Quote from: curryhell on November 06, 2012, 04:47 PM
That's right Phil, Karela or bitter melon.  One of these little blighters.  The frozen pack he showed me were sliced.





I'll see what more i can find out when i go in on Sunday.

I was in this place last night and he showed me a frozen packet of this,very strange looking stuff indeed.He said I could have some when I cook my next batch of lamb tikka.I was trying to persuade him that he should get together with his chef and produce a recipe book,something along the likes of Abdul's or CBM's.He actually thought it was a good idea so watch this space!!

Quote from: curryhell on November 20, 2012, 05:06 PM
Top review as said by others.  Nice to see that each dish is disected before tucking in, looking for any useful clues that may be of benefit to us all .  It all sounds like excellent quality BIR Rob.  Look forward to future reports and any tips you can glean from Ali if you're going to become a regular  ;D  Now my mouth is watering and i'm fancying curry again.  Surely not four nights in a row :

Nothing wrong in that Curryhell.Still have the remains of an Elachi NIS from Saturday that's slowly disappearing.Off to spices tonight,did try to get into the New Delhi opening night this evening but it's full up!!  Never mind.

Excellent write up.At last someone has actually tried their food.I'm a big fan of the Kushi book by the way,I know it's had mixes reviews on here.I just wonder how different their dishes are cooked in the restaurant as opposed to in the book.I did read on the website that they actually do lessons,it would be good if you could get into the kitchen.

All looking great as usual,I must try the punjabi massala next time I get my curry pans out.Those garlic mushrooms you described are superb,I always have them madras strength from the restaurant,my wife moans I stink for days!!

Glad the spam seems to be over,I've never seen anything like it,all credit to the guys who cleaned it up.

Just cooking a roast dinner,doesn't look as appealing now! They look mighty fine dishes indeed. I'm a big fan of CBM's jalfrezi.I only add a teaspoon of naga pickle though,it gives a nice subtle flavour but that quantity doesn't seem to overpower the final dish.

Quote from: stevejet66 on November 10, 2012, 07:43 PM
Again ive watched this video about the 4/5 times, what is the liquid poured from the dark pan through the sieve into the base sauce and whats all the stuff that drops in the sieve, doesnt look like a few cinnamon/bay leaves or cardomons to me.
ive also watche julians clip again on youtube, again i listen and watch very carefully, again he showing you how to create a bir curry base at home, then in the next breath after hes added the spices tells you the spices are the most common added but they are basic! then says every chef adds his own secret. so why go on youtube showing you how to cook them then derails everyone!

Stevejet66 I do share your suspicions of BIR chefs,they do have a knack of throwing you of the scent somewhat or explaining a technique and then proceding to add or to do something different.

However in the case of the Zaal video I can confirm what Curryhell has said,there were only spices in that pan.Here in my original quote....

"Next get a medium saucepan on the boil and add a few Cinnamon sticks,a small handful of green cardamon pods and about six bay leaves.Leave to boil for about ten minutes then strain the mixture and put the strained water into the original onion and carrot base.Az explained you could just add the whole spices to the original mixture but you would have trouble trying to fish them out."

I was the one actually taking the notes,believe me if anything else was put in there I would have seen it.The base was one of the things that we questioned the most.Az told us no reused/bhaji oil and indeed no meat stock.Like I said everything that went into that gravy was recorded.

Quote from: curryhell on November 09, 2012, 06:38 PM
Hi jb.  Az said he normally used frozen.  The manager in spices said the chef used fresh but then prepared it for freezing so not sure what category this comes under.  As for the tins, are we talking spinach puree or the leaf stuff?  Never used the leaves but have used the puree along with fresh in SS chicken saag.  Very nice.  On its own its very strong and quite off-putting to look at.  I know it's quite popular in some authentic indian recipes.  Not sure if any of this helps with your dilema though

Thanks,not sure if it's puree or leaves I've spotted in Asda's.They must go through fresh spinach by the bucketload in Spices.

Very impressive as always,976bar can I ask what sort of spinach you use for your sag aloo? fresh,frozen or tinned? Or for that matter does anyone know what restaurants actually use?I have an upcoming curry feast and I've always used fresh.I can't imagine restaurants use fresh,once cooked the stuff goes down to next to nothing and they would go go through tons of the stuff.I always see these tins of spinach so they must obviously be used but then I'm sure I remember Someone on this forum saying it's vile stuff and to avoid it.

Quote from: Secret Santa on November 07, 2012, 08:13 PM

Quote from: stevejet66 on November 07, 2012, 06:58 PM
i can say without doubt that the base gravy is the complete thing, i have actually tried it, as i say again we dont cook a stew then throw it in another pan and throw everything we can at it to make it taste better do we!

Except that that contradicts every single person's direct experience of what happens in a BIR kitchen. There is no question that a base is made and that that forms the 'base' for every dish by being thrown together with loads of other ingredients.

Been reading Stevejet's recent posts regarding base gravies etc,very interesting reading indeed.I have to say though that the complete base gravy/curry sauce he describes is a  new technique to me(I know Haldi has tasted something similar though).I spent a whole evening standing next to a chef in one of my local takeaways on a lesson,there were no suprises or anything 'hidden' he just churned out dish after dish using the familiar thin gravy and then added his other ingredients.I've still got a portion of gravy from my local favourite restaurant and again it is just a thin,mildly spiced gravy,nowhere near a complete curry sauce,and they make some fantastic curries.If anything it is actually is pretty much identical to the Little India base gravy that CBM supplied.

Excellent detective work Curryhell.I was actually thinking about doing some lamb tikka for my upcoming curry feast,however I've never been able to do it properly so far and it always ends up being tough,no matter how long I marinate it for or indeed what sort of  lamb or mutton cut I use.

They are a great bunch of blokes in the restaurant(one even did the taxi service for us on Friday!).You're right they do find our fascination with BIR strange,however if anyone thinks that the guy you spoke to was for some reason trying to fool you then have a look at my comments within this thread from back in March....

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=8047.msg80059#msg80059

I asked the same question and was given the same answer,the meat is cooked first and then finished in the tandoor.Just to clarify what exactly is it they use? frozen papaya or kiwi?

This guy has an interesting video on the subject...

http://www.bharatchannels.com/vahchef/meat-tenderizer-video_208f5daa0.html