Quote from: MushroomMike on December 18, 2015, 07:25 PM
I think as Andy and Sverige have said, the onions even after over 3 hours in this case were undercooked.

Where an earth do you get this from? 3 hours? You're kidding right?

And what makes you think the base was at fault?

More often than not things go wrong at the final dish cooking stage, not the base gravy. Base gravy is just a lightly spiced onion soup. And there's no way jose that onions should be undercooked after 3 hours.

So, anything new learnt here or not? Just seems more of the same to me?  :

Quote from: fried on July 16, 2014, 07:21 PM
According to a real chef I know black pepper and white pepper are produced exactly the same except white pepper has the outer removed.

That's my understanding too. Black pepper contains the husk and white pepper doesn't. Red and green peppercorns are just different stages of ripeness.

Hi MBC 

Quote from: Gav Iscon on February 18, 2014, 10:47 AM
Personally Loup, for starting out I would stick to the mix powder that goes with the base so knock up a bit more.

I would agree with this.

I think one of the worst mistakes any new cook to this type of cooking can make is using different mix powders for each stage of the process. Eg one mix powder for the base, another for the dish etc. This just produces invariable results.

Far better to stick with one mix powder for base and dish and tweak the dish with the addition of other spices if necessary.

Likewise it's better to stick with the dishes intended to be made with the bases and mix powder that go with them!

Quote from: Garp on February 11, 2014, 02:15 PMJust wondered what peoples' thoughts were on what constitutes a BIR/TA curry, as opposed to traditional Indian cuisine...

I think Stephen Lindsay defined the difference pretty well.

It's a combination of things that differentiate BIR style from traditional Indian - predominantly the commercialised streamlining of cooking processes and pre-bought, pre-cooked ingredients. Everything in a BIR kitchen is geared up to producing a wide variety of dishes quickly and consistently using a minimum of man hours.

The curry sauce, gravy, gurabi, base - call it whatever you like is all pre-made in large batches ready to go. The mix powder or the 'generic' curry powder is all pre-mixed ready to go. The garlic and ginger pastes - pre-prepared and ready to go. The meat, all pre-cooked and ready to go.

You rarely get that level of pre-cooking and preparation in traditional indian cuisine where masalas, pastes, marinades etc are all made fresh. Traditional indian cuisine also generally tends to use a much wider range of ingredients which intentionally imparts quite distinctive flavours to each dish as opposed to the somewhat 'generic' flavour you will likely get from each BIR restaurant and kitchen you visit. This is one of the reasons why so many BIR dishes taste pretty similar often the primary difference between a standard chicken curry, a madras and vindaloo being the amount of chilli powder used in it.

It's an interesting subject and one that has been discussed here in some length in other threads although I accept that actually finding those threads may take a little time.

Quote from: Curryking32000 on May 16, 2013, 12:05 AMI just to like dispell a commonly used myth...

Out of curiosity, how is it a myth if too much heat in a Curry dish impairs or impedes the underlying depth of flavour for someone's taste buds?

Unless of course they're simply a British Wimp?

Welcome.

It's nice to have someone with professional training who can input some of their experience and knowledge into what is for the most part a group of amateur but enthusiastic curry cooks.

The collective knowledge about all things BIR found on this site is pretty impressive I think you'll find.

Just don't forget however, that BIR ingredients and techniques are some way away from other styles of cooking.

Quote from: Curryking32000 on May 15, 2013, 10:49 PMIt's a myth that the heat destroys the flavour and some of the most flavoursome curries are the hottest.

...in your opinion.

Quote from: Curryking32000 on May 15, 2013, 10:49 PM
I find that those that can't handle the heat use this as en excuse...usually British wimps.

...in your opinion.

Quote from: Curryking32000 on May 15, 2013, 10:49 PM
...the weaker curries like madras are less flavoursome.

...in your opinion.

Thank goodness we're not all the same.

:

Quote from: Simplysandy on May 15, 2013, 09:26 PM
Well that's me told from my scientist hubby, the spices are fat soluble not water soluble hence the oil is important!

As was mentioned right at the start of the thread!  :

They actually dissolve into alcohol better than oil, but alcohol isn't a very good cooking or frying medium