That does look good! It can be a pain getting the skin off the chicken legs, I find when making tandoori chicken.

Hi Harbut,

I would forget the raisins and cashew nuts though. I've never had a raisin in a samosa here in the UK not would I like to either. Reminds me of the early supermarket curries that had raisins and apple pieces. Yuk!

I meant to add have a look at mamtas web site:

www.mamtaskitchen.com

And search for samosa.

The bottle I was referring to is a small plastic bottle containing the cardamon powder.

It is this one:

http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2espicesofindia%2eco%2euk%2f&WD=powder%20cardamom&SHOP=%20&PN=Indian%2dFood%2dNiharti%2dCardamom%2dGround%2dElaichi%2dPowder%2ehtml%23aISG022#aISG022

I must admit I do associate the flavour of cardamom with the good old days of curry eating so I'm hopeful about trying your recipes.

Paul.

I used to eat in the curry mile (Rusholme Manchester) but not for about 11 years or so.

Even then I was often disappointed with the curries. Many of the restaurants seemed to taste the same as well almost as if the same chef was in charge of all the kitchens.

I always thought the curry mile was well overrated, certainly compared to my student days in Leeds in the early eighties.

Hi CA I agree the base is bland but would argue that maybe a base should be a little bland?

Anyway, your recipes are next for me - I would have tried sooner but had to send off for the cardamom powder. That bottle looks like something from a chemistry set!

I agree that for old timers like me the Taz recipes as they stand won't take you back to the 70s or 80s but I'm not sure anybody here has achieved that yet. I do think they are a welcome inclusion to cr0 and shouldn't be lightly overlooked.

I'll knock up your base recipe this weekend hopefully. You do post some of the clearest recipes on this web site and that makes the process so much easier to follow.

Paul.

Hi DD, I agree about the Korma not being a good test. Normally I make savoury madras type curries sometimes adding peppers and opions, sometimes not.

The Taz spice mix and base make a great combination. I can only recommend you try it - nothing to lose.

Great post and pictures Dellydell.

Despite careful measurements when I make a 3 litre base and have 6 x 500 ml containers at the ready I always seem to be out by about half a litre, usually I find I'm short of the target amount.

The base looks very good - let us know how the cooking with it goes.

Hi DD, I would recommend you try this base and method as it does give good results and is easy to prepare. I just made a korma with the base and it was spot on so it is very flexible. Can't say I like kormas but it tasted like I remember from tasting other people's kormas in restaurants, and the wife loved it.

I was skeptical at first as I though the base was too simple, there was too much cumin and too much turmeric but how wrong I was!

I made the chicken Korma using the Taz base as per Josh's recipe but I dropped the 4 Tbs sugar down to 3 and used Maggies coconut powder. The chicken I marinaded in yoghurt, garlic, ginger, salt and lemon and cooked in a hot oven for about 12 minutes.

The korma produced was excellent and as good as I would expect from a TA or restaurant. Having said that I don't really like kormas but the wife wanted one.

It goes to show how flexible the Taz base is. I'll try to post some photos soon but presentation of meals isn't one of my strong points!

If the dish requires tomatoes like a bhuna type curry I always use fresh ones - I only use tinned in the base usually.