Here is the second stage
You can see it starting to turn brown at the edge of the pan.
Careful it doesn't burn.
Give a good scrape there

I made the curry gravy recipe that I got last week from a chef.
I had to do the browning garlic/ginger stage and so I photographed it.
Here is the recipe again.

Stage 1:-

1 lb onion
1 tablespoon garlic/ginger puree
5% tomato puree (I assume he meant that as a percentage of the  overall amount)
He said use pureed tinned tomatoes or paste.
Both were ok.
1 small green pepper
2 teaspoon salt
Water (you'll have to guess the amount)

Boil the above for at least an hour and then puree

Stage 2:-

Spices  2 teaspoon mix spice
This is Curry powder,Paprika,Turmeric,Cummin,Coriander in equal proportions
Salt as required
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon dried fenugreek
1 teaspoon balti paste

Also:-
1 tablespoon garlic/ginger puree
3 teaspoon oil

Add the spices to the pureed onion mix
Heat the oil and fry the garlic ginger until brown
Then pour in the onion mix (watch out for spluttering)
Cook for at least ten minutes and it?s ready
The first photo shows lots of steam coming off as the garlic ginger puree is cooked.
I had the heat fairly low as it seems to burn suddenly.

I have various traditional indian cookery? books.
Madhur and EP Veerasawmy amongst them.
They are very interesting to read, but I don't find the meals anywhere near as tasty as takeaway dishes.
Prawn vindaloo or vegetable madras or tarka dhall are just some of my favourites.
The Vindaloo in traditional cookbooks use vinegar, poppy seeds,cardomon pods and cloves.
They often use pork too.
Curry houses don't cook with pork.
The two cooking styles are separated by a flavour that we all love on this forum.
That flavour has become my quest.

Quote from: curryqueen on March 24, 2005, 03:59 PM
GRAVY

Onions about 2 pounds
1 carrot
1 med potato
1 green pepper
1 green chilli
1 dessertspoon ginger/garlic paste
1/4 pt vegetable oil
2 dessertspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 dessertspoon tomato paste
1/4 pt water
1/4 pt veg ghee

Put all the ingredients above into a pot except curry powder.? Cook until onions, carrots, potato are soft and then add curry powder and cook for another 20 minutes.? Blitz.? ?Put back on heat a simmer for another hour, when the oil will rise to surface.? I was told that if you want more oil so that you can take it off, then put extra in at the beginning.? I would also like to add at this stage that during our demonstration, the chef used the oil from the top of gravy ( he had scooped it out and was using it from a different pot.)? Chef also told us that they do freeze gravy, so that if they run short they only have to dethaw it.? But in general they make it daily.? Right, recipe for prawn vindaloo coming up!

It's not that different.
The initial ingredients are the same
Onions,carrots,potato,chilli,garlic ginger puree and green pepper
It does wander off after that though
No almonds , coconut, kashmiri masala, condensed milk

Here is the one I was shown again:-

The Onion Gravy

Ingredients:-

2 large onions sliced
1 green pepper sliced
1 medium potato sliced
3 tablespoons Garlic ginger puree
1 carrot unpeeled chopped
1 cup of vegetable oil
? cup vegetable ghee
1 desertspoon salt
2 desertspoon turmeric
2 desertspoon of Pataks Kashmiri Masala
2 green chillies chopped
2 whole tomatoes from a can
Water equal to half the volume of the above
i.e. if the above comes to half way up the pot, then add a quarter of a pot of water

Boil the above for only ten minutes.
This is until you can see the sliced onion wilting
Now add:-

2 desertspoons of curry powder (rajah)
2 desertspoons of ground almonds
2 desertspoons of coconut powder
2 tablespoons of condensed milk

Cook another five minutes and then blend
The mixture is bright yellow
Add enough hot water to make it very runny
About half it?s volume again
This doesn?t look like your finished oily curry gravy but I was told with more oil, and longer cooking, it would.
As far as the chef was concerned, we had what we wanted.

Perhaps only certain ingredients are vital to create the flavour.
The rest you can just fill in with what is available

Well done Curryqueen.
Definitely a recipe I shall use.
It's a totally magical experience being there, isn't it?
I'm so glad that you had the curry gravy demonstration too.
I wondered about the pot of oil they used.
He never said to me that it was scooped from the top of the gravy.
Mind you, the chap I had, wasn't too good with his English.
Brilliant.
Thank you.

