After reading all the pages on this thread my head hurts And the secret was never in the oil Gutted.

I know I'm replying to a post from 2014 and my head hurt too after reading the entire thread but I do think the secret is in the oil!

The missing taste / smell  is the same as that from poppadoms, which are simply fried in oil, which I'm guessing has some other spices added or perhaps has just picked up the flavours from whatever was previously fried in it (mostly onion bhajis?).

My personal spice mix is as follows, but you can use many of the spice mixes on this forum or create one of your own to suit your personal taste

8 parts ground coriander
7 parts turmeric
5 parts ground cumin
4 parts curry powder (I use Rajah Madras)
2 tsp fenugreek leaves (methi) finely rubbed
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder

http://www.pro-selections.com/product.cfm/25941/

I was lucky enough to win an eBay auction for a brand-new Rapid Chef Pressure Cooker / Fryer.

After a few weeks the cooker was delivered from the US but unfortunately was missing some key parts, namely the 'jiggler' valve and also an instruction book. A couple of calls to the helpful staff at Pro-Selections and the missing parts were shipped out.

The pressure cooker itself looks very impressive. It is constructed from very sturdy heavy duty stainless steel with a mirror finish on the outside. Everything about the device says quality and it looks as if it should last a good few years, if not a lifetime.

When the missing parts finally arrived I tested the pressure cooker by simply boiling some water. Despite reading some people on the Internet having issues with closing the lid, the pressure cooker was very easy to use. You place the lid on as instructed, turn the knob until the bar touches the clamps and then give it another five or six turns.

Pressure was achieved fairly quickly and the valve started to hiss as excess pressure was released. The valve didn't turn but the instruction book said that this is normal and that it will start to turn after a few uses.

I next tried pressure cooking some aubergine using a recipe in the manual. This was a great success! After only three minutes the aubergine was soft and delicious with the garlic infused into the vegetable.

The recipe book says that to make pressure fried chicken you should fry at full temp for three minutes per pound of chicken. I tried this but the coating came out burnt and the chicken itself was undercooked.

I experimented a few times with different times and temperatures but in the end found that the Colonel's original instructions for pressure frying chicken worked the best. To fry 600-800g (2 legs and 2 thighs) of coated chicken: put the chicken in 2-3 litres of hot oil (350F or 177C) and allow the coating to brown for a minute, then place the lid on and wait until pressure is achieved, then turn the temperature right down to achieve a gentle hiss. After 10 minutes release the pressure by carefully lifting the valve (I used a fork as it was hot!) and then remove the lid. Leave the chicken to cool down and eat (or ideally leave in an oven heated to about 150F or 65C. Success!

Conclusion
As stated, the pressure cooker is a quality piece of kit. The guys at Pro-Selections were very helpful on the phone, however don't seem to answer many emails so if you do have questions give them a call on the phone.

The biggest issue I found so far is the times given in the recipes do not seem to be enough to cook the food properly. It's annoying to have to wait for pressure to be released and let the food cool enough to eat only to find it's not cooked enough. What I've found is that I need to increase the times listed in their recipes by another 50 to 100%. Another issue is that the pressure cooker only cooks at 10PSI. Almost all recipes you'll find on the Internet and in books assume you have a pressure cooker that uses 15 PSI. So again you need to adjust all the times. The extra 5PSI does make a difference as your cooking at an extra 50% pressure. I've read some articles on the web that say that 15PSI is the ideal pressure to be pressure cooking at and that this will achieve the best flavour. I did ask if it's possible to buy a jiggler valve that will achieve 15PSI but unfortunately that's one of the emails I sent that was never answered.

Functionality: 7/10 a pressure cooker AND pressure fryer. Only let down by limited pressure.
Durability: 10/10 this thing is built like a tank!

Welcome hotter
Just keep reading, good info for BIR on here.

As for UK FISH & CHIPS, the secret is fresh ingredients and great batter.

But the obvious problem for all expats trying to do BIR, is theres nothing to compere their efforts to,
just usually a vague memory of what they ate when they were here in the UK.

If your starved from the comfort of a favourite UK curry, whatever you make
with recipes and methods from here are going to taste fantastic. ;D

Thanks for the welcome! I actually just followed your Tarka Dal recipe. Used green lentils. Result was fantastic.

It's funny you talk about trying to cook to a memory of BIR as the last time I came back to Britain I visited an Indian restaurant I'd been to many times before and a newly built KFC to try to determine what other flavours / spices were missing from my cooking and was un / pleasantly surprised to find my efforts had already surpassed what they were offering! Not sure if I'm competing with an unattainable nostalgic memory or food has gone downhill in the UK. Whatever, I know I still want to make improvements to my BIR.

I remember reading that one of the secrets of cooking chip shop style chips was how quick the oil can return to temperature after adding the chips. Haven't tried for a while but recall that most the batter recipes I tried to follow were nice tasting but too fancy. I want just a simple batter like they'd use at the local chip shop.

I've recently been following Julian Voigt's curry book but it costs a lot to import the Rajah Mild Madras curry powder he recommends. I've got the ingredients list but no idea of quantities. Any recommendations for curry powders I can make myself?

Thanks again,
Curry Hotter

Hi all,

I've been a member of this site a few months now and have browsed a few months more. I'm an ex-pat trying to recreate some Great 'British' food that I love and miss.

Favourites I've already worked on are Italian style thin crust pizza, pub / Pukka steak and ale pie, original recipe pressure fried chicken and I'm currently working on curry! Not sure I'll ever master all the Indian food I'd like to but the next food to try will be fish and chips.

Thanks for all the great recipes and tips.

Curry Hotter