When walking past our local indian restaurant/takeaway, I never fail to be impressed by the wonderful aroma coming from within. Sometimes when I get home from work (I live pretty close by) I can smell the cooking when I get out of my car in the late afternoon/early evening - it is, of course, heavenly! Eating in the restaurant too is wonderful, as is a takeaway - that missing taste none of us can quite get right in our own cooking.

In my own cooking, I'm happy with the texture of my curries - which seems pretty spot on. The meat tastes good - in appearance, they look good - but there's always that certain BIR something missing.

After a recent walk which took us past the door of the restaurant (there was that wonderful aroma again!) I asked my partner what her thoughts were as to why home cooked curries don't have the extra something. She suggested the aroma might be to do with the sheer volume of cooking that takes place in a restaurant, in terms of both the actual amount of food, but also the variety of recipes - all different kinds of spices, ingredients, side orders, breads, etcetera, all in one kitchen. Is it perhaps the sheer scale and diversity of the BIR kitchen which produces that wonderful aroma we can't quite emulate?

Could the same be said for the fabulous taste - seasoned pans used time and again, night after night, oil used over again which contains all the fabulous tastes?

If this is true - and I'm inclined to think there may be something in this - maybe creating the perfect BIR style meal at home is not possible - something BIR chefs seem to suggest themselves.

Sounds like accepting defeat, perhaps - but I just mention this to stimulate discussion! Any thoughts?!

From Uncle Buck:

"Hi silvertongue, good point yep i will have to agree a lot if not all do use prepared paste to some main dishes, tikka especially comes to mind.. its does have it uses - but unlikely to be used in any base gravy IMO."


I think the final sentence of my post was slightly ambiguous when I said 'could it be that many of our favourite restaurants and takeaways achieve 'the taste' by using prepared curry pastes and other ingredients from 'trade size' cans and jars which they simply add to their curry gravy...' I didn't mean to suggest that restaurants/takeaways use wholesale pastes to make their curry gravy, I think you're absolutely right, Uncle Buck - it's unlikely they use it in their base gravy - but I guess that's the idea - the base is so versatile - it can be used from korma to madras. They make a really simple 'onion gravy' or curry base - probably from the usual suspects - onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes and a few basic spices such as turmeric... then they simply add the right paste depending on what was ordered.. a ladle of curry gravy and a chef's spoon of paste cooked quicky on a high heat, pre-cooked meat and vegetables added and hey presto!

If the article I cited is correct, it would explain how a large number of restaurants and takeaways - allegedly 75% - all seem to achieve this unique 'taste'. It would also be a shame for those of us who have enjoyed attempting to recreate the restaurant flavour at home if the answer is in a jar!

This said, it's still possible to create a really good restaurant style curry using regular spice mixes and other ingredients as part of the process of transforming that basic curry gravy - so important for the restaurant texture - into something special.

From the BBC website, Tuesday, 29 May 2007:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6700173.stm

AB Foods buys curry firm Patak's 

"Patak's employs 650 people at its Wigan factory

"Food giant Associated British Foods is to buy the Patak's Indian food business from its founders, the Pathak family.
Under the deal, AB Foods will take on the company's entire business and brand - except for its operations in India.

Based in Wigan, Lancashire, Patak's was set up by the Pathak family in 1957 and it is thought to supply about 75% of the UK's Indian restaurants."

Could it be that many of our favourite restaurants and takeaways achieve 'the taste' by using prepared curry pastes and other ingredients from 'trade size' cans and jars which they simply add to their curry gravy?

Discuss!