Firstly, apologies for the slightly suspect subject name.

Okay, here's the thing. I've been having a go at doing some curries, using the C2G base, and some fairly standard recipes - oil, GG, tomato paste, spice, base.

The results have been okay (for a beginner's efforts), however sometimes the end result is a curry which, while tasting fine, imparts a strange feel to the roof of the mouth - very difficult to describe, but sort of a vapour-like smoothness. Pretty unpleasant.

I thought it must just be the oil, but I've eaten plenty of BIR curries in restaurants and don't recall ever getting this with any of them.

Does anyone have any idea what I might be doing wrong??

Thanks

These look really fab - will definitely give them a go soon.

Where I work there are regular markets in the nearby shopping precinct, and there have been several chocolate stalls in the past, most of which sold some variety of chilli chocolate. I have to say that (IMHO) chocolate is a case where less is more in chilli terms - I don't like being kicked in the teeth by it in chocolate, but really like it when you've pretty much finished the chocky then at the very end notice a bit of mild heat. Yum!

Hi

Diluted tomato puree being such a regular ingredient, I just wondered what people's thoughts are on whether the brand of tomato puree makes a lot of difference?

I've used Tesco own brand (as there is a store right next to where I live and it's dead easy to obtain) and it seems to be okay, but wonder if its worth paying a bit more for a better brand, or whether any resulting improvement will be lost in the flavours of the final curry?

Thanks

Hi

This is just by way of a follow on from my first introductory post earlier today.

I just wondered what other members' first experiences of BIR curry was like. I mean the first time you remember going to a BIR restaurant, what the occasion was, what you ate etc?

For me, I remember almost exactly - it was in 1982 I think, aged 13, after going with my sister and brother in law to watch ET at the cinema. Not having a clue myself, my brother in law ordered for me, and very kindly made it a basic chicken curry, nothing too hot. It was just wonderful, and over the years I became a regular customer of the restaurant in question. I like the hot stuff better now of course!

The story has a less than happy ending though, which may be familiar with others' experiences: After a longish break when I lived elsewhere, I ended up at the end of my stag night a couple of years ago dragging my mates to this restaurant, fully expecting another wonderful curry experience. Nothing could have been further from the truth! The place was run down, empty on a Saturday night (which should have been a clue but I was a bit the worse for wear by then), and food was just terrible. Bit of a let-down to say the last. About a month later it closed, soon to be replaced with a modern-looking eatery that I haven't dared try yet.

Oh well, at least I have the memory of that first fabulous curry - ET phone for takeaway!

Hi
Hayling Island here, just across the water. Hope you have fun on the forum.

Hi everyone,

Yes, another budding curry creator here. I've been dabbling with base gravies and the like for several years, but always in a pretty unscientific manner, and never with a huge amount of success.

Now seems the time to put that right and get my curry skills up to serious scratch, and as there seems to be more knowledge on the subject here that anywhere else by some distance, this is the place for me!

Anyway, I look forward to learning from you guys (I assume it's mostly guys, not sure why), and one day being able to regularly turn out spot-on curries for myself and the Missus. Mine will have all the chillies in!