QuoteELW,

a while back i had it in my mind to try a "spice journey" as this was an area i'd not done justice to. i'd taken note of ~19 off mix powders off the site and made most. all essentially disappoint. yes there are a few that are quite good and the mouchak is one example, kushi is another.

i already had an inkling that the brand (or specific mix/ingredients) was important - i would not use either made (and i'd made a lot of variations post KD1) or bought garam until ashoka forced my hand on the East End Brand which i now keep on stock. i also make the tgad garam for use in base and pilau.

the mix powder won't make a huge difference if the rest is not right - it's a sort of ~1 percenter in overall terms but it become a significant factor the closer you get to the goal.

Hi JerryM, the Ashoka stuff has raised more questions for me than answers. I used Panpots reports & recipies, & your own test results to lay my own foundations in creating bir@home, as being a chain should have provided common ground...bir taste is definately in ashoka t/a & restaurants..but not in my attempts.Its a pity panpot doesn't post any more, as this is by far the best account of a bir kitchen experience i have read. judging by his posts, he took in all the important stuff, but he did say he never tasted the base on its own.  I frequently get their t/a menu through my door, which states different ingredients here & there to the kitchen report
I don't think the brand of curry powder used in the base was stated, but he did mention the chef was keen to use East End brand..no mix powder stated either..Bunjara, assuming i've made it correctly hints at the flavour, but I think it smells better than it tastes, G&G paste is definately ashoka. Im going to stick with these recipies for the moment & look into those catering curry powders(what to do with 10kg??)..I enjoy reading your findings, it's a similar approach i take

Regards
ELW

the pizza looks magic ...b in law built an outside oven last year, very similar to this one

http://www.villagok.dk/brickoven/index.html

Cooks a pizza in just over a minute & half
Regards
ELW

Quotefrom my post /99% OF BIR OR T/A THEY BUY IT OR THEY KNOW HOW TO MAKE THE SMELL LIKE IT WHICH THEY WONT DISCLOSE  that was my claim I did not say they all buy the JALPUR brand, once you see the ingredients you could make similar smelling masala I cant get EASTERN STAR in any c&c but in a super large outlet yes.So for that reason I make my claim /please dont be so suspicious but yes,they get different tastes in each BIR
using different make  curry powder which I said
BUT the masala method is the same trust me.Ask Abdul Mohed if he is truthfull he will cofirm/they buy any
garam masala then add  more spices to it to get a smell and taste similar to Jalpur

Hi Ifindforu, please don't take my sceptical demeanour the wrong way, it's just my way of figuring things out
I looked out all of Abdul Mohed's great looking recipies a while back & put them all together, the plan being to have a go at them...Im glad i never did, because, apparently his basic gravy, which is like many other gravies......is not his 'real' gravy, but a gravy for cr0 members to practise with

QuoteI only use Abdul's "Enhanced Gravy Recipe" when making his recipes now it is very close to one of my local takeaways, the Garlic Chilli Chicken, Chicken Madras, Achari Chicken, Chicken Bhuna and the Chicken Sagwala is just heaven and Lamb Keema with Peas is an excellent dish, i also have to say the Pumpkin and Carrot Jalfrezi was a complete surprise to me and a wonderfully spicy dish with no meat, enjoyed this immensely.
The Enhanced Gravy adds an extra depth to the flavour of the curries/dishes.

QuoteHi Natterjak,

No you have not missed anything; I have not post it yet but will hopefully do next year.  Hopefully by then, anyone who has made my basic gravy recipe, will have had enough practice to take it further.

Abdul

Why publish a gravy recipe you don't use or which you know is inferior to another you have? Why not post it now?...or last year?...or the year before?...like KD did years ago.
Thats the reason for my questions - when things just don't add up 

Regards
ELW

QuoteBut my dad's my best critic as he's been eating Currys even longer than I have, even though he knows bugger all about cooking them. Whenever I shove a plate of my own curry in front of him, he scoffs the lot and says that was lovely and I really enjoyed that, (but could do with more salt  ) but you know what, it's still missing that certain 'something'.

As much as I hate saying it, I have to agree with him and that says it all for me really.

yer dad's got it, backslapping acheives nothing!

Regards
ELW

One element contributing to the bir taste, may lie in an unknown. which is the catering size blends of curry powder. In the Uk these are supplied by a relatively small amount of suppliers, there are maybe 6 different brands suppling the industry in Glasgow,which is a large city, & possibly all of Scotland.This may be  a reason why the 'taste' is widespread but slightly different per region. Chinese takeaways are probably a good indicator of brand. There is no Jalpur Garam Masala, no  Eastern Star Curry powder in the Asian C&C's in Glasgow, so the claim that 90% of bir use it should be taken with a pinch of Garam Masala.  There is however, Rajah Gold(which Ifindforu previously stated was used by most t/a??) Eagle brand, Curry King, Ship Brand & a few others
Check your largest local asian C&c's for the 10kg range of catering curry powders...those will likely be the ones your bir use in their mix powder, if they even have one. (Ashoka, as witnessed by Panpot, use mainly East End spices & no mix powder although Im not sure of the curry powder brand in the base?)

JerryM / PaulP ,your excellent testing results of the goods, any goods. normally pre empts the questions in my head..keep it coming..but beware the men behind the curtain keeping themselves relevant  for one reason or another 

Regards / Merry Christmas/Happy Year
ELW

QuoteSORRY BUT ITS GOT TO BE JALPUR AND ONLY THAT FOR THE BIR TASTE OTHERWISE NATCO WOULD BE GOING BACKWARDS SORRY

Hi Ifindforu, sorry i should have made that post clear, I think, although not entirely sure, that Jalpur supply Natco with spices to make Natco products - supplying wholesale to wholesale

ELW

Hi paul, they sell it on ebay in small quantities, 100 odd grms, Im sure they supply Natco wholesale, not entirely sure what with, but Natco's GM is pretty good

ELW

Hi Graeme, if it's just for spicy onions, i that will be on here..I don't have this book, but I believe the curry  recipies are home cooking style, with no base gravy...there are Panpots Ashoka Recipies on here restuarant style under 'lets talk curry'. A small part of the book is available to view on their website(press f5 to refresh & change the recipe). I have shish mahal cookbook which is also homestyle

regards
ELW

QuoteNot convinced, Ray, not convinced, even with the best will in the world.  And with the greatest respect to BIR chefs throughout the land, I doubt whether many of them understand the science (qua science) either.

Ive more than once saw a chef in a semi open kitchen hardly even pay attention to the pan as he was cooking,couldn't say or not what it tasted like, or if it was my stuff he was cooking

A taste test from Curry2Go, could answer a lot of questions in my own personal struggle....& these new multi stage gravies that have appeared recently....why now???

.............................and breathe
out!!

QuoteBlimey, this thread is getting hot, but there again I like a bit of controversy  Not learning anything, but it sure makes good reading
Keep it up chap's

HS

Theres no such thing as bad publicity HS, you know that 

Rgards
ELW