Looks very nice Terramamba. Chewy's madras recipe is very good.

You don't really drink Special Brew do you? 

Cheers,

Paul

From what Ive read the garlic contains sulphur compounds and in the presence of copper the compound copper sulphate can be produced. This has a bright blue/green colour.

Suggestions for the source of the copper could be your water supply, using butter or lemon juice or even the metal cooking utensils you are using. It won't do you any harm to eat it.

http://www.apinchof.com/garlicqanda.htm

You could try the suggestion to use oil instead of water. That would probably stop it happening.

Cheers,

Paul

I haven't tried the Sainsbury fillet steak but I got a nice rump steak a few weeks ago from there. I oiled the steak and seasoned a little with salt and black pepper then cooked in a dry pan (ally curry pan) and it was delicious.
It would be better with a skillet with the ridged surface but was surprisingly good from the curry pan.

Cheers,

Paul

Hi Les,

Despite family and friends enjoying my curries (or so they say) I haven't managed to get anybody else interested enough to try this out. I even made up a curry kit in a box for my brother in law containing instructions and all the spices he would need and measuring spoons but I don't think he ever used it.
Maybe I'll be able to pass the knowledge to my son who is only 6 but he likes spicy food.

Cheers

Paul

Thomasm,

I agree with JerryM that the mix powder is only part of the picture. There are many good mix powders on the site. Just make sure you always use fresh ingredients. From memory the SnS base doesn't use a mix powder as such and the suggested recipes also use individual spices. That was my first recipe from cr0 a few years ago and I was hooked from that moment after 20 odd years of on/off trying to make curries at home.

Check out Abdul Mohed's base and recipes (8 spice mix), ChewyTikka's base and mix powder, the new stuff from the visit to restaurant in Fleet.

Cheers,

Paul

Hi Thomas,

I've been using it and yes it is a good spice mix. Whether it takes you any closer to BIR is down to you to decide really.

You can buy some here:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EASTERN-STAR-CURRY-POWDER-USED-RESTAURANTS-CHINESE-INDIAN-/120861545450?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Food_SM&hash=item1c23e8d3ea

If you order you can specify that you want the Indian spice mix otherwise you would just get the curry powder.

Paul

Hi Aussie Mick,

Welcome to the forum. You've come to the right place if you want to learn to cook BIR (British Indian Restaurant) curries and side dishes etc.

You are not the only person living "down under" on this site.

Cheers,

Paul

Fantastic stuff Rich, I really like hearing about your time in Thailand. Do you have enough ex-pats to sell your curries to?

Cheers,

Paul

A daft question maybe but I've never knowingly eaten mutton. Does it taste pretty much the same as lamb?

Cheers,

Paul

Thanks Russ, I've already got exactly the same pan! You're right about not claiming 100% as it leaves nowhere to improve on.

I tried the singe technique for the first time on Friday and had a partial success. Unfortunately I let the garlic go brown and ended up with a strong burnt garlic flavour. I cooked the spices quite long and hard and they didn't look or taste burned. I managed to eat the curry (just) but the burnt garlic flavour was quite a spoiler. A pity as some other nice flavours I don't normally detect had developed. I would also agree that when properly cooked the chilli powder has a hotter effect.

Next time I won't cook the garlic for as long. Do others brown the garlic or stop short?

Cheers,

Paul