Hi Everyone
I appreciate this subject has limited interest for the non-participants, so - will try to keep things brief...
Thank you ChrisWG for organising & sponsoring the event. You found a great location, that is perfect for families and days out at any time.
Good to meet you Az, natterjak & 976bar
ChrisWG - Your Bhaji's and tikka looked great - never got the chance to try any though
Az - Your 'death' chicken as ChrisWG put it was superb - and not 'death' chicken at all
976bar - Your version of Blades tikka was absolutely superb. Probably the best tikka I have ever had from anywhere. Also really liked your CTM and garlic chilli sauce too. Thank you!
I brought some portions of my own
Saag Aloo, which went down very well according to feedback.
Also a good portion of
Razors Seekh Kebabs to be cooked on the BBQ. I make these into burgers because they always fall off the skewers for me - but very very popular! - thanks Razor!
Also some of my own garlic chilli & vindaloo sauces. Which people seemed to like. Although it turns out that my vindaloo is actually a spot on madras rather than a vindaloo in other peoples opinions
Was also lucky enough to be able to meet Az owner of
Chutneys TA - Fleet HampshireAz is a thoroughly great chap and was more than helpful offering advice and sampling our offerings. Thank you Az - I hope we did not pester you too much. Here are some of the snippets of his advice:
Pans, Az chooses the lightest ali pans possible, this is down to basically every chef he knows getting wrist joint / rsi type problems from handing pans in one hand all night for 20 years. This is also because of the need for speed - he chooses a pan with a very thin base - thicker is not better in his trade, takes too long to heat up and is too heavy.
Az tends to never add g&g paste during the fry as it is already incorporated into his base sauce.
The spices must be fried far longer than most people would think. Az suggests that they should be reaching the point of 'charring'.
Az - Vindaloo - No vinegar, no lemon. Nothing. Just lots of chilli powder. In fact probably a generous 1/2 chef spoon of chilli powder. It is all in the frying of the chilli powder technique.
He personally avoids Rajah spices due to excessive cost. Favouring TRS & East End as equally high quality but better value for money.
He prefers using veg ghee to start dishes.
That is about all I can remember..
Anyway, goes to show, that there were no issues - as expected, no violations of privacy or confrontation - just a civilised and very enjoyable afternoon. Hopefully we can do this again with more members attending next time
Thanks everyone.