Hi Emin

I'm not sure what point you are trying to make. Everything is pre-cooked from the bhajis, to the base sauce to the pilau rice. Posh places might cook fresh ingredients to order but otherwise everything will be ready to reheat and shove out the door. The only major exception I can think of is the Naans but they will be ready made and portioned up in the fridge ready to knead out and slap in the tandoor for a 3 min cook.

If you are desperate, just call The George & Dragon in Speldhurst, say you had an amazing meal there recently and you would love to know what is in their home made Military Chutney. I bet they would be delighted to help. Otherwise, the internet is pretty bare.

You guys need to branch out into other regions, I'd love to be able to read reviews like this for all the local restaurants in NE Hants (although I have eaten in most of them!).

Do you tell the restaurants you are reviewing them for a website? If so, do you get discounts on the food?

Hi Jerry

The bhajis look excellent. I found Panpots suggestion was a good way of getting the onions soft so you can mould them a bit easier, its amazing just how much water comes out of the onions.

Next time you make a batch, humour me and add in some very thinly sliced and matchsticked potato (use the slicing blade on the cheese grater if you have one). It would be great to hear your feedback on it. For me, it really improves the texture of the inside of the bhaji. When you are eating them, you would never know they have potato in.

I screwed one up last weekend too. I went for 4 tbsp of neat tomato puree instead of watered down, or passata. I did the same in a CTM and a Madras as was cooking simultaneously. The result was 2 gross curries and a ruined evening after 2 hours work

By the way, with Picasa, on the right there is a button or a long link to 'embed this image'. If you copy and paste that into your message it will put the pic in the post rather than us having to click them. You might need to trim the link down a bit by clicking on 'preview', then deleting all the text that appears either side of the image (that will probably make more sense as you are trying it!)

The final result looks good. How did the base taste on its own? Was it similar to a normal base? Do you think it would work with any curry or just a hot one?

Great experiment though (although I'm sure not everyone will agree...)

Hi Cory

It looks good, I'll give it a go once my frozen stash runs out.

You mentioned you are waiting for a breakthrough, do you mean with the base sauce? I really don't think there will be. I think we have got as far as we can with base sauces, if there was a breakthrough to be had, someone would have uncovered it by now. The only difference now between a BIR base and our efforts is the huge size of pot they use to cook it in but I don't see that having a positive impact on the final result.

I believe individuals will have eureka moments that satisfy what they are looking for (e.g. using old chip oil in the base). Only you know what result you want to achieve, I'm 100% happy with my quick base and Madras because that is how my favourite BIR chef cooks them. You've been searching and experimenting longer than probably anyone on this forum so I hope you achieve your personal 100% result soon. Have you ever asked for a kitchen tour or demo at your local? If you order from there a lot I'm sure they will be only too happy to pass on a few tips.

Good luck and thanks again for sharing your recipe.

I hate to say it, but I think Cory is right. Lemon Juice and other acids like vinegar are usually used in sauces to act as an anti-coagulant to stop them splitting. I looked long and hard but I couldn't see any evidence that it can also thicken a sauce.

The SnS sauce shouldn't need any watering down. I use a very similar Madras recipe to you (I add a pinch of methi leaves) but the base I use is very thick and needs water adding to it. I add about 150ml of thick base plus about 100ml of water for a 1 person serving. If you want yours to be thicker then as previously suggested add more base rather than water. Or try a thicker base to which you could add your veg water.

Hi Stephen

I agree, yoghurt consistency is probably a good example. I couldn't think of anything suitably runny, yet slightly thick.

Cory - I agree grating onion (and potato) would be silly. If you read my post I suggest using the slicing side of the grater to give thin consistent slices. I imagine the BIR's either use an electric slicer, or their chefs are suitably skilled to give the same results with a knife.