Interesting post Stephen. I think this forum lacks enough genuine restaurant and t/a  recipes and techniques ,however good or bad. There is some great stuff on here, but not enough imo.
The coconut addition is in all sorts of bases on this forum, not least jb's base which has never had a bad review 
'Desi' curries are all over the menus in Glasgow, using okra, mint, bitter gourd ,bone in meat etc, but I've never tried one. You don't even need to ask what the staff curry is some places as they advertise a choice of them on the menu. ' Oil free ' curries also

Hope he lets you have a good look round

ELW

They'll taste even better by tomorrow

Quote from: livo on March 14, 2018, 09:01 PM
The problem of Tandoori spiced chicken overpowering the dish when used in curry seems to be often experienced and discussed. I had the same thing happen last week in a CTM and a butter chicken even though the Tandoori and Tikka alone were delicious.  I found that the curries really balanced out and mellowed after a day or 2 in the fridge. Most traditional curries improve with a rest and I often cook these a day or 2 ahead. BIR is instant so it is more an issue

Of course there really is no need to find a different recipe to solve this issue. Simply reducing the amounts of pastes and Masala in the marinade stage will effect a change in the impact the tandoori or tikka has on the final dish. You can also reduce your spicing at assembly..

Cutting the amount of spice in general and either thinning the yoghurt with milk or not using it at all( I use milk only), is the way I adapt the standard tandoori/ tikka recipes for my home oven
Thick yoghurt marinade recipes tend to clump and curdle and end up with the grainy texture that you you see in many of the pics on here
Too much spice, be it paste or powders, relative to the other ingredients,  ends up bitter tasting, marinades or curries imo



ELW

Quote from: Sverige on March 14, 2018, 01:54 PM
Well I tried tofu and can understand it could be mistaken for chicken when you first cut into it. I took a pic because it looked so chicken-like.

Taste and texture is a different matter. I found it bland and quite squishy, sorry to say. It's not for me, especially at the price they want for it.

Deep fryingthe extra firm stuff crisps up the outside, which is not bad. Then flavoured. Freezing it beforehand also helps it firm up more to improve the odd texture. Lends itself better to Chinese wok cooking rather than Indian sauces I've found. I've also found that eating   'no cheese' is better than eating ''vegan cheese'

Quote from: chewytikka on March 10, 2018, 04:18 PM
Its ok ELW, I

Quote from: chewytikka on March 09, 2018, 10:29 PM
Subjective opinions, 
I use a lot of chickpeas and KTC brand are very good canned products, their chickpeas are just fine.
Their bean selection is also good, Red and White Kidney Beans and Borlotti Beans I use regularly.
One of the Big Boys at supplying the BIR market, expanding through to the big supermarkets.
At one time I used to buy KTC only at Asian Stores, now the likes of Morrisons are stacked high.

cheers Chewy

Chewytikka, sure I see that ktc are priced slightly below the supermarket  own brands, but are placed in the tiny world foods section of the supermarket, 3 for a quid stuff, to sell to a certain market, like the big bags of rice, For bir purposes ktc are  good to go definitely, They're not the best quality chickpeas though

ELW
ELW

Quote from: chewytikka on March 09, 2018, 10:32 PM
Interesting
How big were the garlic cloves in your pickle ELW

There was,a few chewytikka, but this was more of an red oily paste than a pickle. The market local to me have about 6 differently brands of garlic pickle, this one wasn't the cheapest
Round here, lots of the ta/s will throw pickle into anything and call it anything (Balti Karahi?)
I may have been a bit heavy handed with the pickle, I'm sure my gravy was bland enough,but  my south Indian doesn't taste anything like this
ELW

I'll photo the stuff rather than describe it, definitely paste like in texture, but pickle flavoured

ELW

Hi Naga I've just made a South Indian using garlic pickle as per the jb post.
I've never added the garlic flavour to this dish in this way, but it sounded like a fraction of the work of making the South Indian sauce.
I used Priya garlic pickle, with my own gravy, which I think is fairly neutral in terms spice oil, salt etc
and although I'm sure jb & his chef have the balance right , with their spice & gravy, mine turned out Achari like, due to adding pickle, and a fair bit overspiced due to the other ingredients in the Priya.
Didn't stop me tannin the lot, but I wouldn't have called it a south Indian
The Priya brand is quite red in colour

ELW

Quote from: Sverige on March 08, 2018, 10:50 AM
Does anyone have info or observations from a real BIR of how dried chickpeas are prepared for chana dishes?  Standard would be to soak overnight in plenty of water then boil in salted water for an hour or so to get cooked chickpeas, but do we think they follow this route or typically use canned precooked chickpeas?

If they are prepping their own from dried, would spices be added to the water when the chickpeas are being cooked, or are they cooked in plain water so they are added to the final dish without any curry flavours already cooked into them?

Regarding the canned chickpeas Sverige, I find they vary in quality, and not just through undercooking. The KTC brand being one of the worst culprits.
I can't imagine them taking on too much flavour from precooking,  except for salt and maybe turmeric for colour. I've tried whole spices, whole garlic and never noticed much difference to be honest. They do work great in a sauce though.
Vegetarian options are the new rock n roll here, but the Indian veg dishes are imo the best of all of them, and are growing quickly, by that I mean dishes that stand on their own, rather than cauliflower slung into a patia or whatever

Napolina brand chickpeas are pretty good

ELW

Nice pics . Those butter chicken & karahi dishes look right up my alley.
I'd never tasted Ceylon, when I made .ca's version years ago, and wasn't keen to add a tablespoon of sugar to any curry. Maybe make it again sometime though