It depends whether you are looking for current BIR taste or 1960's taste. I have seen (and cooked in) some BIR kitchens and I can honestly say that there was no used oil used, no bunjarra, no MSG and no jaggery. It's all in the magic of the technique. Even the base sauce makes little difference to the finished product, it is there mainly as a bulking ingredient. In the 60's they would stick chicken carcasses in the base pot to make the base a lot more flavoursome. They may well have recycled used oil too but both practices are more frowned upon now. Especially as they used to make vegetarian curries with the chicken stock base!

If you ever get a chance to look in a kitchen (some are open plan these days) watch the first 20 seconds, that's when the magic happens. After that its just a case of adding the base and reducing down.

I actually watched Az cook one of these but I didn't take much notice of what he did. I only noticed at the end he was chopping up banana to put it it. If I can get a recipe I'll let you know.

Chris

Mine all did terribly. I was a bit late planting them and then they took an age to germinate, even then only about 2 out of 24 came up. I didn't get any shoots until July time so I binned them all. I'll try again next year and start earlier I think.

Dorset Naga's are reasonably easy to grow. I had a huge amount 2 years ago and they were just started on a window ledge then moved to the conservatory. Although they are clearly very hot I personally hated the pungent taste of them. They ruined everything I put them in so I decided to give them a miss in future.

I think I'm playing football with him on Wednesday so I'll catch up with him then. Glad to hear there is so much enthusiasm and as Natterjack says you don't have to worry about anything being held back

He's only taking over the restaurant on the 2nd October and he wants to get some refurbishment work done. I suggest if we can come up with a Sunday when a few of us can make it I'll get it booked in. I suggest maybe the 30th October or 6th November as possibilities. I'll suggest maybe teaching and cooking from 10am - 1pm then eating and Q and A from 1pm - 2pm. Does that sound like a plan?

Hi Leon

If your technique is good you can cook the curries in batches of up to 4 with no degradation in quality. I was quite surprised to hear this too but it works.

Good luck with the meal. If you are doing base on the day make sure you start at about 9am. The rice can be microwaved when needed, that is fairly standard for a takeaway (from what I have seen). I wouldnt try and do too much. Rice, curry and poppadums is plenty. If you start trying to juggle bhajis, naans, sheek kebabs e.t.c. you will have a nightmare

Chris

He didn't use very much veg ghee at all. He doesn't like to produce really oily curries but I guess this is dependant on your personal taste.

When he was cooking he would often put a chefs spoon of ghee in the pan get it really hot then pour it all out into the pot leaving just an oiled pan.

It might sounds like a cop out, but the big thing was all about the method and speed to get ingredients in the pan. If you take too long getting the tomato puree in the pan the spices and garlic burn. Working at a high heat takes practice, not just a method. That said, there is nothing I saw or did that couldn't be done at home on a normal hob. You just need to make sure the veg ghee is really hot before starting the dish.

The garlic had maybe 10 seconds in the pan (it went brown and sticky quite quickly) then it was quickly in with the chilli powder, mix powder, a TINY amount of salt, some thin tomato dilute (a chefs spoon) and a squeeze of lemon dressing. This was back on the heat for maybe 30 seconds and quickly formed a paste with the tomato dilute mixing with the powders. As soon as the paste was done in went the gravy and meat, it bubbled down until the right thickness (thinner than I would think). Then in with a small handful of coriander and into the tray ready to be packed.

I did a couple and the second was much better as I was starting to get the hang of getting things in quickly. None of the customers complained so it couldn't have been too bad

Hi all

I was speaking to Az last night and he said he would be interested in running cooking lessons once he has taken over a restaurant (The Blue Tiger for those who know Fleet). We were talking about price and I had to say I had no idea what would be perceived as good value. As an opening bid I suggested maybe ?50 for a 4 - 5 hour lesson covering base sauce, marinades, massalas, spice mixes as well as hands on cooking of dishes and trying (or burning) your hand at naans in the tandoor. This would include a meal at the end of it to eat your creations.

Does this sound about right? I had a go doing some hands on cooking last night and I learned soooo much. Its amazing how little garlic starts off the Madras (less than half a teaspoon), and there was hardly any spice mix added. The base was much weaker and diluted than my usual batches but this means he can add more to the pan (2.5 full ladles worth) and spend longer reducing it down.

It would be good to hear you guys thoughts on it. Is ?50 too much or too little? The meal is probably worth ?15 - ?20 so ?30 - ?35 for 4 - 5 hours hands on lessons sounds like good value to me. I could probably negotiate a CR0 discount if a few members fancy coming along at the same time. Actually - that would be a fab idea. Anyone up for it?

That's a good video and a catchy tune. Anyone know what it's called?