Quote from: Secret Santa on February 11, 2013, 05:54 PM
Now why don't you be a good lad and go and read the relevant bb1 threads.

Already read them, still don't understand the need to add two lots of g/g paste and tomato puree and it sitll hasn't been explained why. Fancy a go?

Quote from: Secret Santa on February 11, 2013, 05:54 PM
Then you might even contemplate actually making the base and a curry.

Not at 7 Kg's of onions I won't be. And given the author of the original recipe states that if you scale it down it won't be the same, I can't see myself making it. Hence my questions in this thread.

Quote from: Secret Santa on February 11, 2013, 05:54 PM
That will hopefully stop you blathering on unnecessarily as you will be speaking from experience, rather than out of your arse.  ;D

So asking questions and for clarification about a recipe and technique is blathering on unnecessarily and talking out of my arse is it?

Quote from: Secret Santa on February 11, 2013, 05:54 PM
Have a look at the Taz method while your at it as it is exactly the same.

Already have and I didn't like the amount of oil it used and produced.

Quote from: Martinwhynot on February 11, 2013, 05:01 PM
With respect I'm struggling to see how the gg/Tom/methi isn't going in at the start. In the do Piaza all I was doing at the start was frying off a bit of onion. I then start the curry proper by adding some base (which I state replaces oil at the start of the commentary) then chuck the items in.

Hum!

For most people the start is the point before any base goes in. It's termed the start because you're frying in hot oil, that's where you're frying your onions initially, or are you not using any oil to fry your onions in? But you're not adding your g/g paste or tomato puree at this stage, you're adding it after the first two chef spoons of base go in. And the question still stands as to why? I (and I'm sure RubyDoo) both understand you're using the two chef spoons of base as your start and in replace of oil, but if you're already frying onions, then you've already started with oil.

I'm struggling to get my head round how the g/g and tomato paste can be cooked out when it's added half way through cooking.

Quote from: Secret Santa on February 11, 2013, 04:59 PMYes and if you'd read the actual Glasgow base thread you would have known that and saved you (and us) unnecessary chatter.

Yet, despite the fact that my unnecessary comments were on topic, you felt the need to add yet more unnecessary comments that were off topic. Which makes you a bit of a hypocrite.

Good stuff! Keep up the good work.

I've got some more comments to make now, is that going to be okay by you?  :

Martin

Many thanks for your prompt reply to my questions.

So it's a different technique and method altogether to what I'm accustomed to. I shall put my 'Curious Cat' Hat on and investigate this curry sauce further! It does sound a lot like the Taz base I've tried already but seems to have some differences.

Cheers!

Firstly, thank you for taking the time and trouble to make a video of yourself cooking a Chicken Tikka Dopiaza. It's always interesting to see how others are doing things.

But a couple of things (well more than a couple actually) here struck me as being strange. So a few observations:

- Why are you adding base cold? I always heat mine up first because I don't want a pan heat drop when I add it. Also, why are you taking the pan off the heat when you add it? This just drops the heat in the pan right down. Or is this simple expediency, you just don't have enough hands?

- Why add g/g paste half way through cooking? Why do you not fry this off at the beginning?

- Tomato paste added half way through cooking? Why? Why do you not fry this off earlier and caramelise the sugars in the tomato paste?

- Spices added half way through cooking? Strange!

You mention no 'oil slick'. Erm, you didn't cook this long enough or hard enough to get any oil separation!

I have to say, this is one of the strangest ingredient addition and cooking techniques of BIR I've come across. Is it specific to 'glasgow curries' you refer to here or is there some other reason for this cooking sequence?

Quote from: gazman1976 on January 26, 2013, 06:50 PM
sorry but seen and heard this all before now

Me too. Just another snake-oil salesman.

I can create the BIR smell and taste in my own kitchen. Someone came visit me the other day after I'd been cooking BIR the night before and the first thing they said as they walked in was "Geez, your house stinks like an Indian Takeaway". Yeah, no shit.

But there's always been one thing I can't create in my kitchen, that I describe as a 'smokiness'. I can't get it because my domestic gas hob burners don't get hot enough and I'm still waiting for anyone to prove that theory wrong.

There is no 'secret' as far as I'm concerned, merely the difference been a commercial kitchen and burners compared with a domestic kitchen. That for me is the most plausible and logical explanation for why I can't create the exact same taste as achieved in the better Indian Restaurants. My own cooking easily beats some of the average ones. So much so, I'd rather cook my own.

So I'm not holding my breath waiting for the supposed secrets this book will reveal - I'll believe it when I see it.

So many books over the years have come out claiming to provide the secret and they've all failed. With some quite prominent names too - Pat Chapman, Kris Dillon etc.

I don't see this one being any different, just another variation on the same theme.

Quote from: RubyDoo on February 10, 2013, 09:17 PM
Agree with Spicey's other comments for the most part apart from the base all at once bit. Sorry to be brief.

I think you may have misunderstood me, which is quite possible because I didn't make it clear what I meant. When I said reducing the base in one stage, I meant adding a ladle, reducing it, adding another, reducing it, adding another reducing it, adding the remainder and carrying on with the dish. In other words, all in one stage. I didn't mean, bung all the base in all in one go.

What I was querying with gagomes was why he added a ladle of base, more ingredients, 5 mins later another ladle etc., rather than doing all the ladle reductions in one stage.

gagomes, I will answer your comments when I get a bit more time, but regarding the oil separation, have a read of the thread in Starters and beginners questions on that topic for what I mean.

That lamb kofta curry looks the business! But I assume it's the one on the bottom left, not right

Interesting.

Thanks for taking the time and trouble to make the video and upload it and sorry to hear you never got a chance to even taste the dish - I'd have been interested to hear what the taste was like.

A few general observations:

- I thought your addition of different ingredients was quite curious and I didn't really understand the logic behind them. Why did the methi leaves go in first, then the spice mix and salt and then the chilli powder? I'd have cooked out the spice mix, salt and chilli powder right after the g/g paste was ready. Then the methi leaves later.

- I didn't see much oil separation take place at any stage and why was the 3 ladles of base introduced at 3 different stages? I tend to add and reduce base all in one stage.

- Why the two separate additions of chopped coriander? I tend to add this right at the end once it's finished cooking and off the heat.

- I also felt each stage was too short, I'd have cooked things for longer and at a higher heat. I'd question whether the spices were cooked out correctly.

Please don't view these as criticisms, we all have different ways of doing things, I'm merely curious about how you arrived at that cooking technique and those various stages.

Quote from: meggeth on February 08, 2013, 11:20 PM
Sorry, my mistake when typing, I'll update the original post. Just once for the chilli, in with the onions before ginger/garlic. Methi was leaves.

Thanks for clarifying!

Quote from: meggeth on February 08, 2013, 11:20 PM
I always wonder about that when a recipe says chilli powder - there must be quite a range of heat according to the one you use.

I find there's a significant amount of variation in chilli powder strengths and I grind my own up from whole dried chilli's so I'm always working with a known quantity. I use 3 varieties - whole dried kashmiris (mainly for colouring) fudco generic dried red chilli's and dried red birds eye. I even sneaked in a small amount of dried chipotle chilli (smoked jalapeno's) in the last batch to add a little smokiness to it.