Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: joshallen2k on September 12, 2008, 03:18 AM
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cr0 community,
While I love the trial and error, and the trials and tribulations of those on the forum, I feel compelled to try to get some first hand BIR info of my own.
I had an idea that I would contact the owner of the BIR I used to frequent in Norwich, England and ask him for his ingredients, technique and method. Over the phone. I live in Toronto Canada, so a site visit isn't possible.
I frequented this place about multiple times a week for the 5 year period I lived there for work between 1998 and 2003. I googled them and found its still going with the same owner.
I'm hoping he will remember me as "The American" - even though I'm actually Canadian. He may feel unthreatened if he remembers me. (and give me the key info) He is Bangladeshi, and his English is 75%.
Questions for some of those on cr0, since I don't want to mess it up. I know many of you have approached BIRs for info before.
- What are the key, simple things I should ask?
- I was hoping to get his base recipe, madras, tandoori marinade, and tikka masala (any important others?)
- Which key questions should I ask around oil, method, cooking times, etc?
- At what point do you think I should offer money (I'm that desperate!)
Appreciate your input.
--- Josh
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Hi Josh
You need afull sized base, precook chicken method, and one complete curry recipe (vindaloo or madras)
If you could get thet 100 per cent, everything else would follow.
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i certainly would not offer money - a big no no based on their (meaning eastern) outlook on life
i would go slowly slowly - more chance of building a relationship built on mutual gain (his help has helped u to improve)
i think oil is probably my biggest bug bear - what happens to it in a BIR - i reclaim & recycle and it makes a difference but the effort involved is high and the Saffron doesn?t do it.
i feel the bases on the site are good enough (i particularly think the adapted CR02 to be v.close). i think we've generally got a long way to go on most recipes but this is what trial and error will solve once the fundamentals are in place. i think we need to know more about how the basic spice mix is adapted for each dish but this is too much for a phone call and probably something trial and error will crack.
it's as Haldi says something circumstantial that we are missing ie something that happens in a BIR that's not obvious sitting at home.
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It will be more difficult over the phone thats for sure, I would make sure what ever you do get you are sure is correct, nothing worse than going back through your notes only to find out your not sure about something!
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Great post. having managed to get in my local bir kitchen 3 times now, i can offer the following advice.
1) find a bir where they are not too formal , and quite friendly, and relaxed.
2) spend lots of money over 6 months, and make some friends with the waiters.
3) let them know you are an amateur cook with a real interest in indian cooking.
4) after 6 months order a decent sized takeaway on a quiet day (e.g. mondays), and ask if you could see it being cooked.
5) if you get this far, make friends with the chef before expecting to have all your questions answered. At this stage resist asking too much, and ruining all your hard work! keep things friendly and hopefully you might get in again.
6) dont get too serious as they will think you are opening your own rival BIR restaurant. I nearly made this mistake!
7)Dont ask basic questions such as 'whats in the spice mix', as all that info is already well documented on this site. Ask questions about things we dont know e.g does madras have just vegetable oil in it, or does it use reclaimed oil? Or ask them if madras has lemon or lime juice in it? if so how much?
8)what we really need on this site, is definate, accurate, recipies for the main bir dishes. therefore, ask questions about what ingredients are included in e.g chicken bhuna, and what quantities of things, such as garlic, spice mix are used in this dish.
9) Observe what they do,and write it down as soon as you leave the restaurant. specifically, the ingedients in each dish, and the amounts, and cooking times.
If you find a friendly little restaurant, its quite easy to get a demo. and believe me its bloddy marvelous! the best day out i had all year! how sad, lol ;D
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Yeah I'm going to be doing a similar thing to Josh, it's over the phone but better than nothing, was even thinking of sending them a recipe (one from here) and ask to advise on changes from that. Also we have the "non-threat" bonus of living in different countries to their BIR and not cook things up for our friends that maybe also visiting their restaurant.
Good advise from Derek, I will say I've done 1-3 with my old BIR but would love the chance to spend some time in the kitchen.
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excellent advice from Derek.
the only difficulty worth mentioning that's put me off in the past is the language barrier. whilst the front counter staff are easy to talk to the chef's tend not to be as good on english and conversation becomes difficult. the trouble is it's the chef who knows the stuff.
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Go for it anyway Jerry, just watch what they do, and pay a few compliments, and dont worry about the language barrier. Once the dish you have ordered is cooked, you can thanks them for the demo, and exit swiftly. No chit chat required! if we all ordered a madras each week, and watched how they cook it, we would have it cracked in a few weeks time! how good would that be!
