I'd be in for 50 quid.

OK so I started on this base again this afternoon. I weighed everything, these are the quantities I ended up with:

1Kg onions, chopped (4 large ones)
1 bulb garlic, peeled and chopped - 70gm
2 inch bit of ginger, peeled and chopped - 50gm
1 500gm carton of passata
300gm butter ghee
500ml water
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp paprika
1 heaped tsp ground cumin
1 heaped tsp ground coriander
1 heaped tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
pinch dried methi
pinch asafoetida

Here's the onions:


Next after cooking the onions in the ghee on lowest gas heat for 1 hour. The onions go lovely and soft and sweet.


Next after pureeing the garlic, ginger and tomatoes, removing and pureeing the onion, then adding all back to the oil with the spices and water.


Going to let it cook now for another hour until the oil seperates then I'll post some more pics.

Quote from: Cory Ander on November 27, 2007, 10:54 AMSurely more people are willing to part with 50 quid to realise their dream of replicating BIR curries at home? 

I'd be willing for ?50, assuming there was a limited number of people (maybe a dozen max) and it was a reasonable length of time in order to prepare a base, meat and final curry. In other words a few hours if not a whole day.

I'd have thought that the media would be interested. After all there are countless rubbish cookery programs on TV, surely 'how to cook an authentic curry' is something new?

I'm going to give this one another go tomorrow, as I am getting Jalfrezi withdrawal symptoms  ;D

However, based on the last experience I think the spices could be cut down a bit as in the original recipe (http://www.arax15.dsl.pipex.com/) they were intended for a curry not a base sauce. My initial guess is something like

1 Teaspoon - Coriander
1 Teaspoon - Cumin
1 Teaspoon - Chili Powder
2 Teaspoon - Paprika
2 Teaspoon - Turmeric

maybe a teaspoon of dried methi as well?

I ordered a copy of a book called 'Authentic Balti Curry' by Mohammed Ali Haydor & Andy Holmes. Anyone else have it? What do you think of the recipes? Its certainly an interesting book to read so I'm going to give some of the recipes a try in the near future.

Thanks lorrydoo, that looks like a good recipe.

I might try it tomorrow!

Hi Mike, if you think about it 1 dried chilli = 1 fresh one, but drying removes the water hence the volume is less. The capsacin (active ingredient that gives the heat) remains the same. So 1 tsp dried chilli is equivalent to 2 or 3 tsp of fresh, depending on the type of chilli - a thick fleshed one like Jalapeno or Fresno is going to contain more water than say a Cayenne.

Quote from: mike travis on September 08, 2007, 10:09 PMNice clean cooker by the way..

;D That's because I had the lid on the pot all the time the sauce was cooking!

Had a second batch of the Jalfrezi today, and I have to say it tastes almost exactly the same and is the same consistency as my local takeaway. Maybe I've been lucky, but I don't think so. I'm convinced this is authentic, as I just can't see why any BIR would use all manner of things in a base when a simpler (and hence cheaper) set of ingredients makes the taste.

Quote from: Jethro on September 02, 2007, 12:42 PM
Imagine , if you can,the pain inflicted on certain parts when performing natural bodily functions without taking the proper precautions. 

Hahaha I know the feeling! I grow my own chilis and its a constant risk!

I used the Kushi Jalfrezi one, sort of. Added a green pepper and a couple of tomatoes and used more chillis (about 10 I think).