Few more...

aloo massala..


sag aloo..

aloo chat..



pilau rice and garlic chilli keeme rice...

Invited some friends for lunch on Sunday,asked them if they wanted a roast dinner or a curry feast...you can imagine the answer!!

Anyway on the menu...chicken tikka main,balti chicken pathia,chicken garam massala,tandoori garlic naga,bhuna massala,chicken tikka rezalla,aloo massala,sag aloo,chana massala,aloo chat,pilau rice,garlic chiili keema rice...

pre cooked stuff..


pathia..


garam massala..


bhuna massala..


tikka rezalla..


garlic naga..

As per usual whilst cooking I got very little of 'that' BIR smell,your smell senses really do suffer in the kitchen.I get the same thing while I'm actually in the takeaway.However,after popping out of the house for a while my return to the house was greeted with a big waft of what smelt like an indian takeaway.I thought it would be a good idea to take the food to work and share with my colleagues.They've been pestering me for ages.I reheated the curries in the oven,the same lovely BIR smell immediately returned to the house.Even better was the smell from the food bag in the car,it was like I'd been to a takeaway and was on my way home with the food.

My collegues couldn't believe their eyes when I turned up with the food,I think they were just expecting some plain curry and rice.They said it was delicious,as good as any takeaway.It was very good,even I thought,every now and again I got a taste of that elusive but very delicious BIR smell and taste.One joked that I'd brought the food in from the takeaway.'If you can cook cook food as good as this why the hell do still buy so much food from takeaways',that made me laugh.

To be honest I think I can now get an almost exact match.I've been in the takeaway so many times now,probably about eight or nine months in all,watching the chef cook just about everything on his menu.I've been allowed out the back,where he stores all of his ingredients and there's nothing there out of the ordinary or any 'magic' stuff.Having said that,there are still dishes on other places menus that I would like to replicate,or a certain taste that is distinctive to some menus,but as far as my current takeaway is concerned I think my food is more than a good match.

I had some spare time yesterday so I thought I would try and replicate some of the dishes I usually get from the takeaway in my kitchen.On the menu,chicken tikka massala,balti pathia,chicken garam massala and garlic naga chicken...

tikka massala..



balti pathia...



garlic naga...


chicken garam massala...

Had yet another thoroughly enjoyable evening in the takeaway last night.The place seems to be getting busier everytime I visit.Weekends are manic,but even midweek the phone doesn't stop ringing with orders.

As usual I arrived just before the place opened,that way I can see the guys do a lot of the prep work before any customers arrive.I still find it strange how they let me in their kitchen,watching and taking notes whilst they cook.I suppose they know I have a passion for BIR cooking and at the end of the day I still order food from the guys so everyone's happy.

I always take my trusty note book with me,and now I'm beggining to see some of the prep work repeated so I can actually re-check all of my notes to make sure I've missed nothing.This week I helped the Chef make a big batch of massala sauce,my next challenge is to make a smaller scaled down version for home use.The Chef also made a big pot of pilau rice,everything was done by eye but I have to say the rice he made was spot on.

As usual I ordered some food before I left,by now the place had quietened down a bit so the chef invited me to cook my own food while he did some other jobs.It all turned out very nice,indeed the chef tasted and gave his nod of approval.The only thing was the portion sizes I cooked,I literally had trouble pushing the lids on top!! I cooked aloo chat,chicken garam massala,sag aloo and a vegetable rice.....



garam massala...




aloo chat...



sag aloo....



veg rice....

No garam masala.Quite how the chef came up with the name chicken tikka garam masala is a mystery.It's one of his own creations,any novice curry cook trying to replicate the dish at home would assume it does contain garam masala.The menu description says it's 'chargrilled chicken simmered in hot spices,a generous amount of fresh spices in a thick mouth watering sauce'.No mention of mint sauce or Coleman's prawn cocktail sauce!!

Quote from: Unclefrank on June 01, 2016, 01:46 PM
JB how much almond powder and coconut powder would you say there is in the big tray?
Thanks.

