Hey ronnoc, don't be put off by all the questioning, it's a neccessary evil I'm afraid. From my own point of view I would prefer, once you are happy with the quantities, that you give the original chef's recipe with its original quantities. That way I can scale it to suit me.

Thanks for the effort you're putting in.

How big is the chef's spoon measure? They do seem to vary so I think we need this information even if it's only a guess.

Quote from: ronnoc on January 30, 2008, 01:00 PM
he also makes his own batch of tomatoe sauce.

That sounds like what they call a masala. Do you have a recipe for that, I'd be interested to see it if you do.

I've just bought a house to do up and I'm having to make do with the space I have at the moment which is a two foot square surface. I just can't work on such a small surface and I've dropped my knife twice, the second time it stuck point first into the floor. It doesn't bear thginking about what would happen if it were one of those fancy ceramic ones and it caught my foot!

Quote from: Bobby Bhuna on January 30, 2008, 11:58 AM
My flatmate bought a ?50 Kyocera ceramic knife from TKMax Home for ?5

Was that a recent purchase. Have they sill got them?

For me cumin is the real bugbear. It seems to easily overpower a curry if too much is used and consequently I tend to use very little (probably half a teaspoon at most). On the other hand while I used to hold the opinion that others seem to have that garam masala is too overpowering to use at all, I now use about 1/4 to half a teaspoon in my madras and I really think it helps.

Quote from: smokenspices on January 30, 2008, 02:09 AM
Can it really be that there are two members who dare to disagree with you...

Only two? I must be slipping up somewhere then.

Quote from: Cory Ander on January 30, 2008, 01:29 AM
The chef SPECIFICALLY says to remove the scum, so we should SURELY remove the scum IF we wish to make HIS curry base the way HE makes it.

I have an aunt who insists that the only way to make genuine felt is to wade up to your knees in edited by CA for inappropriate language, while bare legged you grind those sheep fibres into submission. The effectiveness of the method is indisputable being a traditional method going back to the 1400's at least, but you know what, I can make felt without the edited by CA for inappropriate language, and without the mind numbing drudgery of stomping it for hour upon hour.

There is no argument here, the scum is innocuous (ok in some limited circumstances it may not be) but in general it is an insignificant factor.

If you wish to promote the fiction that it makes a bit of difference to the finshed curry then so be it, but I suggest you ply your trade in that other well known forum where "if you say it's so, then it's so".

You know when I started out with the Chuckle Brothers' joke? Well apparently it isn't so much a joke as reality. Do I need to say more :

Quote from: Cory Ander on January 30, 2008, 12:12 AM
As far as this thread goes, I'd be inclined to do as the chef does if we wish to faithfully reproduce and comment upon HIS recipe.

How can I argue with that? But of course in the same vein you will now stop arguing about the reasons behind including a brand name curry powder in the Madras/generic base thread. You will stop arguing because nearly every mix powder that actual BIRs use include curry powder, and that's what the BIR chefs do. OK?