Then CT Jalfrezi

 1 Ladle of ghee/veg oil. Not sure of ratio ? presume 50/50

1 DSP onion
1 DSP tom paste
1 TSP salt
1 TSP curry powder
1 TSP chilli powder
A portion of green chillis - chopped lengthways (seeds left in).
1 ladle of curry gravy
Pre cooked onion
Pre cooked Chicken Tikka
Pre cooked pepper
A couple of quartered toms
Fresh Coriander

Total time for all these ingredient to go in was 3 mins max (on high heat).

He then simmered on medium heat for another few mins added 2 more ladles of curry gravy when it got a little dry.

Next came the Balti Jalfrezi.

Basically it was the same recipe except for

1 DSP of Pataks Balti paste put in instead of the tom paste!

I think this is exactly what my local BIR does - but instead of Pataks Paste, he uses pataks pickle.

Gonna tray this recipe very soon. Have you noticed most of the restaurant demo recipies are all turning out be be near identical....

Darth,  Can you confirm there is no dodgy aftertaste from this precooked chicken ?

Reason I ask is that I often get a horrible taste with chicken from BIRs whereas I never get the same bad taste from Chicken Tikka - hence the reason I always get my curriies with tikka.

My own pe-cooked chicken is good too, but this method sounds a doddle.

PS. Assuming I cook the chicken for 8-10mins,  do you let it cool naturally and freeze it or bung it in cold water to rapid cool first ?

Niall, regarding your point on shop bought garamasalas.... I wonder if you are onto something here. Like many others, I find garamasala ruins most dishes as it tends to overpower them. Years ago I used to always use my own ground versions but was always disappointed in the overpowering results, so ended up using Natco as I find it tastes nice and is a lot less hassle.

However I've always thought that cloves and methi are 2 of the key ingredients to getting to the taste, so maybe the larger volume of cloves in your garamasala makes the difference.

Does you final dish taste overpowered by the garamasala does it blend into the 'background' ?

I reckon the secret lies in the finished dish. I think evaporation of the base is a key factor although something else is missing.

Pete, I disagree. I believe any BIR could and should be exactly replicated at home - it defies logic that this is not possible. The fact that many people are trying 10/20/30 onion base derivatives should remove the dependency on quantities not being accurate either.

Keep the faith,  someone will get it spot on sooner or later.