I would like to salute those here who have been successful in gaining access to their local takeaways kitchen, especially with a camera.

It seems that some restaurant owners don?t see any harm in letting the odd person in if they?re a regular and spend some money during the session, perhaps this is because they know how difficult it is to learn simply from observing the chef/s over such a short space of time even for those familiar with most of the ingredients.

What also appears to be true of the forums is that no one has managed to get a BIR employee completely on side, there are probably more reasons than we realise for this, some cultural, some financial but that would belong in a different thread.
What I think everyone would agree on is that with regular personal instruction at an established BIR where English was spoken to a relatively high standard they would soon be making exact copies of the dishes demonstrated to them.

Obviously theories such as to the one requiring a large volume of turnover to produce reclaimed oil would be an issue but without having these things actually explained from someone who is a professional there will always be endless speculation.

Therefore my suggestion is that the one of the moderators makes a formal approach to a rated and known openly receptive BIR with a respectable cash offer.
I would be more than happy to make a donation for this and membership here is sizable so surely people would contribute to something which would shorten the road to real curry by what could be decades of so-so attempts?
A series of videos involving running commentary could be the main focus followed by members Q & A directly to the chef.

My betting is that it?s only going to happen if we put our money where our moderator is.   

Nice idea, but how many of we regulars actually offered to help underwrite the measly GBP 100 to upgrade to a virtual server ?  Fewer than ten, I am reasonably certain, and perhaps as few as five.

** Phil.

It wont work, heres a few obvious reasons...
                                                              Somebody finds a willing chef (who is the judge on the chef, will we all be happy with the choice?).
We pay the chef, the chef shows/tells, what if he doesn't come up with anything we havn't allready tried, you still have to pay the chef, what then another whip round for a second chef?
The chef gives us a secret, you think well done weve cracked it. How many times have you read posts in here or anywhere where somebody has come up with an idea only to have it flamed from the word go without anybody else actually trying it, worse still, this post then becomes such a long drawn out flame war that nobody can then make any sense of the original idea and it gets lost.
Good idea though. I just don't think it'll get any further than this stage.

Quote from: peterandjen on January 19, 2011, 12:06 PM
Worse still, this post then becomes such a long drawn out flame war that nobody can then make any sense of the original idea and it gets lost.

"Just because you're a cynic doesn't mean you're not right"   
** Phil.

 hi didn't the ashoka recipes do this in a way?
regards
gary

money doesnt really talk in takeaways/restaurants etc, it does for those who run them as the money talks for them and not us, although ive been in a few kitchens to see them cook a final dish you wll never be shone how to cook the base from scratch, if anyone has then im sure it would of been posted long ago on here. its a multi million pound industry, and they ate not going to lose that type of money.

Hi

Well, I think we are running out of options here. I have been seriously considering covert recording equipment (spy cameras) and perhaps the use of physical force to persuade them to reveal their secrets

a lot of chefs are religious people , and may regard offers of money as a western idea.
I kid you not ! they have not lived in our selfish western world all their lives (often)
I actually found friendship and kindness and sharing was what got me quite a few lessons in a bir kitchen. I used to teach there boy computers knowledge for lessons in cookery. Sadly I changed my working hours so it stopped.  I never could tell if they were harbouring a secret. or if they just had a very involved elaborate method of preparing everything. I concluded that the base sauce was a guarded secret, as it gives each restaurant a unique taste. a bit like the difference between galaxy and cadburys. However when i purchased there base it did not improve my curries. odd hey!
  I think restaurants buy a lot more meat, and know how to get the most flavour from this meat and turn it into a good stock. this is hard for us lot who buy at most a tenners worth of meat at a time.  And i douby boiling whole carcusses, has the same effect as what bir chefs do with a bucket of chicken breasts for example.

yes derek every word you said is very true.