I've been lurking around here enough over the past few days, the only polite thing to do is introduce myself!

I'm Rebecca, and I'm a curry addict! I live in Vermont, and to be honest, I've never actually eaten at a 'BIR' (just American ones).  Vermont is a very rural state, and I have one Indian restaurant close to me but it's not very good and way overpriced, so I make my own. 

I'm fairly new to Indian food and curry making. Most of what I have learned been from books, the internet, Indian friends, and from traveling in India. But I'm a good cook, and make pretty much anything. I love authentic curries of all kind, and I'm excited to learn to make some restaurant-style curries as well.  From a convenience standpoint, I love the idea of making one large pot of a base, and precooking a large batch of chicken, and using those to make different curries (and even other dishes).

Thanks for a great site!

Hey welcome from Florida, BIR cooking is fun and I think you'll find it allot taster than many authentic recipes but allot harder to find perfection. If you've not had BIR curries before then it will be easier not to have the comparison. As a start off you should try the Bruce Edwards curry base and try the Chicken Madras recipes to go with it, I think that will set you off nicely.

Welcome RebeccaVT.

I live in Toronto and have a similar problem, the Indian restaurants around here are the authentic variety. BIR cooking is very different, and IMO miles better.

Like Chowie suggests, try the BE base and Madras and take it from there.

Good luck!

Hi and Welcome to cr0

Thanks everyone!

From reading this site, and what I know about British/Indian cooking, I think our local place is a really, really bad imitation of a BIR.  I did have some amazing british style curries when I was in India last year, and that is what I'm hoping to replicate here at home (but maybe with a little more spice!). 

Welcome from a British expat in NJ.  I expect a hot curry is just the thing to keep you warm in Vermont winters. 

Hi Rebecca,

Surprised to hear you were able to get British-style food in India! I think technically what we are calling BIR has its roots in Bangladesh. A large proportion of the chefs in the UK are in fact Bangladeshi.

The real giveaway as to what you are getting in the restaurant comes down to the menu. Some things are common to both authentic and BIR/Bangladeshi: tandoori, korma, butter chicken, naan, pilao rice, etc. Some things are generally BIR only: Madras, Tikka Masala, Bhuna, Jalfrezi, Dopiaza.

I have found though that a lot of the authentics are starting to sell Chicken Tikka Masala due to its global popularity, but its really nothing like BIR. If it has chunks of onions and peppers in it, its not Tikka Masala!

While we had some great authentic home cooked and street foods, a lot of the restaurants did serve Madras curries, Tikka Masala, Jalfrezi, etc.  These are restaurants that cater primarily to tourists, so it only makes sense, but how they compare to actual real BIRs I can only guess.  In all likelihood they probably aren't as good.  We had to practically beg them for spicy food... they took a look at our white skin and wanted to serve us chicken in tomato soup!