Thanks everyone for the tips

No asian stores near here sadly

For example I would like to buy a tandoor but certain online webshops charge ridiculous premiums for delivery to my postcode which is still part of mainland UK, I heard a rumour that this has or is being outlawed - I do hope so!

I can't seem to get the pilau rice tri-coloured the way it shows on the video, it comes out a very,very pale colour for me - unfortunately the video doesn't make it clear if the rice should be cooled to 5 degrees C before colouring, or to colour while it is still warm straight out of the pressure cooker before adding the ice packs to cool it.

Any tips on the rice colouring?  I'm using the small bottles of liquid food colouring from Asda if that's the problem.

P.S. Has anyone else had a devil of a job trying to locate Kashmiri Masala paste in the supermarkets, I ended up ordering online from Rajah as Pataks don't have an online webshop.

Cracking recipe for the pilau though, the taste is just right, just need to get the look now!

Electric (halogen) hob here, used to cook on gas.  I can't say that have I noticed a difference in the quality of food I cook or the method; I quite like the halogen hob, it's very responsive although obviously not as adjustable as gas.

Personally I didn't find it difficult to follow as a recipe book, the non-specific free-form approach struck a chord (perversely I usually prefer a more structured approach to daily life!) although my research on cr0 as well as reading the book in its entirety more than once before going near the cooker definately helped.  The book could be better organised as there are references in later chapters to techniques and ingredients that are used earlier.

Slavishly following the book I devoted practically a whole weekend (friday evening 7:30pm-9:00pm making the bhajis to get the seasoned oil, saturday from 2:00pm - 11:30pm for making the base followed by pre-cooking beef, and sunday morning from 10:30am-12:00am doing rice and cooking the actual curries (mixed veg and beef madras).

Although it took a (very) long time I still think it was extremely worthwhile, the wife wasn't in entire agreement (she calls my cookery hobby an obsession!) but it produced some of the best curries I've ever made, and I rate it as one of the best books I've bought, an entertaining and interesting read as well

The best recipe I've found so far for pilau rice... from Delia Smith !

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/party-food/accompaniment/spiced-pilau-rice.html

Quote from: PaulP on August 23, 2011, 10:12 PM

Edit: After reading your previous posts you say you cut the recipe to one third of the ingredients and ended up with 500 ml of base. Your base sounds too thick as a third of a finished Taz base would be nearer to 1 litre. That might explain the over salty and too rich taste that you described.

Could be, I thought I read that the Taz base as it was would make approximately 1.5 litres, hence the thirding.

i'm from elgin (north-east scotland), the pakora sauce that the local birs here do is blended spicy onions with red food colouring (see my post above for pictures, the white tub is from the bir, the big glass bowl is my version)

the alternative one is one i use most commonly (the one with all the tomato sauce and puree), a different style

An alternative...

3 heaped teaspoons hot chilli powder (adjust to own taste)
1 teaspoon mint sauce
1 teaspoon lemon juice
4 teaspoons tomato ketchup
1 teaspoon tomato puree
2 desertspoons water (to thin mixture, adjust to suit)

try my one, i've got pictures for comparison

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=144.msg8561#msg8561

Thanks very much for the pointers, good to know that I approached the method the right way and that it was my dubious substitution of ingredients could make such a difference, as I said as it was it's not an unpleasant taste just a bit too salty and bitter, but I'm going to have another crack at it when I get the right spices etc to see what kind of improvement it brings.