Quote from: pete on November 23, 2005, 10:42 PM
This chap has been cooking since the 70's
So he must know the whole business inside out
He could easily write another book on ordinairy curry houses

Pete

I'm sure you're right. I hope the chef doesn't come in for too much stick here or anywhere else after he's been good enough to let the book buyers into many/most/almost all of his secrets. From what you say, I'm sure it's sincere and it's unlikely to make him rich. More like a public service. After what you say, I'm now more likely to purchase the book, even before anyone here has tried any of the recipes.

A few weeks ago, I e-mailed them on the question of whether the book covered standard curry house fare (which it appears to) and, moreover, whether there was a different angle of flavour, given it's a balti house. There was an initial reply from Andy and a promise of more info once he'd spoken to the chef, but I never heard any more.

Regards
George

Quote from: Yellow Fingers on November 23, 2005, 12:18 PM
I don't know if you have purchased it yet, but I think you'd agree, when we have perused as many curry recipes as most of the regulars here have, you get a feel for which recipes will give good results and which will not.

YF

Good point. I agree one can normally see 'potential' in recipes, and I expect that's what Pete meant, but I made a mistake in thinking that about Pat Chapman's recipes.

I don't doubt (I hope) that this book is a very worthwhile addition to the BIR section of our book collections. I haven't ordered one yet. I guess a key question is how good the 'Kushi Bali' restaurant really is.  Would people around there view it as way above average, one of their favourites, one of the best? Didn't blondie go there? If the restaurant is good, and the book is honest, and the recipes carefully scaled down and tested, then the book must have great potential.

Regards
George

Quote from: pete on November 23, 2005, 08:12 AM
I think it's excellent, and wish it had been my first curry book
The methods for pre cooking veg make it worth the money

With the greatest respect, how do you know it's excellent before you've tried several recipes, assuming you haven't got that far yet. I would have said Pat Chapman's books LOOKED excellent when I saw the printed word. That's why I bought one. Only one thing counts! Do the recipes work? In Pat Chapman's case - NO!

Regards
George

Quote from: Yellow Fingers on November 22, 2005, 10:31 PM
George, who posts here, claims to have made a passable restaurant style korma with standard base sauce though. I'd refer you to the thread but I can't find it!

YF

Thank you for recalling my enthusiasm for the korma I made a few months back. My comments can be found at:
https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=312.0

Regards
George

I'm no food scientist, but my guess is that it's probably OK to store oil for relatively long periods provided, firstly, that it has not been over-heated to reach smoking temperature (typically over 200C) when dangerous 'radicals' might be released, leading to fears of cancer. The other risk concerns bugs like botulism but I assume these will be killed off if the oil if held at over 100C for a few minutes.

Perhaps it would be prudent to reheat the oil to say 120C for ten minutes every few days.

Regards
George

Re. spiced or flavoured oils, I guess the heat and long cooking times will reduce the health risk:

http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/asksam/keepingfoodsafe/asksamstoringpreparing/
Lots of different types of flavoured oil are available in the shops, containing garlic, peppercorns, chilli and various herbs including rosemary, oregano and bay leaves, and these often have a long shelf life. But it?s not a good idea to make flavoured oils at home unless you are going to use them immediately. This is because plants, including herbs and spices, can carry spores produced by bacteria. Occasionally, they could carry spores of a type of bacteria called Clostridium botulinum, which can cause botulism. This is a very unpleasant disease, which is rare in the UK, but can be fatal...If you have some oil left over, put it in the fridge straight away and use it within a week. Some oils can go cloudy or become solid in the fridge, but if this happens don?t be tempted to leave it at room temperature, because this might not be safe.

http://www.foodsafetyline.org/english/oils.html
Oils infused with garlic and herbs provide fabulous flavour. But these mixtures are high-risk products...


http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/7005/oilvin.html
Flavoured oils are great for cooking, salad dressings & vinaigrettes, and make great gifts. They're easy to make too! Keep these things in mind...Use sterile bottles (boil them!)...whenever you want to add anything moist & fleshy (onion, garlic, peppers, etc.) you should acidify it first to prevent toxins from building up...

Regards
George

Quote from: John on November 15, 2005, 11:05 PM
...your order will be
despatched by first class post on Monday 21st November 2005.

Why are people so taken in by 1st class post? Anybody buying that book has been kept waiting for several months, and they may have been searching for 'the secret' for decades. Then they go and waste your money, or theirs, on 1st class post, as if it's urgent. In my experience, 2nd class post is normally just as fast and no less reliable. I know it's only a few pence, bvut who are they trying to impress?

Regards
George

Quote from: Mark J on November 15, 2005, 11:18 PM
I think the key is the constant reuse of both base and oil, essentially after making the 10th batch of base for example there is still essence of oil and base from the very first one in it, much like the chinese vintage stock idea.

I believe this concept is also used with some bread doughs. Some previous dough is added to the new batch. I think I've heard it claimed that some dough ('sour dough'?), which you can buy, has origins/links from dough first made over 100 years ago.

Regards
George

I flagged up a few months back that Lidl's FROZEN chicken korma tastes more like a BIR curry than any other supermarket curry I've had, not that korma is the best test dish for assessing 'the taste'. It was only 89p at the time, on long term special offer and still only just over ?1.

Regards
George

Quote from: Yellow Fingers on November 15, 2005, 03:38 PM
How will people that are not tolerant of any chilli heat tolerate curries made with the oil scooped off phalls, madras' and vindaloos.

Good point. I wonder if there's any chance they have 'mild oils' and 'hot oils' depending on the source of the reclamation.

Regards
George