This seems starnge to me. Whenever I have tried to pre-cook chicken this way it always tastes boiled or what I would consider 'off' when used in the final curry. To me pre-cooked chicken is just that, it is cooked before the final curry is made and then stored, either frozen or refrigerated until ready for use. This is the way restaurants do it.

the person who told me was a waiter but was a chef but could not keep up with the pressure he came from maidstone fair sized population good night life so turn over would be quite high. but .... he said the chicken should be tender but would be par-cooked. i did suggest adding some masala. but he said no need. so maybe because their turnover is not as high as maybe brick lane.....?

it is a question i will ask the chef on sunday

a good tip for a takeaway curry or in some restaurants is to order a set meal which comes with starter/s, main dish/es, side dish/es, and normally popadoms and finally mint sauce and if you are lucky some onion salad and or normal salad yummy. the key is too working out the prices before you order and asking if you can change some of the dishes as long as you pay the difference for the more expensive dishes. and always if no one else has order onion bhajis then do so. goe s paticularly well with chicken tikka onion salad lettuce and a slice of tomato and a few drops of yoghurt mint saiuce as a starter followed by chicken vindaloo pilau rice and bombay aloo oh forgot to say naan bread ;D all for the grand total of ?13.10( sorry admin this part should be in another section ) ;D
anyway g/gls am just as excited as i was lastnght holding of getting the ingredients until saturday morning so they are the freshest i can get them.and spice cupboard full... thank oyu julian graves health stores...


regards

gary

Thats what I always say when I buy them, im always tempted by an offer and ALWAYS regret buying them!  I don't think it matters where you get them from I can never get the same results with frozen chicken breasts.

try getting Tescos' healthy option chicken breasts, very little to cut off & throw away quite good vfm as well @ 1kg for ?4.99. i too like chunks of chicken especially when making chicken tikka....

has anyone tried bruce edwards recipe for chicken tikka. i did but due to lack of suppliers of mustard oil i had to use sunflower oil instead. i can honestly say it was perfect but for the aroma no tandoor either so 240 degrees under the grill for 15 mins turning once. it was the best i ever had. only wish i had some ghee to brush it with and had "sizzled" it, again i recommend that anyone of you to try the sizzle 
if you need any tips then read KD's book has how to sizzle. to all newcomers i believe it's in the download section on this forum.

regards gary

Quotei substituted the Garam Masala for 1 big tablespoon of the Basaar Mix Powder kindly sent to me by Raygraham and did not bother putting in the chilli's, i also added the garlic and ginger puree in at the beginning and fried until brown

Quote

hi guys/girls
has anyone followed to the letter this recipe it doesnot actually need the garlic/ginger. but i suppose it would give that added taste. i know that the use of garam masala has been discussed and that it has also been "dismissed" as a contender for the bir curry taste but i actually think that the chef uses the individual spices as his restaurant masala( i mixed the spices together used in the recipe instead of the normal 5-6 small pots by the end of mixing totally it looked like curry masala and smelt quite nice) i may mix some up and use it so keep watching will post the results. gonna cook a curry tonight so may use it then
i also recommend that you use the green chillies as it gives it another level a bit like the use of fresh coriander the smell is fab as the sauce is cooking hmmm.......

good luck stew with the madras i await your posting

regards gary

dear george and others

i wasn't knocking the 70's man( after all i did grow up in them) i was merely recollecting that vesta curries then well tasted like the box they came in with curry powder sprinkled on, at the age of 7 or 8 if think that was a pretty good observation imo
but i have no recollection of any bir curry of any sort didn't know of any in our area  a reminiscing sadnesss maybe.
anyway

has anyone tried the onion gravy base i have posted from rajver yet coz i haven't seen any postings and it is suitable for veggies. as i have said many times i have had very good results with it using the bruce edwards methods of cooking.
heat the oil until hot but not smoking add the salt, rest masala, chilli powder,tom puree or paste mix well DONOT BURN.then add ladle of base, evap down then after a couple of mins add 2-3 ladles of base allow to start to bubble before adding either cooked or un-cooked meat. then cook till it has well cooked or heated through before adding any further ingredients such as coconut,  almonds, coriander, cream etc,etc....garnishing with coriander.

