sauce.Bhaji's were excellent and base sauce came out fine too.It was from youtube i found this site and what a goldmine it is! I know he has a takeaway in Chorley, Lancashire called Curry to go was wondering if anyone had tried his curries before?

I remember a while back a few people on this site said they were going to drop in to C2G in Chorley, but I haven't seen any further posts on the subject. The opening hours are daytime only, I think, which makes it difficult unless you live close by.

His videos and ebooks are indeed excellent, and as a recent Kindle convert I was delighted to see that 'The Secret to That Takeway Curry Taste' is now available in Kindle format (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Takeway-Curry-Taste-ebook/dp/B008N2B0OC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1349255479&sr=1-1).

Okay, it's never going to be the same as a proper cook book, but I've now amassed a load of my favourite recipe books on the thing and it's really handy to have them wherever in the world I happen to be (without lugging several tons around!).

Thanks for posting that, Phil. most interesting.

Browsing some of the other sections of his site, I chanced upon a reference to 'Indian coriander seeds'. Despite my advancing years this is the first time I've heard of them (you learn something new every day, etc). Unlike what he calls the European variety we all know and love, Indian coriander seeds are oblong in shape, vary in colour from green to yellow, and have a lemony, nutty flavour.

I'm going to try to get hold of some to try, but haven't found anywhere in the Uk that sells them (yet).

In the meantime... http://www.worldspice.com/spices/coriander-seed-indian

Quote from: Tommy Timebomb on September 26, 2012, 10:16 AM
Could anybody please tell me if it's possible to over cook a base.
I don't mean as in burn it I mean is leaving it the longer the better or will this impair the flavour or would it even improve it?

EDIT: I am referring to the initial melting of the onion stage?

From my experience, once you've reached the oil separation stage (after blending) a base doesn't improve with additional cooking, and I find that you can get a 'stale' smell reminiscent of a school kitchen (well my old school's kitchen, anyway) if you cook your base too long. It's the classic aroma of overcooked veg. (It does seem to improve a little if left to cool and stand overnight, though.)

Including the melting, blending and oil separation stages, I'd say around two hours is the maximum cooking time for a base.

But like so much of this lark, it's a personal thing. Others may have different experiences and opinions, which is what this forum is all about...