Topic: Curry Kit (have you seen this?)

[Blondie]

The Kits supplied by this web based company http://www.curry-kits.co.uk do not appear to contain anything that we do not know about. The book that they supply with the Kit is Khris Dillon's Curry Secret, which I am sure we all have a copy of, BUT !!! when I made an email enquiry to the company, one of thier staff telephoned me and during the conversation assured me that beside the curry secret they supply a manual prepaired for them by a restaurant chef and also they have plans to produce a DVD showing how all aspects of the cooking are done. The kit which we don't need the majority of costs ? 11.99 + postage but this is maybe a good price for the addittional information alone.

I was very interested in buying a kit just to see what extra information might be in there but my gallop has been halted by my little daughter who is insisting on buying it for me for my birthday in July.  So if no one has taken the plunge by then, I will report back with any new findings in July,

Cheers all,

Blondie

[Curry King]

Im not sure how much Kris Dhillons book is worth now but its not much and the spices included could be picked up from an imporium for about a fiver.  Im be interested to know what their addional information is, if it is the real deal from a proper chef why bother bundling the not real deal KD book with it?

[Blondie]

Hi Curry King,

We here all know that the KD book is not of much use but I guess they are bundling it as a part of the value added sales pitch after all to the uninitiated it does contain 'The Secret'.  I accept your caution, but it was the extra manual and the prospect of a DVD (maybe we could jointly push them to produce this sooner rather than later).

cheers CK,

Blondie

[Curry King]

The other thing is why not mention it on the site?  If it was my site I would have "recipes provided by genuine restaurant chef" plasted all over the place.  As you say anyone whos into making restaurant curry at home would already have the KD book and wouldn't bother buying from them after seeing it on their site.

I wonder if they would just sell this additional info via email or something?

[Blondie]

Hi All,

I had a call from the people at the curry kit site detailed above today in response to a couple of questions that I had emailed to them yesterday.

I had asked them about the extra curry preparation manual that they have had produced themselves, and about the possibility of the DVD of the whole process becoming available.

In reply I was told that the inclusion of the KD book Curry Secret had been an introductory offer only, and they now only supply their own manual that contains many recipes, including the base sauce (which is not the Kris Dhillon recipe) and pictures taken during the production of the DVD that is not yet available. They are currently only offering the manual with the kit and it is just on A4 paper but they are working on a properly bound version. They plan to make both versions available separately from the kit in the near future. The DVD is currently in production and may be available by July but the guy did not seem very sure of the timescale involved with the DVD.

I hope this info is of use in making your decision if considering a kit from that site.

Cheers for now,

Blondie

[pete]

I don't know whats in this bundle of "curry ware" but it can't be anything better than what is already on this site.
I posted the recipe for the base sauce from the video The Balti Kitchen.
The recipe is ok, but not good enough to stop me looking for something closer.
Check out
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=26.0
I would love it to be as easy as this, but I have wasted so much money on information I already? knew.
The truth is that WE are the experts.
No one knows more, other than a real chef from a restaurant.
And these people don't even speak English, let alone make cooking DVD's.
All these adverts say they have someone with restaurant experience involved.
They just prey on our desire for knowledge.
Remember "secrets of the indian restaurant" ?
There was that other ebook (posted on this site too)
Check out
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=91.0
That person claimed to have been there and seen it all.
The Curry Secret (Kris Dhillon) was meant to be authored by a restaurant owner, but we all know that those recipes aren't correct.
What about Pat Chapman's work?
He sells the idea that he is a fellow colleague of restaurant chefs.
I am grateful to his work as an introduction to indian cooking but it isn't as close as we have on this web site.
David Smith's Curry House book iis another one.
I asked him if he had got his recipes from chefs, and I'm afraid he said that he didn't, he works them out himself.
His book is a good starting point, but it's not what we are after.
I am very curious to the content of the curry kit but can't face the dissapointment again.
On our site we have genuine restaurant curry bases.
We also have a growing number of witnessed recipes.
I don't think anyone can beat that.
There is no book, video or DVD that? will get you exactly what you want.
It is down to your cooking experience and the growing knowledge we share freely here.

