Phil - just reread your 1st 'disappointed' post & see your comment about adding 'raw spices' to water rather than oil.
The whole point of Balbir Singh spice blends is that they are ready to use - they are already pre-roasted & ground. I asked them waaay back if there was any point in roasting their blends before use & they replied - all the hard work re spice flavour enhancement already done

Just treated the frozen remainder of my Balbir Singh Goan Vindaloo chicken  - sufficient for 2x people - to a half tin of chopped tomato & 2 tsp of cream to drop the heat level which Mrs Ghoulie found too hot in the original. She wolfed it !  I would say the heat level now at a good Madras & 50 ml of water would have had it at a BIR consistency. Well worth a go again at this variation to Mrs Balbir Singhs Goan Vindaloo recipe.

Quote from: Ghoulie on January 30, 2022, 03:27 PM
Yet another excellent spice blend / recipe. Used lamb - only shoulder available from my butcher - bit chewy in parts. Didn't have my preferred neck fillet. When I do this again, using neck fillet - I will precook lamb long & slow before putting into her recipe as per her method.
Excellent tasting biryani

Just used my kiwi meat tenderiser method ( lemon juice instead of vinegar ) on the tough lamb shoulder bit from my lamb biryani- did a great job on making the meat very soft & tender

Just tried a 15 minute marinade of the kiwi fruit tenderiser on some beef slices (rump) that were on the edge of being chewy from last nights sunday roast. Definitely made the meat more tender & can see why they say no more than 15 minutes - so may be 10 minutes is 'safer' - the comments being re no more than 15 minutes 'or your meat may turn to mush' - powerful enzyme effect

I used to be a subaqua diver - 20 years - from age 25 to 45 - mainly UK diving.  When I lived in the Middle East, I had a few dives there. On one dive, I got the dive boat to drop me off in the entrance to Fujairah harbour - UAE, Indian Ocean - so I could swim back on the surface looking for crayfish. 50 yards in I encountered 4x white tip sharks @ 7 ft long. There was a muffled 'f**k me' in my mouthpiece as I spotted the 4 inverted grins in front of me. Luckily they didn't fancy me & split 2 each side of me and swam past me. I immediately spun onto my back to see where they were going. They carried on. I headed for the rocky breakwater and walked the rest of the 150 yards back to the beach bit where the families were. The sharks had come right past where our wives and kids were playing in the water - nobody spotted them. Puts you in your place when you meet something big enough to eat you in its own environment

Quote from: Peripatetic Phil on February 19, 2022, 10:32 AM
Mustard oil, I confess I did not think of, and I substituted jaggery goor for the sugar specified in the recipe.  But when you came to add the masala, did you find that the oil had not come out, or did you wait for it to do so, or what ?
--
** Phil.

The mustard oil did not come out.  When I blitzed the 2x green chillies in my blender I added about 20 ml of water to ensure all the chilli content could be extracted from the blender as a pourable paste

How strange Phil - the differences to your use & mine - I used chicken, mustard oil, cider vinegar with honey (omitting her sugar since honey in cider vinegar) - agree its not BIR - I much prefer authentic Indian dishes. Unlike you, I thought it produces an excellent result. I also blitzed the green chillies - seeds and all.

Yet another excellent spice blend / recipe. Used lamb - only shoulder available from my butcher - bit chewy in parts. Didn't have my preferred neck fillet. When I do this again, using neck fillet - I will precook lamb long & slow before putting into her recipe as per her method.
Excellent tasting biryani

Mrs Ghoulie found it a tad hot - so blitzing 1 Serrano chilli would be her level - scoville only 10 to 20,000 supposedly

Just made a chicken version as per her recipe with 2 Serrano green chillies blitzed to a paste. Absolutely brilliant. No need for base gravy. Can highly recommend.