Quote from: George on November 16, 2010, 11:51 AM
As I said, the ones I use appear to be the same. Italian plum tomatoes are used for both whole and chopped variants. The ingredients lists both say "Italian peeled plum tomatoes 60%". These are from Lidl and, whilst low cost, are high quality. Other supermarkets may have lower quality tomatoes, of uncertain quality, at a higher price.

I believe you, George, but look at the two illustrations : would you agree with me that whilst the tomatoes illustrated on the upper can are clearly plum, those on the lower can look remarkably like conventional ?

** Phil.

(Sorry, Domi, don't have a treadmill, but on checking the garden shredder it looks as if the opening is big enough to get the plums inside if that will help ?).

Quote from: Secret Santa on November 16, 2010, 10:31 AM
I don't know what to make of you pair but the thought of both of you sitting there gazing at your plums is making me a bit queasy.  ;D

If that makes you queasy, what about the thought of someone chopping them up, boiling them in tomato sauce, and then stuffing them in a can ?!

Quote from: guitarmanguitar on November 16, 2010, 10:00 AM
Where's the recipe for her base please.CArl...

Here, Carl. 
Pictures using her recipe and methodology here.

** Phil.

Transcribed from Kris Dhillon's The Curry Secret, Copyright (C) Kris Dhillon 1989

How To Make The Curry Sauce

For approximately eight main course dishes.
Preparation and cooking time: 1 hr 30 minutes approx.

2 lb (900g) cooking onions
2 oz (50g) green ginger
2 oz (50g) garlic
2

Quote from: solarsplace on November 16, 2010, 09:35 AM
Is a very long low heat cook the missing piece to the puzzle?

I can imagine this for the base sauce, which is (I think) what you are saying, but clearly the final phases have to be as quick as possible, which may explain in part the almost universal adoption of part-cooked meat/chicken/w-h-y.  It is also worth bearing in mind that the modern blender is just that (modern), and that traditional Indian cookery could not have been predicated on its use, so there must have been a way in pre-blender days to get a good smooth onion-rich sauce without blending, and long slow cooking almost certainly fits the bill for this.

** Phil.

Quote from: guitarmanguitar link=topic=5160.msg50345#msg50345
20 Onions
5 Tomatoes
Ginger, & Garlic
Cooked until all the onion is soft, then blended, & that's it.

Makes perfect sense to me : this is basically the same as Kris Dhillon, and I still find her base hard to beat.  Mind you, asking for "a rough idea" isn't necessarily going to get  you the complete picture : I think we could all hazard a guess that the ingredients he listed would form the bulk, but it may be that the chef adds far smaller quantities of other ingredients that your friendly waiter skimmed over ...

** Phil.

Quote from: Razor on November 15, 2010, 11:12 PM
You are correct, some of our older members may still use Imperial measurements.

But come on, be honest, how complicated is Imperial when compared to metric?  I mean, how simple is it to work in 10's 100's and 1000's as appose to 8th's, 16th's and so on?

The 16s (oz/lb), 14s (lb/stone), 8s (stones/cwt) and 20s (cwt/ton) don't really worry me, any more than do the 12s (in/ft). 3s (ft/yd) and 1760s (yd/mile).  I simply know that to make a small pie I need 6oz flour and 3oz butter/lard, 8 + 4 for a medium pie and 12 + 6 for a large pie.  I haven't the slightest idea how many grammes I might need, and all the while I can buy Imperial scales, I couldn't care less !  I stand 6' tall, weigh 12 1/2 stone, and do not expect to see British speed limits expressed in Km/hour in my lifetime  ;D  Incidentally, do you measure your petrol consumption in mpg (miles per gallon) or litres/100km, Ray ?!

** Phil.

I can't answer for Ray (obviously), but in general I believe that if someone specifies 1kg or 1lb, then that is the weight indicated on a set of kitchen scales.  With liquids it is possible to get an accurate estimate by volume, but most solids need weighing if one is to achieve any accuracy of measurement at all.

Incidentally, contrary to Ray's earlier assertion, not all Britons think in metric : it all depends on age, and I am distinctly an Imperial/Avoirdupois man !

Quote from: GulfExpat on March 29, 2010, 07:43 PM
http://www.youtube.com/user/IndianChefShaan

Fascinating :  I was convinced he was using a non-stick pan with a metal chef's spoon, and he confirmed it during the transmission; I've also seen Raymond Blanc do the same.  Do professional chefs have access to non-stick surfaces that we mere mortals cannot get ?  I ask because every non-stick pan that I have ever bought (including the Platinum Tefal range) all state categorically that they must not be used with metal utensils.

** Phil.

Yes, in the end, "elbow grease" (or, to be more precise, the repeated application of several fingernails, until they wore out !) removed far more gunge than most of my chemical treatments.  I also learned, as a part of this exercise, that I had been putting all sorts of things into the dishwasher that were not supposed to go in there, according to their manuals : the pan and lid of the deep-fat fryer, the lid of the pressure cooker, ...  Ah well, they seem to have survived, but it will be more elbow grease and less dish washering in the future !

** Phil.