Topic: Rick Stein's Far Eastern Odyssey

[beachbum]

This series has just been on TV in Australia, missed the first couple but the Sri Lankan episode was great, and this week he was in Bangla Desh and travelled from Dhaka to Sylhet where he reckons most of the families came from who eventually set up the BIR restaurants in the 50s and 60s.

We saw a few dishes being prepared, the Biryani was brilliant looking although no chilli of any description. A few of the others looked a bit "meh" to me. For example the ladies doing a big pot of ground shallots, Garlic and Ginger, tomatoes, some turmeric, cumin, salt and that's your base. now chuck in a heap of potatoes and some fish pieces, some coriander leaves and a few green chillis and simmer it.

Struck me as the sort of curry I would make years ago when I only used Turmeric, Cummin, Coriander and Chilli and everything turned out a shadow of BIR (or AIR).

Later at Sylhet he bumped into several English guys of Bangladeshi descent who were back on holiday to visit the rellies and they all reckoned that Bangla Deshi food is rubbish and BIR is the best 

Certainly an eye opener.

Edit: when I worked in Brisbane in a part of town called Fortitude Valley which comprises Chinatown, but quite a lot of Indian and every other ethnic group gravitates there as well, there were 2 Indian lunchtime cafes right next to each other. One served "real" Indian food - usually 3 vegetarians such as peas and panir, lovely rich curries that only had potatoes and pumpkins as a base, variations on "Chole" etc. with a magnificent veg biryani on offer most days - plus Dhosa and puri to blow you away.


Right next door was a Lamb Madras, Butter Chicken and Beef Vindaloo joint. The latter was always full of Indian Students, taxi drivers etc and while the "genuine" place got its fair share of business the Indians and Bangladeshis seemed quite at home eating the AIR offerings. Wonder if there's a bit of a folklore myth happening about how BIR / AIR is something that most people in the Sub Continent would sneer at.

[chonk]

Hey, beachbum!

Had to watch it after reading your description - pretty interesting show!

The biryani looked really awesome. After I thought about the fact, that chilis were still unknown in India a few hundred years ago, it didn't surprise me that much that there are still some recipes out there, that don't use them at all (:

"Struck me as the sort of curry I would make years ago when I only used Turmeric, Cummin, Coriander and Chilli and everything turned out a shadow of BIR (or AIR)."

Wait a moment... I still do that! ;P

Most traditional curries should cook quite a while, to enhance their flavour. Some get cooked overnight or up to 24 hours (usually some dal dishes), but I would never cook a wet curry less than 15 to 45 minutes. I always thought about BIR-style of cooking (and the use of a pre-made base) as some sort of shortcut, to still get the taste of well-cooked onions and whole spices, but without the necessity of the time-consuming, slow-cooking process.

Greetings!

[Malc.]

There are two dishes from that series that I remember the most, the biryani which looked absolutely delicious and the black pork dish cooked in the karahi with mustard oil, which looked very odd. I've never had a traditional biryani, but have always thought of it as a mild.

I don't think it so much folk law with regard the view of BIR/AIR more over a change in tastes by younger generations. You can see it in out own societies, children these days long for junk food and would choose a meal deal at Subway rather than a traditionally cooked dinner. As I understand it, even China is going through the same thing, with the younger generations acquiring Westernised tastes.

Most of the BIR restaurant staff I have spoken to (except the younger British born), would  much prefer to eat a home cooked traditional curry as opposed what they serve.

[loveitspicy]

The whole show is awesome -
https://twitter.com/currynights/status/299308722537263104
New show will be screened in June Rick thinks - another all round India

best, Rich