Yep i know what you mean jars of pre made pastes don't do a lot for me but like the chef said they're cheap and convenient and I bet you most places use them these days.

Second stage cooking ginger/garlic spices etc



Finished base



Going in freezer

As promised the second and final part of my base sauce.

Well spotted the potatoes went in with the skin on.Can't really see much difference either way to be honest
Corriander?? An average bag from Asda's,cut about 1 1/2 inches of the stalk and chop.

Base Sauce Part 2 Ingredients
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2 tablespoons garlic ginger paste(blended in a ratio of 60/40)
3 teaspoons of tomato puree
3 tablespoons plum tomatoes
5 tablespoons yogurt
4 teaspoons mix powder(https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4908.0)
2 ladles of plain vegetable oil

Ensure that the base from part 1 is cooled and take 2 ladles of this mixture and place in a blender.Add the yogurt and the plum tomatoes to the blender.Blend this until it is completely smooth.

Next get another large pan and put on a medium heat. Put in the two ladles of oil then add the garlic/ginger mixture and gently let it brown.Add the blended yogurt and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Add 3 teaspoons tomato puree and 4 teaspoons of mix powder.Lower the heat to cook the spices out,a reddish oil should appear when it is ready.Add the blended mixture from Part 1 and the bring to the boil.Leave on simmer for about 15 minutes,if you have added enough oil the it should float on the top,this is what you scoop off when making your curries.

Conclusions
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Well not that different to other bases on this site.Reminded me ingredients wise of CA's base the only unusual addition is the lemon and yogurt.Still not entirely sure about the lemon,it does give a funny smell when cooking but then disappears in the finished sauce.I've never managed to get my hands on an authentic BIR base sauce so I'm not sure what it should smell like.One thing is for sure,it does get better the day after-the flavours become more subtle,a bit like Mulligatawny or apple soup.It's neither hot nor spicy so I guess that's the sign of a good sauce so it can be used in hot dishes like madras as well as kormas.Plain vegetable oil is used,I'm really tempted to try some spiced oil from my onion bhajis to see what it does.

I have to go to work now part two to follow later I promise!!!!

(As taught on my recent cookery lessons)

Ingredients(Part 1)
---------------------------

2 Kilo onions (white NOT red)
3 green chillies
Medium size lemon
1 small carrot
Coriander(mostly stalks some leaves as well)
1 green pepper
2 medium potatoes(red)
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon turmeric

Method
-----------

Peel and chop onions,potatoes and carrot.Leave rind on lemon and de-seed and slice.Chop chillies(leave seeds in).Place in large pot(about 9 litres),cover with water and bring to boil.Leave to simmer for about 15 minutes until the contents have softened.When cooled blend UNTIL COMPLETELTY SMOOTH and return to pan.

(Part two to follow)

(As taught on my recent cookery lessons)

Ingrediants(All Rajah brand)
---------------

100g mild madras curry powder
100g Paprika
200g Haldi(Turmeric)
100g Dhaniya(ground coriander)
100g chilli powder
50g jerra(cumin)
50g Gram Masala

Used in most dishes this is his unique blend he uses in his restaurant.Nothing unusual, in fact similar to most already on this site.

Chicken Jalfrezi on the go

I'm convinced that their is no secret,just similar techniques used by BIR restaurants up and down the country.I was surprised just how similar some of the recipes he gave me were to those already on this site,it just confirms that we were right all along.

I will be posting the base sauce today along with the spice mix,others will follow when I have time.All spices were Rajah brand and he uses Tower tomato puree in the restaurant(nothing added just puree).

Disappointments???  I guess the liberal use of Pataks pastes but then it didn't suprise me.I've seen them in just about every take away round here.He said before they were freely available most restaurants used to make up their own spice mixes(hence the old style flavour)but now it's all about money and time.

Some important points I asked him...

Oil
---

He did not use spiced oil in the base sauce(he was quite surprised at this idea),HOWEVER he said it was important to use the oil floating on top of the base when making curries,this is where the flavour is.

Heat/flames
----------------

When making spicy dishes(madras,korai etc) always use a high heat ensuring the spices don't burn.Kormas etc should be cooked on a gentle heat

So there you so hopefully everyone should find something of interest in my posts.

JB

Just finished the last of my curry lessons so I'm starting to put together some posts.I thought it would be better to put them in their appropriate sections within this forum so I'll start with the base sauce recipe and the spice mix I was taught.Comments(both good and bad!!) are welcome,all I can say is that everything I was shown is EXACTLY how the chef does it in his resataurant(albeit on a much smaller scale).

Overall it's been hugely enjoyable having an actual chef come into my house and teach me BIR cooking.If I'm honest some recipes(korma,balti,side dishes) were spot on whilst others seemed a bit lacking.However after doing so much cooking with various spices etc the aromas may have overloaded my senses somewhat.

I was really hoping the chef was going to say 'Yeah this is the secret ingrediant that all the restaurants/take-aways use that they never tell you about...this is the closely guarded secret!!'

What a complete plonker I am.I really should read all the instructions before I start to add photo's.George you were spot on,the photo's were way too big to be uploaded so I had to edit them.Simple isn't it?? Oh that was chicken tikka and a (half eaten) bombay potato by the way!!! The posts are coming I promise the wife's nagging I'm always on the computer or cooking bloody curry!!!  Thanks for your help guys!!!!!