well thats enuff from me
regards
gary

hi payal
there is a recipe for onion gravy from my local RAJVER which is posted on this site. i have made it on a regular basis (at least once every two weeks) and had some fab curries. mainly vindaloos.but the reason i make it so oftten is becuase it takes only 1 hour to cook. however i do recommend using bruce edwards' curry house cookery base and recipes. again we all know that bir cuuries are far from authentic but we are all so lucky to be able to have a mystery like this to challenge all of us, to be a "holy grail" & to be passionate about trying everything to recreate the aroma, texture and THE TASTE

life before i discovered the bir curry was abit dull the only curries i ever eaten before were either from the local chinese or an attempt by my mum( bless her). i'm not a lover of mixing fruit with my savoury.so was horrified one day to discover, after i had put the 1st huge forkful of home made curry for the 1st taste i got was not curry in my chicken curry but apple in in chcken curry and an awful powdery taste. guess that was growing up in 70's & 80's. and the lack of bir's. oh no i can taste a vesta( good memory for recollecting taste from my past) feeling quite sick, so it's lucky i cooked a chicken vinadloo lastnight and oops cooked too much so feeling much better now

well i hope that i have been no help at all
regards gary

 hi ray i'm not entirely sure but if you highlight just the text you want to use then press ctrl(holding down)whilst pressing the C then go to where you want it then hold down ctrl V to paste it there. i may be wrong can't semm to do it either but they all seem to get what you mean anyway

bir curry forever

well at least tomorrow nite
chicken chilli masala i think yum

;)cheers gary

I`had Asda Chicken Vindalloo & it is very good as is many of their chilled Curries etc....

yes darth i agree BUT are we any closer to the cigar called hamlet( darthy, just thought of a twist to the advert"happiness is a cigar called hamlet" if you see him finishing a darth phall curry goes to the toilet via the freezer gets the softest ever Andrex then pops in toliet with his happiness in in his hand) or maybe the beers kicking in satruday nite and all. gutted no curry tonite! but rajver cuury gravy in the fridge yippee! so  bir curry so happy.... ;D

hi mark j

bruce edwards base uses 1/4 of a whole lemon. i know i keep harping on about this guys work but i have had fabulous results using his recipes, having made a chikcken tikka korma for a friend( although i think it may better with just precooked chicken). many vindaloos and even a chicken chilli masala. bomby potato and mushroom bhaji also have been successful. sorry Darth i haven't tied doing a phall with this base yet! but you could try chicken chilli masala adding dried ground birds eye chillies which i think a certain bitterness to the dish.yummy....! after eating a set meal for one from my local "Rajver" ( another good sauce to try and it seems so quick to make) i have a pot in my refridgerator will be making my wife and my self both vindaloos( well sharing on large one as i have found to my cost burning spices trying to be clever using two separate pans cooking two vinadloos does not work, my wife got the 1st it turned out perfectly & mine crap in comparison ;D i have also had splendid results using raw chicken adding at the simmering stage and adding a little more sauce to allow for evaporation.

anyway guys and girls happy curry night

regards
gary

hi guys/girls

my local indian uses tomato "paste" but i have asked everywhere to no avail then one day i was in asda and found sundried tomato paste by salca and i have been using it instead of tomato puree in bruce edwards recipes and now my wife loves them.
i hope this helps

cheers gary

hi pete
he doesn't include this as such to include with his recipes but if you look at the very last lines in brackets he says "and save some of the sauce, it can be added to your curries". now i have actually pre-cooked chicken his way and added 2tsp of it to my curry and the house was filled with a fragrant smokey aroma which lingered everywhere for hours. by the way pete well done for getting your tandoori. i agree about the timmings given for cooking chicken tikka (8-10) tandoori chicken (15-20?) i'm sure i have read this somewhere before not sure where though.
hope this has helped

cheers gary