JerryM

Tried it with UB's Patia - no good unfortunately - will stay with the recipe that works best for me. Will try the madras this weekend hopefully

for condensed milk read evaporated milk

Made this tonight - best korma family have ever had see post on BE's base.

Well well well, Having read most of the posts and having finally devoured the last of the various renditions of my own base, I decided to give this a go. Followed the recipe (including the ajowan seeds which were supposedly out of date in 2007 - but the packet had never been opened) exactly which is unusual for me and I even made the spice mix up fresh. In the cooking I noticed a distinct difference in that the oil separated out after about half an hour - tasting the sauce prior to adding the spices was a different experience you could taste all the various ingredients which was quite a fresh taste unlike the previous bases. Then the novel bit adding the spices for the last 5 minutes of cooking - I thought there was going to be too much spice mix but I followed the instructions. Result - a sauce that tastes just like I think it should do. A hint of spiciness, a curry flavour and a neutralness that hinted it could be used for any curry. Unfortunately this is where I then deviated slightly - I couldnt wait for a curry - particularly not three days.

I know....... I'll try it on the curry I hate the most - THE KORMA

Quickly I boned out a chicken and diced the breast and threw it into a pan of boiling water - added oil to the wok then some base sauce 120 ml condensed milk 150gm of creamed coconut 100gm of smashed down roasted salted cashews - brought to the boil added a good pinch of salt 3 tablespoons sugar and the cooked chicken breasts stirred in some chopped coriander and a small pinch of methi. Hey presto curry for 5 - The comments were - you could bottle it and sell it, Its better than any korma I have had before, can i have the recipe, thats the best curry you ever cooked etc

Can recommend this base with Korma recipe

Now for my tea ............ Chicken Patia perhaps?

Sorry about the delay in replying they are all uk based.

I have been into other kitchens notably in Gran Canaria - Puerto Rico but I wasnt able to learn anything because the curry was c**p.

Here is an interesting point though using the recipes off this site both chinese and Indian are generally better than the overseas (European) restaurant bought curries.

Mmmmmm I wonder if anybody had noticed - he pre-spices his chickens before adding to the curry - while they are still alive. I wonder if this is the taste we are all missing.............

I made this last weekend but lacked the Pataks Tandoori Paste. So I used some Rajah Tandoori Massala instead and added 1 tsp of tamarind paste plus a couple of tablespoons of yoghurt instead of the water. Marinated for 24 hours it was quite simply the best CT I have tasted and it melted in the mouth. To cook the tikka I set the oven to 230 and cooked the chicken on skewers for just 5 minutes. I then added the chicken to the CTM sauce and cooked for a further 5 mins - Highly recommended recipe - well done Blade

I have tried the shashlick and makhani from this site - both produce good results and are very edible. However I would say that they are nouveau cuisine recipes not utilising base sauce. The result is however good with nice fresh tasting flavours a modern take on a bir dish.

Its definitely used in the final curry as I have seen them use it but whether they use it in all curries is a different matter. I havent been able to afford to go through the full menu. I have in the past had a good arrangement with 3 different curry houses and have been in the kitchens and watched the preparations - unfortunately these were only the lower end curry houses. One thing I would say is that they very rarely use large amounts of spice in their individual portions. In all three curry houses they have 6 or 7 containers alongside the range which they dip into when making the curry plus a large pot with the curry sauce. I havent seen a container containing dried methi leaves unless these have been ground down finer and I didnt recognise them.

However thinking about it they had a tub of sliced onions with green flecks in - I wonder if they pre-mix the onions with the methi and then add them into the curry in this way?

A thread discussing pro's and con's of veg oils versus ghee, etc here:
https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,2139.msg18068.html#msg18068
SnS

JerryM

Rugby fanatic

The base spice mix I seem to prefer is equal quantities of ground coriander, ground cumin, good paprika, turmeric. I never add chili powder to the base as its easy to spice up the final dish to your desired heat.

I have three different chili powders now Rajah Extra Hot, Hot and Mild. Believe you me the Extra Hot is exactly what it says on the packet - I made a beef chili a couple of years ago and threw in a tablespoon - I was the only one able to eat it with watering eyes, runny nose and sweating like a pig. The morning after was also quite painful and brought tears to the eyes.

I would say that there are really only 2 categories of BIR, cheap ones and dear ones. The cheap ones generally have very similar menus to each other and vary a small amount in taste, sauce consistency and quality. The more expensive restaurants and here I mean meals starting at ?12.00 and over just for the main dish tend to do a lot less trade (throughput) but are generally booked solid. They have what I would describe as a different menu - they call it traditional. However the food is simply better cooked and with slightly different fresher fuller flavours.

This is where the use of ghee came from to replicate the slightly buttery flavour of these "better" restaurants.

By the way on the subject of "the taste" I am sure that this is the burnt oil in the cooking process caused by the flames regularly seen in BIR kitchens and the high heat of the burners.

Ghee has just about the highest smoke point of all oils I would check out the wiki on ghee as you may actually find its a healthier option than veg oil.