never mind

I was watching at the same time as you Razor and i dont think what they threw in the pot at the begining was oil, i think it was taken from another pot of stock, there was way too much of it for oil and also it was bright yellow, which is the colour of stock, ghee too but i still think there was too much of it for that.

Why dont you just throw the ingrediants for the curry paste into your curry mix at the beginning of your stir fry? wont you get the same end result?

I was wondering if anybody remembers the thing that me and the lads used to say years ago before going for a curry, "im not going till chucking out time because the curry tastes better"
I think its true, if you go to your favourite curry house at opening time and buy your favourite meal, then go back at midnight and buy the identical same meal ill bet you a tenner the second curry tastes a load better.
If you think about it i bet you'll all say the same, the best curries i have ever had have been after a good night out and pouring into the restaurant at chucking out time.
Some people put it down to the ale, but its not, its obvious, the curry pots been on for longer.
Here's another question for you, what time does your local curry house actually close on a friday or saturday night? 11:30- 12:30- 1/2am?...None of mine ever did, mine closed when the last piss head had stumbled out the door (me on a few occasions)

We are trying to recreate a bir flavour in an almost clinical way, some of us have even bought hotter cookers and special chefy spoons lol. We have the recipes, the spices the methods, but were arent doing the one thing our curry houses are, we cook our sauces for an hour and thats it done.

Curry houses leave theres on the go all night from 4 till-chucking out time.
And another thing, when we finish our last batch from the freezer, we just start a new one the next day.
Curry houses are constantly making fresh but using it to top-up the original, thus theres an original sauce all the time getting better in there. Like a vintage wine.

What do you think? its a thought but i am going to use my last pot of frozen sauce from now on to start off my next batch, thus over time i will have myself a Vintage 2010 ruby murry base.
;D

When i looked at the final list of ingredients i had used for the stir fry for this curry i thought the same ie, too many.
But on looking through the recipes in the printouts i have from 100 best balti curries, i see that im not actually differing much from the chefs recipes.
Some actually use far more in the final stages.
I could leave out the mustard seeds and the black onion seeds, but its a personal preferance thing, i like the nuttiness and bite you get from the onion seeds and the mustard seeds enhances the chilli flavour i think.
Also i never had any fresh corriander to hand but dont worry i'll have some next time lol.
p.s. the left overs taste the dogs wossits this morning.
Also got a good recipe for naans so thal'll be on the list too.
I also mess with the final stage of cooking, i think we all do in a way to get that flavour we like, ive added a little curry powder and also use a pinch of sugar as a seasoning, a knob of butter in the sauce you know little bits of stuff for seasoning, like making a stew or soup.

No probs the base and garam masala come from 100 best balti curries (dont know who wrote the book i only have copies) and its the rolls royce sauce p25.
The stir fry onwards is mine.
Hope this helps.
Just been thinking, in the original sauce recipe it says 5 onions, i only used 2 tonight.
I also use fresh methi instead of dried and add curry leaves where  the original has none.
As a side note i think by adding the extra oil i have made the whole spice and onion cooking process a lot easier, before this i was constantly worrying about burning the garlic/spices by having them stick in the pan, the extra oil makes this a lot harder to achieve as they are floating in the oil rather than dehydrated.
Its a lot worse for the heart and your waist line but a lot tastier and less of a hassle.

Also the extra fluid in the base actually gives you more time on a higher heat in the reduction, allowing the spices more time to release their flavour i reckon.
Just a thought.

Mines a pint of John smiths ta m8 
And Blue nose though i dont follow it much either, although the Scum just beat blackburn 6-4 
Yeah its bloody cold up here but its just another good reason for a hot curry lol

Well ive finished, i added about a third of a cup of oil and used about 750ml of water to the original sauce recipe and it turned out great, not as strong in flavour but still tasty.

Then for the stirfry.
4tbsp oil
fried 1 1/2 tsp of garlic and ginger for a minute then added half an onion till soft, threw in a ladle of sauce and reduced that down, added the other half a tin of toms from the sauce and another ladle of sauce and reduced.
Then added.
1tsp corriander
1tsp cumin
1tbsp black onion seeds
1/2tsp mustard seeds
1/2tspcumin
3tsp chilli powder
pinch of dried fenugreek
1/2tsp cardoman powder
and fried all that till i got that caramel stage.
then i just kept on adding a little sauce at a time and reducing it till my rice was on its 5 mins steam.
Added 1tbsp feungreek and 1tsp garam masala and hey presto curry.
I thought it was excellent and very close to the bir taste about a 8/10.
ive taken a few photo's too.

Compared to the gravies ive seen here its pretty thick after the liquidising, basically i suppose that the finished sauce is the consistency of a finished curry.
yeah its too thick , thinking about it, by the time ive stir fried it its reduced even more.
I need to make it wetter lol
ill make some more tonight only wetter and then try it.
but ill stir fry the final stage a lot hotter than i usually do, and also ive noticed you lot use a lot more oil so ill try that too.
what do you think about mustard oil?

Balti sauce. makes 1 ltr
3tbsp veg oil
2cm chopped fressh ginger
1-2 cloves garlic chopped
5 spanish onions
half a tin tomatoes
2tsp roast ground corriander
1tsp roust ground cumin
0.5 tsp turmeric
0.5 tsp chilli powder
0.5tsp paprika
0.5-1tsp garam masala (down a bit)
2 bay leaves
4 green cardoman pods seeded
1 1/2 tsp dried methi (although i use fresh that ive frozen)
salt to taste
I also add about 10 fresh from frozen curry leaves

Heat oil, curry leaves and fry finely chopped onions till soft and clear not browning.
Add garlic and ginger and stir over moderate heat for a minute or 2 until its fragrant and lost raw edge.
Add toms and water and bring to the boil
Throw in spices fenugreek and bay leaves
Reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 mins.
Liquidize and taste add salt to taste and simmer tasting all the time till the raw onion flavour has gone, take off heat its done.

Garam masala

1 1/2 tbsp black peppercorns
3/4 tbsp cumin seeds
1 1/2 whole cloves
4 seeded cardoman pods
2" cinnamon
1/2 whole nutmeg
2 star anise
roast gently then grind