Wow that was quick  ;D



My dry mix is basically Julian's from the video, using a local curry powder "Clive of India" which is pretty good, and the base is also Julian's quick one with the fried onions. I retained the oil from the fried onions, made it up the required no. of chef spoons and used that. The final dish has a beautiful sweetness that I guess comes from the onions.

I resisted the temptation to do my usual frying of the Jeera seeds etc and just stuck to the recipe. I had a momentary panic about the mushrooms maybe sticking and burning but I've had a lot of experience with mushrooms and realised they would shortly "sweat" and exude a lovverly juice that would start to thin the mixture.



I did the garlic version plus some Kashmiri Chilli powder, so medium hot.

This is fantastic, I was going to have it as a mere side dish to some Beef Madras, but guess what ..... Thanks a million, CH and LI.

;D haha



PS: in fact I ended up with base left over as I realised it would make it far too "saucy" if i used more than the quantity in the directions, so I'm wondering if the ingredients list could be out a bit on the gravy.

Maybe breaking a tooth on a stick of Llandudno rock?

Supermarket round the corner has mushrooms again for AUD 7 a kilo, I'm going to scale the recipe up to 450g and I'll post results.

Edit: in the instructions I only seem to find a total of 2 chefs spoons of gravy, I'll use the 3 (scaled up to my recipe) anyway.

Puzzled by the heaped tsps of prediluted puree. If prediluted then it won't "heap" - I'll assume heaped then diluted. 

I'm also going to put in some extra kashmiri chilli with the dry mix as I likes it 'ot.

On my home brew forum I've so far posted 12,539 posts since 2008.
But then I drink way more beer than I eat curries  ;D

I envy your stomach capacity, nowadays I have to limit myself to a couple of tablespoons of each if I am having a "Thali" dinner. They look great.

Via SWMBO, we have an original Bamix stick blender with all the accessories including a spice grinder - must be at least 25 years old - I believe it was a wedding present from a former marriage  ;D and it's running as good as new. I keep if for special tasks like base gravies but for other blending jobs I use a supermarket cheapie as I'd like to keep the Bamix going for a few years yet.

I've destroyed a couple of cheapies during my curry career so far. However on checking, the current Bamix is now fearfully expensive.  However if you ever come across a second hand one in a charity store or whatever, grab it.

Dunno what beef prices are like in the UK but I get whole rumps from the local butcher for around GPB 8 a kilo. the full rump has a tougher end and a more tender end, so I get the butcher to slice off from the tender end for about half way, then just get the tougher end as a single lump.

Then I remove fat and tendons etc and turn it into one inch cubes and freeze in a couple of batches. I marinate and precook a batch for around an hour and a half and it's ideal for beef recipes.

Thanks for the heads up on the mushroom bhaji - haven't made that before, and I like the idea of stinking for three days aftewards  ;D - local supermarket has mushies on special for AUD 7 a kilo at the moment - they aren't the big white tasteless ones, much smaller and browner and flavoursome so probably ideal for the task.

I did a search and downloaded a brilliant recipe from 2006 from Fat Les, any thoughts on a more up to date one? Looks fine to me. 

In the early 1960s I was travelling along the M4 late at night with my Uncle when we pulled over in amazement along with dozens of cars. Everyone got out and was staring into the sky. There were three pairs of headlights up there, completely stationary and beaming down onto the motorway with a roaring sound in the sky. Then they zoomed away.

Next year the successful launch of the Harrier Jump Jet (produced in Bristol) was announced. 

Hi Anarak

I'm interested in your use of a gas BBQ for tandoori chicken - what sort is it, a covered version that acts like an oven? Thinking of getting a small "kettle" gas BBQ shortly for the same purpose and interested to hear how you got on.

Happy Currying.

Welcome Graeme. Greetings from the East Coast. 

Yes Indian restaurants are becoming far more popular here than even 10 years ago. Going back 20 or 30 years there were very few indeed, perhaps only two or three in each capital city. Then with increasing Asian migration and especially Indian and Pakistani migrants from the UK itself, Indian is becoming a growth industry.

Now I had the pleasure of visiting a Sikh restaurant in 1983 which was only just a few years after I'd migrated here myself. It was on the NSW North Coast at a place called Woolgoolga which is at the centre of a huge banana growing region. The industry was set up by Sikhs decades ago and there are hundreds of them - and they opened a BIR style restaurant for tourists, Woolgoolga being right on the National Highway and is a popular surfing beach.

My recollection was that the food was spot on BIR, Mrs and I had Chicken Biryani with the veg side curry and Lamb Dopiaza IIRC. I was right back in the UK 

Nowadays although the current offerings at our local restaurants are ok, they are nothing to rave over and I wonder when and why the "rot" set in. You obviously noticed it when you arrived recently.

My curry cooking has literally been on the back burner for a couple of months as we are moving interstate, but with the aid of this forum and the various E books you can get I aim to get my cooking started again and give the BIR a real nudge this time.

Note: unfortunately the restaurant at Woolgoolga has closed down. Following a massive cyclone that destroyed the QLD banana crop, bananas went up to $12 a kilo last year and the Woolgoolga / Coffs harbour (NSW) farmers made a freaking fortune - why slave over the pots when you can sit back and watch the yellow gold grow in the fields. haha.