Hi everyone,

Been a curry lover since my first korma age 7, graduated up through the spice levels as I got older.

Fair bit of experience cooking different styles of curries, but the other day tried my first attempt at a BIR curry. Thought the KD1 base would be a good place to start. However I did add a tsp of sugar and a few tsps of the Bruce Edwards spice mix after reading some of the other posts here. Made a Bhuna based on the KD book, I and my friend were very impressed. The only major thing I would have done differently would be use less water, but the base was a little more runny than I would like. The other change I made to the KD Bhuna was frying the chilli powder and cumin before I added the sauce and I used a whole green pepper and left out the mushrooms, as my local TA bhuna does not have mushrooms. I know bhuna is supposed to be drier than other curries, mine didnt work out like that but I think a bhuna is a good solid medium curry to start with, and I love green peppers. Also added fresh tomato and of course plenty of fresh coriander.
I marinated the chicken (used a mix of breast and thigh) overnight in yoghurt with a little patak's tikka paste and a little mint sauce. First time I've tried this and was really great. I baked it in the oven for 15 mins before adding to the sauce. Of course, not quite like the tandoor taste but still very tasty. ( A friend of mine once said he had heard that the smoky taste can be replicated by adding a piece of charcoal wrapped in foil to the sauce! This sounds mad to me and I wouldn't want to risk ruining my curry as I don't really see how that could work!- any one else heard this theory?)

Got two more batches of the base in the freezer but after that I will look at using some of the other bases on the forum.

Very keen to try a BIR style dhansak. Made the one in the 50 Great Curries of India book but feel this is more an 'authentic' home style indian than BIR. Have made lovely dhal's before using chana dhal, and another with toor dhal, but most of the BIR dhansak recipes I've seen have used red lentils. I also love the pineapple in BIR dhansaks.

Anyway, great to find this forum and hear from other curry lovers.

Happy cooking everyone