im a bus driver and one restaurants chefs used to get my bus home on a night time, because i was always the last bus to his destination, he would always bring me a portion of staff curry with boiled rice and a few chapatis in foil! he always travelled for free haha!
My husband was a taxi driver and most not nights took home the manager of a local restaurant. One day he asked my husband if he would prefer to have a staff curry instead of money as payment. My husband took home a curry every night for years. Needless to say there was never anything left for me next day so I can't tell you if they were as good as he says they were 😮
I worked in my father's indian restaurants for years and this is the first time I've seen a 'staff curry' cooked. I didn't know people knew about it! It would be very similar to what my mum would cook as an everyday curry too. Not bad at all. I would put a question mark over the 'curry powder' as I never saw this in my parents kitchen, it's usually just a mix of what you've already put in. Maybe some salt at the onion stage too. Small criticisms over what looks like a damn authentic looking curry though! Please use on the bone meat people, please. All far east countries wouldn't dream of de-boning their meat, it's where all the flavour is! My mum used to cook a lamb bone curry just for me! :D Also, I would recommend buying some cinnamon from your local chinese/indian store, you'll find it less sweet and more bark looking. I'll check your channel for some more videos Al!
Could de-bone the meat, place bones in muslin bag and cook. Once cooked remove bag of bones and serve. Keeps the flavour, but stops people being annoyed at the bones.
If you haven't, try this one. Not much messing about and it's a proper game changer. The original recipe is one of my go-to's. Never had a complaint and served it to at least 20 people with the advice to use only chillis or the powder if it's for an everyday audience.
I have been working in Indian (Bengali) restaurants for years and can attest to this style of cooking. Usually a fish curry at lunch and a meat or chicken curry in the evening. It's a ritual. Training for many cooks moving up.
Bay leaves can add a variety of flavors to curry, including: Balance: Bay leaves can balance flavors by adding a touch of bitterness and acidity, which can cut through richness and enhance other flavors. Aroma: Bay leaves have an aromatic compound that can help neutralize undesirable tastes. Warmth: Bay leaves can add a warming, deep flavor to curries. Sweet and savory: Bay leaves can provide a sweet and savory taste that is similar to curry leaves. Pairs well with Asian spices: Bay leaves work well with most Asian spices and herbs.
@@chad0x i hardly use it in my Pakistani restaurant. I think it does too little to make it worthwhile. What i did notice: if you use too much bayleaf for the amount of curry, the curry will get a muted taste. Bayleaf will kill the life out of it. So, if you use it, use it in small doses. I suppose it is used to balance out flavors, or to take rough edges off of the curry. But for a restaurant style dinner, people actually love those rough edges. They want a smashing curry, not one that you could eat every day. So, theoretically, bayleaf is more suited for daily home usage. Because you won't handle restaurant style curry every day (home cook curry is different and more suitable for every day "use").
Nice one AL, in South Africa, Pretoria my local was called Tirana, I asked the owner what the staff were getting on that particular day. He went and got a plate for me, it was the simplest most extraordinary thing I have ever eaten. Served with roti, it's lamb bones boiled for hours with grated onions, loads of fresh coriander, loads of green chilli's and loads of fresh garlic. Blended and seasoned after hours it's quite thick from the bones. Dip in the roti and enjoy. It blew my mind.
I used to deliver for an Indian restaurant in Hatfield. Their staff curry was amazing! It was lamb on the bone and very, very salty. They had it cooking on the back burner for half the night and we all eat it with our fingers with rice. Amazing. I miss that curry
I learnt to cook curries from an Indian chef/teacher. I have a bundle of recipes you would virtually never find in an Indian restaurant here in Oz. Just a few points, personally I wouldn’t use veg oil or even olive oil, but rather grapeseed or even macadamia oil, and probably a bit less than you used. Totally love otherwise the ingredients and techniques, though I did observe you didn’t put in the tomato paste, even though you had it as one. The other thing I was shown was to remove the bay leaves, and cinnamon stick, plus to de-seed the cardamom pods, so that you only use the seeds. I also add the garam Masala later but before the fenugreek leaves., as this also was what I was taught. Just small details. I would enjoy this staff curry with some steamed rice, garlic naan bread and a cuchumber (raita).
As a Pakistani chef, i think it looks good! Definately worth a try. But what many of the Pakistani/indian authentic curry makers don't tell you, is that they have secret spice blends. Usually these "secrets" goes back hundreds of years. My family in my Pakistani village uses special spice blends, in perfect harmony with eachother. It is weighed and added together. It just gives it an authentic and rich taste that you otherwise won't get. But you can still get decently close to it even without the spice blend tricks. Nearly every indian/pakistani family have their secret blends and tricks. That's why theirs always taste different, no matter how hard you try to recreate it, it will still be different. Not saying yours is bad, yours could still be even better perhaps, as i've not tasted it yet :).
