Quote from: Mark J on June 22, 2005, 11:24 PM
A chap I know has started working in my local BIR and I told him to keep a look out for MSG, he said he saw a box with msg written on it, this is probably the only real 'secret' ingredient

The bounders!
I saw a carton of white crystals at my demo on Tuesday
I asked, and the chef said it was salt, but who knows?
There was a slight communication problem.
If I had said "monosodium glutamate" no way would he have understood.

Ive often wondered whether that bowl of white crystals is actually salt or msg or a mixture

If memory serves the larger white Crystals are MSG, I'm afraid . 

This is an example of yet aother curry gravy which has proven to be quite  interesting :

INGREDIENTS:
5 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 handful curry leaves
2 thumb-sized pieces of fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely grated
3 onions, peeled and chopped
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric
6 tomatoes, chopped
1 x 400ml can coconut milk
salt

For the fish version:
4 x 225g fresh haddock fillets, skinned and pin-boned
1 knob tamarind paste or 1 tsp tamarind syrup
optional: 1 large handful of baby spinach
optional: 1 good handful of fresh coriander, chopped

For the chicken version:
4 chicken breasts, sliced into 1cm strips
1 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed

For the vegetarian version:
800g mixed vegetables, chopped (potatoes, courgettes, peppers, onions, sweet potatoes, spinach, chard, cauliflower, lentils, beans? use your imagination)

PREPARATION:

1. Heat the oil in a pan, and when hot add the mustard seeds. Wait for them to pop, then add the fenugreek seeds, fresh green chillies, curry leaves and ginger. Stir and fry for a few minutes.

2. Using a food processor, chop the onions and add to the same pan. Continue to cook for 5 minutes until the onion is light brown and soft, then add the chilli powder and turmeric.

3. Using the same food processor, pulse the tomatoes and add these to the pan. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add 1 or 2 wineglasses of water and the coconut milk, simmer for about 5 minutes until it has the consistency of double cream, then season carefully with salt. Take this sauce as a base for the fish, chicken or vegetarian dishes:

For the fish version, add the haddock and tamarind to the sauce and simmer for 6 minutes. Feel free to add some baby spinach and chopped coriander at the end of the cooking time.

For the chicken version, stir-fry the chicken strips and coriander seeds until lightly coloured, then add to your sauce and simmer for 10 minutes.

For the vegetarian version, simply add all your veg to the sauce at the beginning when you add your onions. Continue to cook as normal and simmer until tender.

Thanks Jamie...tried...it...liked it !

Gonna print this & try it soon CC !! Llooks very tasty MMMMMMMMMM!!!

I use the trs brand for my curry nights in Spain. I cook curry for my local bar for the Brits out here and I find the trs brand is excellent.  Although if I hadn't found that brand of spices it wouldn't have stopped me from making excellent curries. The main thing is to be consistant with your curries, if you make a good curry stick to that recipe every time for that certain curry. Then let the people who eat it decide, if they don't really like it, they will eat a different curry that you make as long as you make more than one type of curry.  I used to enjoy a fantastic Chicken Tikka Masala in a restaurant that I used to go to in the UK, but I used to go to another restaurant and order a Rogan Josh because I knew the CTM wasn't as good in that particular restaurant.

CC
Yep this is a great curry had it many times and everyone loves it, cheers to the naked one, CC looks like you missed out the fresh green chillies of which there are 3 I believe
using the food processer it doesn't take long, it is more thai than Indian but without the fish sauce.

Phil

Well, I used this basic gravy recipe for my first attempt at a BIR curry and the resulting curry was very much enjoyed!!  Thanks for sharing the advice.  The only problems we had were regards quantities - e.g. whether 8 large, medium or small onions were required and how much 'some' coriander was.  All in all, 2 happy consumers!