Nice one SP trust me you won't regret it.Remember though practice makes perfect.It took me a while to get the naans right as you can see...all very well cooking them you have to get the darn things out!!!

It actually took me a while to settle on a naan bread recipe I was completely happy with.I actually use this one that was posted a few years ago(allegedly) taken from genuine BIR chef...

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,1942.0.html

You definitely have to leave the dough overnight and it's also important to leave it to come back to room temperature the following day.


I know it's been discussed before on here but I'm pretty sure your average BIR restaurant/takeaway does not use yeast in their dough.The rolled up dough balls seem to hang about in the kitchen for quite some time,if they contained yeast they would simply rise up just too much.

George you have a point a BIR tandoori oven powered solely by charcoal would be impractical,the charcoal coals only last so long and once they've died down the heat has gone.However every BIR kitchen I've seen seem to have a dual gas/charcoal set up for their tandoori ovens.Whenever they use it they regulate the temperature via a gas control but they still have charcoal burning away in the bottom.

This is the one...

http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/acatalog/Tandoor-Oven.html

Like I said I wouldn't be without it now.The only drawback is that because of the fumes and smoke it does have to be used outside.You can't get the clay wet and obviously the weather can be a bit unpredictable so you have to be careful.Usually I have it it my shed with the the doors open,although last time I did this the neighbour thought my shed was on fire and nearly called the fire brigade!

Here's one naan bread that got away....damn tricky hooking those things out!!

Quote from: sp on May 27, 2013, 09:22 PM
I'm still not 100% happy with my naans.  I've tried various recipes and cooking methods involving frying pans, griddles, baking trays, inverted and non-inverted pizza stones, a chefs blowtorch, grill, oven, hob... although passable none quite replicate that restaurant naan taste or chewy consistency.

In short, I've only one test left to try - a teracotta pizza stone on a propane-fired barbeque (weather permitting I'll get to try that this weekend!)  If that still doesn't work I'm seriously contemplating giving in to a long-held desire for a small domestic (probably charcoal-fired or is LPG better - any difference in taste?) tandoor from the likes of TandooriQ, Puri, Shahi or Spices of India.

Has anyone used one of these, they appear much of a muchness in construction but impartial reviews seem tricky to come by.  Does it really work well enough to cook naans better than the methods listed above?

I've looked at going down the DIY route - sourcing the parts and skills is the problem so I'd prefer to buy one pre-made.

Thanks!

My wife brought me a tandoori oven last Christmas from Spices Of India.It's fantastic and I wouldn't be without it.I really don't think you can get restaurant style naan breads without using one,as well as making tandoori/tikka meats with that BIR taste,it just isn't the same.It takes a bit of practice but once you get used to using a tandoor you'll be knocking out naans with ease!!







Balti chilli garlic naan(right) and peshwari naan left.The bottom two naans were made from dough given
to me by my local restaurant.The top left was my own dough mix which actually came out better!!

Any idea when the book might be ready Chris??

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,4909.10.html

This is the one Abdul taught me,not seen anyone else use it but he definitely did!!

Quote from: Secret Santa on March 31, 2013, 10:39 AM

Quote from: jb on March 31, 2013, 09:17 AM
The whole spices he put into the base consisted of black and white cumin,ajowan seeds,fennel,black mustard and cloves.

So the two pictures at the start of the thread, one is the GM and the other is?

Both pictures are for the garam massala,can't give you quantities though as he didn't give us any.

Here is the tikka recipe we were shown on our recent restaurant lesson.

2 kilo of chicken breast
drizzle of mustard oil
chef's spoon ginger/garlic paste
2 chef's spoon of yogurt
pinch of garam massala
2 desert spoon's of mix powder
drizzle of lemon dressing
pinch of salt
pinch of methi leaves
orange/red colour
half of chef's spoon of blitzed corriander/green chillies
desert spoon of tikka paste
desert spoon mint sauce
half desert spoon kashmiri massala paste

The paste he used was this stuff...


http://www.simtom.co.uk/

Not used it myself but I've seen it advertised in a few magazines.The blitzed corrainder/chilles was an unusual ingredient,not seen that done before.The recipe is a pretty standard one,much like the others on this site,I guess the fact it's cooked in a tandoor makes a lot of difference.