For a while I was buying bulk spices and mixing my own blends. Got too expensive tough. And some stuff is just unavailable in these parts, like curry leaves, or hing. Post pandemic, I literally haven't even seen fenugreek or turmeric at a grocery store. Anymore I just get whatever off-the-shelf blend is available, and augment it to taste with whatever other spices I have.
@@markveganism5003 interesting - I have been using Kashmir baasar mix (Heera) from my local Asian supermarket; amazing taste - but chilli strength ain't for the faint hearted!
A family member is married to a Pakistani Brit. I have his mums recipe for curry, only a few ingredients and it’s the best curry. Remember the days you had to ask for chicken of the bone other wise it came with the bone and it does taste better.
Back in the day Mrs Symryn from Symryns' curry house in York would do me a staff curry... I just used to say "medium to hot, suprise me please", she never disappointed. Pistachio kulfi and a salty lassi, bloody wonderful. I don't live in York any more but any time I fancy a curry I miss hers'... wonderful woman and she loved to feed me as well. Wherever you are Mrs Symryn ❤💯
I always think of bay leaves like using hops when making beer. Cook them for too long and you're left with a bitter almost metallic taste. The later you add them the less bitterness you have, but you retain more herbal character and aroma. Try boiling one for an hour, another for 15 minutes, then put one in a mug and pour boiling water over it and leave it for 5 minutes. You'll taste the difference.
I agree , they are stronger than you think I use only half a leaf at the start and take it out after 20 mins imparts just the right amount of flavour for me.😀
Looks good. I'm of Bangladeshi origin and my late dad used to work in Indian restaurants all his working life . During school holidays I used to help out and loved it when we closed up and all the staff would sit down for the staff curry. I just remember the staff curry being very hot and oily.
Great wee vid. New subscriber 🙌 As a young student, around 25yrs ago, I worked in an Indian restaurant and I remember the chefs eating their own food that wasn’t part of the menu. It just felt so much more authentic and more passion to it than the dishes created for our western palate
I finally got round to cooking this tonight. I think it came out perfect! This is exactly the type of curry I like to eat. It's taken me a while to accumulate all the spices in the right amounts. Got my masala daba filled up now. I halved the recipe and it's still a huge amount. I could eat this all day. I also enjoy a chopped cucumber and onion salad, as well as the coriander to add some freshness. This has been such a first try win for me. Been meaning to get into cooking proper Indian food at home for years. I intend to carry on now. Thanks Al, so glad I came across your channel. Top man.
I do mine the same way but gently brown the whole spices dry then add a few tablespoons of home made ghee instead of oil….helps flovour profile. I also marinade chicken pieces overnight in yhogurt, chillis, fresh ginger, a little salt and a squeeze of lemon juice. Makes all the difference as it tenderises the meat and helps flavour. I then part bake in a hot oven for 5-10 mins to seal it before adding to the cooked onions and spices but also add button mushrooms. The rest is as you do it. Garnished with fresh corriander it’s great, really tasty. You can vary heat and intensity by trying different chilli varieties and spice mixes. For a really intense curry I use home grown naga chillis , deseeded. Great with home made chapatis or naan breads.
Great video and curry, mate. Thanks again. For those who aren't "meat on the bone" fans, I have found that soaking the chicken in saline (I use Himalaya pink salt) water for an hour keeps the chicken from drying out when cooking. It also adds a little bit of pre-cooking seasoning.
I cooked the original staff curry and it's become one of my favourites, but I always skim the mix of oil and ghee that I used save it and use it to cook roasted potatoes with as a alternative to rice
A couple of restaurants near me just outside Bournemouth offer a Staff Curry and a Shatkora Staff Curry on the menu. They’re both amazing. A little rich, but very tasty indeed!
Wish I'd known about back when I ordering a lot of takeaways a week, and fairly often eating in. Would have usually ordered something like a rogan josh as a basic test of a new place, or something off the 'chef special' list if sounded interesting. If food was a bit basic though okay, I'd usually ask for something not on menu the next time to see if worth repeat business. Would keep it well within reason, like if a place didn't have phall on menu. Sort of lucky to have lived and worked within range of probably over 500 indian/chinese/asian fusion places over the years.
Funny you call this a staff curry, but in actual fact, this is exactly the way all Punjabis cook their ‘desi’ curries at home. So you can see that the restaurant staff would rather cook and eat what they have at home 😊❤
I think it’s the bagladeshis ruined the British curry industry by producing and serving fake sweet curries such as kormas and tikka masala’s Ideally it should have been serving the white folks on the bone desi style chicken curry, and make them eat with their hands without cuttleries being offered And yelling at them Baaashthaaards eat with your hands! 😍🤣 And none of that “thank you please, yes please Sir” every few minutes!!
