Topic: punjabi medium chicken curry

[Cory Ander]

I love chips with my curry too...but that's a thing from my 'yoof' innit. Never actually had chips with curry in a restaurant though.

Just cos YOU haven't had them in a (BIR) restaurant, it doesn't mean that they're not readily available, are often eaten,  and regularly wanted (in BIRs), though  :-X

[Cory Ander]

And steve, what do you mean by this: "my dedication is to find the truth behind BIR gravy"? I honestly think that of all things BIR the 'secret' of the base sauce is well and truly done to death on this forum, such that there is no secret any more.

And that coming from someone who readily admits that they are singularly unable to reproduce their favourite curries from yesteryear?    :

[Secret Santa]

Showing your true colours once again eh CA? Go back to the other forum, they're more your type (oh, and stay there - permanently)!  ;D

[stevejet66]

cheers cory, chips are served in mosr bir's/takeaways, and yes i stick to my guns regards base gravy, theres a bit more to it than meets the eye, which is what im working on, as cory ander said in one thread unless someone can come upi with a major break through its the best he can do, and i truly believe that, again you can go to bir kitchens/takeaways or whatever, but its for there publicity only, everyday i search the net and new websites about curry base gravy are popping up everywhere, again same old ingrediants, same old taste,
as when ive asked my local about what in them i get the big no no!.

[Secret Santa]

So steve, you're saying that of the many bases on this forum that people have actually witnessed being made in a BIR, that it was all just for show and they actually had the real base hidden somewhere?

I can understand your claim that there's still something missing somewhere that doesn't allow many of us to achieve the real BIR flavour, but I really doubt that it's the base that's the 'secret'.

[stevejet66]

Those who have witnessed the behind the scenes of a bir kitchen are being led down the wrong path, i dont care what they say or anyone else! let me give you an example, book's how many books are out there about bir curries, ive got loads of them right from 1992 and they are all the same, non as yet offer that special bir taste, as you admit yourself there is something missing, and if was the case that forum members who witnessed the true thing then the recipes put on here would solve what weve been looking for, not the case! im not saying they are hiding a big pot of base gravy im just saying they are not giving away the true facts, what do you think would happen to high street bir's and takeaways if we really new the true recipe, now britain is a nation of curry lovers i dont think there busness's would last long, do you? and yes i do believe its for publicity,
The base is the secret to most dishes, go to any takeaway and ask for a curry sauce nothing added, youll see what i mean.

[fried]

The trouble with this argument is that it doesn't respect the skill of a top quality chef. There's more to cooking than putting a list of ingredients in a pan. The amount of information now available indicates unless there's a countrywide conspiracy that there's no magic ingredient.

I believe that our ingredients are generally of a higher standard than the majority of BIRs that are using cheaper and cheaper products and cutting  corners where necessary to make a profit, but most of us aren't skilled chefs, making the same product year in year out. I think if a truely skilled BIR chef took one of our bases, mixes etc then the result would be better or more consistant than the majority of us, it might even taste like one of the fabled curries of old.

[stevejet66]

Its not an argument, its just fact, theres not really a fat lot added to make a finished dish, theres really not a top chef, you and i and all on here can cook a sunday lunch as good as a pub lunch, if the base gravy is right it doesnt take much to finish a dish and get the taste we are searching for.

[Les]

BUT.....do we really KNOW what taste we are looking for???
every BIR is different. so what suits you, will probably not suite me, or anyone else for that matter, If there is  a base you really like then that's the one for you, regardless if it tastes like the BIR down the road, I've only ever used one base on here,(have tried others but too bland for me) and no it don't taste like my local T/A, in fact I (and others) think it tastes better, so I'm happy.

Les

[ELW]

Your curry looks good steve, mind you most do in my opinion, how they taste is another matter. What I've learned so far is that the base provides more than bulk to a curry. In no particular order I have produced "bir" tasting curries at home using base recipe's from; CA, KD1, Chewytikka, Ashoka,Kushi. Chefs will put their mark on a base, but they are usually very subtle. The real secret was the use of a base onion gravy, which was always going to be revealed. A Chinese ta owner I know told me how to make curry paste, saying that I would hardly ever make it. 3 times I've made it, I still buy curry there, when I know how to make it myself. I would say the real concern for the established owners/chefs is competitors not home cooks.

Cooking on high heat on a domestic gas cooker has cracked home bir for me after studying the cr0 Zaal reports & videos. It's purely down to the cooking technique which I'll  agree isnt the stuff that gets Michelin inspectors excited. The aroma when the first ladle of gravy is added to oil/tomato paste /GG /spice mix/ will tell me whether the curry is  a hit or miss, it fills the house with the smell of a restaurant, not like a microwave curry, which contains roughly the same ingredients. Its purely about removing the rawness, especially from the spice mix.
To create my fav restaurant's curries, I would have to get their recipe exactly, whether it needs to be bulked as a commercial kitchen I don't know.Otherwise I'd be cooking something different

Things the bir's don't want the public to see are probably rats, cross contamination, yogurt on the turn.
What smells a little to me is the amount of vegetable ghee buckets(yellow ones) i've seen in the kitchens, yet there isn't much about its use coming to light, for whatever reason. I suspect it may be used extensively in my neck of the woods rather than oil. I would also like to hear from anyone who has used oil from the catering sized drums for home cooking & noticed any difference?

Regards
ELW