So JB was the guy with the notebook and I'm hoping he got some details down, but from my recollection here are some of the distinctive features of the Zaman cuisine:

- Extensive use of spiced oil, starting each main dish
- spiced oil is made by adding extra oil when pre cooking chicken and is spooned off at the end
- they use whole spices in their base, definately white and black cumin and fennel, not sure which others (JB?)
- creamed coconut block is added to their base
- they precook their chicken for around 45 mins and add some of the chicken gravy when adding chunks of chicken. Lamb is precooked around 90 mins to make it tender.
- they start each dish with fine julienne strips of fresh garlic and ginger (not G&G paste)
- their (uncooked) red masala sauce is added to nearly everything,in varying proportions from a tsp full up to nearly a chef's spoon depending on which dish, I thought I had this on video but on reviewing the footage don't have the ingredients, maybe JB does?
- they make frequent use of precooked chopped onions (what chewy has in the past called service onions) which have been fried with spices including mustard seeds
- on tasting their base sauce I found it surprisingly spicey compared to what I'm used to, doubtless due to the whole spices
- they make their pilau rice with milk, topped up with water
- The bhuna cooked by the head chef blew my socks off with the depth of flavour it had! Not hot, but spicey and gorgeous.

Credit for this rests with Dalpuri as it was he who first spotted that Zaman of Datchet were offering cooking lessons. I have some raw footage which I need to re-order into the correct sequence, will try to do so by Monday. However be aware this is somewhat choppy due to there being up to 12 people in the kitchen and lots happening in parallel, so the recipes are not captured in full. 

For anyone wondering why this wasn't mentioned in advance there was in fact a thread last year asking who was interested and JB and Curryhell were the first two to respond. Zaman only offered three places hence JB and CH were the only ones I could invite along.

Is billingsgate open to the public Michael, or is it trade only?

Great looking curry Joadt!

I would try 4 mins at 190 C but as ever in cooking, the chef should use his own judgement. When microwaving potatoes always keep them covered with cling film by the way, to help preserve moisture and guard against unwanted explosions should the pricking stage not have been completed thoroughly enough.

Then you would omit the freezing stage Phil. You probably could've guessed that one.

So many different recipes and techniques for the "perfect" chip! Personally I think you can't beat Maris pipers, skin on, prick with a fork, microwave for 7 or 8 mins (based on 400g of potato). Leave to Cool for 2 mins then slice into thick chips or wedges. Deep fry at 190 for 60 secs. Season with salt and vinegar. Cool and freeze. Deep fry from frozen at 190 C for 3 mins.

Quote from: goncalo on March 21, 2013, 12:01 PM

Quote from: natterjak on October 23, 2012, 04:29 PM

Filtering will take a while, be patient

When cooked, allow to settle and cool then filter through a funnel lined with a coffee filter paper.  The first time I made this I used muslin cloth but it didn't filter finely enough and the oil was cloudy.  It's important to get it clear and I filter twice (use a new filter paper on the second time) to get the oil fully clear.

You must have an awful lot of patience. Every time I used coffee filter, there would always be micro-stuff causing the pores to clog and then no oil would pass. I suppose the trick might be to use a muslin cloth before the coffee filter, but by now I have lost my faith in the "spiced oil" a little. The extra work is rarely worth the effort.

The filtering isn't so bad. You need to use gravity to settle most of the gunk out before you scoop the oil off the top for filtering - that way you're not clogging your filter papers. A tall thin container helps settle the solids away from most of the oil.

Then the filtering can proceed with a couple of ladles into the funnel at a time, then go do something else, come back after 10 mins for another couple of ladles, etc. it's not like you have I stand there watching it!

Thanks for the positive comments guys, hope some of you will give it a try.

Quote from: Razor on March 21, 2013, 02:27 PM
Can I ask, do you still produce this spiced oil and in your opinion, is it still worth the effort?

Yes and yes! In fact I'm right at the end of my 2nd full batch, which means I've been through about 8 litres of the stuff since the end of last summer. It's a bit of hassle yes, but not as bad as you might think, and considering the number of curries you can cook with 4 litres of spiced oil, the effort per curry is low.

Yes I think it elevates my curries and adds a certain hard to define quality but as others have said only a side by side lab conditions test could prove the size of the effect. For me it's become a must have weapon in my BIR cooking armoury.

Thanks for that tip Rob, sounds like a good little technique.