We arrived late at our Fiji hotel's restaurant not long before closing. As soon as we walked in I could smell a delicious curry, however it wasn't one the menu, I asked what the gorgeous smell was and it was the staff chicken curry, which I ordered. It was excellent and I told them they should add it to the otherwise curry-less menu. A week later we went back to the hotel restaurant and yahoo!!... it was on the menu!
I've never seen any of your videos before but that looks absolutely fantastic. I like to do a bit of home curry cooking but I think I'll learn a lot from your videos. Subscribed.
Next time try it without the tin tomatoes, that’s definitely not how staff curry would be made in Bangladeshi restaurants, they may chuck in 1-2 fresh tomatoes but that’s it. Pakistani restaurant staff curry may however have the tinned tomatoes, as their curries tend to have that characteristic sourness from either toms or yoghurt. Bangladeshi authentic curries are predominantly onion based, aside from certain fish dishes (‘tenga’ or ‘khata’) which will use a lot of tomatoes.
just cooked this up. lamb rather than chicken. cooked it for 5 hours. added a little more water and in last 30 mins coconut milk. rice is just cooking before i tuck in. it smells amazing.
Thanks for posting this video. Great to see someone with a passion and willing to share knowledge, that's very generous of you. One of the many great things about the UK is our love of curry, obviously that's the derived term for the food of the Indian sub continent and Asia. In the UK we have the BIR curry, a brilliant culinary invention along with the standard base gravy. Authentic home style curries are different of course but the BIR curry can hold its head up high., once upon a time the majority of the the cooks in the restaurants were of Bangladeshi origin, not sure if that's still true. They were pioneers and created a unique British cultural experience. Shout out and full respect to those cooks. Thanks for posting this video. You are a pioneer too, bringing those tastes into our own kitchens.
First time viewer here and so glad I found this. You look like a good bloke and I really enjoyed this. Gonna try and surprise my family with this later this week.
Hi Al. Im cooking this beautiful curry the weekend. I was just wondering...where would i add the tomato puree? I couldn't see it in the video mate. I am guessing it would be after the spices went in? ❤
There are quite a few TV chefs that I like this guy is at least as good as many of them give him a series. The way things are explained is really important and he makes it very understandable.
Fantastic video! Though I must say bay leaf does add a sweet undertone to a curry that would certainly be missed. I have been making curries for a couple of decades myself and they are some of my favourite meals. I plan on making one this weekend with homemade naan!
Another curry to add to my to do list, only problem is the family keep asking for the same 6or 7 curry’s but we’ll get there. Can’t wait for the next 30 minute series.
Looks fantastic. Garden looks fantastic too. My mate at work watches your channel and mentioned it. Had made one of your curries for me and it was stunning. So thanks I've subscribed. Cheers from a curry lover.
Another great dish, can only imagine the aromas. Had the luxury of spending some time in an Indian restaurant kitchen, and watched one of the chefs doing the staff curry, not too dissimilar from yours. Think I'll try this, but will it be ok using mustard oil, and a mixture of thighs & drumsticks?
So simple. So delicious looking. Can't wait to try it. Any sign of a cookbook coming out Al? I would love all your receipes in one easy to get place. Keep up the good work
You really should use taj peta they are Indian bay leaves. Also the cinnamon stick they would use cassia bark from the same tree which is labelled here as cinnamon but it's very different.
Go back to Al's older videos. He's no stranger to cassia bark, but I suspect that he's trying not to put of viewers with too many 'unknown' ingredients.
@@AlsKitchen But you said bay leaves what s the point, the point is that the Indian bay leaves add flavour. It's got nothing to do with accessibility if you can get Kashmiri chilli powder then you can get cassia bark and taj peta its all from the same place, even the major super markets stock it.
Not sure how this popped up on my feed but I’m subscribing - this looks so delicious I’m going to try it (perhaps with a little less oil though, waistline and all….)
Many years ago ( 1980s ) in Leeds I trained in a gym owned by a guy of Indian heritage, a lovely man. Saturday nights would see a group of us end up eating curries in whichever establishment was his favourite of the week. In one place we used to be taken to the staff room upstairs where copious amounts of staff curry were brought up. Delicious. The best I’ve tasted. My friend was a well known body builder and a big man. When he wanted more curry brought up he stomped his feet on the floor and sure enough more would arrive. Happy days.
I was employed as a builder by many Indian restaurants , i was amazed at first that they didn't eat the food they served, but much healthier and less oily and salty and often plainer food and no added colorings . I remember asking why they used colorings and they said it sold better ! A busy kitchen is something to behold !
Just about to make this now, with extra onion and no mustard seeds as the wife doesn’t like them. How have I missed this? Your older staff curry is a stable for us now. Cheers, Al!
Looks great, just a quick question. I didn't see you use the tomato puree and the tins of tomatoes aren't in the recipe. Is it an either / or for those?
