If that were true and it produced a GOOD curry, why wouldn't they all water down their bases more than they already do? It would help keep their costs down.

I've had bad curries at all times including when I know the head chef is in (I usually ask when I phone up).

I hope your realize what you have let yourself in for, getting the timings right for serving 2 people is tough. I'm usually at least an hour late! are you going the whole hog i.e. pilau rice, bhajis, side dishes, naans, poppadums? the ready to cook poppadums are very good and available at any supermarket. They are 10 times better then the ready to eat ones, and often better than the takeaways as you cook them fresh.

Good luck and don't be afraid to ask any questions. I wont be able to answer them unless they are about Onion Bhajis or Chicken Madras, but other people will.

I suspect as the night goes on, if they are busier than planned for the base will be watered down to stretch it a bit further. Hence the occasional poor result.

It's an interesting tip. I have seen recipes that include pineapple or peach juice in the sauce, I guess adding a bit of fruit and blending wouldn't be too crazy. Why don't you ask him to knock you up a special fruity version and report back. I imagine they wouldn't be very busy on a weekday lunchtime or early evening so I don't see why it would be a problem.

It would also be good to know how much goes in. Too much and it could end up like Indian baby food.

Cory

How can it be nonsense when we have both had amazing curries cooked for us this way in the last week by separate head chefs?

I'm sure certain curries benefit from a clever blend of spices and hours of preparation, but a good old Madras or CTM can be knocked up fresh in 30 mins with devastating results.

Why don't you give either this CTM or my Madras recipe a go and let us know your thoughts. You have probably made more curries then almost anyone on this site so your input would be interesting to hear. Just don't dismiss it as nonsense without trying it first. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Hi Emin,

Did you notice just how similar this recipe and method is to the one I witnessed yesterday? They are almost identical apart from mine had the garlic and spices in the base, yours added them into the individual curry. This is exactly the type of curry I love, very simple, very tasty and incredibly moorish!

I have uploaded some pics:

http://picasaweb.google.com/chriswg/Madras#

I think the difference with this recipe is the fact most of the ingredients are effectively deep fried rather than boiled. The water doesn't go in until the end and only really to thin out the sauce. I think this maintains a lot more flavour as well as speeding up cooking times.

I may be alone with this, but for me I'd rather cook a 30 min curry at home including the base than having to either make a fresh batch of base for 2 - 3 hours, or use frozen. As Emin also recently experienced, making up a fresh base specifically for a curry can produce an amazing taste plus it saves freezer space and I don't think takes up any additional time. By the time I have got a block of base out of the freezer, microwaved it for 10 mins to defrost, then put it in a saucepan, heated it up, blended it again, and brought it up to simmering point, I'd be just as quick to make fresh with a better result.

The big decisive factor will be how versatile it is, does it just work well with a Madras or can I use it for anything? I'm hoping to find out soon.

Regarding the chicken cooking, I'm not sure but it wasn't boiled. It was cooked in saucepans along with lots of spices. All I got to see was a big tray of cooked chicken in a light covering of yellow coloured sauce. I tried a piece on its own and there weren't any stand out flavours. I'll get a better idea next time I am there and write down the recipe and method.

He said that the base he made was exactly the same as he makes on a large scale. I commented on it being a bit spicy for say a Tikka Massala but apparently when its watered down it loses most of the chilli kick but retains the flavours. He tried the blended base and was happy with it.

I have his email address so I will drop him a quick email asking him what he would add to the base to make it into a Tikka Massala. I'll give it a go and pass it on.

I'd be very keen to hear some other members thoughts once they have tried it. It really had that 'cant stop eating until I have licked the bowl clean' taste to it that my other curries have lacked.

When I made it, I swapped tomato puree for a thick tomato passata which I think was closer to what they were using.

I couldn't resist, I had to make a batch up straight away and it was EXCELLENT. The base once blended tasted very similar to the restaurant one. It is very yellow and salty. It actually tastes pretty gross on its own, you certainly couldn't eat it like that. Most of the bases I have tried from here taste more like lightly spiced onion and tomato soup, but this stuff is something completely different.

I doubled all the spice amounts so they looked more like they did on his chef spoon. The final taste was brilliant. I didn't have any chicken so I just ate a bowl of sauce on its own, dreaming of how nice it would have been with some naan and bhajis.

The base should be enough for 3 - 4 curries. I'll be freezing the remainder for next time I want an even quicker curry. This one was only 30 mins from start to finish and the base is used for most of their main curries (CTM, Rogan Josh, Jalfrezi, Vindaloo etc). He was cooking up a different base when I was there which he uses for the chefs specials. He said there was more spices in it.

One thing I will note about this is that the measurement he gave me for the spices (tsp of turmeric, salt etc) didn't match up with what my eyes told me when he added them. He was using a big chefs spoon to get the spices out and I thought he was adding closer to 2 - 3 tsp of each. The chefs spoon was about a quarter full of each. I couldn't believe how much salt he added!

I'm going to have a go at cooking this soon so I will report back.

JerryM, I'm sure you wont be able to resist giving this one a go either. I'm looking forward to hearing your feedback!