For me it's fairly straight forward.

Poppadums: with onion salad coated in mango chutney
Starters: Onion Bhajis - brought out with the main course so I can dip them in the curry sauce.
Main: Roshney Chicken if it's from Chutneys, Chicken Vindaloo if anywhere else. If I'm drunk I tell the chef to surprise me with a stinking hot curry. They always taste lovely but I can never remember what they were!
Sides: Bombay Aloo
Bread: Garlic Naan if sharing, Keema Naan if not
Rice: Pilau if sharing, Keema if not (Keema rice is rarely on the menu but most places will do it if you ask nicely)
Desserts: Never
Drinks: Stella if at home, Cobra if at the restaurant

After writing that it doesn't sound so straightforward. The standard Saturday night takeaway is:

4 Poppadums
1 Portion of Onion Bhajis
1 CTM
1 Roshney Chicken
1 Pilau Rice
1 Garlic Naan
1 (Free for ordering over ?15) Bombay Aloo

How many days till Saturday??? Typing this is making me very hungry, especially being on a Mon - Fri diet!

Quote from: Ramirez on February 09, 2011, 11:49 AM
So, is the list currently looking like this?

• Solar's
• 976bar's
• ChewyTikka's
• UC
• Dip's

Once finalised, it is probably worth updating the OP with the list and links to to recipes.

Yes, I think that looks like a good selection. Solar is going to post his updated version. Once we have the final 5 I'll update the OP with the correct links.

It looks like we have lots of willing testers so we should get some very accurate results!

Quote from: chewytikka on February 08, 2011, 02:35 PM
a handful of small chopped onion and green pepper.
Bhun/Stir-fry on med/high heat for 10sec, add potatoes and toss to coat, 10sec
add 2 chef's spoons of warm base sauce and Bhun/Stir-fry on med/high heat for
a minute or so, until the sauce clings and coats the potatoes (dry) add fresh chopped coriander, mix and serve.

Is this right that the onion and pepper only has 20 seconds of fry time and 1 min in the sauce? Won't that be a bit raw or is the pepper and onion pre-cooked?

Axe and Phil - Are you both up for doing the tests? There will hopefully be 5 different recipes to test and it shouldn't take too long.

This was my thoughts also. I guess some places might do it differently but for speed I would guess most BIR's will have a standard Bombay Aloo recipe that they can change depending on what is needed to be added (cauliflower, spinach e.t.c.).

Dave's Gourmet Insanity Sauce (One of The Hottest Regular Sauces in the Universe) - This is THE famous super hot sauce. The label says, "Great cooking ingredient for sauces, soups, and stews. Also strips waxed floors and removes driveway grease stains." Label also includes the following
WARNING: "Use this product one drop at a time. Keep away from eyes, pets and children. Not for people with heart or repiratory problems." This sauce was the 1993 Los Angeles Festival Best Hot Sauce winner-- Wilbur Scoville Would Be Amazed.

I like the warning - I'm not sure you'd want a whole dessert spoon in a single portion of Madras though.

Looks good Bar, we'll add it to the test recipes.

Here is the UC one - it is for Sag Aloo but the spinach is left out):

0.5 tsp g/g puree
0.5 tsp tandoori masala
0.5 tsp salt
0.5 tsp cumin
a touch of curry powder
small handful of sliced garlic
gravy
potatoes (1-2 medium, pre-cooked)
coriander

Add 1 - 2 curry spoons of oil to a pan on medium head (assume he means chef spoon?)
Add sliced garlic until it starts to brown
Add the spices and stir round the pan - if it starts to stick add 0.3 ladle of gravy
Add 6 - 8 chunks of pre-cooked potato
Add 1 - 2 ladles of gravy and boil it down, stirring with the tip of the spoon
Add a good pinch of chopped coriander and give it a final stir

Anyone who has read the book will know that accurate measurements and timings are non-existent! I've transcribed as best I can. I reduced the spices from 0.7 tsp to 0.5 tsp to make up for the lack of spinach.

Well found Ramirez. I dont know what other peoples thoughts are but I've never had Bombay Aloo that doesn't contain base sauce. 3 of those recipes look very dry to me. We could include one of the dry one for the sake of the test.

I have the UC recipe that I dont think has been posted yet.

I love Bombay Aloo and the thought of finding the perfect recipe is too good an opportunity to turn down.

Please can I have volunteers and recipe nominations on this thread. Solar - can you recipe be amended just be removing the spinach element or does it need tweaking elsewhere?

Razor, Luke, Ramirez - you are on the list. Solar, are you up for it? Anyone else let me know.

We will all be using par boiled Charlotte potatoes and the Taz base and spice mix. Other base sauces are available.

The test list currently looks like this:

Solars - https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=5553.msg54196;topicseen#msg54196
Dips - https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4511.0
976Bar - See below
UC - See below
Chewytikka - See below
One from a 'proper' book - Authentic Balti Cookbook

976bar:

Here's my recipe for Bombay Aloo. Unfortunately, I don't get the time to help out with the tests, wish I had more time to help out.