The missus is away on holiday for 5 days and I've been attempting to have a homemade curry for every meal...including breakfast where poss. I'll have a crack at this one tonight! Thank you
Hi Al, Love the look of this curry, sadly a lot of curry houses have moved away from the curry we've grown up with and are now a heavy gloppy effort and so many choices seem to taste the same... so we are making our own and are following step by step what you are creating. This is the one we are making next.... Keep up the good work. also notice Biriani's are not being served with a small veg curry anymore but blitzed veg baby food. Yuk!
Just made this one and it’s a monster! Just an idea for content Al, why not make three small identical curries - one with fresh bay, one with dried and one without. Then you can see if they do anything
Hello Al from another Al today ive cooked your Staff Curry on a gas camping stove in the garden! Beer in hand of course! Thank you it’s the best curry I’ve ever cooked 🎉
I love this channel. U cook amazingly honestly. It's even better because your not even Indian or Bengali yet U can make our food beautiful wooooop wooooop, I shall be watching every video in future
Al, another great recipe and you got a way of presenting your food. Will have to try this one next time i got friends round. Oh nice garden is that the wifes doing.
I made this last night with bone in thighs and replaced the cinnamon with cassia bark - what a bloody treat. Delicious so many levels of flavours thanks Al!
I’m going to give this a try next week and I’ve ordered some king Naga as you suggest in your recipe but just wondering at what point in the cooking process does it get added? Thanks!
Made this tonight and it was superb, one of the best recipes I've made as like yourself love making curries from scratch and always make my own chapatis. Thanks Al
Al you are the man!!😎I've done the majority of your dishes and they always taste good...I myself have been cooking curry from quite young (52 this year!!)so like yourself know how to cook onions properly lol...can't wait for next lot of recipes!!!..keep em coming!!!😬much love brother!!😗
im a bus driver and one restaurants chefs used to get my bus home on a night time, because i was always the last bus to his destination, he would always bring me a portion of staff curry with boiled rice and a few chapatis in foil! he always travelled for free haha!
My husband was a taxi driver and most not nights took home the manager of a local restaurant. One day he asked my husband if he would prefer to have a staff curry instead of money as payment. My husband took home a curry every night for years. Needless to say there was never anything left for me next day so I can't tell you if they were as good as he says they were 😮
That's the ticket. Sounds fantastic!
. . . I understand and I would not like to condemn you - but this is exactly how corruption starts . . .
@@carmenschumann826 thats how the world goes around :)
@@carmenschumann826 you boring bastard.
I worked in my father's indian restaurants for years and this is the first time I've seen a 'staff curry' cooked. I didn't know people knew about it! It would be very similar to what my mum would cook as an everyday curry too.
Not bad at all. I would put a question mark over the 'curry powder' as I never saw this in my parents kitchen, it's usually just a mix of what you've already put in. Maybe some salt at the onion stage too. Small criticisms over what looks like a damn authentic looking curry though!
Please use on the bone meat people, please. All far east countries wouldn't dream of de-boning their meat, it's where all the flavour is! My mum used to cook a lamb bone curry just for me! :D
Also, I would recommend buying some cinnamon from your local chinese/indian store, you'll find it less sweet and more bark looking.
I'll check your channel for some more videos Al!
Great comment. Thanks
Cassia bark.
Could de-bone the meat, place bones in muslin bag and cook. Once cooked remove bag of bones and serve. Keeps the flavour, but stops people being annoyed at the bones.
@@davelister2961sounds like a great idea.
@@davelister2961Effort. If you don’t like meat on the bone then authentic curries aren’t for you.
You know what mate, I haven’t cooked any of your recipes yet but I just love watching you at work - such a positive corner of the internet.
Thanks. The channel is beyond reproach. Full of love and passion
If you haven't, try this one. Not much messing about and it's a proper game changer. The original recipe is one of my go-to's. Never had a complaint and served it to at least 20 people with the advice to use only chillis or the powder if it's for an everyday audience.
I totally agree! Love these videos.
Been following Al's Currys for few years best curry guy about
From a Chef .🏴🇬🇧💚
@@stuartheafey94Why the 'flags'? Genuine question. It's literally a food-channel..?
I have been working in Indian (Bengali) restaurants for years and can attest to this style of cooking. Usually a fish curry at lunch and a meat or chicken curry in the evening. It's a ritual. Training for many cooks moving up.
You won't catch me eating where they use oil instead of ghee . Ghee will make you fat , oil on the other hand......
and why are you still working in an Indian Bengali restaurant for years and why have you not become a governor (gobonaar) yet?
What went wrong?
Bay leaves can add a variety of flavors to curry, including:
Balance: Bay leaves can balance flavors by adding a touch of bitterness and acidity, which can cut through richness and enhance other flavors.
Aroma: Bay leaves have an aromatic compound that can help neutralize undesirable tastes.
Warmth: Bay leaves can add a warming, deep flavor to curries.
Sweet and savory: Bay leaves can provide a sweet and savory taste that is similar to curry leaves.
Pairs well with Asian spices: Bay leaves work well with most Asian spices and herbs.
