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Topics - Bobby Bhuna

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Highly Recommended British Indian Restaurants / Asha Edinburgh

« on: September 24, 2009, 11:08 PM »

Been yet again. The nicest staff you will ever meet. They are happy to talk curry. I got a few tips tonight. Brilliant curry.

The wise looking chef I mentioned before was on again (head chef). Best chef in Edinburgh IMHO. I actually met a guy from my previous favourite takeaway the Shapla who outright told me this guy is the best chef in Edinburgh. I quite believe it.

They gave me some amazing lamb mice / spiced little fritters while I was waiting - they're trying it out as a starter. They were lovely. I could taste lamb, fresh chilli, mint, fenugreek seed, fresh coriander and I think lemon juice. I think they were coated in gram flour and deep fried. Awesome.

If you're in Edinburgh, try this takeaway! 10/10!

Curry Base Chat / What veg for a base sauce?

« on: July 12, 2009, 06:26 PM »

Hey guys,

Yesterday I got back to basics and made what for me was a really bare bones base sauce, which is giving me great results. I didn't add any whole spices, fresh coriander, coconut block and so on... All that went in veg wise was onions, garlic, tinned tomatoes, a carrot and a little green pepper I had left over.

It's left me thinking... When's the last time someone made a base with just onion tomatoes and garlic for example. What's the significance of the other veg. Would my base have been notably difference without 1 small carrot and a little green pepper? I feel my base sauces are getting more and more complex as I experiment and I'm sure I've lost something along the way!

So what do you think on the use of the following and which could / should be left out?

Carrot
Fresh Coriander
Green or red pepper
Coconut block
Whole spices
Ginger

(I'm assuming onion, garlic and tomato are rudimentary but feel free to question that - I seem to remember the Rajver has no garlic)

Lets Talk Curry / Personal curry making breakthrough

« on: July 11, 2009, 10:11 PM »

Hey guys,

Thanks to Jerry's gas hob related wisdom, I had a really good base attempt and final curry today. Delicious, and one of the closest yet. Other than managing not to burn my base on this foreign technology, the success was down to very minimal spicing.

In my base I just did very standard things, really cut down actually. I went for 6 medium white onions, 1 small carrot, 1/4 green pepper (all I had, but I think it was perfect), some oil, 1 tin tomatoes, salt and BE spice mix. Chucked it all in bar the tomatoes and spice mix, simmered for a half hour, put the toms and spice in and blended, then simmered very gently for 40 mins.

In my final curry I used all the usual jazz and only 1 sparse tsp BE spice mix. It really is the closest I've made to my locals. I think CK was really onto it when he talks about minimal spicing. I think over spicing has really been my downfall. A little spice goes a long way!

I'm ashamed to admit I don't own measuring spoons. Also when a recipe calls for level dsrt spoons or similar, I always round them a little since actually level has so little spice. If only I'd followed the recipes more closely.

Lets Talk Curry / Converted from electric to gas cooker and keep ruining my base sauce

« on: July 10, 2009, 06:12 PM »

I moved out of my old flat a few months ago, into a flat with a gas hob. I have since made two batches of base, the first of which was horrid.

I think it was sticking to the bottom a little during the simmer stage (SnS June 2008 base recipe) and ended up burnt. I say it ended up burnt - it didn't taste of your standard burnt taste, but rather just smelled nasty and tasted gross. After making one curry with this, I binned the whole batch.

I made another batch being far more careful. The end curry wasn't up to much. Put off by my recent results, I hadn't made a curry for around a month until today. When I defrosted my base, there was the same smell that was present in my first bad batch of base, only it was more subtle.

Why when using the gas hob am I buggering up my base attempts? My first theory is the large thin/wide based pot I use has poor heat distribution and so is burning ingredients where the flames are making contact with the base. My second theory is that I'm just crap at gauging the temperature of a gas plate, being familiar with electrical.

However, it may well be neither of the aforementioned reasons. Has anyone came across the same problem and if so what I can I do to get back on track?

