The most common ingredient that will give a tart flavour is, apart from tamarind, amchur (mango) powder. It's probably been mentioned but I couldn't be bothered reading back ten pages!

Quote from: Whandsy on January 20, 2013, 04:45 PM
Even the oil on the brown paper bhaji bags have the aroma

Well they will do. Oil is an extremely good flavour carrier in fact with regards to BIR cooking, it's the main flavour carrier. Onion bhajis are made up of mixed spices. Onions + spices fried in oil saturates the oil with those spices which then gives you the smell when soaked into a paper bag.

Quote from: Secret Santa on January 20, 2013, 04:56 PM
Haldi always said the only secret is in the oil.

There is no secret. Spiced oil, reused oil, reclaimed oil simply add another layer of flavour density to the dish. It doesn't give you that missing secret ingredient as far as I'm concerned. That comes from technique (of cooking the spices) and high flame burners/fast cooking. I've not read anything here nor elsewhere that makes me think any differently.

Don't underestimate the importance of high flame burners. Commercial burners can reach much higher temperatures much more quickly than any domestic ones can. When you add any cold ingredient such as meat, tomato puree and water, ginger/garlic paste etc, it stops the cooking process by immediately lowering the temperature in the pan. You then have a time frame before the cooking continues by rising back to the necessary temperature. High flame burners will raise that temperature much faster than a domestic one can and in some instances there will be no halt in the cooking process. It's not about the highest temperature the heat will go to, but about no or very small halt in the cooking process due to the fast rising of the temperature.

There's a very simple and logically explained reason for why home cooks cannot recreate that exact BIR flavour and aroma at home - we don't operate in a commercial kitchen on commercial burners churning out dishes day in and day out to the scale a commercial BIR does.

Secret Santa,

it's not a tart flavour that i'm searching. it's a defo zing. i'm happy for now trying out the black salt idea and to perhaps try fresh methi and curry leaf as a bit of a diversification.

just to be clear to those showing interest - this is a an icing on the cake with marginal taste improvement in the finished dish. the main improvement in the oil being down to the change in chef garam and the recycling.

spiceyokooko - top words sir

Dalpuri,

delighted by your recommendation on black salt. i used 80% black salt (20ml black salt and 5 ml cooking salt) in my current batch of base. i'm no longer looking for that missing zing. i can't be 100% sure as it's some time since i was given the TA sample and have no side by side.

i need to point out that the 4:1 ratio is a guess and i'm not sure if it needs adjustment. for the moment i'm just happy as it is.

also this like many aspects of BIR is not a huge step.

going forward i'm still not happy that i fully understand oil (hence my interest in CA's recent why post). i am happy on the chef garam and the black salt.

at the back of my mind is why the rajver changed the oil taste so much. the differences being addition through the base of green pepper, cumin, tomato paste, tin toms and coconut milk. 

pink stuff is the black salt in bottom left corner

Great news Jerry, Glad it helped.  ;D

Maybe we should all think about using this salt as a given anyway.
It is after all, the purest salt you can get.

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,11543.msg89028.html#msg89028


Frank. 

Looks like the stuff we use to melt snow