Quote from: joshallen2k on August 09, 2009, 12:47 AM
On the curry side of things, it seems to me that he gave a "home version" of the lesson.

I would have thought that a base sauce would be a must, whether they are a takeaway, or a sit-down, whatever.

Did you get any specific recipes?

-- Josh

I think you are missing the point joshallen2k,we are talking a QUALITY Curry here not your T/A mass produced stuff.A takeaway only use a base because given the amount of Curries on a T/A menu and the time they have they could not produce the goods quick enough using fresh products,Just think how good your first Curry is made from freshly made base ,if you freeze the rest it is just never the same is it. The Restaurant have four Chef's and can produce food very quickly especially if the customer requires a starter this gives them the time to make the proper Curry using all fresh ingredients ,Curry Base is for Speed and Convenience NOT quality..

When I write a largish post the text just goes out of site at the bottom of the box and although I tab down it just keeps disappearing !
Anyway the Base Sauce ,I asked Amit about using old oil ? No , only fresh Vegetable oil ,BUT they do not make a base sauce and according to Amit it is only T/Aways and Restaurants combined with a busy T/A that would use a Base Sauce ,this is purely to save on cooking time and unnecessary for the home cook.
I was interested to see how the Chef would ' make a sauce 'from scratch  He started by putting two large Chef's spoons of (this Curry would be about 3-4 portions) oil into an aluminium frying pan then about 10 TBS of finely chopped English Onions and fried for about 10 or so mins until caramelised then added about a cereal dish of finely chopped fresh Tomatoes,he continued frying and pulping the mixture with his spoon then placed his spoon in the pan and started filling it with a mixture of fresh green chillies and ginger ( chopped finely )fresh chopped garlic ,salt,spice mix ,chili powder ( they make all their own spice powders from seed )then stirred this in and continued to fry and pulp ,I couldn't see much of a sauce at that point but then he added about half a pint of water  and there it was a fantastic fresh made sauce using fresh ingredients ,how could it not be good !He then added some single cream ( tikka masala )then the precooked chicken cooked for another few mins then added some fresh Coriander and it was done   
The flavour of that Curry was unbelievable .
There were 10 of us at the Class today and everyone had a fantastic day ,the family and me will definitely book for a meal at the restaurant but also sign up for another class in January.Phew ! what a day...................

Wow ! what a day .
                 A BIG BIG thank you to Amit the owner and host for today's Cooking Experience.
As soon as we walked in the door to the Restaurant we were greeted by Amit and asked what we would like to drink ,complimentary of course  :)and from then on he just kept topping us up with drinks whenever we wanted all day !Lucky we were dropped off and picked up  ;D
We started the Class with a little ' guess the Spices ' competition but the Spices were in Original seed form and not powder and all the containers were covered with cling film so you could'nt smell them ,I didnt do bad and scored 11 / 12  ;D the one I missed was Black Salt.
By then the Chef was ready for our first lesson ,Chappli Kebab ( sort of minced lamb burger with Onion and Spices )the minced Lamb was mixed in a large mixing bowl by hand with Onion and Spices mixed in then made into a Burger shape then cooked on a frying pan shaped like a hot - plate with a drop of oil sprinkled over it ,they also make a mint and mango dip to garnish the finnished Kebab and they were Deeeelicious Then we went onto little Onion Pakoras also with another dip - very nice 
we then did a Chicken Tikka Masala ,Prawn Chettinad ,Vegetable Dal ,Plain Naan ,and a Peshwari Naan in the Tandoor.
We sat down to lunch then and were served like King's and Queens by the Restaurants waiters and then out came the Indian Red and White Wines for us to try  All the meals were delicious and so was the Wine  ;D
We all had a go at making Chocolate Samosas for our Deserts and that was fun , we all did well though.
Amit was a fantastic  host and very passionate about the quality of his Restaurants meals.
The BIG surprise for me is that the Restaurant do not make a massive container of ' base sauce ' instead they make the sauce at the start of the Curry (follow on to next post)

Hi All ,
       Got my big day tomorrow ,a three hour cooking lesson at the Myrisitica Indian Restaurant in Bristol  8)I'm just hoping it gets down to the nitty gritty and smelly old oil and stuff  ;D but I think it's a bit posh for that . Still be a good experience though I hope 

I watched the webcam on the easttakeaway website for a couple of hours the other night ,they made curry's and base sauce while i was watching http://www.easttakeaway.co.uk/ I noticed the Chef was removing excess oil from the Curry's with his Chef's spoon and placing it into a stainless container at the back of the hob , didn't see what he did with it after though ,I wonder if this is the ' flavoured ' oil they are more likely to use in their base 

dazp. Just make your Curry's at home and put them in individual takeaway containers ,keep them in the fridge until you need them then take to work and reheat ( Microwave is fine ) Curry's always taste better a day or two later 

Quote from: joshallen2k on November 13, 2008, 02:47 PM
Here I was thinking he was certified in the cooking of small dogs...

So that's the ' Secret ' ingredient  ;D

Ive got my 3 hour cooking lesson ( along with three of my family )next Saturday ( Myristica Indian Restaurant ) 
I reckon the Chef will soon get fed up with me asking so many questions 

Quote from: Secret Santa on July 28, 2009, 05:46 PM

Quote from: emin-j on July 27, 2009, 08:46 PM
Anyone ever thought of trying a can of Soup as the base ?

It's been brought up a few times over the years and I've definitely considered it but never got around to actually doing it. Having made SnS's base again recently, I'm convinced that a tin of tomato soup (not cream of...) would work well, as SnS's base tastes just like a spicy tomato soup to me.

So...1 can of tomato soup, some jarred garlic and ginger, a few of the usual spices and possibly some form of pre-cooked pureed onions (any suggestions for commercial ones?), and I think you've got yourself the easiest base in the world!

Sounds good SS , what about this for the Onion http://www.theasiancookshop.co.uk/onion-powder--ground-onion-powder-75g-1813-p.asp

How would you go about ' preserving ' the used oil as you only need a small amount in a base compared to how much you would get from a home deep fat fryer .