Last night I spoke to a waiter. He said there was garam masala in the taramind sauce.

Last night I spoke to a BIR waiter. He said there was yoghurt, sugar and milk in the mint sauce.

I made a Korma tonght that was so, so good that I have to tell you about it. It was also a lot healthier and easier to make than many others.

STAGE ONE

Taz base sauce - but I added 2 carrots, a quarter of white cabbage, 10 black peppercorns, 3 cardamon pods, and only used 4 tablespoons of oil rather than 400ml.

STAGE TWO INGREDIENTS

1 Frozen block of Taj frozen garlic (available from Asda)
1 Frozen block of Taj frozen ginger (available from Asda)
1 tablespoon of sunflower oil
1/2 teaspoon of hot chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garam masala (I use Schwartz)
1/2 teaspoon tandoori masala (I use TRS Tandoori Masala Barbeque Spice)
Carnation Light evaporated milk (I used about 1/3 of a 410g can)
2 inches Tiger Tiger creamed coconut block
Fresh menti leaves
250g pack of frozen king prawns
Handful of frozen peas

METHOD

Add the oil to a pan.
Add the frozen garlic and frozen ginger and dissolve into the oil.
Add the creamed coconut and dissolve.
Add the light evaporated milk.
Add a ladle of the base sauce.
Add the spices.
Add the prawns and peas.
Add the menthi leaves.

The above is for 2 good sized portions. I served with Tilda pure basmati rice, and a peshwari nanns.

I have just made and eaten this. The sauce makes enough for 6 main meals.

I only put in one cinnamon stick of about 3", and I took it out after a while, but it was still a bit too much. If I was to make it again (which I will) then I might even leave out the cinnamon.

I added some carrot in the first step before blending.

I usually find BIR too salty for my liking. I didn't add any salt at all and it really didn't need the salt.

Really superb balance of flavours, best that I've made, but watch that cinnamon.

I served it with a biryani rice which was pilau rice with potato, cauliflower, green beans, peas, cashews, fresh coriander, sliced tomato, sliced egg, and sliced cucumber. The biryani rice was spot-on BIR.

I like natural sour-dough bread from a proper artisan bakery. I notice that Sour-dough starters use yoghurt but no yeast. Perhaps because I left the dough for longer, I got a slight bit of that flavour coming through. Therefore it would be logical that the main nann flavour is coming from the yoghurt. Leaving the dough for longer must have brought out the flavour more.

To my buds, sugar may have detracted from the nice flavour, but it's personal preference I guess. I didn't miss the sugar.

Bizarrely, I used no salt and used unsalted butter, but after eating it I feel quite thirsty. It may have been because I added melted garlic butter to the 2nd batch, so it's really the garlic taking effect.

I've just scoffed the last mouthful. I made them pitta bread size which made it easier to balance over a flame.

Cutting out other ingredients has made me realise that the Nann 'flavour' is down to the natural yoghurt and cooking method. I was surprised that it really doesn't need sugar, salt and oil adding. It had that very slight crumpet tang that tasted like a good nann.

A lot is in the cooking method. It really works well cooking the first side on a very hot flat dry non-stick frying pan (so the bottom goes a bit crispy), and then the other-side over a gas flame where I singed bits.

It does actually taste a lot nicer than the ones from my local TA which are far too thick and gloopy for my liking.

Pleasing my mother-in-law is a very rare occurrence... 

How I found out about it - I know a top artisan bakery that only uses Marriages flours so I had a look at their website and found the recipe by chance.

I have now tried it, but I just used homepride SR Flour.

I left the dough for about 4 hours rather than 1. I made them a smaller size and thinner than usual. I used heaped spoons of yoghurt, slightly more flour, and no salt.

I cooked them on one side using a dry non-stick frying pan, and for the other side I balanced them upside down over the gas hob flame - using an L shaped stainless steel masher.

Once cooked, I drizzled over some unsalted melted butter.

The outcome... absolutely superb. They have THAT taste. So quick and easy - only flour, yoghurt, and water.

I have just tried adding some Taj frozen garlic (you can buy it in big packs from Asda for only about ?1) it dissolved very well into the melted butter for an even taste. WOW.

My Mother-in-law is Asian and is here, she says that they are spot-on and even brought back happy memories from when she was a child.

She liked it that I made them thinner than the stodge that you get in some Indian restaurants, and says that it tastes like the ones in the best restaurants.

Does it seem right?

http://www.marriagesmillers.co.uk/recipes/NaanBread.html

Here is a trick that I use to save having to cook a base sauce.

I cook onion wedges in some sunflower oil in a frying pan. Firstly on a high heat then I turn down the heat and I cook until the onions go very soft and translucent (which adds a sweetness).

I then take out the onions and use the oil to cook my curry as normal.

During the process, I use some pasata and add some finely grated carrot into the sauce.

Near to the end, I add the cooked onions back in to the curry.

My favourite food to add - spinach (drain and rinse from a can), frozen prawns and frozen peas to the sauce, with sliced boiled egg on top. This combination is really stunning.

I serve with plain boiled Tilda Pure Basmati Rice.

I am now wondering whether I could add some Pakora / Onion bhaji flour mix to the oil when I add the garlic, ginger etc. as that might give the taste of onion bhaji oil?