hi onion
great pics and very brave of you to attempt 15 onions version of this base. just pleased to help. bearing in mind that this recipe is at the moment unique to this site and this site only! keep up the good work . if i can get any more demos then i will posting as i can.
have a good weekend to one and all from me

regards
gary

hi guys/gls
what normally happens in the restaurant is they cook the sauce a day inadvance and then boil the next day for a short time and then reduce to a simmer before service. so if take out what you are going to use for this dish/es and either simmer until bubbling or bring to boil and then simmer the oil will rise. but alternatively cook with the sauce and the oil will rise when you cook the final dish and then scoop out what you do not need(some peeps recycle this oil as well although not goo for veggies iukwim

regards and good luck with the meal hope you enjoy it

gary

hi mike
try the Rajver base i posted with the vindaloo demo as the title says Rajver . it is quite esy with no real mystery ingredients. the more the oil you put in it should give you enough to reclaim.

try using the rajver curry powder mix as well i mixed mine the other night and except the colour difference they smelt the same maybe the colour will alter with the quantities they mix up.

these recipes couldnot be simpler but it is mastering the technique and not burning the garlic and spices. if you acheive toffee like smell you are all but there


good luck
regards
gary

mix the powder in the following quantities

4 turmeric
2 curry powder
1 chilli powder
1 coriander
1 cummin
1/2 paprika

as given to me by the rajver chef they mix it in a lidded bucket. using the metal  serving dishes not a balti dish though

regards
gary

hi guys/gls
got a demo of rajvers' madras sauce for free and got the sauce for nothing as well.

2-3tbsp curry oil( his is reclaimed from the curry gravy i asked )
3 ladles of runny curry gravy
1tsp tomato paste
1tsp curry powder(mixed in these quantities, 4 turmeric 2 curry powder 1 coriander 1 cummin 1/2 paprika)will post in right section later)
1tsp chilli powder
1 chefs pinch fine chopped garlic
1 chefs pinch of methi
1 chefs pinch of fresh coriander
1tbsp lemon juice
1 chefs pinch of salt

1) heat pan (medium  heat)
2) add oil to pan heat for 10 seconds
3) add garlic to pan stir a little when it floats remove from heat
4) add salt, curry powder, chilli, tomato paste and return to heat turn up to full stir well when you smell toffee add 1 ladle of curry gravy mix and well
5) add the lemon juice stir well then add the 2 ladles of gravy stir well
6) add the methi and the coriander mix in
7) stir frequently ( as i did... yep they let me in on the action haldi) cook until you have the  right consistency . approx 5 minutes and it's done

it is basically the same as the vindaloo recipe and method save for the lemon juice and the amount of chilli powder.

all you have to do is add the chicken or lamb after the last ladle of sauce in each recipe/method

the whole thing was cooked in total about 6 minutes, but what a buzz totally recommend it.

hope you enjoy the read, would have given you the story in full but don't have the time right now.

regards
gary

hi haldi
the toffee smell is a combination of the garlic (which is not brown) tomato paste spices and chilli powder oh and salt it does happen very quickly. so basically it is add the above to the pan quickly stir for not more than 10 seconds then adding the first base sauce and stir in well this should reduce again very quickly and the oil should rise to the top add the remainder of the heated base and then methi before adding the chicken etc.
i use fresh oil but as you well know that if you curry base oil the controlability ie flash point is higher and it does not burn as easily plus the added aroma when it is heating up.

you should know when the garlic is ready a you will smell ( if you put your nose over the pan) the rawness has gone and it smells slightly sweeter. but remember the fine chopped garlic will burn much more easily than garlic puree. remember the demos you have had the garlic puree does not burn it just "solidifies" i think it was the chicken balti and prawn madras demo. go back and read through your old post i do it regularly.

the next time you go in to the restaurant try telling the chef you have all this wonderful equipment and would he mind coming round to your home and giving you a demo using what you have and could he give you any tips if not.

