I've watched the chef cook countless portions of sag bhaji and sag aloo.Once he's prepared the spinach it's quite easy.First,in a pan he puts some mixed ghee/oil.Gets this quite hot and then adds the usual garlic,onion,blended tomatoes,salt,methi and mix powder.He then adds a small amount of gravy(and adds precooked potatoes for a sag aloo).He gives the pan a stir now and again until the gravy has reduced.

So far I've been lucky enough to see him prepare quite a few of his pre cooked veg.They're all quite similar,the potatoes are cooked with cumin seeds,the spinach with mustard seeds,mix veg and mushrooms with panch poran.

Managed to watch my chef prepare his spinach last night.I always thought that plain spinach from a can(I've seen these in my cash and carry) was used to to make sag aloo or sag bhaji,however my chef actually takes the time to pre cook it.He actually uses frozen spinach which he defosts and then puts through a mincer before using.

First,in one of his big pans went in some mixed veg oil and ghee.When this was hot he added some mustard seeds,about 7 chopped garlic cloves and about three chopped onions.He cooked this for some time,the garlic got quite brown,not burnt but it was cooking for a lot longer than I expected.I'm guessing this browning is the key to getting that 'smoky' taste to a really good sag dish.



Then he added a chef spoon of mix powder,half a spoon of salt,pinch of chilli and some salt.



Then he added some chunks of onions and pepper and the spinach.



This was then cooked a fairly high heat,stirred now and again until all the moisture had come out,the resulting spinach was quite dry.

Definately said garlic powder Haldi.I remember the Kushi book had it as one their mix powder ingredients as did the Curry Craft book.I've seen bags of the stuff in my cash and carry so they're using it for something.I hope my chef isn't trying to give me some duff info,I really don't think he is but I'll try and ask a bit more on Sunday.

Was chatting to the chef about his mix powder last night.As I thought no great suprises,no magic potions etc,just a general mix of powders that he chooses,no doubt similar to other chefs up and down the country.I didn't get a specific breakdown in quantities(he had it in a big tub and he scopped some out),however he was pretty relaxed about it,I mean it wasn't a big secret that he didn't want to talk about.I had my trusty notebook with me and showed him the mix powder I recorded from the Zall lesson.In this was curry powder,corriander,cumin,turmeric,chilli and garam massala.He said it was about right.The only thing he would add would be garlic powder and mustard powder.

Had another great time in the takeaway last night,saw the chef churn out a wide variety of dishes,and also managed to watch him do some more pre-cooked stuff which I'll document in the approriate sections.Thoroughly enjoying myself at the moment,they seem to enjoy me having me in their kitchen and helping out.They hold nothing back when I ask questions,I think they're quite confused and a bit suprised at what I actually already know.Anyway,a couple of pics.First one is a big batch of gravy they had on the go,as you can see the onions were litterally cooked until they were at the 'melting' stage'.A very important thing to do I'm told to get the gravy right.



A batch of tikka marinade(left) and tandoori marinade(right).I've already listed the recipe for tikka mariande,the tandoori one is basically the same,just a bit more tandoori paste and a bit less tikka,also a bit more red colour.

Looks spot on to me,could have come staight out of my local takeaway.Most of the savoury dishes are cooked using the same cooking techniques and initial ingredients by the chef,so with a tweak here and there I'm sure other dishes such as jalfrezi,garic chilli,balti etc can be done with the same success.

Quote from: Sverige on January 30, 2016, 11:44 AM

Quote
This was cooked and for about ten minutes.

Can you clarify this sentence please JB?  This was cooked and what? I guess the missing word is stirred but I might be wrong.

I guess there is minimal liquid in the pan at this point of the process, so was the gas on low for those ten mins?

My apologies.Quite correct they were stirred on a low pan just to stop the pan from burning.The main cooking process comes from putting the potatoes in the oven.

Sorry I missed that question before,definetely 1 tablespoon.Slightly less for a medium curry but for something like a madras or pathia 1 tablespoon.

Quote from: Madrasandy on January 28, 2016, 08:33 AM
Looking forward to cooking this tomorrow night, any last tips etc jb?
Has anybody else cooked this yet?

Pictures and report on Friday 

Well,after watching my takeaway chefs at work over the past few weeks(I actually popped in for a sneaky mid week madras last night) I would say that technique is paramount,equally important in my view to having a good gravy,mix powder etc.

Definitely get your pan nice and hot before you add your oil and initial garlic.Leave it to brown and then quickly add your second stage ingredients.Keep the pan hot,don't be frightened and start thinking it's getting too hot,this is how my chefs and other ones do it.Also leave the curry bubbling away on a high heat for quite a while,don't stir too much just leave it.Again,this is how I've seen it done loads of times,the chefs don't seem to be bothered that the curries are just left on their own,when they're ready they instictively know and give it a stir and remove from the heat.

All level tablespoons.The chef doesn't really measure the lemon juice.He just gives a good shake over the curry pan.