As some of you may know, Bengali Bob and I went on a training course that turned out to be a fiasco. The lengthy post that follows is just a review of the training as offered by Muhammed Ali Haydor at Kushi Birmingham, a well reputed BIR/Balti chef and a little bit of story.

Sometime in October 2013, I called Ali (aka Mohammed Ali Haydor, of the

Had 2 guests (my girlfriend's girlfriend) visiting us tonight, so I repeated yesterday's food, with the addition of bombay aloo.

Pre-cooked chicken (viceroy brasserie)


Bombay Potatoes pre-cooking IFFU method


Bombay Potatoes


Chicken Jalfrezi


3x chicken korma portions

Just as I had the first few bits, I realized a photo of it plated was in order. As usual, mind my food imagery skills

Pilau rice cooked in pressure cooked using my general recipe with added coconut milk, fried shallots and coconut chips.


So far this is curry nirvana for me. I can't wait til I cook my next curry.

How many of you follow (or followed) recipes that these media chefs publish through television shows?

I'm wondering, because I have not been very successful with a few "100% to spec" recipes, from Gordon Ramsay, Jamie, etc. and I was wondering what are your thoughts/experiences?

What kit are you guys using for recording your curries?  That is, assuming you don't have an camera assistant. I have tried to film myself twice, once with the phone on top of the extractor fan with a heavy deadweight to balance it out and the another time, but I using a bucket of veg. ghee for height and a 5l bottle of veg oil to balance an ipad2 against the microwaves. I got good results with this method, but not quite enough view into the pan I was looking for. So I'm trying to think of creative ways to make a tripod/stand of sorts for cooking my curries instead of buying the existing ones, as I've read reviews these stands are just as flakey. Thoughts?