Using the same dirty pan he used to cook the base in, he added a couple of tbsp of veg oil and added a desert spoon of hot chilli powder, a big squirt of lemon juice, a dessert spoon of tomato puree (was quite runny, not like from a tube), a ladle of base sauce and a pinch of methi leaves. He heated this on high for a few minutes then added water to thin the base. He added in the cooked chicken (cooked in pots, not boiled) and cooked it on high until the oil started to separate. this probably took 6 - 7 minutes. Once it was ready he added a big pinch of fresh coriander and served.

I ate it with a fresh naan bread and it was absolutely delicious. One of the best BIR curries I have had (and I have had a lot).

I have just got back from Zaffron after a very interesting and enlightening Madras cooking lesson. I was only there for an hour so didn't get a chance to cover anywhere near as much as I would have liked, but I did get to cook a Madras from scratch including the base in about 30 mins. I'm going back in a couple of weeks for a longer stint so hopefully I can cover more areas then.

Interestingly, there was no Garam Masala or Restaurant Spice Mix. He had 5 big tubs containing Turmeric, Salt, Hot Chilli Powder, Ground Cumin and ground Coriander.

As the main restaurant batch of base was already made, the chef made up a small individual batch to show me how to do it. This was priceless as far as cooking from home goes, and the finished result was simply sublime.

So for the base he got a metal frying pan and added a lot of vegetable oil. I'm guessing 6 to 7 tablespoons worth. To thins he added two chefs spoons of finely chopped onion and green pepper (about an 80/20 split). After a couple of minutes he added in two green finger chillies which had been split lengthways. When this was was just starting to think about browning, he added in about 2 tablespoons of finely chopped carrot and continued to fry. He added a couple of teaspoons of ginger garlic paste (60% garlic 40% ginger) which they make themselves by blending the chopped ingredients with water. Next was a ladle of blended tinned plum tomatoes which were cooked for 2 - 3 minutes. then he added 1 tsp chilli powder, 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1.5 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp turmeric and 1 tsp salt. Once this had cooked for about 5 minutes he added about 2 tablespoons of plain yoghurt. He added water (half a metal serving bowl) and simmered for a few minutes. He then poured it into a blender to be finely blended. this whole process only took about 20 minutes. The finished base sauce didn't taste that nice. it was quite spicy and very salty but this was apparently normal as it gets thinned out with water at the curry cooking stage.

Hi Emin

Sounds like you had an amazing time. Have you tried replicating this recipe since you got home? Did it work?

I've got a lesson with a local BIR tomorrow so it will be interesting to see the differences between an upmarket restaurant and a local TA.

I always leave the seeds in. Whether it affects the heat or not I don't know, I just don't see the point of discarding them. Usually when a chef says to discard the seeds it is because they want the chilli taste without the fire so I guess they must contain a lot of the heat.

I think next year I'm going to grow green finger chillies as they seem to work best in Indian cooking, and Jalape?os for on pizza. The super chillies are good and plentiful but I'm not sure they work very well in curries. The Nagas have been a fun experiment but I don't think I'll be repeating it. To give you an idea of heat, I cut one open and just touched it on the tip of my tongue. It felt like I had physically burned it for about 30 mins. I also think I rubbed my eyelid with a chilli covered finger which wasn't wise. It felt like I had badly scratched it for hours.

I find the taste a bit overwhelming, it really seems to take over the whole dish. I made a chilli sauce a couple of days ago using half a Naga and about 8 super chillies. I love the heat of them, but the taste isn't quite right for me (which is a shame given the amount that are growing!).

Say hi to Bhaskar from me. (You might have to explain I was the loon calling him out of the blue with lots of curry cooking questions!)

This is a 1-off, 2 hour opportunity so I need to make sure I gather as much info as possible on ingredients and methods. I will make sure I run through spice mixes, pastes, base sauce, madras, vindaloo and tikka massala. I'll take notes if anyone orders a mushroom bhaji or special rice but as I have never eaten either before I might not get everything right. Onion bhajis however... I'm not leaving until I am 100% certain I know exactly how they do them.

Everything else, I will watch an learn and try to absorb as much as possible. If they let me take some pictures with my phone then I will.

Hi all,

I have been emailing some Indian chefs recently to ask a few questions about various things from onion bhaji recipes to what oil they use in their base sauce.

One of them who I have known for years has invited me in one lunchtime to teach me how to cook a BIR curry. This is a place I rate very highly and was my all-time favourite restaurant before we moved out of the area.

I'm thinking I will go next Tuesday. The head chef is off on Mondays so hopefully Tuesday will involve a fresh big batch of base.

So, I'll go notebook in hand and take as many notes as I can on everything they show me. Hopefully this will include making a base then cooking some curries for the lunchtime customers. As this is likely a once in a lifetime opportunity, I want to make sure I ask every question that we need the answers to. So far I plan on asking:

1) What type of oil do they use. Do they reclaim it from the base. Do they use old bhaji fryer oil in the base.

2) What temperature and how long do they cook their bhajis for. Im hoping they will run through the recipe for this.

3) Does the head chef think he could cook exactly the same tasting curry at home, if not why not.

4) I'll be most interested in a madras and vindaloo recipe so I will make sure I ask for their ingredients and method for those along with the base sauce.

5) I'll try and see how they make their keema naan. This should also help with all naans and keema rice.

Please can you let me know what else needs answering. Ask me anything you like and I will do my best to get an accurate answer from them.

Hopefully those going for a similar experience in Sussex and Bristol can ask the same questions so we get a few different opinions. I would assume they will all do things pretty much the same though.

Hey guys, looks like I hit the motherload! Good old Zaffrons.

Chrish
Its nice to receive ur mail after ages, I hope that ur keeping well.Our chef Roshan also know u and he is happy n ready 2 teach u how to make curries.Except sunday monday n saturday u can come any lunch time u r welcome looking forward to see u. Yogi.

Damn, I just got suckered into buying a tub of the Hot Madras sauce at the local butchers. They told me how excellent it is - best curry ever etc. I thought I would give it a go, but as mentioned earlier, it is not even as nice as Pataks, plus it was really lumpy and not even close to BIR taste. Bloody butcher!