Topic: Bir chef techniques

[bobbybouchet08]

Yes people. I recently had a bir chef cooking some real badboy curries in my house with my stuff. All the hype abot not being able to re-produce bir curries at home is bull-snish. He gave me a few big tips.
First, he doesnt use a mix powder as such, as spices have different cooking times.
The big emphasis was on turmeric. He said that turmeric takes really long to cook properly and was probably the reason my curries taste like raw spices.
He started a sauce off by cooking fresh tomatoes and some onions in oil and water and turmeric. He had 5 different pans on he go at once and never gave me a recipe as such. I followed as best as i could.
He confirmed my theory where he cooked the lamb in lots and lots of oil with a few spices. Not sure what exactly as he had put them in before I even saw. To them it is just everyday business. To us it is a big secret as such. Really it aint about what its about how.
Turmeric needs to be cooked the longest, where as chilli powder the least. The slight language barrier made it not so easy as it was a lot to take in.
The lamb dish full of oil was scooped to use the oil in the other dishes and start the gravy.
There probably is a million different birs all with different techs. This is just one who gave me some inside info which i had never heard before.
Try some different things people. See how it works.
More to come when I talk to him next yeh.
Sweet

[haldi]

Hi Bobby
Very interesting stuff
Can you elaborate on  recipes for a base and curry?
A lot of us have tried many different things, but this would be most informative

[ELW]

Hi bobby, looking forward to hearing more on this if possible. Where abouts in the country are you?

Regards
ELW

[RubyDoo]

Certainly watching this one with interest 

[bigboaby1]

Hi ELW did you get my updated recipe with method etc


I work in Taste of India Glasgow bargeddie

[Salvador Dhali]

Thanks for this BB8. Most interesting - particularly with regard to the time factor when cooking different spices.

While I've come across this from chefs who practice more traditional Indian cuisine, who add individual spices separately and at different stages to create a 'layering' of flavours, BIR dishes are prepared so quickly that I hadn't considered it would make any difference.

Thinking aloud here, the average BIR curry takes around 8 minutes from start to finish. This really isn't very long at all to cook any of the spices, but while I'm not sure it will really make any difference if you put all the spices in at the same time or not, as always I'll keep an open mind and give it a try. 

Looking forward to more info as and when you get it!

[Peripatetic Phil]

I work in Taste of India Glasgow bargeddie

I've been worrying about this ever since you posted it, and decided it was time to conduct some research . . .   I now see that you work in B