Quote from: Secret Santa on March 13, 2013, 09:06 PM
Well either they're not kashmiri chillies or they're very under ripe because kashmiri chillies are usually red - as is the chilli powder.

True, but then all Chilli's start out green and turn red as they ripen. Well they don't all turn red, but they all start out green

They certainly look like Kashmiri but then so do the standard green finger chilli's you get in most supermarkets.

Impossible to tell really.

Quote from: Davecraft on March 13, 2013, 09:05 PM
Is this a good idea and are there anything I need to be aware of?

That should work quite well, make sure the bigger pot has fresh compost in it with plenty of nutrients to last it a while, also make sure the pot has drainage holes so the water can drain out, coriander doesn't like soggy roots. Don't put it in a window with direct sunlight, warm shade should work quite well. You might need to give it some feed (one with Nitrogen) after 4 weeks or so or the leaves will turn yellow.

Quote from: Davecraft on March 13, 2013, 09:05 PM
Also in the process of drying out some chillis to plant!

Best way is to slice open the chilli's as if you were going to use them, take out the seeds and put them on a saucer or small plate, spread them out as much as possible and put it in a warm dark place - airing cupboard for a week or so to dry out.

Quote from: JerryM on March 13, 2013, 06:14 PM...in short how do some BIR's step up from the norm on the high street.

The answer's easy, achieving it isn't.

All restaurants, BIR's included (and given their sheer number, it's harder for BIR's) operate on a profit basis, otherwise they wouldn't stay in business very long and many of them don't. Producing profit is a simple equation, you have to produce more income via sales than you spend on overheads but the problem with many BIR's and particularly today is that overheads are increasing. Salaries are increasing, rents are increasing and food costs are increasing, so they cut corners, they use cheap ingredients and pay low wages.

To increase quality, you need to spend more on wages in terms of better qualified staff and more on quality ingredients, but that then means your unit costs goes up, it's a fine balance, which is why an awful lot of BIR's cut corners and use lower quality ingredients and essentially line cooks.

All BIR's could up their quality, but it would also mean their end prices would go up with it and not many would probably be prepared to spend that much more. You do tend to get what you pay for.

Quote from: Phil [Chaa006] on March 12, 2013, 09:11 PM
Both today's and the one Mr Mojo cites were fried hot, and not a grain stuck

Hmm.

But you're using (presumably well rinsed) long grain basmati rice, trying frying hot short grain jasmine rice (as generally used in Chinese cooking) and see if you can keep the grains separated.

Quote from: Derek Dansak on March 12, 2013, 09:54 AMwhat do you think ?

I think you've just confirmed again what I've come to believe - that it's not about ingredients, but about what you do with those ingredients - the technique of cooking them.

This is a theme I've seen repeated on here many times - the perpetual search for that missing secret ingredient, the constant twiddling of spice combinations and base sauce ingredients etc.

BIR base sauces are a closely guarded secret? How so? Many restaurants have given a precise breakdown of not only the ingredients used within them, but how they're cooked and not only that have shown a video showing those ingredients and how they're cooked. So how exactly are they a closely guarded secret? In any case what's so special about the base sauce? Almost all the myriad of different base sauces on here use the same ingredients - onions, water, oil, garlic/ginger, some savoury vegetables to balance the sweetness of the onions - green capiscum, carrots, cabbage, potatoes etc. Then the tomato paste or pureed tomatoes and spices. They all follow that basic ingredient list. Why do they all follow it? Because that's what nearly all BIR's use in their base sauce. Where's the secret?

The secret is down to the cooking technique - it's no more complicated than that. This is precisely why so many people get such different results even when using the same basic set of ingredients, because how they cook those ingredients varies so much.

Bruce Edwards once said in his opinion he could probably produce an acceptable curry dish by just using a spice mix of ground turmeric and salt and pepper, I think he's probably right too. You can produce a pretty good saag bhaji by using just turmeric, salt and pepper, fried onions, garlic, chopped green chilli's and some base sauce.

I think we over-complicate things unnecessarily.

Quote from: Phil [Chaa006] on March 10, 2013, 12:36 PM
Well, I think exactly the opposite !  I was surprised the first time "chilli powder" was mentioned in this thread, believing it to be used solely in Mexican-style cuisine";

This is actually what prompted me to stop buying pre-ground shop bought Chilli powder as a few years ago having bought a jar of this stuff I was rather shocked to find when reading the ingredients label that as well as containing ground chilli peppers it also contained ground cumin, salt and some anti-caking agent. I was not impressed. This was not labelled or marketed as Chilli powder for Chilli Con carne, but simply Medium Chilli Powder.

From then onwards I've simply ground up my own from whole dried red chilli peppers as I simply don't trust what they put in it.

Quote from: JerryM on March 10, 2013, 10:53 AMyes. after frying the g or g/g and the other early fry ingredients i take pan off heat. then add 1 chef of base, the spices

Interesting.

Do you not fry your spices in the garlic/ginger paste? Are you using the Taz base?

I generally fry my garlic/ginger paste at quite a high heat, then add the spices all in one go, fry this till the oil separates, then in goes the uncooked chicken which is stir fried till opaque (I don't generally bother to pre-cook my chicken) then the tomato puree watered down and when the oil separates again in goes a couple of chef spoons of pre-heated base, (I never add cold base) this is reduced down by about half, then another two chef spoons of base which are gain reduced by half then the final two chef spoons of base and heat turned down to a simmer for about 10-15 mins or so. I never take the pan off the heat at any stage and generally shake it whilst stirring. Up till the point the final two spoons of base go in, this is at full flame on my hottest burner.

It's interesting how we've developed our own individual ways of doing things.

Quote from: meggeth on March 09, 2013, 11:26 PM
So, if I a recipe states half a tsp of chilli, and I wanted to try using deggi mirch instead, would I add the half a tsp, or increase the amount?

I think you just need to experiment with it. I'd start off with twice that amount (if it asks for 1/2 tsp, try 1 tsp) and taste the dish towards the end of cooking. If you want it hotter add in some of your usual chilli powder and cook it in for 10 mins or so.

I also think it's worth experimenting with simple freshly ground black pepper either alone or in combination with milder chilli powders as it increases heat but also introduces another flavour profile.

Quote from: DalPuri on March 09, 2013, 10:32 PMHotter???    You must've had a hot batch because generally its mild to medium. I would place it in between Kashmiri and chilli powders for heat levels.

I agree.

Deggi Mirch is a combination of ground dried capiscums (paprika basically) and ground dried red Kashmiri chilli peppers. It's generally pretty mild and used as much for colour as flavour and heat.

Kashmiri Mirch is just dried ground red Kashmiri chilli peppers and is also pretty mild and used mostly for colouring as well as flavour.

I grind up my own chilli powder from a combination of whole dried Kashmiri chilli peppers, standard red chilli peppers and dried red birds eye chilli peppers. I find this gives me the heat level I want as well as the colouring.

I never use bought ground chilli powder as I don't know what chilli's are in it.

Quote from: meggeth on March 09, 2013, 02:15 PMIn pilau, I usually add half tsp of normal cumin seeds, when using the black ones I added a little less, maybe quarter to one third - so obviously too much.

As a suggestion, how about the next time you make pilau rice, use 1/4 tsp of white cumin and a small pinch, say half a dozen seeds or so of black cumin?

Personally I don't like cumin in pilau rice, I just use cassia bark, green cardamons, cloves, indian bay leaves, black peppercorns a single blade of star anise and ground saffron.

In fact I'm quite wary of cumin in ground and whole seed form as too much can easily dominate a dish, I deliberately use lower quantities of it for that reason.