Anyone remember being told this back in the late 70's early 80's the night after having a curry? I certainly do. In fact, you could smell it yourself at times. Therefore I ask where has that "day after" aroma gone. Why do work mates no-longer tell you to "go away you stink of curry.
We all know that cooking garlic for even a short amount of time reduces this lingering after effect that so many people used to complain about. Even the Bradford base that calls for 15 cloves of garlic doesn't create this day after smell. Neither when I have used a full tube of garlic in a base does it occur, either, so therefore, where has it gone to. It has to have vanished for some reason. Either that or people have become more polite.
Now, I am wondering if they actually cooked the garlic in the 70's/80's the way we do today. Perhaps they just added it directly into the curry when they were cooking the final dish. By that I mean no frying it off prior to adding the base. Obviously I have no evidence of this, but it does make me think. This garlic/curry smell that seemed to leak out of your pores the day after has been lost, so I can only presume it's down to the cooking method.
Anyway, I intend to try and recreate this lingering after effect that was so prevalent in the early days of BIR curries. I'm going to try and keep things simple for my first attempt. Basically making an onion gravy/base, with minimum or nothing added until it comes to making up the final curry. It may well turn out to be disastrous, but an interesting disaster if nothing else. Anyone else have thoughts on this. Good, or bad, I don't mind. And who else remembers being told "go away, you stink of curry"
I'll report back on my efforts.