Hi BeachBum, in the April courses you will learn the pastes that you use and can then create big quantities from without having to make one portion, add to a pot, then another portion and add to a pot etc.

For example here in Aus it is comon to have a buffet in the restaurant where there will be 3 veg dishes, 3 non-veg dishes and all the other side dishes. Meat is pre-cooked, paste is added to a pot with perhaps a couple of other spices ie mustard seeds spluttered in oil with curry leaves, then in goes the onion paste, add the meat and some stock, add some boiling water then add coconut milk powder bring to boil simmer, adjust seasoning and pour into the bain-marie for service.

People will pay $20 for all you can eat etc.

I'm sure the restaurants in the UK must offer a similar thing, perhaps someone could ask Az how to do it if you were having 10 people around and wanted to make a big batch. I'm sure he wouldn't say make one portion, then another and another...

Cheers,
Mark

Hi BeachBum,

If you can get along to the Sunday courses in April, you will learn how to make the bases in a short period of time.

For example, a two onion base which will make enough gravy for approx 6-8 portions can be made in approx 30 mins. It uses very little water and is more of a paste rather then a gravy. It can then be put into the zip lock type bags and frozen. Water is added when cooking the dishes rather then when making the 'gravy', although it is still referred to as say butter gravy or vindaloo gravy. Onions are fried rather then boiled.

Uses very little space in the freezer, and unfreezes very quickly and in my opinion better then the gravies with lots of water in them having done it both ways.

Cheers,
Mark

Hi guys,

Just wondering who was the cook on this video, as I picked up something when watching and have a question about a question he asked Az.

At the start the oil is heated then the garlic paste is added in, then the onions, and then the cook asks about the ginger and garlic paste going brown.

At 00:39s into the clip "The garlic and ginger paste, do you always have to let it brown like that?" Az then says "Yeah...bhuna..." but I can't work out what else he says and just wondering if you can remember.

I've seen in one kitchen I was in where the garlic and ginger when added to the oil pretty much went straight away to a brown colour and the chef said it wasn't burnt but cooked properly and it was his big thing about not having the undertones of under cooked ginger and garlic in either the dishes or base.

That too might be one of the techniques that is missed easily, most are worried about the ginger and garlic burning, like worrying about the spices burning, that it is not being cooked well enough to give that correct taste. I know it was a very different color from what I did at home, much darker and pretty much instant change.

He did the same with methi too, although he dry roasts his methi leaves and then grinds that to a powder. He then chucked that into the hot oil and the aroma was incredible.

Cheers,
Mark

Hi BB,

Unfortunately there weren't enough takers for Thursday evening classes, only 1, so he is just doing two Sunday classes in April an with extended menu.

Sunday 22nd April 2012

• Butter Chicken
• Spinach Dal
• Beef Vindaloo
• Onion Pakora/Bhaji
• Eggplant Pakora
• Paneer Naan
• Peshwari Naan
• Saffron Rice
• Raita
• Tamarind Chutney

Sunday 29nd April 2012

• Chicken Tikka Masala
• Malai Kofta
• Beef Madras
• Veg Samosa
• Potato Bonda
• Paneer Naan
• Cheese Naan
• Saffron Rice
• Raita
• Tamarind Chutney

For anyone that is interested in attending the classes, please PM me and I shall forward you on Chef JJ's contact details.

Hi Chris,

Go for it, there'd be many that would buy it, me for one. As you saw from the lessons, many people can't get to them unfortunately and it would be the next best thing.

Do the book and a DVD/video series making the dishes and the gravies, masala's etc

There is a market for it for sure as there is nothing as yet that shows exactly how it should be done.

Cheers,
Mark

Hi BB,

He's in the middle of organizing the class details/dates at the moment and will have that finalized hopefully by the end of the week.

I'll send the details through to you and you can contact JJ directly to let him know what class you'd like to attend. The only thing that he will ask for I believe is a 50% deposit, which is used for expenses, and to ensure that you turn up.

Cheers,
Mark

Hi George,

The way it works is that the class members are broken into groups of 5, each group has their own cooking station with the chef at his own as well.

He demonstrates, they do, and he goes around from group to group while things are progressing, as some things take time, ie onions cooking etc.

Yes, I know some people that have done the course, and I also go along and assist as well.

Cheers,
Mark

Hi,

For anyone that is looking to learn from an Indian Chef here in Brisbane, please click on the link below to have a look at a new promotion.

http://www.ourdeal.com.au/deal/cooking-with-jj-learn-to-prepare-a-variety-of-indian-dishes-coorparoo

My first curry experience was from a restaurant at Newmarket called Raaga, we would travel 30 mins to get takeaway from there it was that good. A couple of years ago I advertised on a site here in Brisbane that I was looking to learn restaurant style cooking and I had 3 chefs respond. One of these was Chef JJ who I later found out was the Raaga chef, I still remember when he took me into the kitchen at the restaurant he was now working at and let me try the butter gravy, and I couldn't believe it.

I can vouch for JJ, he will teach you how to make at home what you have in the restaurant, I've learnt from him myself. Whenever we go to an Indian restaurant we always gauge how good it is against the food that we have had from Chef JJ. We still haven't found one that bests his cooking.

Anyway, enough of the raving, he's a great guy and love's teaching and doesn't BS any part of the cooking process.

Here's a link to his site if anyone is interested.

http://indiancookingwithjj.weebly.com

Regards,
Mark

DISCLAIMER: Just to clarify for anyone wondering, I am not financially rewarded in anyway from posting this, or if anyone signs up or not.

Hi ELW,

The gravies are being added in chef spoon amounts.

One dish for example might have 2 chef spoon of onion gravy and 0.5 chef spoon of butter gravy, along with a couple of other spices or ingredients. Another might have 1 chef spoon onion gravy, 1 chef spoon korma gravy, 0.25 chef spoon vindaloo paste.

Vindaloo is the simplest, it is just the vindaloo paste, pre-cooked meat with a little stock, and then water added. Let cook and reduce back down. Others might involve frying some mustard seeds, curry leaves, chili then adding the onion paste followed by meat & stock, hot water, and then coconut milk etc.

Boiling/hot water is added to the dish which turns the pastes into gravy, then it is reduced down to the desired consistency.

Cheers,
Mark

Hi ELW,

Interesting, the Ashoka recipes are the closest to what we do here although our gravies are kept quite thick with only a little water added, additional water/stock is added when making the final dishes.

We have 5 main base gravies in use as per below:

butter gravy
korma gravy
onion gravy
vindaloo gravy
vegetable gravy

Each gravy has different whole spices in it and different powdered spices, so when they are combined they create different flavors again. The great thing is, is that I can perfectly replicate them at home in the kitchen, put em in little zip lock bags in the freezer and then pull out as needed.

There's a couple of other minor gravies that are used from time to time as well, but they are the key ones, and the onions are all fried and not boiled in water.

That's interesting about the meat being cooked from fresh, all ours is pre-cooked and retained in the cooking juices. Some of the cooking juices/stock gets added to the dishes when adding the meat in and you get some of the flavor coming through. That way a beef vindaloo would taste like a 'beef' vindaloo. And a chicken vindaloo will taste slightly different due to the stock in the gravy, it tastes different again if no stock is added in as it is just being added to an onion gravy if that makes sense.

Cheers,
Mark