Hi all, this may be defeating the objective, and to some, may be blasphemy! But, is there a way of getting good results with BIR style curries with less oil? I only ask as my family and friends love my curries ( thanks to this site!!) but are reluctant to eat them due to the fat content used, has anyone got any info on making a healthier version? Tom

Hi Tom,

Most of the recipes on this site can be cooked without so much oil and still taste great. Many may argue that's it's not "regimental BIR" if you don't use the complete dose of oil, but nowadays most people cook with less oil.

One of the best oils to cook with for Indian is without a doubt Rapeseed oil which has good heart benefits and is even better than Olive oil. You can get this in most supermarkets. Try and avoid saturated fats and butter.

I nearly always now only use between 1 & 2 tbps rapeseed oil per curry, and that would be a curry portion for 2.

Rapeseed oil is only 75 calories per tbsp so 150 for a 2 people curry.

I wouldn't worry if your dishes are not classed as BIR, we try to get them as close as we can, but nowadays I think health is more important and as long as you and your family enjoy them as much as I do, then you are a winner!!

Enjoy!!

Hello tom,

I agree, I normally make up quite large batches of curry that appear to use a lot of oil but when you work it out per portion it's only about 1 tbsp.

The only reason BIR's use a lot of oil is because it makes cooking easier! I do find it harder using less oil but you can get the same results. You do need to cook with a fair amount of oil to release the flavours from the spices and pastes but as long as they are cooked to there entirety you can easy spoon the excess off once the job is done.

I also tend to stick to rapeseed oil. In fact all the main supermarkets - for certain tesco and Sainsbury - only use rapeseed as their bog standard pure vegetable oil so it's the cheapest as well as being the healthiest.

Bon oil

may be of interest.

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4595.0