@@chad0x i hardly use it in my Pakistani restaurant. I think it does too little to make it worthwhile. What i did notice: if you use too much bayleaf for the amount of curry, the curry will get a muted taste. Bayleaf will kill the life out of it. So, if you use it, use it in small doses. I suppose it is used to balance out flavors, or to take rough edges off of the curry. But for a restaurant style dinner, people actually love those rough edges. They want a smashing curry, not one that you could eat every day. So, theoretically, bayleaf is more suited for daily home usage. Because you won't handle restaurant style curry every day (home cook curry is different and more suitable for every day "use").
@@deyh5664 Top comment and great advice.
Glass in hand, camera on the food the majority of the video….Keith Floyd would be proud! Fantastic video mate. Always a pleasure to watch
Al, I couldn't pay any attention to the cooking because your garden is so beautiful. I mean what about that palm tree framing the video? Gogreous.
Nice one AL, in South Africa, Pretoria my local was called Tirana, I asked the owner what the staff were getting on that particular day. He went and got a plate for me, it was the simplest most extraordinary thing I have ever eaten. Served with roti, it's lamb bones boiled for hours with grated onions, loads of fresh coriander, loads of green chilli's and loads of fresh garlic. Blended and seasoned after hours it's quite thick from the bones. Dip in the roti and enjoy. It blew my mind.
This sound delicious.
I used to deliver for an Indian restaurant in Hatfield. Their staff curry was amazing! It was lamb on the bone and very, very salty. They had it cooking on the back burner for half the night and we all eat it with our fingers with rice. Amazing. I miss that curry
I learnt to cook curries from an Indian chef/teacher. I have a bundle of recipes you would virtually never find in an Indian restaurant here in Oz. Just a few points, personally I wouldn’t use veg oil or even olive oil, but rather grapeseed or even macadamia oil, and probably a bit less than you used. Totally love otherwise the ingredients and techniques, though I did observe you didn’t put in the tomato paste, even though you had it as one. The other thing I was shown was to remove the bay leaves, and cinnamon stick, plus to de-seed the cardamom pods, so that you only use the seeds. I also add the garam
Masala later but before the fenugreek leaves., as this also was what I was taught. Just small details. I would enjoy this staff curry with some steamed rice, garlic naan bread and a cuchumber (raita).
As a Pakistani chef, i think it looks good! Definately worth a try. But what many of the Pakistani/indian authentic curry makers don't tell you, is that they have secret spice blends. Usually these "secrets" goes back hundreds of years. My family in my Pakistani village uses special spice blends, in perfect harmony with eachother. It is weighed and added together. It just gives it an authentic and rich taste that you otherwise won't get. But you can still get decently close to it even without the spice blend tricks. Nearly every indian/pakistani family have their secret blends and tricks. That's why theirs always taste different, no matter how hard you try to recreate it, it will still be different. Not saying yours is bad, yours could still be even better perhaps, as i've not tasted it yet :).
The secret is kashmir curry massala mild all sorted 👌
For a while I was buying bulk spices and mixing my own blends. Got too expensive tough. And some stuff is just unavailable in these parts, like curry leaves, or hing. Post pandemic, I literally haven't even seen fenugreek or turmeric at a grocery store. Anymore I just get whatever off-the-shelf blend is available, and augment it to taste with whatever other spices I have.
@@markveganism5003 interesting - I have been using Kashmir baasar mix (Heera) from my local Asian supermarket; amazing taste - but chilli strength ain't for the faint hearted!
@@davem6328 get a mild version and only use 1 heaped tbls
A family member is married to a Pakistani Brit. I have his mums recipe for curry, only a few ingredients and it’s the best curry. Remember the days you had to ask for chicken of the bone other wise it came with the bone and it does taste better.
Back in the day Mrs Symryn from Symryns' curry house in York would do me a staff curry... I just used to say "medium to hot, suprise me please", she never disappointed. Pistachio kulfi and a salty lassi, bloody wonderful. I don't live in York any more but any time I fancy a curry I miss hers'... wonderful woman and she loved to feed me as well. Wherever you are Mrs Symryn ❤💯
I am from York but never heard of that place! Where was it? I like the viceroy best
@@SennaMadeF1 Was on Saxon Place just off Doddy Ave over road from chippy. 👍🖖
@@SuperGinkgo It's called Naz Spice now, don't know if its the same folks... I kinda remember it being Symryns' years ago!
I always think of bay leaves like using hops when making beer. Cook them for too long and you're left with a bitter almost metallic taste. The later you add them the less bitterness you have, but you retain more herbal character and aroma. Try boiling one for an hour, another for 15 minutes, then put one in a mug and pour boiling water over it and leave it for 5 minutes. You'll taste the difference.
