Just out of curiousity, how does the Madras you cook with the takeaway base compare with the takeaway Madras?

I've been meaning to make a biryani for a long time and finally got round to it last night. The rice was a bit over-cooked but not a bad first effort. Not BIR, but I've never had a decent one in a takeaway or a restaurant and haven't orderd one for years. So a traditional one pot Biryani.

I used  'Vahchef's' Chicken biryani recipe easily found on Youtube. I wanted to try something fairly simple to get the timing right before having a go at this.....https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=5185.0

Even managed to convince the missus that this wasn't a curry.

Done, sir!

Good to get back to basics after a lot of experiments with finely chopped onions, green chillis, red chillis, onion paste etc.

Just posting this for posterity.

The missus is on some new kind of fad diet, so I'm just cooking single potions. Big single portions. This has meant changing the way I cook a bit as the usual pan is too wide and the sauce evaporates too quickly. Using an idea from someone here I cooked this in a normal saucepan, meaning I could go to town with my metal chefs' spoon.

I went back to basics, a Madras - CT's base, CA's mix and Zaal GM and used a basic version of CT's recipe. Just G/G paste, tom puree, mix, kashmiri chilli, methi, Worcestershire sauce and a dash of lemon. The chicken was cooked from raw.

I've been really happy with the majority of my curries recently but this was absolutely the best yet. Real depth of taste that lasted in the mouth like a fine wine.

Thanks for that. Do you find that you end up with a lot of solid fat using the chicken carcass anf if so are you skimming it off?

Those poor students, they'll never learn to cook at this rate!

I'd be really interested in seeing the large-scale recipes.

I was wondering about something similiar, not to pre-cook the chicken but to include a chicken stock.

Any idea if it would work to add chicken carcasses etc, directly into the base, then fish it out later? I'm a bit worried about the fat content after the 'great risotto disaster'. Or maybe better to just use ready made chicken stock instead of water.

I thought it was because they were light and cut down on RSI type injuries.

Oh, and don't forget uclown that you need another pot to sieve into.

I've not noticed any great difference in taste between sieved and unsieved, there's obviously a difference in texture. I think I should leave an unsieved portion in the freezer and compare it with a sieved.

My sieve must be too fine (and it's flat-bottomed). It takes me forever.