Quote from: curryqueen on March 24, 2005, 06:37 PM
Hi Pete,

The Balti Kitchen dvd's are now selling for ?12.99. Was there a good recipe collection on them?

I typed out what I thought was the best:-
Base Sauce
2 ? lbs onions
1 bulb garlic
1 desertspoon salt
2 oz fresh ginger
2 tablespoon veg oil
2 ? pints water

Chop onions
Blend ginger and garlic with ? cup of the water
Put it all in a pot with the oil, salt and rest of the water
Bring to the boil then simmer for 40 minutes with the lid on
Stir occasionally
When cooled, blend
Take 2 cups aside for precooking chicken

1 small tin tomatoes blended
1 cup of vegetable oil
1 tablespoon tomato puree
1 desert spoon paprika
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 tablespoon ground black? pepper
1 desertspoon garam masala

Put the blended tomatoes, oil, turmeric and tomato puree into a pan and bring to the boil
Add the pepper, paprika and garam masala, simmer 20 minutes
Remove any froth

Precooked Chicken

4 large chicken breasts
1 desertspoon turmeric
1 desertspoon salt
1 desertspoon garam masala
1 desertspoon paprika
1 desertspoon tomato puree
1 cup of oil
2 cups of reserved curry gravy
Cut chickens into large chunks
In a pan add the oil and reserved curry gravy and boil
Lower heat and add everything but the chicken
Cook ten minutes then add chicken
Cook ten minutes more
Chicken Tikka
2 chopped chicken breast (8 pieces a breast)
1 Teaspoon garam masala
1 pinch? salt
1 pinch methi
? teaspoon salt
1 pinch orange food colour
1 desertspoon concentrated mint sauce
1 tablespoon plain yoghurt
1 tablespoon of blended ginger
1 tablespoon garlic
1 tablespoon oil

Add everything together and leave at least an hour
Put chicken onto skewers over a tray on the hottest heat in the oven
Cook 12 minutes

Chicken Tikka Masala
8 pieces of cooked chicken tikka
1 ? cups of base sauce
1 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoon single cream
1 desertspoon yoghurt
1 teaspoon concentrated mint sauce
? pinch orange food colouring
1 desertspoon fresh coriander

Put the sauce in the pan heat and add oil
Add everything else except the chicken
Cook 2 minutes
Add chicken cook 3 minutes
Add coriander and serve












Chicken Balti
6 pieces of chicken
1 ? cups of curry base
1 desertspoon veg oil
? teaspoon garam masala
1 pinch methi
? green pepper chopped
? onion chopped
1 teaspoon garlic blended
1 teaspoon ginger blended
1 tablespoon chopped coriander
1 pinch paprika
3 slices tomato

In a balti dish heat oil and add ginger and garlic
Cook on a high heat
Add pepper and onion
Add sauce
Add spices
Add more 1 teaspoon chilli to make Madras
When cooked add tomatoes and fresh coriander

Pillau Rice

3 cups rice
4 bay leaves
4 cloves
1 teaspoon salt
4 pieces cinammon stick
1 oz butter
1 pint water
? teaspoon red colour mixed with water
? teaspoon yellow colour mixed with water
4 green cardomons

Wash rice and put into pan with everything but the colouring
Bring to boil and simmer for 12 minutes
When all water has been absorbed add the colouring in a cross shape
Place in oven on maximum heat? for 20 minutes with lid on pan
When cooked fork through








Nan

1 ? lbs self raising flour
2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon oil
1 egg
5 fl oz milk
5 fl oz water

Blend for 30 seconds the water, milk, egg, oil, sugar and salt
Mix the flour and baking powder
Slowly add the blend and kneed
Cover and leave 15 mins
Divide into tennis size balls and roll in hands
With a rolling pin roll to circles
Brush lightly with oil
Slap between hands till thin
Pull on end to tear shape
Heat under grill for 1 ? minutes each side
Spread with butter and serve

I think the above are ok.
I have not tried the nan though.
We have easily as good recipes here

Quote from: Keith on March 23, 2005, 06:48 PM
He had a good look at it , consistency etc and then tried it ?.he also said they sometimes keep it for up to 3-4 days ?. I think it's a combination of many things . for example the browning of the ginger/garlic
Keith

