Looking for a ready meal / supermarket takeaway as opposed to a curry house takeaway because

- it's good to have a curry in the fridge instead of having to go out to an indian restaurant when you need it
- it's cheaper
- you have to eat restaurant curry the same night
- restaurant curry is less healthy

I'm trying to find the closest thing to bir / authentic curry that you can buy in a supermarket/ethnic shop/deli/whatever. I'll still eat at restaurants of course, and make my own curry. There's just something in the middle there that I want. Nothing seems to come close at the moment, I wonder why.

@cory ander... Definintely experienced variation from chef to chef, but not region to region... seem to be the same to me in Scotland as in London 

I think the high pressure gas stove with the flames licking up and singing the contents must have something to do with the smokey flavour. The curry base seems to be important as you say.

@chriswg
It's great that you can get better than most BIRs!


About the traditional type curries... the only one I ever had was from a mosque that opens its kitchen to the public. It tasted different, a lot healthier.. something you could eat every day. They're different tastes, but just as good I would say. Still, nothing I've tasted from a supermarket, deli, shop or store is anything like a true bir or 'authentic' curry. What's the reason? Is it something to do with the preservatives that make it taste processed?

OK I'll try the tesco suggestion. Shame Lidl aren't doing it any more.

Anyway, I'm not sure I'll get anything close to bir / authentic curry from a supermarket. Maybe there's a deli somewhere (no, not the city, a shop!) that does bir / authentic curries that can be heated up. Or somewhere like whole foods that I haven't heard of. Or maybe there's an enthnic shop that sells pre-prepared meals that you just heat up??

Yeah, I've been reading through past threads about this subject... I tried asda the other night, thinking it would be the closest thing to a BIR / authentic curry I could buy outside of a restaurant or take-away. Wasn't really what I'm looking for. I will try the Mumtaz curry from the supermarket.

I bought a few dried packs from shops in brick lane, but I'm not hopeful.

It's so strange that nothing seems to come close to authentic / bir that you can buy in a shop and heat up at home.

Well that makes things really easy! I suppose cooking is an art. Still, you can tell when you're getting a real british indian restaurant style curry. There must be some common ingredient or cooking method. Certain restaurants have it, others don't. From my reading, it's in the gravy, am I right? I went down brick lane last night... one of the first restaurants has the kitchen next to the window where you can see them cooking. There was a huge pot of this gravy.. which I assume to be this mystical ingredient.

Hi, what a great forum this is, so many knowledgeable people. Is there anywhere one can buy curry (except from a restaurant) that tastes like BIR or authentic curry for eating at home? I have tried a lot of supermarket microwavable curries and they are usually very different. I am thinking ethnic shops or delis might have true authentic or BIR curry fresh, which you can buy and reheat - like a microwavable meal, but just closer to the real taste? Maybe there's an ofshoot to a restaurant somewhere selling chilled sauces, meals, naans, etc? I guess this would have to have higher quality ingredients, less preservatives, and a shorter shelf life. Asda's deli is the closest I have found to it, but for anyone that's tried it, doesn't really come close to a real curry, for me anyway.

Cheers, Duncan.

It's great to discover these forums. For years I've been a big fan of curries, and on and off have cooked them myself using either jars of paste/curry sauce or by mixing my own spices following recipes. While they're tasty I've never made one, or bought one from a supermarket that tastes anything near or smells anything like a true restaurant curry. So I'm excited to find the forum and start getting up to scratch. In the posts I've read there seems to be some debate as to exactly what makes the BIR curry taste.. unless this I'm wrong and there is now a consensus on this?

Off to Brick Lane for a ruby murray.. Duncan.