What an honour oh master ;D
CP

Hi George.  We don't run a restaurant (yet); we have run a small catering business for about 4 years that supplies to the trade and private customers. Both ring up to place an order and they have the option to purchase it chilled (advance orders only) or frozen.  This is why I refer to batch cooking in some of my posts.  We cook batches of around 30 - 40 portions of each popular main dish, so a run could gross over a 100 portions in 3 days; base to finish.  On top of that we will also prepare vegetarian curries for advanced orders.  You are more than welcome to have some; if you email me I will give you a contact number.

Cheers
CP

This is the anal guide to measurements & conversions.  It is not totally accurate - it is only a guide and intended for newbies and thos that need some near-accuracy,

Utensil   Metric   Imperial   Sith Bag (500 ml or ? Litre)
1 cup   250 ml   9 fl oz   ? bag
1/2 cup   125 ml   4 fl oz   ? bag
1/3 cup   80 ml   3 fl oz   
1/4 cup   60 ml   2 fl oz   
         
1 Tablespoon (Tbsp)   15 ml   ? fl oz   
1 Dessertspoon (Dsp)    10 ml   N/A   
1 Teaspoon (Tsp)                    5 ml   N/A   
         
Average mug                   230 ml   12 fl oz.    
         
Chef?s Oval ladle                   30 ml   1 fl oz   
Chef?s large cup ladle   360 ml   12 fl oz   
Chef?s medium cup ladle   120 ml   4 fl oz   

Update: Chef's Pinch equates roughly to 1/3 of a reaspoon.

Notes: because of the minute amounts compared, accuracy in metric to fluid ounces is not accurate.  Measuring equipment uses the nearest so that is what I have done.  I can?t be bothered with the math!

Darth roughly equates his bag to 500ml and to be honest a few millilitres either way doesn?t really matter.  You can work the rest out for yourselves

The Chef?s ladles I have used for comparison are my professional ones, as someone has already said it is impossible to compare all.  But it is my belief that all restaurants use equipment for professional suppliers so we are near the mark I think here.

Happy Cooking
CP

Sorry Woks Up, I was recovering from afew beers and a very hot Chilli the night before.  You are correct and I have posted a new list for what it is worth :

CP

I suggest that anyone interested you visit this site first

ttp://www.gbruk.org.uk/news4.htm Guild of Bangladeshi Restaurateurs

and then

http://www.food.gov.uk/ Food Standards Agency

http://www.defra.gov.uk/ Defra

A bit anal some may say, but they are sources of good information on all sorts of topics to do with food and Indian cooking.

Safe cooking

CP

It is my belief it is because they are mainly Bangladeshi and all their cooks seem to be trained in the same cookery school and work to the prescribed standard recipes that are cost efficient and suit the majority of palates.  Sad isn't it.  I would go an rummage in my local BIRs bins but they know I am a competitor so I am not sure how it would be if I was found out!  Might be easier to get to know the local Biffa drivers

If you want to be in the know perhaps you should join the Bangladeshi Restaurateurs Guild here http://www.gbruk.org.uk/news4.htm

Happy searching
CP

I totally agree you are, sorry, are not a stubborn arse.  Forums should moderate themselves in the ideal world and will do if we are a little outspoken at times.  It is always difficult to convey humour etc., in this medium, hence the emoticons.  Humour is one of the great spices of our lives.

I said I was outa here but you post says all that needs to be said I think.  I will post the conversion list anyway as a new topic so that newbies et al can refer to if need be.

On your other points Darth, I totally agree also (as professional Cook along with my family who are also professional cooks and Chef) that if you cook large quantities it does not matter one bit if you err either side of a general measurement, as long (and this I see has been said many many times on this Forum) you do not use too much of an ingredient that has a very powerful flavour, e.g. Garam Masala.  For small dishes I would say the same, as you are unlikely to be using large measuring implements.  But what the hell; we got to this wonderful and diverse range of magical recipes because people made mistakes!!!

Anyone who was around when BIRs arrived on the High St in the 60s will surely tell you what a nightmare it was getting them to cook a half decent curry to suit our palates, a lot of them were still in the ex pat curry mode making curries with raisins and fruit and serving them up with dessicated coconut, sultanas, and sliced bananas as side dishes  yuch.

You pioneers are doing a great service to the world, and I wouldn't be suprised if a few OBEs were thrown your way : (Where do you pin a gong on a Darth suit?)

May the peace be with you
CP

I know ;D
CP

Yep saw it and made a bolt Westward in my M/Falcon.  That's a dark area I dont want to go to no more.

Ta
CP

Nope, that is exactly what Mark gave me, and he cooks it all the time at home too for his family.  Mark's UCB is, to use Darth's phraseology, a bit on the DarkSide; it is bland to taste cold but just bursts with flavour when you fuse it; it does need help with the more robust dishes.  Bhuna is a plain dish so needs little in the way of spices.  I have tried it and I think it is fine as does my wife (my co-cook in the biz) and she is a Bhuna fanatic.  Well like we all say here try it and mess around with it; everthing can be improved.

Groundnut Oil:  Sorry that was my mistake (I use it for home dishes), any good quality vegetable oil with a high temp rating, or Ghee will do.  I use KTC or Wesson green for the biz cooking.

Happy Cooking
CP