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Josh,
Why don't you send an email to the BIR in Norwich instead of ringing him out of the blue. Tell him you used to eat there on a regular basis and have fond memories of your meals there, but have moved to Toronto now "where you can't get a decent curry for love nor money", and need some help in creating a curry as good as his, so need to try to make a good one at home. Basically suck up to him a bit ;D.
Get a correspondence going with him and introduce the vital questions slowly. May be send him a base gravy recipe from here and see what he says from there.Tell him you have been experimenting and can't quite "get the taste" HA HA.
I reckon he will buzzing that someone from across the pond is showing interest in his food years after you lived here.
This may be a great opportunity to pick up some secrets as he knows your not going to open a rival take away across the road from him, and can't get a great curry in Canada, I'd say slowly slowly, we don't want to scare him away...lol......Now get to work on that email soldier!!!! :) ;)
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Scotty,
He doesn't seem to have an email address, which is not a surprise. But I'll do some more googling, because that was my first idea.
I was planning on calling him this weekend or Monday.
Will report back either way.
-- Josh
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Cool Josh,
I'm sure he'll be chuffed hearing from you either way. After a chat you could ask if you can email him some recipes and see if you/we are on the right lines. Take care and look forward to hearing what happens,. Anyways got to get back to my Naan dough (2nd attempt) first was a disaster!!! lolz
scott
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One thing to bear in mind is this: if you ask the bir chef for a 'hand' cooking a decent curry, they usually give you a very helpful account of how to cook a traditional curry. this is because they would never in a million years, imagine you have a base sauce bubbling away on the stove! :) they find this whole idea very strange. consequently you need to either ask subtle questions aimed at improving the bases on this site e.g safron base. or ask questions about direct ingredients in a e.g bhoona. maybe its worth mentioning in the email, that you know a simple base recipe, but need some help with madras recipe, and tips to improve the existing base recipe. hope that helps DD.
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One thing to bear in mind is this: if you ask the bir chef for a 'hand' cooking a decent curry, they usually give you a very helpful account of how to cook a traditional curry. this is because they would never in a million years, imagine you have a base sauce bubbling away on the stove! :) they find this whole idea very strange.
This is so true, most of them look at you like your insane when you start mentioning cooking base sauce at home. Most chefs I have spoken to have tended to open up more when they discover you know most of it.
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Yes that's definitely the plan. To let him know that I've been at this a while and use the base+curry method he uses. That way he'll be more inclined to be precise rather than just ramble off the ingredients.
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I know what you mean CK, they look at you with a strange mix of puzzled and bewilderment. glad its not just me who had that :)
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Hi All,
I made the call to my old BIR takeaway and well, the end result wasn't what I was hoping for.
The guy remembered me and said sure he would help me. He said if I came into the takeaway he would show me everything. I explained again that I am in Toronto, and to come in wasn't possible.
I asked if he could share his curry base recipe, and he reiterated over and over again there are some spices/pastes that I could not get in Canada. (Not sure why he was so adamant on this point...)
He said it was complicated with lots of steps, and I could tell he was uneasy about trying to explain in English. I asked him if he could email. Clearly he didn't have email and was obviously a little overwhelmed. As I feared, the language barrier was too great.
Back to the drawing board. The one plus I got from it is the willingness to have me in the kitchen to see it all.
Maybe we should all just approach our favorite BIRs and ask for the information we are looking for...
-- Josh
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easy sorted this one - Josh - you'll have to come and live in the UK
we all appreciate your effort ? and at least u tried
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Ahh, thats a shame it didn't result in a a walkthrough. Sounds like he doesn't want to give his secrets away :-X, but then he has given you an open invite to the kitchen. Bit strange that he knew straight away that you couln't get certain ingredients in Canada??
You would of thought someone with their own business doesn't have an email address.
Well played though Josh, hope the phone call wasn't too expensive! :o
regards Scott
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I really don't think it had to do with giving away the secrets at all.
When he remembered who it was he said come by the takeaway and he would "show me everything".
It was the over-the-phone English that scuppered the whole thing.
No email address - somehow I was not surprised. This was a real old-school takeaway.
-- Josh
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Oh one thing I remember he did say (that I understood) was that the base is used in *every* curry. May be obvious but worth noting.
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I may of been a little harsh then in saying he didnt want to give his secrets away. Sorry for that.