I agree , they are stronger than you think I use only half a leaf at the start and take it out after 20 mins imparts just the right amount of flavour for me.😀
Just made this, was a belter mate. Used chicken drumstick fillets and cooked for an hour. All the family emptied their plate. Thanks for the recipes
Looks good. I'm of Bangladeshi origin and my late dad used to work in Indian restaurants all his working life . During school holidays I used to help out and loved it when we closed up and all the staff would sit down for the staff curry. I just remember the staff curry being very hot and oily.
Garden looks lovely Al
Great wee vid. New subscriber 🙌 As a young student, around 25yrs ago, I worked in an Indian restaurant and I remember the chefs eating their own food that wasn’t part of the menu. It just felt so much more authentic and more passion to it than the dishes created for our western palate
I finally got round to cooking this tonight. I think it came out perfect! This is exactly the type of curry I like to eat. It's taken me a while to accumulate all the spices in the right amounts. Got my masala daba filled up now. I halved the recipe and it's still a huge amount. I could eat this all day. I also enjoy a chopped cucumber and onion salad, as well as the coriander to add some freshness. This has been such a first try win for me. Been meaning to get into cooking proper Indian food at home for years. I intend to carry on now. Thanks Al, so glad I came across your channel. Top man.
I do mine the same way but gently brown the whole spices dry then add a few tablespoons of home made ghee instead of oil….helps flovour profile. I also marinade chicken pieces overnight in yhogurt, chillis, fresh ginger, a little salt and a squeeze of lemon juice. Makes all the difference as it tenderises the meat and helps flavour. I then part bake in a hot oven for 5-10 mins to seal it before adding to the cooked onions and spices but also add button mushrooms. The rest is as you do it. Garnished with fresh corriander it’s great, really tasty. You can vary heat and intensity by trying different chilli varieties and spice mixes. For a really intense curry I use home grown naga chillis , deseeded. Great with home made chapatis or naan breads.
As a chef, bone in meat is a game changer as far as flavour and juices go. LOVE the channel Al
Its also great for the skin as it contains melanine which our body needs. Ramen is a good example of the power of bone broth.
Great video and curry, mate. Thanks again.
For those who aren't "meat on the bone" fans, I have found that soaking the chicken in saline (I use Himalaya pink salt) water for an hour keeps the chicken from drying out when cooking. It also adds a little bit of pre-cooking seasoning.
Loving your videos Al. This channel has changed my culinary life! I don't need to order an expensive takeaway to have my favourite Madras anymore
I cooked the original staff curry and it's become one of my favourites, but I always skim the mix of oil and ghee that I used save it and use it to cook roasted potatoes with as a alternative to rice
A couple of restaurants near me just outside Bournemouth offer a Staff Curry and a Shatkora Staff Curry on the menu. They’re both amazing. A little rich, but very tasty indeed!
I sometimes go in to my local Indian restaurant and ask for staff curry, they always serve me it! Thanks for the great videos
Wish I'd known about back when I ordering a lot of takeaways a week, and fairly often eating in.
Would have usually ordered something like a rogan josh as a basic test of a new place, or something off the 'chef special' list if sounded interesting. If food was a bit basic though okay, I'd usually ask for something not on menu the next time to see if worth repeat business.
Would keep it well within reason, like if a place didn't have phall on menu.
Sort of lucky to have lived and worked within range of probably over 500 indian/chinese/asian fusion places over the years.
Funny you call this a staff curry, but in actual fact, this is exactly the way all Punjabis cook their ‘desi’ curries at home. So you can see that the restaurant staff would rather cook and eat what they have at home 😊❤
I think it’s the bagladeshis ruined the British curry industry by producing and serving fake sweet curries such as kormas and tikka masala’s
Ideally it should have been serving the white folks on the bone desi style chicken curry, and make them eat with their hands without cuttleries being offered
And yelling at them Baaashthaaards eat with your hands! 😍🤣
And none of that “thank you please, yes please Sir” every few minutes!!
Great curry thank you. Disappointed you are stopping the authentic series so soon. I prefer these to the 30 min ones. Hope,you bring it back.
This dish is up there with the best I’ve tasted Al…!!
Well in mate 🔴
Mouth is watering already. Have to give this a go. Cheers mate.
That Staff curry looks awesome, can't wait to try it. Love the garden too by the way. Thank you so much for sharing. 😃😃😃
Love your flowers... garden looks great 👍👍👍
We arrived late at our Fiji hotel's restaurant not long before closing. As soon as we walked in I could smell a delicious curry, however it wasn't one the menu, I asked what the gorgeous smell was and it was the staff chicken curry, which I ordered. It was excellent and I told them they should add it to the otherwise curry-less menu. A week later we went back to the hotel restaurant and yahoo!!... it was on the menu!
First of your videos I have watched - and it looks great ! As does your garden. Have subscribed.
The flowers in you garden look great mate
Absolutely beautiful and inspirational :) Cool video man!!
