Quote from: chriswg on January 24, 2012, 06:19 PM
Bring your cameras along. I'm sure we can get a good video of a Madras or something.

It's the opening party at Zaal tonight and I got an invite.

Freeeeee Cuuuuuuurrrrryyyyyy!!!

not sure life gets a lot better than that

Nice one,enjoy yourself but still keep those eyes and ears alert for anything you can pick up!!!!

Welcome aboard Acrabat.Don't worry I actually lurked on here for a couple of years before posting!!

I'm always intrigued in any tikka marinades that doesn't actually use yoghurt as an ingredient.Abdul certainly used it on my home lessons,I saw a chef make a marinade using yoghurt on my T/A lesson and one of my local T/A's leave their empty catering tubs of the stuff around their back.I'm sure Heston actually did an experiment and found that yoghurt does improve the texture of meat for certain.However I've always found that my marinade was a bit too thick and cake like around the meat.The tikka I buy round here seems to have a very thin marinade but it's always penetrated deep into the chicken.

A few people have mentioned that milk should be added to the yoghurt to thin it down.Funny enough my wife used to go out with guy who was a delivery driver in a restaurant.She would spend hours in the kitchen talking to the chefs,she still remembers that the chef used to get through loads of cartons of milk in a week.Could he have been using this in his marinade??  Hopefully Az can give us his take on tikka marinade and whether he has ever used milk.

Blimey Curryhell that does look the part.

Quote from: bobsbeer on January 23, 2012, 08:58 PM
Getting slightly back to your excellent curry cooking day.  Do take pictures and give lots of feedback.  Too far for me as I'm in Cumbria, but your reports will no doubt be very informative.  Shame it was delayed by a week    But as they say, better late than not at all,  ;D

Don't worry I'm sure the day will be dissected at length on here!!!  Hopefully we'll be able to take some pictures,maybe some video??? Hopefully Chris can confirm.I can't wait.

Very nice,I've got the remnants of some sag aloo in the fridge from last night,after looking at these pictures it's got to go.A few bottles of stella/wife beater as well.Well done guys looks superb.

Quote from: 976bar on January 19, 2012, 09:16 PM

Quote from: natterjak on January 19, 2012, 09:03 PM
Hi Bob, yes I'll be there on the 5th (so sorry CH) but I don't think I'm trying to do too much, just to get a curry that tastes decent! Maybe we should all bring a sample of our base sauces to compare taste? Might give a clue to where I'm going wrong, if indeed the deficiency is in the base.

Hi ya,

I don't think there is a deficiency in what you are doing, but I am thinking you might be adding too much of something or other. I remember when I first started out, I thought that by adding more would make it wonderful, but in fact I have found the opposite.

I'm not saying that this is what you are doing, but it would be good to discuss in person when we meet again

By the way all, I know CH can't make it on the 5th due to a long standing commitment, so would everyone be ok with the 12th if this is ok, with Chris and Az? I know how much CH wants to atend....

I can do either date...

Can't do the 12th unfortunately,Dad's birthday.

No probs for me,hopefully everyone else is ok.

I made some superb curries with the Kushi Book,can't understand why it doesn't have more followers.One book that seems to have been overlooked is The Curry Crunch Book,very well laid out with easy to follow recipes especially for the beginner.

Quote from: chriswg on January 17, 2012, 02:34 PM
Sorry I missed a few posts, haven't been able to log on for a few days. I'm sure we can drop the G/G paste, I just thought it might be interesting to actually prepare all the components first hand so there can be no questions about missing secret ingredients.

Regarding measurements, I think it will be more about ratios than exact numbers for things like spice mix / garam massala. With the dishes it's harder as everything is done by eye. I'm sure he'll be able to give some guidance on what the amounts are but it's probably better if you try to remember what the amounts looked like on the spoon.

I'll be there to chat and have some lunch and a beer with you guys but I won't actively take part. I'm lucky to have been able to cook there before and 6 in the kitchen is a good amount. I'm looking forward to watching you guys cook though and I'm happy to provide an unbiased assessment of your dishes

Well done mate you're a star!!

Quote from: natterjak on January 16, 2012, 06:58 PM

Quote from: 976bar on January 14, 2012, 09:36 PM
Hi Chris,

Just a suggestion here....

I think I would like more time spent on cooking more varieties of main dishes than learning how to prepare Garlic & Ginger paste which is pretty much standard, and Onion Bhajis/naan breads etc which are pretty much anything everyone can do quite easily... especially as most of us don't have a tandoor to prepare such breads in anyway...

I'm not speaking for everyone here and if everyone else would like more of the G&G puree/onion bhaji/naan bread mixes then leave as is...

Just a suggestion....

I think I would tend to agree with Bob. It seems the best use of our time with Az would be to try and understand the methods and techniques of the base sauce, final curries and side dishes, as this is surely where the art lies. I'd be especially keen to see the Roshney chicken about which Chris raves, being prepared.

Also, if starting at 11am and continuing for 3.5 hrs perhaps we should consider breaking for lunch then returning to the kitchen, not sure my stomach will last until gone 2pm to eat lunch. Just suggestions, happy to hear the thoughts of the other participants.

A good point;base,mains and sides should be our main focus I guess.I'm probably the only one with a tandoori oven and using it is pretty self explanatory.I would still like to get a recipe for tikka/tandoori marinade and possibly naan bread dough.Hopefully that shouldn't take to too long so we can concentrate on the other stuff.Not sure about breaking for lunch,we haven't got much time and have a lot of things to cover,I would rather just plough on.Just a thought I'll go with the flow.