I somehow just stumbled upon this site, and what a fantastic place it appears to be!

I grew up in Glasgow in the '70s and my first flat was on Otago St at the corner of Gibson St ? curry central at that time with renowned classics like the original Koh-i-Noor, Shish Mahal, Shalimar and Himalaya literally on my doorstep.

I bought the famous Shish Mahal cookbook when it was published in 1983, and it has remained my curry-bible until now. I've been pretty happy with the quality of my curries following the book, especially since moving to Canada in the late '80s. Restaurant curries here are good but don't compare to BIR.

Another curry hotspot in Glasgow at that time was The Goodies, a small TA on Great Western Road. It was a favourite stop off after the pubs shut (at 11 pm in those days), and I'd watch in fascination as the cooks put together the curries right before my eyes in the open kitchen. I realise now from looking through this site that it was the famous KD1 method they were using, so I've just bought the book and can't wait to get to it!

Great to be here and look forward to some spicy adventures!

Welcome aboard, Iain, and sorry for the delay in approving your post.  Enforced moderation for new members is something that we have only just introduced, mainly to prevent Russian porn spammers from taking over the forum, but as a result bona fide new members such as yourself also have to gain "brownie points" before they can post unhindered. 

The co-incidences between the names in your post and my own life are quite remarkable

Thanks Phil ? yes, some real coincidences there!

Re Olive Oil... I've always used butter ghee in curry. I've never been a fan of ANY vegetable oils, and hope to continue avoiding them. Do you think I'm good with continuing to use ghee in the KD methods?

Greets, Iain. Well; there's always a tension between the two schools of thought-'what tastes best', and 'what stays closer to trad. DIY BIR', as Phil puts it. Ghee is an excellent example. It'll almost certainly improve the flavour of any curry, but, conversely, is more expensive than veg oil and so less likely to be used in bulk by all particularly except high-end establishments.

^^^as is my understanding of the UK situation anyway.

[ghee in KD curries] No reason to think otherwise, Iain, but my current preference is for a 50:50 mixture of chilli-infused and garlic-infused rapeseed oils, or if I want an unflavoured oil I will use groundnut oil, grapeseed oil, or good sunflower (Flora, Vita d'Or) or rapeseed (Mazola) oil

Welcome, Iain

While I prefer using ghee, it is now one of the more expensive components of a curry so I've been thinking about switching to half ghee and half something else - not groundnut as husband has nut allergies.  I'm not entirely convinced that ghee has always been used exclusively in British Asian curries; I didn't pay a lot of attention to it growing up, but I do think we used other vegetable oils.  I'll have a chat about this with my Dad on my next visit and report back.

Welcome Iain from a fellow Scot.

I doubt that many TAs use ghee as the prime frying agent . Chef Syed (British-ian), who has been widely lauded on this forum, doesn't use it.

But if it works for you then all is good

Hi Iain.
The Shish Mahal book was recently discussed here in relation to the Lamb bhoona recipe.  I enjoyed it.  What other recipes from the book would you particularly recommend? I'm still considering purchase.

BIR or or not, past or present, who cares?  Cook with ghee in any or all of these circumstances. 1) If you have it, 2) if the recipe requires it, and / or 3) if you just want to.  I try to always have both butter and vegetable ghee on hand, but I usually use vegetable oil unless there is a specific reason to use ghee (as above). Vegetable oil is simply cheaper and more convenient.  I would certainly use full dairy butter ghee in Murgh Makhani and melted on naan.  Butter will work if you don't have ghee.

I have noticed in many videos of takeaway kitchens a pot of vegetable ghee and/or butter ghee. I can understand the use of butter ghee for extra flavour in some dishes and for basting tandoor meats and breads but the use of veg ghee still baffles me. The nearest consistent reason I can find for its use is that it has a very high smoke point so they can really whack the burner to max when in a hurry with no chance of ruining the oil by overheating it. It's certainly not a budgetary choice as both are much more expensive than a catering can of veg oil.

And, of course, both are significantly bad for the health if eaten regularly.

Thanks for the info here. I've avoided vegetable oils because they're processed using high heat and don't really contain any nutrients. They're also high in omega 6 fatty acid and unsaturated fats, which when heated oxidize and can trigger inflammation. I'd just rather avoid it if I can. I usually use either butter ghee, coconut oil or olive oil in my cooking at home.