I've never seen any of your videos before but that looks absolutely fantastic. I like to do a bit of home curry cooking but I think I'll learn a lot from your videos. Subscribed.
Next time try it without the tin tomatoes, that’s definitely not how staff curry would be made in Bangladeshi restaurants, they may chuck in 1-2 fresh tomatoes but that’s it. Pakistani restaurant staff curry may however have the tinned tomatoes, as their curries tend to have that characteristic sourness from either toms or yoghurt. Bangladeshi authentic curries are predominantly onion based, aside from certain fish dishes (‘tenga’ or ‘khata’) which will use a lot of tomatoes.
Thanks for sharing and garden flowers look great btw! 💐
just cooked this up. lamb rather than chicken. cooked it for 5 hours. added a little more water and in last 30 mins coconut milk. rice is just cooking before i tuck in. it smells amazing.
Another banger for my daughter and I to cook at the weekend ! Thanks again Al 😊
Thanks for posting this video. Great to see someone with a passion and willing to share knowledge, that's very generous of you. One of the many great things about the UK is our love of curry, obviously that's the derived term for the food of the Indian sub continent and Asia. In the UK we have the BIR curry, a brilliant culinary invention along with the standard base gravy. Authentic home style curries are different of course but the BIR curry can hold its head up high., once upon a time the majority of the the cooks in the restaurants were of Bangladeshi origin, not sure if that's still true. They were pioneers and created a unique British cultural experience. Shout out and full respect to those cooks. Thanks for posting this video. You are a pioneer too, bringing those tastes into our own kitchens.
First time viewer here and so glad I found this. You look like a good bloke and I really enjoyed this. Gonna try and surprise my family with this later this week.
Hi Al. Im cooking this beautiful curry the weekend. I was just wondering...where would i add the tomato puree? I couldn't see it in the video mate. I am guessing it would be after the spices went in? ❤
Bloody lovely Al I could watch you all week …. I’m a Brit living in USA you have taught me sooo much I thank you Heather Harrison SC USA
making this tomorrow, looks a banger! always thought the same about bay leaves as you too. nice new tattoo btw
Not only does yr curry look delicious, i can smell it from here! And your garden is delightful too.
I made this and it’s smashing chef. Tastes like a proper restaurant curry. Nippy too. Thank you 🙏🏻
There are quite a few TV chefs that I like this guy is at least as good as many of them give him a series. The way things are explained is really important and he makes it very understandable.
Your garden is lovely Al
This was a very interesting watch, I like your open and direct style of talking
Glad you enjoyed it!
Fantastic video! Though I must say bay leaf does add a sweet undertone to a curry that would certainly be missed. I have been making curries for a couple of decades myself and they are some of my favourite meals. I plan on making one this weekend with homemade naan!
Another curry to add to my to do list, only problem is the family keep asking for the same 6or 7 curry’s but we’ll get there. Can’t wait for the next 30 minute series.
Curries...(curry's) ends in 'ies' and there's no apostrophe ffs.
Great mise en place of ingredients . The secret for an excellent result .
Great curry Al. Bay leaves I believe add lovely flavour and may indeed enhance the flavour of the whole dish too.
Looks fantastic. Garden looks fantastic too. My mate at work watches your channel and mentioned it. Had made one of your curries for me and it was stunning. So thanks I've subscribed. Cheers from a curry lover.
This one hit the spot right out of the pot. 2nd-day leftovers are delightful as well. Definitely will be a go-to in the curry rotation. Cheers, Al!
Had the staff curry at Mahfil on Kings Norton Green, Birmingham. Was amazing. Great video Al. 👍
Next time I’m there I’ll try this
Absolutely love your enthusiasm..kudos and Thank you 😗👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏❤
Another great dish, can only imagine the aromas. Had the luxury of spending some time in an Indian restaurant kitchen, and watched one of the chefs doing the staff curry, not too dissimilar from yours. Think I'll try this, but will it be ok using mustard oil, and a mixture of thighs & drumsticks?
Yes perfect.
gonna have to try making some of these curry recipes cause they all look amazing
So simple. So delicious looking. Can't wait to try it. Any sign of a cookbook coming out Al? I would love all your receipes in one easy to get place. Keep up the good work
You really should use taj peta they are Indian bay leaves. Also the cinnamon stick they would use cassia bark from the same tree which is labelled here as cinnamon but it's very different.
Go back to Al's older videos. He's no stranger to cassia bark, but I suspect that he's trying not to put of viewers with too many 'unknown' ingredients.
@@motosnape Spot on. Accessibility is everything.
@@AlsKitchen But you said bay leaves what s the point, the point is that the Indian bay leaves add flavour. It's got nothing to do with accessibility if you can get Kashmiri chilli powder then you can get cassia bark and taj peta its all from the same place, even the major super markets stock it.
Its a great looking curry Al, and the garden looks great as well. Great work.
What kind of lamb cut would you use and how do you make sure it’s tender? Do you have to cook it longer ?
