Precooking technique is an area where I feel there's work to be done.

I don't think I've seen a recipe for precooking that uses tomatoes as the bulk of the liquid that the chicken is cooked in.

I think I will give this a go to see if it gets the chicken closer to what I recall from BIRs.

Thanks for posting this.

-- Josh

Quoteome good old indian folk music going on in the background

Most of the Indian restaurants around where I live play this sort of hip-hop beat flavour of Indian music. Trying to be modern I guess, but its mostly awful, as is the food.

I miss the plain sitar music I remember from UK BIRs!

I've got it on my to-do list to do a video for naan bread. Coming soon!

This...

QuoteAs long as the foods good i wouldn't care if it was a martian cooking it.

But I may be more hesitant to actually go into a BIR that I noticed was staffed entirely by non-asians.

I haven't tried this base, but am curious to ask those who have (Razor, Jerry, etc), what makes this a "balti" base?

It looks like a fairly regular base to me, with the exception of the spice bag. I've never tried one in a base, but am curious what it adds.

Is this base not versatile? i.e. does it work well with Balti, but little else
I'm guessing that it has a bit of a garam masala undertone?

Is there a Balti recipe that goes with it?

I only tried balti a few times while I was in the UK, but never from one of the much-talked about Balti houses. I was never impressed. It seemed to me like an overspiced bhuna. And for some reason I remember it being the only curry on the menu that came with naan.

Maybe I'm missing something...

Hi rasta,

Did you leave the base out for two weeks before you froze it? I hope not.

-- Josh

Quoteany link please to your recipe ?

Hi cardiff_blu, this uses the Mick/Taz base here: https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4163.0

I modified the original Dopiaza recipe to create a Vindaloo. Most of the methodology to get there is described here: https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4149.msg37560#msg37560

Good luck with it!

-- Josh

Buy a pizza stone instead. Heat it to maximum temperature.

Very similar to tandoor results, with similar cook times.

Good input Chinois. I've been adding sugar to Madras like a seasoning or bunjara - right at the end.

Maybe I should experiment more by actually cooking with it - i.e. after the spices have fried and right when adding the base. Perhaps with the spices/methi/salt as well.

I also agree (sorry SS) that lemon is critical to what I have experienced as a Madras. I made one last week and sat down to eat it, and was immediately like "s**t"... noticed right away I forgot the lemon.

QuoteI think the only time i've had it in a BIR it wasnt the tomato version but was kind of like a korma without the coconut

Yep. Sounds like what I had.

The reason I ask is that I've made a number of BC recipes to try and replicate what I get over here. Not because I like it, but it seems to be the gold standard over here. I've finally got it, but the recipe doesn't use a base, and is much more complicated than I see a BIR takeaway doing.

Josh