It's enough to make a grown man cry, isn't it?
A few weeks back I took a home made curry base to two takeaways.
Check out
https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=151.0
What really puzzled me, is that only major critisism of my sauce, was that it needed salt.
There was no "you are missing the special spice" attitude.
I could tell the difference, they evidently could not.
And the difference was the flavour we are chasing.
It's subtle yet deep and is not the first flavour that hits you.
To my mind it is also the best thing about the curry.
It seperates a curry from simply a spicy vegetable stew.
In isolation my curries have been really satisfying, but when placed next to a bought curry they are simply not as good.
They are very close.
The only theories I have left are that
it is a cooking in bulk related problem or
something to do with butter or vegetable ghee.
The trouble is that these cooking experiments really stink out the house.
This is not always best recieved.
I saw the curry gravy made at Bengal Cuisine
Check out
https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=118.0
There was nothing special in it.
The main curry gravy pot they used was large.
For my demonstration they used a pot only about 8 inches wide.
Their pot for keeping the evenings curry gravy was maybe 14 inch wide and almost as tall.
It must be a volume thing.
What does anyone else think?

Quote from: ghanna on March 23, 2005, 07:54 PM
hi ,
please see this web page their base is so so different from all other
could you please come back all and tell me what do you think of it ?
thanks
ghanna
http://homepages.tesco.net/~andy.oddjob/curry.htm

I have tried this recipe about six months ago.
It's ok.
The use of pulses in the base is not unusual.
Some restaurants use chick peas.
I didn't bother doing the base again.
Using garlic powder is interesting too.
I've got recipes with that in.
I don't think many restaurants use it though.

Quote from: Blondie on March 23, 2005, 03:33 PM
BUT IF WE HAVE CLOSED OUR MINDS TO ANYTHING NEW WE WILL NEVER PROGRESS

I went out only last week, looking for a missing ingredient.
I managed to get another curry base recipe, which I posted.
I promise you that my mind isn't closed but I have come to the conclusion, that there definitley isn't a missing ingredient.
It is tecnique along with correct restaurant recipes.
I feel my curries still are missing a little something but all these recipes you buy, give essentially the same incomplete information.
The recipe I posted from The Balti Kitchen Video has an Asian chef on the demonstration.
The base is ok, but..............missing a flavour.
My point is that those Balti House Recipes are meant to be genuine.
They are meant to be as close as you can get, but they DON'T deliver.
I bought all three of them too.
They cost me about ?30
It drives me nuts.
I will keep on searching for information, but not from these unknown sources.
I have been conned so many times.
Sometimes it's only been ?2, sometimes ?15 and none of it has helped me at all.
The only recipes I trust, are the ones I have seen by chefs and ones witnessed by others on this site.
I think these people who sell information like this are preying on our desperation.
It takes self control ,on my part, not to purchase the curry kit you mentioned.
Because I want it.
I want that missing information really badly.
But I promised myself after David Smith's Curry Book and an ebay Ebook (written by a 54 year old observer) that I wouldn't waste any more money.
The conclusion I have come to, is that we can't reproduce the same curry results, because we are not working in the same quantities as a curry house does.
I intend to try some cooking experiments with greater volumes, and will post anything I find out.
If you buy the Curry Kit PLEASE post here if anything is new.
And believe me, I want that to be true.
That would make my decade!

I don't know whats in this bundle of "curry ware" but it can't be anything better than what is already on this site.
I posted the recipe for the base sauce from the video The Balti Kitchen.
The recipe is ok, but not good enough to stop me looking for something closer.
Check out
https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=26.0
I would love it to be as easy as this, but I have wasted so much money on information I already? knew.
The truth is that WE are the experts.
No one knows more, other than a real chef from a restaurant.
And these people don't even speak English, let alone make cooking DVD's.
All these adverts say they have someone with restaurant experience involved.
They just prey on our desire for knowledge.
Remember "secrets of the indian restaurant" ?
There was that other ebook (posted on this site too)
Check out
https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=91.0
That person claimed to have been there and seen it all.
The Curry Secret (Kris Dhillon) was meant to be authored by a restaurant owner, but we all know that those recipes aren't correct.
What about Pat Chapman's work?
He sells the idea that he is a fellow colleague of restaurant chefs.
I am grateful to his work as an introduction to indian cooking but it isn't as close as we have on this web site.
David Smith's Curry House book iis another one.
I asked him if he had got his recipes from chefs, and I'm afraid he said that he didn't, he works them out himself.
His book is a good starting point, but it's not what we are after.
I am very curious to the content of the curry kit but can't face the dissapointment again.
On our site we have genuine restaurant curry bases.
We also have a growing number of witnessed recipes.
I don't think anyone can beat that.
There is no book, video or DVD that? will get you exactly what you want.
It is down to your cooking experience and the growing knowledge we share freely here.