that recipe looks the business . nice one

i have been cooking on gas for 4 years, but was also a lecky guy before this     The extra heat of gas is useful and improves flavour slightly. But i can still produce a  similar tasting curry on electric , i am not convinced that high heat makes a huge amount of difference.
      The high heat of gas does improve your cooking style, and that improves the final taste.
I  actaully think my best curries are long slow cook curries done in a more traditional way in the oven with lid covering the pot for 5 hours. This really produces the wow factor for me.
      Bir curries are a quick way to do a good curry, but i think some cr0 members are missing out by just doing bir curry all the time. 
       

Finally got some real kashmiri chilly powder to see if its worth the hype.
       It is definately a true bir taste, but not the missing 5 % , so dont worry if you cant find any.
Its milder and more savoury than normal chilly powder , and reminded me of 2 local restaurants that must use kashmiri chily.
    Its mild and  weak tasting so you need to add a heaped table spoon per dish, and really pump up the heat to bring out its flavour.  I wont be returning to normal chilly powder accept for vindaloo.  Its well worth a try.

Nice one to who ever posted those lovely photos of that reddish curry. That looks just like the high standard served at my favourite local takeaway.  Words cannot describe what i mean. But the picture says it all.   
    Whoever cooked that dish must be a true seasoned pro !  i can almost smell the aroma from here ! 

ok thanks unclefrank !  already planning a sunday cookathon to test these out.  shit i used up all the gravy ! panic stations ! 

Hi all,  i assume this book being refered to is the authentic balti curry book?  i have this book and thought the rogan josh was nice.  Can anyone who uses the book alot recomend which other recipes are the best to try?
cheers .  PS this book beat the socks of the kris dillon book.

When i used to watch the chef at my local cook i noticed he had a jar of whole spices which they would re use. yes you heard me, re use.  yes they were that tight fisted  ;D. 
      they never leave whole spices in the curry as it turns customers away.  but i remember seeing a clove swimming around my bhoona during cooking, then its removed.
      So i guess they might re use a clove 3 or 4 times, or cassia bark and cardomaon pods in rice.
     Never assume they only use spice mix in your favourite dish, as they do drop in other whole spices, and remove them before serving.   
     Cr0 members often overlook pucka spices such as cloves, and nigella seeds and curry leafs. all are great in small amounts in my humble opinion .  my 2 peneth worth has been spent once again !  thats twice this week  ;D

made a salad the other day and left the onion and lettuce tomato out to air by accident, for a day.  The taste of the onion and tomato was much sweeter.  The air seems to mellow the flavour, and improve it alot.
        Next time i make a base i will be cutting the onion up and leaving it out to air for 24 hours, in the hope it may improve the flavour. .  I will then do what i usually do. E.G  fry the onion in oil gently for 1 hour before making the base.  Thought i would share this idea in case it works.   

hi elw , no i actually scaled up the ashoka base gravy to make it last all year !!!. , I always follow everything to the letter. The coconut quantity is not clearly specified so i used quality cocnut block . i kept the amount reasonable, so it just adds tecture not too much flavour.  Dont overdo the coconut it should be noticable but subtle in the final gravy.  The cooking time is not long. I never cook any base gravy for long, it just overcomplicates things. 
   The ashoka gravy should be thick, so little water is needed.  Its a thick gravy compared to many.  Dont reduce the salt or cumin either.  hope this helps
     

Hi haldi
   That abdul guy gets everywhere !  Interesting that it came from him though.
     On a more serious note i got much better results on night two, when i used my own prefered spice mix, and stuck to my own techniques and methods. The JB madras recipe seemed to be the problem on night one. The base is very very good. The lemony zest mostly disappears into the background in the final dish, and works better than simply adding a tsp of lemon juice. Which is what i used to do.
         Haldi, i would urge you to give this base a second chance.
    I would strongly disagree that this base be matched to his method only.  I used a common cr0 method we all use, and results were well above average.
     I feel abdul has provided us with a great base.  But failed to complete the picture with a good madras recipe. I am sure cr0 members can use there skill to improve on abduls madras recipe, by playing around with what they know already.  Good luck !