Quote from: George on December 12, 2007, 02:20 AM
I guess it's all done in the interest of entertainment, like crushing all the naan bread holders - unnecessary I thought.
Regards
George

I didn't mind the naan holders
I couldn't see a problem with that
The place will be packed out for a long time, after this kind of exposure
I thought the food looked lovely

Quote from: Bobby Bhuna on December 09, 2007, 12:00 AM
Could this deteriorated oil's smoking effect on the ingredients being fried account for the taste missing from our currys?

I don't know, but I spent another day in my curry laboratory (garage)
trying to match this wonderfull curry gravy I bought
I thought I was really close, but when it came to cooking with it, absolutely zero aroma
Maybe it is old oil, as you say
I think they must add something that we haven't got
There certainly nothing used in my kitchen, at any time, that smells or tastes, like what I am looking for.
It is quite unique
There was this asian chef I knew, really nice bloke
His takeaway produced brilliant curries with this extra "taste"
Then his lease ran out, and he had to move premises
The new place he started, had loads of new equipment
It even had an electric potato peeler
This machine looked and acted very similar to a tumble dryer
You put potatoes in with skins on, then turned on the machine
A couple of minutes later you took them out: whole, but completey peeled
I was very impressed
He even got a new cooker
My gosh, you should have seen the flames it could produce of the big gas ring
They were probably about a foot high
But the funny thing was, that he never produced a curry with the "taste" again
His curries were very good, but never as good
I used to pester him with many questions and he always insisted that " the curry is created in the pan, not by the curry gravy"
If I could just make curry gravy with the "aroma" I would be happy
There is only one place left around here that does that
I think this is the aroma/flavour George talks about
I'll have to go back
I feel like I am running out of time, and will never know
Maybe I can find out more over Christmas

I think there is something a bit technical going on here
I notice that if you follow Fumble's links,it works
But when I post the actual web address, it doesn't
Don't understand, but at least we can watch it following the links
This was the letter I got telling me about it
I presume some other cr0 members got this too
Quite a few of us bought the Kushi book


Dear friends, customers and regulars to the Kushi Balti House,

There's something of a Christmas tradition developing here at the Kushi Balti House!  For the second year in a row now, we've produced a short home-made video to show you how transform traditional Christmas food into a treat for any curry fan.

Last year, of course, it was the Brussel Sprout Bhaji.  Well, this year, it's festive Christmas turkey, sprouts, leeks and cranberry sauce - all in a delicious curry.

To see the video, please go to our website, www.kushibalti.co.uk and follow the links.  We've already had a number of customers who've tried it - and are delighted with the results.  Give it a go!

Thanks again for your support and loyalty over the past year, and we hope to see you back at Kushi very soon.  Next time you visit, let us know how your turkey curry turned out.

Seasons Greetings from everyone here!

Kind regards,
Mohammed Ali Haydor
Proprietor,
Kushi Balti House

Quote from: Admin on December 04, 2007, 10:02 AM
I can get to brick lane no worries.
I will investigate this.
S

Any news Stu?

Has this been posted before
I got an email with the link because I bought the book online
It's really good fun to watch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekO1SZuuHjE

I can't wait for this
Brilliant
I have seen a couple of his recent programmes
Let's hope he doesn't tell them to take curry off the menu!!

Quote from: Bobby Bhuna on December 05, 2007, 06:32 PM
How should I approach the issue of getting The Balaka to share some knowledge with me?

If you want to get in, then make sure you approach them on a Tuesday or Wednesday
(unless they open on Mondays) because these are all quiet days (especially Tuesdays)
Don't make arrangements for several days ahead
They won't remember
Try not to be over interested, some of what you see are "trade secrets" which they might not want the competition to know
Make sure you are buying a curry
Simply ask to see it cooked
I would be very surprised if you are flatly refused (unless you look threatening)
When you are in the kitchens there will be lots of opportunities to see,ask and learn

Quote from: Curry King on December 05, 2007, 07:12 PM
how come you seem to be able to blag your way into more kitchens than anyone else 

Well, there are loads of little takeaways dotted around here, so there are lots of places to try.
Nobody has ever offered to show me, I always have had to ask
I get turned down too]
Also the staff move around from place to place
This time, I knew the driver and the side chef from somewhere two years ago
I hope I am some sort of a friend

Quote from: fumble on December 05, 2007, 07:35 PM
I don't see why they would do this as peppers are more expensive than onions, so why bother?

Yes, I see your point, but green peppers are in it
I believe lots of places use them, but I know several that definetly don't

The one style of BIR I really want to make, I still can't do
It's got the extra taste that I can't get close too
They DON'T use pepperes
In fact when they cook a curry they put in very little, except curry gravy

Continuing the above demo post
I saw the new curry gravy blended
They don't bother seperating out the oil
It ends up looking very creamy and thick
The oil for cooking curries is from a deep pan fryer
The bhajees samosas and chips are done in that too
So the oil definitely has a bit of flavour!!

There were the usual small cartons of spices, coconut powder,almond powder, dried fenugreek, garlic ginger and fresh coriander
All these were positioned to the left of a very old gas cooker
I have never seen one quite like this before
It gets the big flames but the shape where the gas came out was like a perforated dome
Like a little volcano
Anyhow it worked well enough

The chef proceeded to make a chicken vindaloo
He heated about two desertspoons of chip pan oil for about a minute
Then he added half a desertspoon of garlic ginger puree,1 desertspoon thick tomato puree,1 chefs spoon of thick curry gravy (about 4 desertspoons) and 1 desertspoon spice mix

At this point he asked me if I wanted the vindaloo hot
I said yes and he quickly added 1 teaspoon of crushed dried red chillies to the pan.
I've never seen those used before
Chef stirred the pan for about two minutes and a very strong smell came from the pan, although nothing was burning
I guess this would be the "toffee" aroma Gary Woodpecker describes
Chef took the pan off the cooker and added about a cup of water
He stirred this in and returned the pan to the heat
He added a couple more big spoons of curry gravy and the precooked chicken
He cooked on for about five minutes more with a lid on the pan
He turned the meal out and into a foil container
He added a little chopped coriander and put the lid on
Very nice people and an enjoyable meal

I got into the kitchens of another takeaway last night
Very friendly staff
The curries are good BIR
I saw the unblended curry gravy pot
You could mainly see what was in it, although I did ask
Most ingredients were only roughly chopped if at all
You could see onions,green pepper,canned tomatoes,oil and water.
It also had ginger garlic, spice mix and salt
The curry gravy was in a pot about 12 inches tall by about ten inch diameter
Very little spice had been added to it
He said 1 chef spoon (about four desertspoons) for the whole pot
The spice goes in last to prevent burning
Conversation was extremely difficult because of language problems
I knew the takeaway he worked at before and his base is very similar to there.
They browned the garlic ginger in oil, then added the vegetables, salt, and water
Boiled for an hour or two, then added the spice and boiled half an hour more
Then they blended
I think this is almost the same recipe
Chef showed me a vindaloo
I will post this later, when I have more time