Ingredients
3 tbsp oil
1 and 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala
1 fresh green chilli
1/2 tsp chilli powder
2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
2 cloves of garlic, peeled, crushed and diced finely
4 tbsp butter
6 potatoes, peeled, parboiled and cut into 2 inch cubes
4 tomatoes, diced
1 cup fresh coriander, roughly chopped

Method
Heat the oil and butter in the pan, low to medium heat otherwise spices will burn, add the spices and fry for about 30 seconds. Then add the potatoes making sure they are completely coated in the spice mixture. Cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, then stir in the garam masala. Cook for a couple of minutes, then stir in the tomatoes and fresh coriander. Cook for a further 5 minutes or until the potatoes are just soft inside.

For Aloo Gobi, cook some cauliflower, cut into small stems and add to the pan with the potatoes and cover with the spice mixture.

UC:

Here is the UC one - it is for Sag Aloo but the spinach is left out):

0.5 tsp g/g puree
0.5 tsp tandoori masala
0.5 tsp salt
0.5 tsp cumin
a touch of curry powder
small handful of sliced garlic
gravy
potatoes (1-2 medium, pre-cooked)
coriander

Add 1 - 2 curry spoons of oil to a pan on medium head (assume he means chef spoon?)
Add sliced garlic until it starts to brown
Add the spices and stir round the pan - if it starts to stick add 0.3 ladle of gravy
Add 6 - 8 chunks of pre-cooked potato
Add 1 - 2 ladles of gravy and boil it down, stirring with the tip of the spoon
Add a good pinch of chopped coriander and give it a final stir

Anyone who has read the book will know that accurate measurements and timings are non-existent! I've transcribed as best I can. I reduced the spices from 0.7 tsp to 0.5 tsp to make up for the lack of spinach.

Chewytikka:

BIR/TA Bombay Aloo
It is the simplest and quickest of side dishes
Especially if you pre heat the cooked potatoes in the micro!

Method
Heat a chef's spoon of oil, quickly add tsp g&g paste, tsp mixed powder, touch of chilli powder,
chef's spoon tomato dilute, a handful of small chopped onion and green pepper.
Bhun/Stir-fry on med/high heat for 10sec, add potatoes and toss to coat, 10sec
add 2 chef's spoons of warm base sauce and Bhun/Stir-fry on med/high heat for
a minute or so, until the sauce clings and coats the potatoes (dry) add fresh chopped coriander, mix and serve.
(If you want it to be wet, just add more base sauce.)

This is the basic BIR Bombay Potatoes! anything else added to this makes it something else.
e.g. cumin seeds = Jheera Aloo, which I like.
and my favourite, Aloo Manchurian, which is Indo/Chinese and amazing.

Recipes are here and there, Method, Technique and Timing is everything!

Bombay Potato (Bombay Aloo) - Balti Cookbook

A hot and slightly dry dish (meaning it's not swimming in sauce - but still moist in texture) which can be served as a side dish or a main course.  It includes chunks of potato, coated in a flavoursome mixture of spices and is best served with a paratha or chapatti.

Makes about 3 portions as a side dish.  About 2 portions as a main meal:

Ingredients

6 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes

3 tbsp vegetable oil

6 garlic cloves, chopped

1 large onion, roughly chopped

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 green chillies, finely chopped (leave the seeds in)

1 tsp chilli powder

2 tsp of spice mix, aka; Mix powder, curry masala, spice blend

60ml of base sauce

1 tomato, diced

Fresh coriander leaves to garnish

Method

Boil the potatoes for about 5 minutes (so they're slightly cooked, but not liable to fall apart) then rinse in cold water, drain in a colander, and put to one side.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan or wok, and fry the garlic until it starts to brown.

Add the onion and cook until it starts to soften.

Then add the cumin seeds, stirring constantly, followed by the chillies.

Reduce the heat, add the chilli powder and spice mix, stirring constantly (so the spices don't burn) for about 1 minute.

Then add about half a cupful of hot water, and bring to the boil.

Continue to boil for about two minutes, stirring constantly.

Then add the potato, and base sauce.

Stir gently - making sure you don't break the potato.

Add the tomato, and cook for a few more minutes.

Sprinkle generously with fresh coriander leaves, and slightly mix it into the dish by giving it a gentle stir.

Serve.

Please note, this is not my recipe and I've only added it as a suggestion for the imminent group test.

If anyone feels offended by my publishing of this recipe or feel that I have broke the copyright law, then please don't hesitate to let me know, and I will remove the post.

I'm certainly going to give it my best shot. I order a lot of curries from Chutneys and they know me pretty well. I'm thinking about setting up a Saturday standing order  ;D Hopefully I can nab 5 mins of their chefs time one day do grill him with a few questions.

The dish is a thick sauce and absolutely packed with flavour. It has 'the taste' more than any other curry I have ordered.