All looking good to me,very nice.

Had to laugh at two pictures on the home page though,the tikka cooking in the tandoori oven looks like one of my creations as does the four dishes cooking on the stove top,it brought a big smile to my face!!!

As well as being a keen amateur curry chef I also do a bit of mobile DJ'ing.Anyway last night I did a xmas party in a local Indian Restaurant,not only did I get paid but they knocked me up a free madras,rice and bombay potato,result I thought.Even better if I could get into the kitchen at some point during the evening.

At the end of the night as I was packing up I got chatting to one of the staff at the bar.Turns out he was the tandoori chef but he also fills in for the main curry chef when he has a night off.I explained that I like to rattle my curry pans now and again and told him what I had recently cooked,he was very impressed.He even quizzed me on how I make my massala paste,turns out it's not that different to what he makes himself.

I went through the usual questions,base gravy,spiced oil etc then all of a sudden he said "Why not come and have a look in the kitchen?" This is a better than I expected I thought.Off I went and met the staff,they actually had an unblended pot of gravy on the stove ready for the service next day.I went through the various ingredients on the side,he was really amazed I knew what they were.

He couldn't believe that I had my own tandoori oven(he offered to show me how to stuff a peshwari naan as I told him I struggled) and that I've had a couple of restaurant lessons as well as my home ones with Abdul..."Oh" he said "I was thinking of starting giving lessons myself".That was it,right result I thought.So I've give him my number and once he clears it with his boss he's either coming round to my house or I'll be in the restaurant.Fingers are crossed,he seemed really keen on doing it so watch this space!!!

I normally stay out of this nonsense but I really hope CBM reconsiders his position.He's one of the few people who have had regular access to the workings of BIR kitchen,his videos have been invaluble to me(especially his Little Inidia base gravy).A great shame if he goes.

Looks the business well done.Mind now made up take-away tonight!

I had the remains of my madras sauce tonight,the one I cooked with my own base sauce,it's been lurking in my fridge for a couple of days.As soon as you open the door it hits you,true BIR smell.The taste is spot on as well,identical to most places round here.I don't know if the flavour has improved with time or if my sense of smell has returned after my Marathon curry-cook but it's fantastic.My brother had a taste and couldn't believe I had cooked it. I'm satisfied now. Another dish I can tick off.

Quote from: Salvador Dhali on December 12, 2012, 11:18 AM

Quote from: solarsplace on December 12, 2012, 10:03 AM
Hi JB

Please can you post your recipe for spiced oil - I really would love to see it!

Many thanks

Me too!

While I'm a firm atheist when it comes to the worship of the spiced oil deity, I reserve this stance specifically for the crap that results from frying hundreds of onion bhajis, which seems to me to be merely an oil recycling / cost saving exercise practiced by some restaurants/TAs, and, from my findings, achieves little in terms of adding an extra layer of flavour.

However, there is no doubt that oil is the primary carrier of flavour in a BIR curry, and I often add a little extra at the beginning so I can skim off enough of the gorgeously scented, deep red oil to save for the next day's cooking. (Just half a chef's spoon. This allows me to skim off a full chef's spoon at the end, without taking too much out of the finished dish.)

To me, the oil you skim off from a curry is the ultimate in spiced oil. It is, after all, carrying all the spices and flavours from all the other ingredients that go into your curry. It also has 'that' smell - especially the next day, and indeed, beyond.

If there's a reliable way of making significant quantities of similarly flavoured oil without knocking up a HUGE curry I'd be well up for that.

Well it's not really my recipe at all.All it is in fact is the residue oil(passed through a sieve) from the method of pre-cooked potatoes kindly posted by Ifind4u.....

THREEQUARTER CUP OF OIL
1 HEAPED TEASPOON OF PAANCH PHURAN
1 ONION CHOPPED FINE 
4 CLOVES OF CHOPPED GARLIC
2 DESERT SPOONS OF MIX POWDER
1 TEASPOON OF TURMARIC
4 CHEF SPOONS OF LIQUIDISED PLUM TOMATOES
SALT TO TASTE
AROUND 6-7 POTATOES CUT INTO QUARTERS
1 DESERT SPOON OF METHI

