We been using the same Indians for about 29 years. We obviously do go to others and have had better food but its the main one we use as its reasonably priced, reasonable food and very friendly.  The father left to open another place a while ago and now the son runs it with whom I'm quite friendly with. My missus for some reason likes their madras and Sri Lankan better than any other anywhere for some reason so tonight I got into the kitchen to see how its done and why can i not get near it.
My plan was to video it but it went out the window when he said you'll be cooking the sri lankan. Its amazing how quick these chefs knock these curries up and the multi tasking (at 100mph) makes it hard to keep up with what happening. Anyway I watched him do the madras and as it was bubbling away out came the pan for me to do the Sri Lankan. And heres the difference. No oil but they use just garlic which is blended with oil to start it off and a splash of garabi and then mix powder, chilli, coconut powder, salt, and tom puree and the a wedge of lemon Cook off for a minute then in goes the chicken and the rest of the garabi. A few mins later its in the tub. I asked about their garabi (they had just started a pot) and basically it was Onions, carrots and then some green peppers with tom puree and mix powder in the second stage. I'll get more details next time i'm in. As for the mix powder, he quite happily told me what was in it ( 5 spices) but he couldn't really say how much as he just does it by eye in a massive bowl. The same with the cooking with his pretentious chef's spoon. I was close with my measurements but he was telling me a bit more or a bit less with some of them. I could have put more chili in as I thought I had a good tablespoon in. Anyway they are moving premises soon and I'll definitely get back in. I also got a tub of mix from him to try.

His father has another place and he's said a few times that he would give me a few lessons at lunchtimes if I brought the meat. The father also keeps giving me a bag of his 21 spice mix (which his wife hand grinds) every time I go to his restaurant.

Heres my result and although they look the same which they are apart from the coconut powder, its Sri Lankan on the left and madras on the right. Chicken just under the surface.

Well sitting this afternoon after an early finish from work (I seem to work more now that I'm retired  ) and with the missus going out to try the new Indian restaurant in Tynemouth, I sat pondering what to have. Had some chicken and base out but I really couldn't be bothered to cook and couldn't decide wether to cook or buy in. So cutting to the chase, it was cook and firstly I decided to try Julians Pakistani Onion Rice as I fancied a change from what I usually make.
The new restaurant my missus went to does a Punjabi Style Chicken Tikka Mossalla (Strips of marinated chicken tikka in a minced lamg bhuna sauce and punjabi spices). Not a creamy type curry but the other type of curry that we all like on this site (hopefully that won't deter prospective new members George). So I thought I would try to recreate something similar and with a rake round I made 'a what's in the fridge/freezer curry' with a bit of lamb keema in, some fresh garlic (bin day approaching) and a bit red and green pepper, a couple of cherry plum tomatoes and instead of my current mix powder, I used some Al Noor bassar powder for that punjabi spice bit.
Feeling a bit Reg Prentice for using a chef's spoon, I made this with a teaspoon which involved some rigorous stirring which was good as it worked up an appetite. A bit hot on the hands and forearms though.



I made a bit of a pigs ear of the rice for some reason    and it came out a bit soggy. I'll try it again but i think its a bit sweet for my taste. Curry was good (although I think I stirred it to early) and nice and spicy. Teaspoon is a failure, back to the chefs spoon.



 N.B.  Flaming predictive text..... Reg Prentice should be pretentious


 

New Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyqSK3QKDTE

As promised on a Wednesday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aclwt_jh_d0

After hitting the Balti houses on Saturday (and a free indian meal on Monday with an agreement for some cooking lessons  ) I had to travel back down to Birmingham on Tuesday, so after recomendations for the above place, we decided to to take the long way home and call in at Bukhara.
http://www.bukharasamlesbury.co.uk/#_=_
Arrived about 9pm and it was chocker and it also had a lot of asians in which is always a good sign in my opinion.  Very nicely done out and the staff were very friendly. For eats, after a couple of popadoms, I settled on Afghani Lamb Tikka for starter which was just melt in your mouth tender slices of lamb    followed by Karahi Chicken (hot) with a plain naan. My mate had the Karahi Lamb along with some Pilau rice and a Peshwari naan with some mango lassi to wash it down with. The food was really good and I'll definitely make the effort to get back some time on my travels. Definitely recommended. It was made even better by my mate copping for the bill

http://www.bukharasamlesbury.co.uk/Bukhara2012_Menu%20(9).pdf

I also couldn't come away without a takeaway for Chewy and I got him the Karahi Lamb which I dropped off on the way home and took a couple of photos (both before re-heating).