[Yousef]

On our site we have genuine restaurant curry bases.
We also have a growing number of witnessed recipes.
I don't think anyone can beat that.

Well said Pete, thanks to the info on our site my curries have improved x10.? I look back to when i first started about 2 years ago with "The Curry Secret (Kris Dhillon)" and i now laugh at those first curry creations.
Thanks to you and others on this site who have taken time out to really learn and share the knowledge no one really needs to purchase anything.

Can i suggest all those people who are still not happy get a cup of tea, sit down in front of thier PC and read the following: -

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=118.0 (Brick Lane Takeaway Demo)

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=122.0 (demo at local takeway)

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=147.0 (ive seen a madras cooked at a restaraunt)

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=156.0 (takeway Demo)

in addition if you use the following base sauce for your curries you wont go far wrong: -

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3.0

What i think this shows is that your local indian takeaway is probably more than willing to share the knowledge and give you their recipes....YOU JUST GOT TO ASK ;D ;D ;D

Bank holiday weekend coming up........get in their and ask them

[Blondie]

Hi All,

I have tried all of the recipes on this site and have not found one that I am ENTIRELY happy with, that is why I am still looking.  You may feel that the chefs are telling you the truth in what they say, but I still KNOW there is a taste in curries from several takeaways in my locality that does not appear in any of the recipes here.  I, like many others here feel that the answer is in the base, and although several of the bases on this site have produced nothing short of fantastic results, there is still a flavor missing.

I am only trying to help in finding "the taste".  You may have noticed that posts to this site have slowed considerably after a brilliant start. In my oppinion this is for one of two reasons:

1. Everyone is happy with the results they have obtained
or
2.They are reluctant to post because some people on this site think they have all the answers and knock anyone with something different to say.

I know which I think it is.

I have no intention of starting a slanging match because I consider everyone here to be friends with the same goal in mind.

BUT IF WE HAVE CLOSED OUR MINDS TO ANYTHING NEW WE WILL NEVER PROGRESS

And just to answer the point above that the chefs do not speak English let alone produce DVDs, I was told that the major problem that they were having with the DVD was that the chef didn't speak much English and they were toying with the idea of a celebrity to do a translated voice over.

That's it then I've had my say.

Just a point that no doubt you will dismiss out of hand, but why wherever they sell spices in large quantities in Asian stores (IE kg bags) do they sell 2 ltr bottles of tomato Ketchup,

Cheers All

Blondie

[ghanna]

hi ,
please see this web page their base is so so different from all other
could you please come back all and tell me what do you think of it ?
thanks
ghanna
http://homepages.tesco.net/~andy.oddjob/curry.htm

[George]

You may feel that the chefs are telling you the truth in what they say, but I still KNOW there is a taste in curries from several takeaways in my locality that does not appear in any of the recipes here.

Blondie

You make many good points in your message but I'll just comment on the above sentence. I simply don't know if there are any missing ingredients; it seems likely but we'll have to wait and see.

About two years ago I met an Indian couple who were visiting the UK. We became friends and they visited me at home, where we cooked lunch together, as a sort of cooking lesson, for fun. Now, this was traditional Indian (not Bangladeshi) home cooking - Chicken Korma actually. I never expected it to be like a UK Indian restaurant chicken korma, and it wasn't. But in it's own way, the dish cooked by my friend was delicious. They brought no ingredients and used all mine. I made a note of every stage and, subsequently, she wrote it down as well. The two written versions were virtually the same.

A week later I attempted to repeat the dish. It didn't taste as good! There was a missing taste. Several further repeats brought no improvement until I got confused. Perhaps the original was the same after all.

I put it down to technique. She cooked the onions on a high heat for a start, yet they did not burn. I'm not skilled in frying onions on a high heat, so perhaps I got that stage wrong.

Beyond technique, perhaps the chefs sample the sauce and adjust the seasoning.

Another thought - I wonder if there are any 'trade forums' on the Internet where our chef friends compare notes, like in many professions.

Regards
George