Thanks in advance for you input,

Cheers, BB

Curry Base Chat / Members most recent choice of base / curry recipe

« on: March 29, 2009, 06:34 PM »

Hey guys, I haven't made much progress of late (which I don't consider to be a bad thing - I'm happy with my results and my technique gets consistantly better). My favourite (as it's probably well known) is still SnS June 2008 base, with the Bruce Edwards (BE) spice mix and BE curry technique. What's everyone else's defacto these days?

Cheers,

BB.

Lets Talk Curry / Who else thinks they could reproduce any of their average local BIRs curry?

« on: March 29, 2009, 06:27 PM »

I live in Corstorphine in Edinburgh. I don't have a great BIR anywhere near but most are acceptable. Last night, I tried the only one I hadn't tried before on recommendation from my Pakistani friend from work. It was alright, second best in the town IMO.

The thing is, I think I can actually reproduce the difference curries accurately from each BIR. It's quite obvious for the major things what has and has not went in the base. Again, it's quite obvious what has and hasn't went in at the curry stage. Last night's curry's base was mostly onions with some tinned tomatoes, and a shed load of blended garlic and ginger. Not too much tomato paste in the final curry and only a light spicing of cumin and coriander, garnished with some fresh coriander leaves.

What I'm trying to get at, is that after all the experiements, and recipes tried, I think I can actually pick out what's in an "acceptable" takeaways recipe. I'm sad to say, that the ingredients in my favourite BIRs still elude me.

Supplementary Recipes Chat / Blending chillies in cold water

« on: January 11, 2009, 08:01 PM »

After following the Bruce Edwards technique of blending garlic and ginger in cold water when making the base, I was stunned at how much stronger the flavour became.

I've been trying for quite some time to replicate the strong fresh chilli taste present in the Madras from my local. Do you think that blending fresh chillies in cold water then adding it to the base will make the chilli taste much stronger, or is this effect confined to garlic / ginger?

Lets Talk Curry / How many portions does a BIR cook in one pan at once?

« on: December 21, 2008, 10:19 PM »

I'm of the belief that one large portion per pan is the only way. At least it is for me with my equipment and skill level. However, in really big BIRs etc, I just cant imagine every curry done separately. It takes what, 5 minutes to cook a curry...

Do you think that BIRs cook two or more of the same type of curry in the same pan?

BIR Main Dishes Chat / The Caspian Kinross and my first Madras

« on: November 18, 2008, 06:56 PM »

The first Madras I had was from the caspian in Kinross. Noone in Kinross likes to buy food from there are they think it's grubby and does make some sweaty looking pizzas. However it also has the classic curries, not that I've seen anyone other than myself get one.

I always thought they were great but have never had one since I have been making my own Madras from here. Until that is, Sunday. It's so obviously a really similar recipe to many of ours, furthermore I'm sure they use the blended garlic and ginger technique in their base. I can only assume they use frozen base from what little curries they sell.

It's a great Madras and I would highly recommend getting one. Also, it's only 5.80 with pillau rice, the classic CA looking stuff. Real basic back street take out style.

Amongst their simple recipe however, there is a flavour that mine is missing... (surprise surprise). Also, I blew my head off compared to the Madras I make these days. I'm pretty certain that most Madras that I buy are way hotter than the ones I make. Does anyone else feel the same. I think they are using way more than 1 tsp or so of chilli!

Pictures of Your Curries / CK's Lamb Bhuna

« on: November 10, 2008, 10:50 PM »

Today I had a Lamb Bhuna from the best local restaurant. A solo business lunch - I had the urge! ;D

So tonight, I wanted to see if I could do as well. It's a very nice BIR, but I have to say, mine was every bit as good using the CK Lamb Bhuna recipe and my own base that I'm sure you've all seen recently.

It was excellent. I used a single chopped spring onion also, since that was present in my BIR meal today. The result was really brilliant. I'm very proud indeed!

Here it is.

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