Has anyone tried the side dishes from the KD book?

I?ve only tried the Nan but was very impressed with it.

I just wondered before I go all out and make starters, I'm very tempted to try the sheek kebab.

This is my first recipe from the above discs, kindly sent to me by raygraham, many thanks.

I watched both discs a couple of times to familiarise myself with the techniques.

I?m going to make a Chicken Tikka Balti

I was running low on some ingredients, the main item I needed was menthi (spelling as from DVD);  I assumed this was ground fenugreek leaves.  I?d recently thrown out a jar so needed more.  While scouring the shelves for more items to buy I actually found some powdered methi, so used this instead of buying the leaves and grinding them myself.
Interesting note though the powdered methi is actually yellow, looks like cornmeal.

I still believe that the ginger should be used whole, I have a screen grab from the disc which I will post to gauge opinion.

I broke from the DVD instructions in some ways:

I added 500ml of oil to the onion boiling at the beginning (DVD states 2 tbsp)
I boiled it for the required time then pureed the whole lot.
Thought I?d made a big mistake though in not removing the oil before blending as the when the blended mixture was returned to the pan no oil was evident at all.

I added the rest of the base ingredients as directed, the oil started to come to the surface after heating for a short time.

I skimmed oil off for 20 or so minutes and got back around 300ml
This is as far as I have gone to at the moment; I?ll be making the remaining items tomorrow for our evening meal.

The chicken Tikka is made as per the DVD.

The base actually tastes nice at this stage and has a much better consistency than the KD base.  My partner tasted it and she thought it had much more depth of flavour than the KD base too.

I?ve left the base off the heat now for over an hour and yet more oil is coming to the surface, I will skim this off tomorrow before making the final dish.

The smell of the raw base cooking was much less noticeable this time; I can only assume the oil creates a barrier reducing the smell.

I personally don?t mind the smell and my partner copes with it as she knows it?s the prelude to a curry, (sound like a good name for a pop group)

I will post the outcome of the recipe tomorrow evening.

I agree with Ray that watching the curry being cooked gives a much better idea of how things should look.

Restaurant Masala - I need curry powder to make this, on the front page under Curry Powders Bruce says ?not the corner shop or supermarket variety? Is there any particular brand others would recommend.

Bay Leaves ? Do is specifically need the Asian variety, or would the English variety be usable.

Oil ? I?ve used mainly Ghee bought in large tubs but now find most people are getting acceptable flavour with supermarket vegetable oil, again is there a brand people would recommend over another.

Queries regarding the wording of the recipe

Lemon - The recipe states "1/4 whole chop"? Does this mean skin as well?

1 Tinned tomato ? 1 plum tomato from a tin, or 1 tin of plum/chopped tomatoes?