Littlechilli

Top notch post

Is the idea to make good the No oil in base by using more at dish frying or solely a means of reducing the amount of oil.

Stephen,

Salt is a real good way of making most thinks better than they are.

Have never tried garlic salt - it could very well have been

Might just have to try it. I've been impressed with garlic powder and now using it in non curry cooking too. The naan topping did have a grittiness to it. Emm

Want to try out that red tandoori recipe so might do a kd yeast naan night using the h4ppy-chris method.

Best wishes

Littlechilli - got a chuckle that. Stick bread good and the wine.

Emm balti paste 

When I first started out making "English" curry I was told to use paste and although it did taste horrible it certainly did work and I feel equally important as the spice mix

As for it being used in brum balti I'm not convinced.

We need Bengali bob or other local member to ask the question.

The difficulty I have is that all those ingredients are already covered in the base and gm. Why add work if you don't need to.

It would be a major step forward to know if they do. If it is I am sure it would be made not bought.

I do know that my fav BIR makes sauces to make their main dishes - the principle is not that potty.


Ps 130g deserves to go out of busines

I found the pre cook sauce too strong to. It also can contain seed. Hence the conclusion that if using better to add when making base.

As for trying to replicate a dish. I Research all the recipe I can find. Guess a good starting point then  change 1 off variable repeatedly making say 7 dishes over a week. I may even repeat until I get a taste that fits BIR. I generally eat most and chuck very little.

I find you need to make a dish repeatedly in this way to understand what each ingredient does. Even the proportions.

I often get a take out to do side by side comparison.

It's only when I'm happy that I addin meat and try out on the family.

the h4ppy-chris naan post has raised my game beyond expectation. i still have a fight with the amount of sugar but take it out and the magic is lost.

thing is though - i had some naan bread out at very posh restaurant. i have tasted this quality in the past (very few).

the topping i feel had something to do with the rating - i think garlic powder was added into the butter coating.

the bread part was though where the magic was - no sugar sweat just really light bread.

i know the tandoor will have an effect and that combination of the stone base and soft upper part make for a perfect combination.

the naan was thin but not crispy. gut feeling it was not SR flour.

any thoughts appreciated - specifically if anyone has tried h4ppy-chris method but adapted to yeast flour.

this being my best thought of a way forward

My expectations were clearly too high and found myself disappointed.

i remember a comment by Goulie sometime ago that i disagreed with suggested i might not find all as expected. Goulie was right for sure.

The expectations were based on the Warrington Hilal which at its best was a 10. Moved from its grand premisses and the rot set in.

4 curry members visited timperley and i think the other 3 were impressed.

i tasted 3 out of the 4 mains. yes crafted with care and passion. my sauce was had just too much zing (thought to be lime juice).

1 off of the mains was 10 - a south indian garlic dish. this brought home what i already know. there is still a gap between what i can produce and that of the best BIR.

the naan bread was the best it can be a 10 for sure. i think the butter coating contained garlic powder - it tasted really good.  the other thing that hit was how good the bread element was - even with all the knowledge gained from h4ppy-chris naan i'm well short. i cant even think how i could change to improve.

i think much of my disappointment was down to the decoration - i was hoping for a step back in time - its one of those glitzy places. i'm in no doubt many of the public would actually expect such quality in the fit out.

the iceing was that the company was absolutely fascinating and had real enjoyable night (and a few things learn't to try out).

Quote from: livo on November 01, 2014, 09:08 PM
I've tried simpler methods of pre-cook and always been underwhelmed by them.

i've not experimented with pre cook liquids very much (felt it was a blind alley).

my observation is down to trying to analyse the finished dish and identify what characteristics make it taste good. its why i make each dish many times without any meat - the taste needs to stack up on its own (the spice, the base, the recipe ingredients). its the rest of the dish ingredients that are not right if reliant on pre cook.

i have no axe to grind eitherway. i guess as Bob is demonstrating there are many ways to skin the cat so to speak. one for personal preference.

Sverige,

may be of help. you will certainly know when spice is burnt - tastes horrible. its also very easy to do.

i use the 2 methods of spice frying depending on how i feel. on the same heat i count 11 secs for the dry method (frying spice in oil, burnt at 15 secs) compared with the liquid method at 1.5 mins where i add 1 off chef spoon of liquid (for me base 60 ml, the puree is also in the pan).

mickdabass,

that pic does not look appetizing at all - real disappointment. even across BIR that discrepancy in quality is getting worse. i see it down to the price pressure that has changed what was a cheap ingredient offfering (like pizza) balanced with over supply.

livo,

attached my similar incomplete spreadsheet (may be of help/interest). i've given up on it for the moment. i hope to have a 2nd meet in Brum this xmas and aim to try to get portion of base to try - without knowing what i'm aiming to produce its up creak without paddle. in short even with all the published info there is no wrong answer and very little useful information.

i think Sverige is most likely to be right.

i've tried adding the residue to dishes and it dont work - takes me further from BIR.

ive not tried adding it to base and dont really plan to.

ive also found that "posh" methods of pre cooking whilst making the meat taste better have limited effect on the eating of the finished dish.

in short i simple pre cook in salt, turmeric and water.

i think it's as someone else said on the chemistry of cooking - the method/technique of cooking is far more important than the ingredients (with the exception of tikka).