I have knocked up some of Sced's spiced oil and will try with Dips Base and Madras tomorrow. I heated a little of the oil in a pan and got the most intense bir smell I have ever had at home. There is a very gentle bir taste as well but I anticipate this will intensify in the base and finished madras.

Received my book this morning and is very good value for ?4. I have emailed Abdul introducing him to the site and have asked him about the "missing flavour" when trying to replicate our favourite restaurant dishes at home.

I'll let you know when I have a reply.

Hopefully my copy will be delivered tomorrow. Anything new in the base?

Yes, you are bang on about that. I have eaten a Madras in every BIR in my town (about 15 Restaurants and T/As) and there has been big differences in each dish. Your recipe for me was much, much better than the vast majority already and with more practise I think I can make it even better.

I have always chopped and changed bases and cooking methods but now I intend to use this and improve my cooking techniques.

Thanks again

Nick

Hi Chewy,

I made a Madras with your 3 Hour base and was very impressed. In fact, it was probably the best I have ever made. I think the sieving of the base, Kashmiri Chilli Powder and cooking on a high temperature with the lid on for the last 30 seconds until the oil separates made the most difference from my previous efforts.

I still think there is a slight taste difference to my favourite BIR but the more I think about it the more I think that the missing taste may be down to the cooking of chicken bones in the base. I'll add some homemade chicken stock to my next batch as I am sure it will give me an indication whether this is worth pursuing.

Many thanks for the recipes, btw do you have a particular precooked chicken method?

I have just ordered the 24cm pan  from;

http://www.chefline.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=1760&osCsid=02o0174va30smsmgseefnjrns4

I'll post a few pics when I get it.

Hi Chewy,

Your watered down tomato puree looked orangy in colour - not sure if that is just the video. How much water do you use to dilute the puree?

Fantastic video - Can't wait to try, just need a new sieve and some Kashmiri Chilli Powder!

By the way, where did you get your pan. I am after a similar one.

Cheers

Mads

For me personally, I have finally found a base and madras recipe which looks good, is full of flavour and most importantly just as good if not better than my closest TA.

I will now move on with this and replace my Sainsbury's own chilli powder with Deggi Mirch, use a proper lemon dressing, make the mix powder with freshly ground spices and generally try to lift the taste in a step by step manner.

I feel I have chopped and changed bases and recipes far too much and have missed out on improving the dish with subtle changes and/or technique.

I'll document any changes I'll make to the dish and base and compare those changes with a side by side comparison.

Nick

Job done! I made Mick's Madras (with Razors tweeks) using Taz's base and what a fantastic result. Best BIR curry I have ever made (3 years of trying). I purchased a madras from a TA just around the corner from where I live, got home and cooked my curry.

Visually they looked almost the same, mine was a bit smoother and had better texture but more importantly tasted much better. They were evenly spiced and both had the same depth of flavour but mine was less sweet and had a bit more of a tomato taste to it.

There is no way I will consider buying another Madras from this TA as mine was tastier - first time I can say that!

I have a few pics and will try to work out how to post.

Mine on the Left - Sorry picture is a bit naff

Thanks Razor, I have been on the site for a while trying various different bases as well as buying books like the 'Undercover Curry' but have fallen short of the mark when comparing to my local TA.

It has been a bit of a strange one really. I was cooking a more traditional curry recipe the other week and after frying off the onion, g&g, chillis with my spices I blended the mixture with some water and unintentionally ended up with a watery base sauce. The sauce was too underspiced (even though sufficient spice had been used) for chicken to be added and eaten so I decided to reduce as much as I could until a thick consistency was reached.

The result was fantastic. This horrible watery dish transformed into one of the best curries I had ever tasted. I was so impressed I took some into work and asked some of my Indian colleagues to try for which they gave me a thumbs up.

When I thought about this later it made me realize that reducing the excess water and the frying of the spices without the risk of burning had made a massive difference. When I saw this thread and Taz's base it seemed the natural choice following from my own recent successes.

Just about to blend the base now so will update a bit later on.

Cheers

Nick