Like I said there was so much going on at once,I wanted to try and accurately record what was going on as well as trying to observe the chef's technique,he did make it look so easy.

A couple of things Natterjack mentioned caught my attention as well.The chef made a lot of use of strips of garlic and ginger to start his dishes,they looked like they were stored in water.He didn't really use much ginger/garlic paste,I guess it's just his way of doing it.

The whole spices he put into the base consisted of black and white cumin,ajowan seeds,fennel,black mustard and cloves.

He cooked a large portion of pilau rice(which was absolutely spot on),he used the usual array of whole spices but he cooked the rice in a mixture of milk and water.The Undercover Curry book mentions this method and I more or less dismissed it but here was an actual BIR chef doing it this way.

The bhuna was of the dishes I wanted to see being cooked.The chef actually cooked one in front of us for a customer and then Chris cooked one with the chef's guidance.I'm afraid to say I can't say there was any special ingredient or technique that went into them,they both certainly had a great depth of flavour(we actually got to taste a few dishes that the chef was cooking for the afternoon's paying customers as well).It was just a case of the usual method/ingredients and a highly skilled chef.However,what I'm certain of now is the fact that the spiced oil thing definitely plays a major part.Not only did he start the dish of with some but I'm sure he added a touch more halfway through cooking.

The chef actually had a pre made massala paste that he used for tikka massala dishes,it looked at lot like the one we made on the Zaal lesson.The other 'massala' sauce was indeed an uncooked tomato based sauce.Quite runny in texture,from memory the chef said it consisted of blended tomatoes,corriander and his home-made garam massala.

Recently I was kindly invited(along with Dave Curryhell) by Natterjack(Chris) to a Sunday afternoon curry lesson in Chris' local restaurant.It was a bit of a journey for Dave and I,but obviously any chance to get behind the  scenes in a BIR is a must. The lesson was advertised as 'making curry gravy' but in the end we did this and much more,each of us taking it in turns to cook our dish of choice with the head chef looking over our shoulder.There were a few other people with us,but we naturally occupied the best position in the kitchen to see exactly what was going on;the poor chef and owner was bombarded with our questions!!

There were no real suprises,the chef made the gravy by boiling the usual suspects;onions,carrot,pepper and potato,along with garlic/ginger and some turmeric and salt.He then did the second stage,or 'tarka' as he called it and combined the two.Interestingly he added some whole spices(including ajowan seeds which I haven't seen many recipes use) straight into the gravy.He wasn't worried about them when blending the gravy,his industrial size blitzer soon took care of everything.His garam massala was freshly made,I didn't get a breakdown of quantities but I took a couple of pictures of what he puts in,the smell actually reminded me of the Jalpur garam massala,very fragrent indeed.





For me the most important thing I saw was the constant use of spiced oil by the chef.Chis actually asked the owner whether the chef used any such oil and the answer was no,only fresh veg oil is used(actually he said the chef used olive oil for health reasons but we all thought this was a bit of a red herring).It was only when the chef started cooking some dishes(there were a few customers in the restaurant) that I noticed him taking a spoonful of some spicy looking oil out of a tin,not only did he take some of this to start the dish but he added some halfway through cooking the actual dishes.We asked him how he made it,it was a bit vague but it seems when he makes his pre cooked chicken he adds oil and spices,after the chicken is cooked the residue is then topped up with oil.Whether this goes into his vegetarian dishes I don't know.I just wonder how many other chefs/owners who claim they only use fresh veg oil actually do use spiced oil in some way,I'm always told by my local favourite restaurant that they only use fresh oil.

We cooked our own dishes and then sat and ate them.We made a bhuna,vindaloo and I made a pathia,all using the gravy that we had made earlier.I have to say they were all very nice indeed!!

Everything seemed to happen so fast while we were there,I managed to get the recipe for his chicken tikka(which I'll post),hopefully we'll be able to get back in there pretty soon.Chris has some footage which he'll hopefully sort and upload.

Quote from: Garabi Army on March 22, 2013, 04:06 PM
I do hope this can be sorted out sensibly; Chris really does have something to offer this forum that will get folks to where they want to be. If people could make the BIR curries I did with Chris on Monday I'm sure their quest would be more or less over. I can honestly say I