SNS

will keep u all posted on the new pan. i did order the 10".

we're stuffed. it's not on BBCi

it was last night:

"Asian arts and lifestyle magazine. First of a two part documentary special. Food fan Ravinder Bhogal goes on a quest to trace how Britain came to fall in love with Indian food. She travels to some of the most notorious curry hotspots in London, Birmingham and Leicester to meet some of the people who brought curry to Britain"

hey oh.

i've put it on our kitchen calendar.

not happy they?ve missed the curry capital Brum off the list though  ;D

would say though the walk through rusholme is pretty spectacular day or night

SNS,

thanks, have a pan on the way (20? inc vat & del)

the eurocatering website appears to have a 50? min order.

has anyone any other ideas on where to get as i'm sold on buying one.

Davy,

this has been on my mind for a while.

i use an electric hob on full (i think it's a measly 1.5kw) and get the toffee/choking smell no probs.

my curries are not quite there at BIR taste and the only 2 things i currently have on my mind causing the shortfall is either the burner or the use of recovered oil.

a few weeks ago i tried cooking on my gas bbq. the burner is rectangular and not ideal. it's rated at 7.5kw output so felt it was a reasonable comparison c/w the 1.5kw in doors. i couldn't really say there was a difference in the taste. the wok hey effect i understand builds with cooking and sort of not washing the wok so this could still be a factor.

there's a 7.5kw wok burner for 25? on ebay that i keep thinking about. i currently intend eliminating the reclaimed oil before splashing the cash.

the other small issue with cooking outside was the lost convenience compared to the hob in the kitchen.

however the small issue with cooking inside is that no residential extract would shift the toffee/choking smoke and although i have no problems cooking in it  ;D the family do complain and end up opening the back door.

i'm also questioning whether i really need that last 5% on taste as i couldn't NOT keep nipping to my local BIR and Takeaway.

Mr Bogus,

when i 1st joined the site for a short while i thought i was going to get know where - the reason being there was so much information that i did not know how to assembly it.

what was clear is that by reading and searching u can almost answer all of the questions yourself. i say almost and that's where the rest of the members come in. they can explain, guide and provide their experiences to short cut the answer for u.

so

QuoteBut just when do I add them?

this is a spot on question and there is a lot of info on the subject. i recommend u search on toffee smell as i feel it?s quite key and has helped get me a step improvement.

in brief the spice u refer to or mixture is what i call a spice mix - this is only put in at the frying stage not in the base. i also mix with it curry powder (1tsp ea per portion 200ml finished curry). u could add other spices at the frying stage but i don't believe that is normal BIR practise (but of coarse like many of us i don't know for sure). i certainly add cardamom now and again.

the base for me is more of a bland sort of soup. the spices don't really jump out of it although i believe a good base should include garam masala.

i believe that every different BIR curry does start out life ie at the start of the frying the same. different ingredients are then added to the basic ingredients (ie base, spice mix, tom puree, onion/garlic) to change the final taste ie cream coconut in CTM, green pepper in a balti.

u should not be using that much spice in both the base and ea curry. also try not to buy from western supermarkets as prices are extortionate. if you have not got a ml spoon set ie 5ml tsp and 15ml tbsp then i would try and get one.

what base have u made and how much spice are u using in ea serving. of the bases i've made i would say the saffron base uses the largest amount of spice (20 tsp) but it makes 4.5l or 22 off 200ml curries which is 1 tsp per portion - so not that much.

in terms of ea portion of curry i use 1 tsp spice mix and 1 tsp of curry powder so again not that much.

hope this starts to help a little.

how was the website author lucky enough to get a job tasting curries for a living. :

cg,

i think u definitely need to switch the cinnamon to casia.

i particularly like star anis and use it all the time even for pre cooking chicken.

i found an earlier post (https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,2454.msg21350.html#msg21350) on frying whole very helpful - ie roast each spice individually

on the use of other spice to make garam i think the more the better (i currently use 13).

nb i no longer make my own curry powder having recently succumbed to trying the rajah - it was really top notch and much better than i could make myself (much closer to BIR). i am also going to buy the rajah garam to compare against my own. in short diy roasting is good to get an understanding of the taste of the individual spices but it may not get close enough to BIR.

thanks gary - got the madras recipe.

will try out next. it's pretty close to what i'm doing so far (the difference being that i need to include onion, ginger, pinch garam, lemon juice). the pinch of garam is particularly interesting- will also buy the rajah as i now swear buy their curry powder. i also note there is no what i call spice mix (paprika,coriander,cumin - the salt & chilli being added directly) which is surprising.

have also pinned down the following link where the rajver luxury sauce started life

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,2041.0.html