i ran out of curry powder the other day it was after 6 o'clock in the evening nowhere around open that would do rajah curry powder so popped into Rajver to ask if i could have some (and some chillies) he said curry powder or mixed powder? i said mixed powder ( i am guessing that this is what he used for the curries) so when i went for my vindaloo demo what he actually ment ( probably because he thinks i know nothing about spices to make it easier tell him(me) curry powder). it looks and smells like Rajah madras gold that terry mentioned and so i did a comparison to the tiny bit of rajah mild curry powder i had actually got left. colour slightly more yellow and more aromatic can't quite put my finger on it. but i have used some and it did make a difference. i am going to try Rajah hot madras curry powder next time to see if that makes a difference. will keep you posted.

just had a thought looked at the spice mix that secrect santa posted and ck mentioned that he had used it with the sauce (minus the coconut milk) and made his best efforts to date. which is similar to bruce's restaurant masala with more turmeric than coriander so i think this would work .

well haldi hope this helps.

regards
gary

hi guys/gls
the yellow creamy powder is fenugreek seeds. if you smell them they have a distict aroma of curry.but methi/kasoori methi are the leaves from the same plant but have a completely different aroma. this dried herb is used in BIR cooking more so than the seeds which are used in the making of cury powder and more traditional dishes. the best methi comes from pakistan and is written quasoori methi... i think, the methi used in the recipes on this site call for methi but use sparingly unless you are making aloo methi which requires 1tbsp per dish ( you can find a recipe for this dish in the bruce edwards curryhouse cookery posting by pete in the downloads section) haven't tried it but it sounds yummy.

hope ths helps. remember newbies don't be afraid to ask qusetions as there are many peeps on this site that can help no matter how stupid you think it is as we have all been there

regards
gary

hi guys/gls
very pleased that you are all happy with your results using the Rajver base i posted. i also believe that this is the best base i have had from rajver. next time i go in i will try to get another viewing and maybe taste the base again. at last we are getting closer and closer to our goal. i have found that using passata instead of tomato puree/paste i have better results. as i said before most of the hard work is done in the first minute of cooking you final dish then it is all about getting the consistency right then adding the coriander at the end.have yet to try CK's method of cooking the curry in advance and then reheating the curry later in the evening as i am normally cooking at about 9 o'clock in the evening and there is never any left over.

remember TOFFEE SMELL IS GOOD BUT DO NOT GO BEYOND THIS SMELL AS YOU WILL PROBABLY GOING TO BURN THE SPICES. SO TOFFEE SMELL THEN ADD A LADLE OF BASE.

good luck all of you and happy currying!

any questions then i will try to answer them as soon as i can

regards
gary

hi chilli
heston blumenthal used a drum bbq built up some bricks around the middle of his bbq put the charcoals on the outside allowed to heat and that reached the same temperatures as the tandoori oven he had seen in india it was about 380degrees C it took about 6 minutes to cook the chicken charred as if from a real tandoor and still moist on the inside.

it was on the series "In search of perfection".on bbc2 2 weeks ago
you maybe able to view it on the web or maybe a link on this site somewhere

regards
gary

hi haldi
they have to cook theirs that long because they use a 10kg bag of onions. the key is to possibly cook the whole thing for about 1 1/2hrs indeed boil for that long. then blend add some water and simmer till the oil rises or if you extract some of the oil but not all of it as it helps to preserve the sauce. i tend to blend with the oil still in then add water simmer till the oil rises. but even the chefs at these restaurants making the sauce day in day out get it wrong sometimes having to tweak the sauce at the end as i have said by adding salt or sugar to give the desired results. even if they use the same type of onion each time you can't tell what the cooking will do to it as we all know. remember that not every onion will make you cry if you are chopping them maybe it is not the onions that are giving you the problem but the amount of salt you are adding to the pot. try reducing this to maybe half see how you get on.

regards
gary

ps a friend told me today that one of the local restaurants hhave advertised in the local paper about giving lessons ?20 each lesson  will give more details as soon as i get them.