Quote from: Curry Barking Mad on February 18, 2011, 08:16 PM

Going by memory and the fact that this was a very large pot of spuds I would suggest the following for home use.
As long as you understand this will be close but may not be totally true to the amounts the chef used..........disclaimer ;D

For 2 lb of potatoes,
150 ml of veg oil
1 tennis ball sized finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon of garlic/ginger paste
Cassia bark 2" x 1" piece
1 bay leaf (Asian)
1 tablespoon of panch phoran
1 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of tomato puree watered down 50/50
2 teaspoons of turmeric powder
1 tablespoon of mix powder
Water to cover

The mixed veg are done the same way.


Cheers
Mick

The other night the curry craving hit me, as it does at least twice weekly .  I fancied some bombay aloo with it.  Whilst my bombay aloo is quite respectable i can't seem to get that BIR flavour to penetrate the spuds. It always looks the business but is found lacking when i bite into the spud.  Maybe it's just me being over critical .  So i thought i'd take advantage of the hard work done by member of this forum who took the time and trouble to do the group test on bombay aloo .  So i read through the thread and decided on cooking Solarsplace's, as it came out top on taste.  Just to make it interesting i thought i'd pre-cook the spuds using Currybarking Mad's posted method.  Well,  ;D ;D ;D ;D i've got to say spuds will definitely be precooked using this recipe again.  The smell in the kitchen during the cooking was absolutely BIR .  Now came the acid test.  Had that lovely smell actually got into the spuds???I tasted the finished article and there it was, that characteristic slightly sweet subtly spiced flavour that all good bombay  potato has.  And this was all before i even cooked the dish .
Next i set to using Solarsplace's recipe using half my precooked spuds.  Verdict a very nice dish, full of taste with a depth of flavour rather than a portion of spuds just coated in a sauce which can be the case with your average bombay aloo.  This was quickly followed by Razor's Chicken Tikka Rogan Josh and special fried rice less any spice (a little experiment on my part)  End result -
Tonight i decided to use up my lovely precooked spud using the runner up's version to see how it compared.  So dug out Dip's recipe and cooked it up but added a portion of saag when adding the spud to give me one of my favourite accompaniments.   Got to say, again the results were very good and as good as get from my local BIR.  The only thing i did with Dip's recipe was to cook for longer toreduce the sauce.  There is nothing more off putting when a veg side dish comes up looking like a vegetable curry and potentially from comments made already, there was a danger of this.  The result -

Thanks to all who took part.  That's another one i can cross off the list

Now that looks like my kind of curry  ;D. Looking at that pic, i can almost taste it . The more like rocket fuel, the better .  It's certainly not just a Glasgow thing Mr M ;D ;D ;D

Welcome.  I'm sure you'll be cooking BIR standard bhuna in no time ;D

Welcome to the forum Ben.  Just shout if you have any questions that you can't find answers to.  There are loads of very knowledgeable curry holics on here that will do their best to give you the right answers.  Look forward to reading your post on the results of the weekend.  Don't forget to post pics ;D.

Dave

Abdul, as soon as i have some room in the freezer i will definitely be trying your base as it's low on oil which by coincidence so is my local BIR's.  I will definitely be trying your madras along with the ceylon which is a curry i have not tried before.  Thanks for the postings and sharing your knowledge my friend

Quote from: Razor on August 11, 2011, 11:35 PM
Hi CH,

Don't worry CH, not forgot about the NIS, but I don't think I'll get a true perspective if I try a hot curry for the test.

Ray

Glad to hear you haven't forgotten Ray.   Am looking forward to your feedback.  Scale back the chilli to your taste mate.  It's the overall taste of the dish, not the heat that matters ;D.  Enjoy the jalfrezi.  Thanks for conducting the whole onion vs chopped onion experiment.  To me it makse perfect sense to cook them whole.  Why waste time chopping when the result is the same or maybe even better .  Waiting for your feedback on the finished dish with the two bases.

Quote from: Razor on August 11, 2011, 10:54 PM


So, I still don't know.  In my mind, there was no difference but the wife was very definite in her choice.

Going to cook with both tomorrow night, just a plain chicken curry, and see if I can pick one from the other.

Ray

Now that's what i call dedication to the cause Ray.  I am sure those new pans will get put through their paces time after time though ;D.  Maybe you couldn't taste the difference that the wife picked up on because, as we all know, when you're cooking, the senses tend to be blunted by the cooking process  .  Try it cold tomorrow and see if the difference is more discernable then.  Will be interesting to hear the results of your plain chicken curry cook off though ;D.

Quote from: abdulmohed2002 on August 10, 2011, 12:09 AM
Pictures look lovely, i wanted to ask, did you use food colouring?

I have read the recipe and there has not been any food colouring mentioned but it looks quite red and I would like to know whether it is because of the chilli powder and tomato puree.

Thank you,

Abdul

Not sure whether the question was directed at me or 976 Abdul or both.  I didn't use food colouring but as 976 said the tandoori massala may add some redness, although only one tsp was used when i produced the dish for the second time.  Probably more due to the tomato paste and chilli powder used in my version.   I'm not sure if Ramirez added any.  One BIR I've had this dish from certainly adds food colouring to this dish, unnecessary in my option.

Quote from: 976bar on August 10, 2011, 06:32 AM
Hi Curryhell,

I always brown the edges of Onions and Peppers when cooking for an Indian dish, it gives it more flavour

I think i'll make it standard practice as well 976.  It certainly will add  additional flavour.

Quote from: 976bar on August 09, 2011, 01:16 PM
Ok made this for lunch today and I am impressed

So glad you enjoyed it 976 .  A reduction in oil is not always a bad thing.  I will try it with Abdul's base once I've thinned the freezer down a bit.  As for the chilli heat, that is always a personal thing and normally it is a medium dish, not the heat i like it  ;D. I don't mind the sweetness because it is offset by the souring agent.  I found that the mango chutney gave it a savoury sweetness not a sickly sweetness that using sugar can give, if overdone.  I used tamarind concentrate second time round rather than lemon juice and found it to be better than lemon juice.  I always find that lemon juice is very discernable when used in a dish.  The tamarind was a lot more subtle.  Upping the garlic content  .   I love the stuff so i will probably up it by double the amount once I've found the overall flavour i am looking for ;D ;D.  And i completely agree on doubling the onion and pepper content.  I would also suggest that if you can burn the onions and peppers at the edges when you're frying them off, do so since that's how they always appear when my local serves the dish up.
That's another thumbs up the NIS.  I await Razor's report now and JB's when he gets round to hosting another curry fest.
Thanks again for taking the trouble to try my recipe and the detailed feedback 976