Use leg meat. Tender in about 1hr 30
Not sure how this popped up on my feed but I’m subscribing - this looks so delicious I’m going to try it (perhaps with a little less oil though, waistline and all….)
Many years ago ( 1980s ) in Leeds I trained in a gym owned by a guy of Indian heritage, a lovely man. Saturday nights would see a group of us end up eating curries in whichever establishment was his favourite of the week. In one place we used to be taken to the staff room upstairs where copious amounts of staff curry were brought up. Delicious. The best I’ve tasted.
My friend was a well known body builder and a big man. When he wanted more curry brought up he stomped his feet on the floor and sure enough more would arrive. Happy days.
Im going to try this over the weekend. I think i may try with a little less oil though as i think it looks oily at the end
Hi Al I've cooked a fair few of ur curries and ur previous staff curry which have all been banging, can't wait to try this recipe😜😍🥘👍
What lovely colourful flowers in your garden.
I was employed as a builder by many Indian restaurants , i was amazed at first that they didn't eat the food they served, but much healthier and less oily and salty and often plainer food and no added colorings . I remember asking why they used colorings and they said it sold better ! A busy kitchen is something to behold !
And the customers dishes always had chefs special squad right
Just about to make this now, with extra onion and no mustard seeds as the wife doesn’t like them. How have I missed this? Your older staff curry is a stable for us now. Cheers, Al!
Looks great, just a quick question. I didn't see you use the tomato puree and the tins of tomatoes aren't in the recipe. Is it an either / or for those?
The curry looks amazing! Your garden is lovely, too, Al!
Love seeing your enthusiasm Al, just subscribed.
The missus is away on holiday for 5 days and I've been attempting to have a homemade curry for every meal...including breakfast where poss. I'll have a crack at this one tonight! Thank you
🥰🥰🥰 That's a proper curry mate, Good work enjoy 🤩🤩🤩
Hi Al, Love the look of this curry, sadly a lot of curry houses have moved away from the curry we've grown up with and are now a heavy gloppy effort and so many choices seem to taste the same... so we are making our own and are following step by step what you are creating. This is the one we are making next.... Keep up the good work. also notice Biriani's are not being served with a small veg curry anymore but blitzed veg baby food. Yuk!
This looks lovely. I'm going to have to try it. Thank you!
Al. You Sir, are a gentleman and a scholar.
This is the second curry I've cooked and they both hit the spot, will be working through your back catalogue. Fantastic informative videos mate.
tell everyone mate. Thx
That looks so good! I'm looking forward to giving it a go. Could any leftovers be frozen?
If it hasn't been reheated, then yes. Fish, prawns, etc, if you don't finish it, I'd throw it out.
Just made this one and it’s a monster! Just an idea for content Al, why not make three small identical curries - one with fresh bay, one with dried and one without. Then you can see if they do anything
Hello Al from another Al today ive cooked your Staff Curry on a gas camping stove in the garden! Beer in hand of course! Thank you it’s the best curry I’ve ever cooked 🎉
Keen to make this. Quick question. What size of tinned tomatoes do you have there as they look bigger than the standard 400g tin
Standard 400g
I'm new to your channel but will definitely try that curry, which looked lovely. However, what looked even lovlier was your stunning garden.
looks nice, will try your reciepe, lovely garden
Blimey Al. You make it look so easy. I’ll have another go now.
Cheers 👍
Looks great chef. Thanks for the recipe 🙏
I love this channel. U cook amazingly honestly. It's even better because your not even Indian or Bengali yet U can make our food beautiful wooooop wooooop, I shall be watching every video in future
Al, another great recipe and you got a way of presenting your food. Will have to try this one next time i got friends round. Oh nice garden is that the wifes doing.
Thanks. I do the garden. Getting too old for it now. Getting harder every year
. . . such a beautiful mind presenting a beautiful creation in a beautiful environment - thank you !
Many thanks!
Can't wait to try this out, cheers!
I made this last night with bone in thighs and replaced the cinnamon with cassia bark - what a bloody treat. Delicious so many levels of flavours thanks Al!
Sheer perfection I could almost taste it watching this. Delightful to watch all the way through too.
I’m going to give this a try next week and I’ve ordered some king Naga as you suggest in your recipe but just wondering at what point in the cooking process does it get added? Thanks!
Made this tonight and it was superb, one of the best recipes I've made as like yourself love making curries from scratch and always make my own chapatis.
Thanks Al
Al you are the man!!😎I've done the majority of your dishes and they always taste good...I myself have been cooking curry from quite young (52 this year!!)so like yourself know how to cook onions properly lol...can't wait for next lot of recipes!!!..keep em coming!!!😬much love brother!!😗
Thanks mate. Look forward to making this one.
Looks amazing…thanks for sharing and I’m definitely making this soon! 😊😊😊
Looks amazing - I may ask now at some restaurants if they serve staff curry!!!!