This is a base sauce that i discovered while playing around a few weeks ago..
I was thinking its quite good when the wife piped up " oh I like these kind of curries its like CTM"
That spoilt it for me cause im not a CTM kind of person (or maybe I am  )
but for those of you who are, i can give my base sauce and you can add whatever you like to it.

Base Sauce

Onions 900 g
ginger 50 g
garlic 50 g
1 tsp of salt

cut up and mix with 1.5 litres of water (Kris Dhillion proportions)

Add a Bouquet Garni (100 Best Balti Curries)

5 whole cloves
8 black peppercorns
4 cm/1.5 inch cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
3 brown cardemons , slightly broken
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds

Cover, bring to the boil and reduce the heat to a simmer for 40 - 50 mins
remove the spices and blend until smooth

In another pan add 8 tbsps of oil, heat to medium,
then fry 2 medium/large sliced tomatoes,
let the tomatoes "melt" and reduce until most of the water
has evaporated (around 5 - 8 minutes - maybe longer maybe shorter)
add i heaped teaspoon of tomato puree and cook for another minute
stirring it into the oil and tomatoes.
( Dont be tempted to add the puree too early, the tomatoes should
be broken down and the water mostly gone)

Add 1 heaped teaspoon of turmeric and one heaped of paprika
to the tomato mixture and cook on a simmering heat for about
7-10 minutes checking that the mixture doesnt stick

Add the onion mixture to the tomatoe mixture
bring to the boil, remove lid and reduce the heat to a simmer
for 20 minutes. skim off any scum you meet on the way.

Use as a base sauce for any tomato type curries you like.
Would work well with CTM

The chef?s curries will come out lighter at home if he isnt using a 100 curries recycled oil
maybe thats the answer?

Thanks, cant remember what i used when i made the tandoori chicken, probably ordinary chilli powder
i suppose you could use powdered paprika, not sure what kasmiri chillies taste like

Looks delicious!!

try this and send a report Pete
https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=533.0

Surjits?s Chicken House - In reality is a tiny stall - is reputed to sell the best tandoori chicken in town

The dry seasoning in the marinade:
1.5 tbsp cumin seeds
1.5 tbsp black pepper corns
Seeds from 3 black cardamon pods
Seeds from 1 tbsp green cardamon pods
1 tsp of cloves

The "remaining" seasoning in the marinade
3 fresh hot chillies coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves peeled coarsely chopped
4cm/1.5 inch piece of ginger peeled coarsely chopped
1.5 tsp salt
1 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder (guess she means mild powder)

2 tbsp double cream (oops )
4 tbsp vegetable oil

Also need
1 kg of chicken pieces skinned
2-3 tbsp ghess/butter or veg oil
1-2 tbsp Chaat Masala
4 lemon/lime wedges for squeezing over the chicken before its served

Roast and grind the dry ingrediences for the marinade
combined with the "remaining" ingredience with
120 ml/4 fl oz/.5 a cup of water
blend it all to a paste

cut slits in the chicken and rub the paste in
cover and refrigerate over night ( hehe takes patience )
remove chicken pieces and shake off as much marinade as possible
Cook in your tandoor or on the highest heat in the oven
for around 15-20 mins (depends on how thick your chicken is)
when ready take out and sprinkle with chaat masala
and lime/lemon juice

Ive done this a couple of times and it is really very good
the book is pretty good for information on india too
havent tried all the recipes though.

Looks brilliant Pete,

I really wish i had space even though I live in a large apartment
I doubt I could fit it in the kitchen anyway. Besides i checked the weight,
it weighs a fair bit. What do you use to heat it? It looks gas?
There are charcoal tandooris but that must be alot more work.

I have tried a great recipe for tandoori chicken in one of
MadjurJaffery?s books that actually came from somekind
of roadside caf?, Flavours of India the book was called i think
I can put the recipe up, but i suspect you already own the book

lol great post..
every day in every way we?re getting a little bit closer ;D

Hi Pete,
if i remember i think i used frozen chicken breasts partially defrosted and if the base sauce
has been reduced enough so as not to be too wet the chicken cooks well
if the sauce is too wet the chicken boils and becomes stringy.

The spices were roasted and then left to cool (sometimes you can use the fridge)
Then they were ground using a spice grinder for about 1.5 - 2 minutes
so they were like dust almost, im sure this helped to create the nice flavour
I might have added dried methi (not sure on that one).

The curry was really good but there was some left over so it went into the fridge
and the day after the smell hit me, very strong complicated spicey smell that
you get in indian restaurants, also i might have added some black pepper corns
as ive tried to replicate a curry i had a while ago at a restaurant and was
facinated by how they got that black pepper taste ( it worked)

Quote from Kris Dhillion?s Curry Secret  (read somewhere that shes a woman)

Restaurants do not generally use spices in their whole form...
They buy them whole and grind small qualities at a time for the
best flavour.....
An electric coffee grinder is ideal.. it grinds them to the fineness required
for restaurant curries.....
the degree of fineness is not particularly important for home curries
but the restaurant chef is meticulous in this requirement
and will test the spices between forefinger and thumb
being on satified when the mixture is perfectly smooth


Also I like balti bowls and have used them for years and years
but my wife always eats her curries with rice and raita
I always eat mine with nans or chappatis
so we either use plates or those metal trays which are
divided into dishes.

Tell you what Mark, give me your great cooker and il give you my Curry Secret for free 

Yes YF

I dont usually use 1 litre of water i try to use the recommended amount
but maybe slightly less water improves over slightly too much.

The techiques are as in the book. Start off with high heat on the base sauce
this reduces the sauce quite quickly.add a bit of salt,chilli-powder and chillies
this is for flavour and heat.
Then the sauce gets to a point where you need to add the meat after maybe
5-10 minutes - depends on how high your can fry at. Marks got a great
setup (lucky ?#""#?") so he can reduce sauces quicker than me.

Then add the precooked meat and reduce the heat to medium
Add the spices make sure they are cooked through but not so
high as to burn them, not so low as they wont be cooked

Then allow the  sauce to simmer gently

The whole process takes around 20 mins,
sauce reduces for about 5-10 (depends on how much your making)
the meat reduces the heat level so the heat needs to rise again
the spices are thrown in on medium heat
and left to cook through for 5 mins
the sauce is left on low heat until the oil starts to make it seperate
then it depends how thick you like your curries

The Curry Masala recipe hasnt many of the aromatics
of the normal Garam Masalas so it makes a less
sweeter version and a more savoury curry which i prefer
Ive never had a sucessful version with shop bought GM.