Hot diddly damn that looks fantastic!

I'll be honest Chewy - I made it for a chili head mate - too hot for me! I haven't heard back from him yet, hope he is alive

Looking forward to the podina vid, I used to make it in the pub, using a KD base and changing my recipe for Methi by adding dried mint instead of kasuri methi.  Think I got the original idea from Pat Chapman's curry bible.  I found it worked better for lamb than chicken - in my opinion (but I just love lamb!)

I used to quite like bombay duck - my dad got me into it as a kid.  Then for years I used to enjoy asking for it in curry houses (safe in the knowledge that they didn't actually have any, despite it being on the menu).  I think the european safety elves banned it or something?

Hi and welcome to the site.

Congrats on your first BIR curry - I bet it was pretty good!

Regarding the base consistency - they can be pretty thin.  The trick is to either add the base in smaller amounts to achieve the consistency you are looking for.  Or just reduce it a bit longer (don't fear the gas - if it splatters a bit - put a lid on )

Maybe you could try Cory Ander's or Stephen Lindsay's Bhuna recipes - both use a bit-by-bit approach to the base - and have nice piccies on how they should end up.  (You can still use your KD base and spice mix)

Sorry about links - got carried away with adding colour! - please use Phils (ta mate)

For a Dhansak - try Chewy's Video for tips! I'm also a big fan of Gezh's recipe.

(feel free to add pineapple chunks to your hearts content!

No probs Frank - I only got the book as it was cheap.  At first glance the recipes seem pretty standard.  The base and 8 spice look ok - I wouldn't mind trying either.

Like Blade he uses no yoghurt for his Tikka and Tandoori - which I like the sound of.

He is very inconsistent with his measurements - using exact measurements for nearly everything - then ruining it with a random "4 ladlefuls" for the Dhansak, and this "intense garlic puree" as you pointed out.

His recipes look like you throw in your g/g paste, yoghurt and onions in at once and cook "till golden" I can't see that working too well - putting anything in with onions tends to stop them cooking as well.  Maybe it is just bad wording?

I think it is restaurant style recipes - tailored for home cooking, hence the 2 person portions.  One of the homestyle recipes also use the Base - which seems unlikely?

However having 2 identical recipes is pretty cheeky - even for ?3.50!

Will prob give something a go - and don't mean to be over critical without actually cooking anything - but I won't be in a rush.  Too many other things to try out first

Did you notice that the "meat-on-the-bone curry" and lamb curry are identical?

Made this up this morning following Chewy's video.  Instead of using normal chilli I used a dried Naga Jolokia (apparently the hottest in the world).  It was very nice but very hot!!

Pre-Cooked Red Lentils - just water and lentils


Frying the garlic slices and dried chilli


The finished Tarka Dal


Some friends bought me the chillis from London

Made up some Blade's chicken tikka yesterday and my 11 month old son seemed rather partial to it!  These sort of things make a father proud

hehe still only 60-80ml oil - compared with 450ml for Taz Base (only one I can remember off top of my head)

Hey Ray, glad you tried it. When I first made this I added onions and bulked up the recipe too thinking i had found a great base replacement, but was too impatient to reduce the sauce enough. Sounds like you had better luck.

The real benefit of this curry is how easy it is to make most of your BIR favourites from it.

Worth a punt on the book for 4 quid. Think I'll pass on the oil though