Well said jb. I find it amazing how people post on here with confidence that "bir's don't do it this way" or "it's probably not the way most BIRs do it" based on no evidence whatsoever, just blind faith in their own preconceptions and guesswork. At least you post info based on what you've seen in a real bir.

My own opinion (note, opinion...!) is that most BIRs probably do precook their potatoes with a method similar to what you've posted. I base this on:

- it's simple and easy to do, even in large quantities
- it works
- it doesn't use the time and expensive gas which boiling a large pot of potatoes in water would
- it produces results which look and taste exactly like the potatoes I've tasted in Bombay aloo from many different BIRs

I'd welcome SS or anyone else who has witnessed BIRs precooking potatoes by boiling them in water to post a recipe for a home sized quantity and then we can actually try this and compare results with the jb method

I've made a lot of roast potatoes in my life SS, but never in a covered dish at such a low heat. I don't agree with you these are roast potatoes- if anything they're half steamed and half baked.  <------ you may insert your pun of choice right there when quoting.

I'm surprised you think most BIRs will boil their pots in water - at restaurant quantities that's an awful lot of water which needs to be heated to the boil at considerable expense compared to just putting them in a covered pan in a low oven. Added to which the perils of stopping boiled potatoes over cooking or breaking up.....  and how many more spices would you need to add to flavour the potatoes sufficiently when you're diluting with water?

It doesn't add up to me, but you seem certain so I guess you've been into many bir kitchens.

I find these potatoes work great as a substitute for meat in any curry, and with the way meat prices are heading it's much more economical too. Aloo Ceylon is especially great as somehow potato and coconut flavours just work well together.

A couple of people have asked for a scaled down quantity version of jb's recipe and since I always keep notes on the recipes I cook, I thought I would share the below which is my interpretation of the jb method and which I've cooked quite a few times now with good success.  These potatoes come out fully cooked but in no way mushy and seem to tolerate further cooking when added to the final dish. Even tossing them around when cooking a Bombay aloo they keep their shape in a way that boiled potatoes would not, so I'm convinced this oven bake method must be how the BIRs do it. 

No problem to cook these, freeze then defrost and use in a curry, but the qty below will stretch to 3-4 curries, so isn't a huge amount. It's actually a super easy and low-stress cook with nothing difficult at all!

1 chefs spoon or 3 level tablespoon veg oil
1 heaped teaspoon G&G
Half teaspoon cumin seeds or panch phoran - *jb specified cumin, I prefer panch phoran, but either will work
Half teaspoon cumin powder
Half teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 level teaspoon salt
2 heaped dessertspoon chopped tomatoes
750g potatoes peeled and cut into large chunks

----------------
Heat oil and fry G&G with panch phoran seeds. Add turmeric and cumin powder with tomatoes and fry. Add potatoes and fry for 3-5 mins, stirring a little.

Place in lidded oven proof dish, cover pan and place into preheated oven fan 130C for 60 mins.  This works for large potato chunks, if you cut yours smaller then maybe a shorter cook will be enough.  Obviously the size, shape and material of the dish has an influence too. A thin later of potatoes spread across the bottom of a big metal dish will cook much quicker than a piled high heap of pots in a small Pyrex dish.

Chicken naga masala - 1 good sized portion


3 tbsp oil
1 rounded tsp garlic&ginger paste (50/50)
Quarter tsp hot chilli powder
Half level tsp salt
1 heaped tsp mix powder of your choice
1 heaped tsp tomato puree diluted with 3 times as much water
1 chicken breast (raw) sliced acrossways into strips
350ml base gravy diluted with water - should be like thin soup
1 heaped tablespoon Maggi coconut milk powder
1 rounded tsp Mr Naga hot chilli pickle
1 rounded tsp white sugar
Quarter to a third tsp Garam masala
Chopped fresh coriander to dress


Fry G&G in oil
Add half tsp chill powder, plus 1 rounded tsp mix powder
Singe Fry the spices and add dilute tom puree as  needed to control the temp and extend the spice cook. Try to fry them at least 2 mins in total
Add chicken and fry a few mins then add salt. If using precooked chicken, add it later
Add 2/3 of the base and cook on med/high heat to reduce
Add 1 tsp mr Naga, 1 heaped dessertspoon coconut milk powder, 1 rounded tsp sugar
Add remaining base gravy and Garam masala then cook until thickness of sauce is correct

Aim to cook at least 8-10 mins after adding first base. If it's not possible to cook it that long without the sauce becoming too thick, then either your base was too thick or your hob was set too high.

A thread started in the "recipes" area of the forum which contains no recipe. An epic topic drift into a discussion about balti....

... and of course not a single visible admin or moderator (as usual).  Just another normal day on the forum!

Since we can now apparently post anything anywhere, let's turn this into a discussion about why posting in the correct sections of the forum is a good idea. Not to satisfy my OCD or to dampen the enthusiasm of anyone who wants to fly off at a tangent and change the subject of half the threads they participate in. Purely so that members who wish to read the threads at a future date stand at least some chance of finding the discussions they're interested in. 

If we could use the "let's talk curry" or "pictures of curries" sections to post pics of our efforts and discuss them, that will keep the recipes area clear for people who are posting recipes. And if we could start a new thread about balti, if that's what is to be discussed, then it would be a lot less confusing for anyone who has searched for info on staff curry and found this thread.

And if, one day in the far distant future, the forum could find an admin or moderator team who will provide some visible leadership, then I'm sure the revival in the forum's fortunes will follow soon after!

IFFU mix powder blend is here: https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=7635.0

I think he subsequently started making up bags of it and selling on eBay, using Jalpur Garam masala and eastern star curry powder. No idea how well it went for him, but Jerry seemed pleased with the product.

The IFFU blend is the one I most commonly use at home, although I mix it myself.  Really good, in my estimation at least.

looks like a successful recipe - do you rate that YouTube channel? It looked a bit, um, fake to me. Quite a commercial filming style with a brand name bag of rice to the forefront and an old guy who seemed chosen for his wisened appearance more than his cooking ability. The way he cut the onion so clumsily and then burned the whole spices on too much heat - is this guy really an experienced cook?

Sorry I know I sound grumpy and I don't know the back story of that YouTube channel at all, just my first impression.

Mind you, your pics look good, so no doubt it's a useful recipe.

Thanks for setting me straight on the thermal conductivity of iron Livo. Not sure where I got that idea from, probably placing too much faith in the advertising claims of lidl's iron Karahi dish which I was checking out recently.

A really late reply to Jerry's question above and I realise he may not even see it, but it's a good topic for discussion I think.

My answer to the question posed would be it must be due to the heat conduction provided by thicker aluminium or iron pans. Iron especially is known as a great and efficient conductor of heat. Thin pans like a wok might seem like they would let the heat through quicker but I think the thinness actually works against you in that the surface of the pan which touches the hob heats up so quickly that the rate at which the pan can conduct heat energy will be lower than for a thicker pan made with a good conductor like iron.  For heat to flow there has to be a temperature difference, and the bigger the difference, the faster the flow. A pan which takes the heat away from the hob quicker is therefore going to be conducting more heat to the contents of the pan.

Thicker pan, better conductor (iron or copper), ergo better heat conduction and higher temps at the inside surface of the pan which the curry is in contact with.  This assumes a heat source which relies on conduction through the pan. Of course induction is different in that it heats the pan itself, so the thinner pans might work very well on induction.

This is my top-of-the-head theory, but I don't know of course. Interested to hear other views.