Bit difficult to say exactly,it was in one of the trays they use for their pre-cooked potatoes or meat.They scoop it out using an old catering size tomato puree tin,I reckon about three tins were there.Certainly more coconut than almond,whereas the masala paste has more almond than coconut powder.Everything is done by eye,the chef knows exactly how much to put in his pre cooked stuff.

Here's another recipe from my local take-away kitchen.It's one of the 'special' dishes on the menu,although when you know how it's actually done you realise it's not really that special or complicated at all.Indeed,some of the kitchen condiments used(one in particular) may seem a bit strange in a BIR kitchen but it's one of the most popular dishes on the menu.I've seen it cooked dozens of times now and it literally flies out of the kitchen.It reminds me of the Scottish chasni dish but hotter.I have to chuckle when I see a lot of these 'special' or 'exclusive' dishes on BIR menus,usually they're 'simmered in exotic spices' or 'smothered in Chef's exclusive spice blend'.In reality they're usually nothing more than a standard curry wth a few tweaks here and there from the Chef's own imagination.

First in your curry pan put in a chef's spoon of veg oil mixed with some butter ghee.Get the pan hot then quickly add the following...finely chopped garlic,service onions,blended plum tomatoes,table spoon of mix powder,teaspoon of chill,pinch of dried methi and a pinch of salt.Add your first ladle of base gravy and pre cooked chicken tikka.As per usual don't be tempted to stir too much,let the pan bubble away and stir the caramalized sides back in.(The more I see the chef cook like this the more I'm convinced it's one of the things to get right to get a good curry.)After adding the second ladle of gravy add the following....half a teaspoon of Coleman's mint sauce,one of white sugar,half a chef's spoon of pre made tikka marinade and a quarter chef spoon of Coleman's prawn cocktail sauce.Keep on a high heat for about five minutes and it's done.The curry should be madras hot with a nice subtle tangy sauce.

The prawn cocktail sauce is obviously a very unusual ingredient,purists may question its use in a BIR kitchen but this is how this chef does it,and it's one of the most popular things on the menu.It's not the first time I've seen it's use,my local cash and carry stocks large cartons of the stuff,I doubt if it's just being used to make prawn cocktails.Another curry house I know makes a dish called Rajhastani chicken,basically a shaslik smothered in a red creamy sauce.It had a flavour I just could not pinpoint until the chef told me it was just massla sauce,mayonaise,lemon juice and prawn cocktail sauce,Her's how the garam massala should look...

Like I said,the paste is quite simple and it does save the chef a lot of time cooking a korma instead of added seperate ingerdients to the pan like I've seen other chefs do.The kewra water is new one for me,I've seen it on the Chef's shelf before and wondered what he used it for.I think it's sometimes used for Indan deserts,although I seem to remember the Kushi Balti book used it in their massala paste.

I still go to the take-away every week,usually on Sunday although sometimes on a Friday Or Saturday as well.It's great watching the chefs cook,I've watched them cook just about everything on the menu now.I still find it strange how welcoming the guys are,they have no problem in me watching them cook and If I go early before the place opens I get to see them do the prep work as well.Still can't see any magic or secret ingredients though!

Here's how my local take-away Chef prepares his korma paste.It's quite simple to do,and although I know korma is not everyone's favourite curry I think it's still good to know how a genuine BIR chef cooks one.The paste itself is really a time saving measure,much like the massala paste I've posted before it saves a lot of time when the kitchen is busy and the chef has a lot of dishes to cook at once.

First in a pan he puts in 8 chef spoons of butter ghee and then adds 1 chef spoon of ginger/garlic paste.Then he takes one of his large empty yoghurt pots and fills it with equal amounts of mango chutney,tinned fruit cocktail,plain yoghurt an a little water.This is blended and then added to the big pot.After cooking this for a while he fills a large empty tomato puree tin with sugar and then adds that together with a carton of UHT cream.He then adds a big tray of mixed coconut flour and almond powder,he said more coconut rather than almond.The last thing he adds is a tablespoon of kewra water and then blends the pot so its's really smooth.Here's how it looks in the take-away....