Topic: Would you buy the Kushi Balti Book now that you know whats in it

[Curry King]

I'm sorry I may be making myself unpopular around here, harping on about minor points like definitions and level spoon measures, and generally taking things too seriously. It's just that I feel it's useful if we're all talking a similar language.

I take my curry making seriously as well and you make a fair point but I think the problem is more down to ingredient descriptions rather than measurements.? Fenugreek is a funny one as there are many differenet variations but if a recipe stated, "1 teaspoon of cumin powder" I can't see how you can go wrong.? I'm guilty myself of using ladle's rather than specifing exact gravy quantities and maybe with a bit of thought we can come up with a way of making it easier to post and try recipes?

[Mark J]

When I report a recipe I have seen a chef make I make a best estimate of how much spice he used (and I tend to specify level or heaped mostly I think)

[Curry King]

Yeah, with recipes from chefs I think thats all you can do as they never want to commit to any sort of measured quantities.

Anyway back to the Kushi book, only 5 votes, anyone else?

[slimboyfat]

 Hi,

As no one has eaten in his restaurant learning how to produce the food it sells is of little worth

[Mark J]

Someone on this forum has, Blondie was it you?

[slimboyfat]

So,

This raises the question are the recipies in the book anything like the food in the restaurant ?


J

[raygraham]

Hi,

I think we are now all aware of the problems of measurements and the need to all use familiar measures to help achieve comparable results.
This is particularly important when using the powerful aromatic spices such as Garam Masala, Cardamom, Star Anise etc. Similarly the overuse of say Fenugreek can ruin a dish if too much is put in and I think George has spent the time making the point we do need to standardise things particularly with the more pungent flavours as if we don't we may never achieve similar results.

For instance, shop bought Garama Masala is relatively mild compared to home made which is very pungent in deed.

I believe when measuring the less aromatic spices such as Cumin, Coriander etc any overmeasure is not so noticeable in the overall recipe, but other more aromatic spices can totally ruin things.
If you watch a restaurant chef create a curry he just picks up the spices without much care to accuracy so I can only assume exact quantities are not so important in this case ( particularly with the milder spices ).

I tend to treat the aromatics with extreme care, adding perhaps half what is stated first then tasting to see how much effect it has had. I have thrown away many a curry through too much spicing. Beware the recipes that use Cardamom Powder or Seeds, this is a guaranteed disaster.
Just use Whole Pods or the taste of "after-shave" will be overpowering.

Perhaps if we all buy a set of standard measuring spoons and a measuring jug calibrated to Mils we might get things more acceptable and standard to everyone.

Ray

[pete]

I would never make anything again with that base
I think it's horrible
I also spent ages making the red masala for CTM , from this book too
That was equally disgusting
Kewra water (part of the recipe) is only fit for confectionairy
I was so enthusiastic about this book , but having tried it,would recommend it to noone

The 100 best balti book cannot be praised enough
It gives three different bases
All of which give a desirable result
The recipes I have tried are brilliant
I honestly believe, for all this Indian cooking, if the base isn't right, then there is no way to get a decent restauarant curry.
Ray took the trouble to type out "100 best baltis"
So if you can't buy it, then it can be downloaded from this site

[DARTHPHALL]

I agree Pete the Base is a very important factor & with the base i use i can turn out excellent Curries every time.
And having re-tried the KD base i can see how flawed it is & will not be using it again.

[steve e]

Hi Pete.
Out of interest what was the ingredients for the red paste for ctm,curiosity has got the better of me,
even though you were not happy with it, i am interested to see if it stacks up to my local takeaways reply.
Happy New Year To all
 steve e