METHOD
PUT THE OIL IN A SAUSPAN,AND PUT IN THE GARLIC, FRY FOR ABOUT 3 MINS,NOW ADD THE ONIONS AND PAANCH PHURAN,METHI AND FRY FOR ANOTHER 5 MINS STIRING REGULARILY NOW ADD THE MIX POWDER,AND TURMARIC
AFTER 5 SECONDS ADD THE TOMATOES AND SALT. FRY FOR ABOUT 5 MINS STIRING. NOW ADD THE POTATOES
YOU NEED TO KEEP EXTRA CARE VTHEY DONT START FRYING SO KEEP STIRING  ADD A SMALL DROP OF WATER
IF NEEDED KNOCK OFF FROM TIME TO TIME LEAVING THEM COOK IN THEIR OWN HEAT DO THIS BY COVERING WITH
A PLATE REHEATING EVERY MAYBE  10 MINS BUT ALWAYS STIRING THEM UNTIL COOKED WE USE ABOUT 23 POTATOES IN THIS METHOD AT OUR T/A BUT WELL WORTH THE EFFORT.

I always add a bit more oil depending on how much you are going to need.All the curries I cooked at the weekend had this oil and they tasted fantastic.I actually made more oil in a pan by using a similar method but with no potatoes and more onion.I've still got some in the fridge,here it is....



The first time I made potatoes this way I realised that I had achieved that smell and taste that I had been after.I don't know if it's the panch poran but as soon I lift the lid on the oil tub it's there.Indeed I can smell it on my hands now,the sort of stuff you get from a take-away bag when a carton has leaked.I've never got the used bhaji oil theory,I think you have to cook so many to achive the desired effect but this one is a winner for me.

Quote from: curryhell on December 11, 2012, 09:25 PM
A couple of questions jb:
The finished madras curries you said both had the taste and the smell but before you cooked the curries:

• how did the smell of the Spice base compare to your own?
• how did the taste of the Spice base compare to your own?
• Did the Spice base have the smell?
• Did your own base have the smell?

In looks they are virtually identical but for the oil content, and even then not visibly by much
Will be interested to hear your reply as "you can't cook it at home" comment has again come up just as "it hasn't got that BIR taste or smell" has.

Like I said the Restaurant base and mine tasted and smelt almost identical.No,they didn't have that smell when cold, although weirdly when both were heated they smelt more savoury and a bit mooerish,although still nothing remarkable,which I've always understand a base should be,a neutral vehicle that can be added to mild or hot dishes.Incidentally my base was cooked and frozen some time ago,so it shows that frozen bases do not loose their taste after defrosting.I cooked my base exactly as the chef did in the original video,albeit scaled down.All I can say is the curries I cooked at the weekend were the best I've done.It all seemed to come together,I had a nice new pan,used the Little India Base/Baba miah's spice mix but the most important thing which I've never done is made my own spiced oil.I litterally had to throw the plastic tubs the stuff was stored in,they just smelt of BIR CURRY.

Quote from: haldi on December 11, 2012, 06:22 PM

Quote from: fried on December 11, 2012, 05:04 PM
Just out of curiousity, how does the Madras you cook with the takeaway base compare with the takeaway Madras?

Yes that's a good question, and what is your recipe for a madras?
Thanks

You know just about every recipe on here and indeed every video I've seen seems to have pretty much the same ingredients.Even when I had my evening in my local take-away kitchen the chef seemed to use the same old stuff.I usually follow CBM'S book if (like on Friday) I'm doing loads of different dishes.The only thing I add is a small piece of star anise,it seems to give it 'that' taste which I get round here.....BUT,the thing I did use in all of my dishes is spiced oil.Yes the stuff I always dismissed definitely gave my curries 'that' taste and 'that' smell.I've just had a sniff at the two madras dishes I cooked and they have a lovely BIR smell.

Quote from: fried on December 11, 2012, 05:04 PM
Just out of curiousity, how does the Madras you cook with the takeaway base compare with the takeaway Madras?

Actually I've only ever had a madras from this place once,they do a variety of Chef's special dishes(such as tawa chicken and North Indian Special)which I normally go for.In all honestly I would say it was pretty much spot on though taste and texture wise if I compare it to places where I do buy chicken madras from regularly.They all taste pretty much the same round where I live,like I said if I was served my dish in a restaurant or T/a I would be more than happy.A guest who tasted mine and who also eats them on a regular basis said it was a 'lovely madras'.Incidentally my brother who tasted my CTM said it was the best one he had eaten in a long time,and he said he wasn't just saying that to be polite either!

Actually one of the things that always eluded me was making a decent madras.That is one that had 'that' smell and taste if you know what I mean.I'm confident now I can make one using my own base every time now,no flukes, just using a decent base and simple ingredients.