Quote from: haldi on August 06, 2017, 07:49 AM

The takeaways round here use foil bags
I've never been able to source them, but they are obviously ideal

Maybe here, Haldi.
** Phil.

I bought  50 of those foil bags
absolutely brilliant
Fold the naan in half, with the bubble side facing out, and put them in the bag
The naans stay lovely and soft
and to my mind, improve generally in flavour too
All the butter spread on top gets absorbed into the naan
You can't see it anymore, but boy, does it taste nice!
Anyone who makes naans should try these

Thanks again Phil!

Haldi - many thanks for listing your findings, I assume your tandoor is gas-powered if you can turn it down, If so, do you think you may miss out on any flavour or other benefits by not using charcoal?

I tried charcoal in my oven last night and the results in terms of heat were a joke. The top cover only reached 120c whereas with gas I recorded 400c.. I concede the entire surface area of the oven would probably need to be covered with charcoal but I still doubt if it would be as hot or controllable as gas, My next test will be a hybrid, with gas used to provide heat and a small area of charcoal and/or wood used to provide 'flavour' The manufacturers of the lava rock I use say it provides improved barbecue flavour, Really? I'm not persuaded..

Yes I have a gas tandoor
the gas ring at the bottom of the tandoor cannot be direct heat to the naans or tikka. It will burn them. (think you know that anyhow)
The heat always has to be diffused
You need a metal basket/container above the flames
In my container I use lava rocks which heat up, along with the tandoor walls.
I have never seen a takeaway use charcoal, and I have been visiting takeaways for about 12 years now.
If you enjoy what current takeaways produce, then I would suggest that you don't need charcoal
The smokey flavour of the tikka, comes from the marinade and chicken juices dripping over the heated lava rocks, and producing an aromatic smoke
And if you've got a good marinade, it's an incredible aroma, even after only five minutes of cooking.
Several of the takeaways cook a large portion of the next days tikka when the tandoor has been turned off, towards the end of the evening.
It gets ridiculously hot, and takes hours to cool down
But if they run out during the evening, and get a tikka/tandoori order, they cook with the flame still on
I reckon gas  has to be cheaper than coals

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Quote from: haldi on August 06, 2017, 07:49 AM

The takeaways round here use foil bags
I've never been able to source them, but they are obviously ideal

Maybe here, Haldi.
** Phil.

thanks Phil, might get some of those

Alzheimer's... I don't need that on top of the forgettory, I'll stick with the cast iron thank you!

T63

Aluminium doesn't give you Alzheimers. The theory (and that's all it ever was) has been completely dismissed

Yes, it was me that posted this
The info came from a man I worked with
He used help at a takeaway in the 90's, in Nottingham
They used to make a chicken jelly stock, which went in all curries, because it was in the gravy
They also used "thyme" in the base too (different but a bit similar to ajwain seeds, I guess)
Since posting this I have been in loads of takeaway/restaurant kitchens and I have never seen this done
It's old school

It used to be commonplace to boil a chicken carcass in the base too
Julian Voight even wrote up a recipe in one of his Secrets books
I shouldn't think it's done now though

People like Mick Crawford have pretty much shown everything that goes on
Julian and Adey Payne, Alex Wilkie too
And of course there is a wealth of info on this site
It can be overwhelming and most threads seems to wander

I don't think you can really achieve 100% at home
Close but somehow not quite right
Best thing is to follow one set of posts and recipes
The Fleet Five were good ones

Check them out on this site

I see Tandoori chicken like that in an Asian cafe near me called Adnan Sweet Centre
They sell lots of curries in there
They're not actually BIR
Don't know what they are , maybe Home Style?
Sell loads of Asian Cakey sweets, pakoras and Samosas, Bhajees
Very nice place
Everything tastes really good
But Nickywelsh's chicken certainly looks the same!
Well done