Topic: Your Favourite Supermarket Curry

[uclown2002]

Sorry, I don't think this has any worth as a subject for a BIR creative forum.
Would be a better idea, if you deleted this George.
I finally agree that this site is going to the dogs :

Sorry, may as well delete all the other threads not related to "BIR" then? I personally don't care much for supermarket curries! but, one Christmas eve I was finishing the painting of a room in the house before family came up Xmas day, my wife went out to get last minute snacks and whatever from Aada, all the takeaways were closed so she brought in a madras curry and I can tell you I really enjoyed it with a couple of beers from the fridge. Yes not "BIR" but they still have there place...Actually I have tasted worse and binned curries from so called "BIR" takeaways.

I also find the Asda Madras perfectly edible!
http://groceries.asda.com/asda-estore/banneroffers/banneroffercontainer.jsp?listId=1215089809602


Used to have one a week before I started making my own.

[rallim]

[/quote]

I also find the Asda Madras perfectly edible!
http://groceries.asda.com/asda-estore/banneroffers/banneroffercontainer.jsp?listId=1215089809602


Used to have one a week before I started making my own.
[/quote]

I tell you mate they are a helluva lot better than any of curries I've eaten in Oz...They have their place...Not "Bir" but give me an Asda madras any day over any Australian curry I've tasted!

[DalPuri]

The supermarkets aren't trying to emulate whats sold on the streets of Mumbai, neither are they giving us a sneak peak into Indian home cookery, they're trying to produce curries that we all know from our local BIR.

I'm not sure that's the case, at all. They don't have enough oil to look like BIR curries, for a start. I see them as the supermarket's attempt to deliver a curry which is both tasty and not too unhealthy.  I think they succeed with SOME dishes within the chilled food ranges.

You've missed my point there George. What i'm saying is that you're not going to find a Rajma masala, Poha Upma, Pav Bhaji etc, what you see in the supermarkets is what is popular in the UK because of the influence of the local restaurant and reflected in a BIR menu.

[George]

what you see in the supermarkets is what is popular in the UK and reflected in a BIR menu.

If you mean the dish titles, like Chicken Madras, then I agree. But not the taste. They're different but SOME can still be quite good, in my opinion.

As BIR standards have fallen since the 1980s and 90s, I'd say the best of the supermarket curries are streets ahead of the worst 25% of BIRs and perhaps even the worst 50% as at 2013. The only BIRs I'm interested in are the best 25% of BIRs, which used to include The Viceroy at Kings Langley, near Watford. I haven't been there for about 3 years and I hope it's still as good. The supermarket curries are not as good as what I've eaten there, for example.

[PaulP]

I've never eaten a BIR curry that was worse than the best I've had from a supermarket in my life.

IMHO the supermarket curries are nasty processed factory food. They may be relatively low in oil but they contain more salt than I use when cooking.

The Sainburys chicken madras is all coconut and curry leaf flavours, nothing like a BIR madras.

[Les]

I don't know how much you pay where you are but here in Morrisons it's

[Willyeckerslike]

I've never eaten a BIR curry that was worse than the best I've had from a supermarket in my life.

IMHO the supermarket curries are nasty processed factory food. They may be relatively low in oil but they contain more salt than I use when cooking.

The Sainburys chicken madras is all coconut and curry leaf flavours, nothing like a BIR madras.

Maybe you are cooking them wrong Paul, try an extra 30 seconds in the microwave 

[George]

I've never eaten a BIR curry that was worse than the best I've had from a supermarket in my life.

Maybe you're very fussy with your food, or something. Or perhaps you've been lucky never to suffer curries coming from the worst 25% of BIRs.

I think the top chefs and consultants working for the leading food companies such as Noon would be highly offended and amazed by your comment. They'd probably know the worst type of junk food I'm talking about coming from a bad BIR. They'd then know the expertise and effort which they've put into formulating some of the best supermarket curries. It then falls back a bit in terms of ultimate flavour because of the need to pack it, etc. But it's still way ahead of the worst BIR dross, except you don't agree.

[spiceyokooko]

But it's still way ahead of the worst BIR dross, except you don't agree.

I don't agree either.

I'm even amazed you're attempting to make this case. I've never had a supermarket curry that even approaches the worst I've had in a BIR restaurant or gets anywhere near what I can produce at home which is essentially why I stopped buying them.

Neither do they represent particularly good value. For about 3 quid, I can produce three portions or more of a home cooked curry that knocks any supermarket curry into a cocked hat.

Just because they're cheap (in comparison to BIR's) and convenient (you just pick one off the shelf) does not mean they're good or tasty, because they're not. At least not to anyone who knows anything about Indian cookery. And that's not intended to be sideswipe at you personally, this is just my personal opinion.

They're bland, all generally taste the same, smothered in tomatoes and full of preservatives and chemical stabilisers.

[mr.mojorisin]

Icelands Beef Madras is not so shabby IMO

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,11704.0.html