Topic: How do best BIR do it

[Ghoulie]

First curry I ever tasted was in a place called the Taj, Altrincham - run by an ex Gurkha & it was brilliant - 1963.  He was pretty good at karate - sorted out the drunks late on in the evening who fancied their chances at having a go at the 'little Indian fella' or 'not paying'.

[Peripatetic Phil]

First curry I ever tasted was in a place called the Taj, Altrincham - run by an ex Gurkha & it was brilliant - 1963.  He was pretty good at karate - sorted out the drunks late on in the evening who fancied their chances at having a go at the 'little Indian fella' or 'not paying'.

Such a tale warms the cockles of my heart.  We had a similarly skilled owner of the Lotus Inn in Chislehurst, but his skills were very rarely needed because they had an excellent policy of informing any would-be dinner who seemed likely to cause trouble that, very regretfully, they were full, and perhaps said would-be diner might like to try the Maharaja just down the road ...

** Phil.

[Ghoulie]

m8 of mine was on night sentry duty in Malaysia - mid 1950s.  stood on the edge of a ridge facing pitch black jungle.  Suddenly felt hands feeling his boots / laces - then nothing!  It was a Gurkha night patrol - seems they knew exactly what Brit boots / lace patterns were - or he was a goner!

[JerryM]

Haldi,

lets start completely from nothing - Can you make a madras or vindaloo that are like the above?

It's a No. I guess in a nutshell that's my problem. I've racked my brain and spice seems to be the only thing left.

Garp,

My experience of curry is pretty narrow - I know the midlands and north west. I don't know of  Punjabi. The Bangladeshi comment comes from trying curry in Manchester and Bradford which I associate with Pakistani. I know my knowledge must have gaps as Balti is Pakistani yet very different from whats outside the triangle. If punjabi can produce best then quite happy. It's only how they do it I want to learn

Ghoulie,

If I ever get to beer I know who to contact. Pale ale eh

[JerryM]

The work ive already done says I won't find the answer in tweaking what i know of BIR 

In short the idea is to Understand how individual spices affect the overall taste

ideas so far:
1) take livo's madras to basics and build it back up
2) try out the spice part of traditional recipes (using chrisnw website)
3) use baggar to try out spice combinations

These are just ideas. Hence the post. I've really got my blinkers off on this and appreciate any thoughts. 

I'd convinced myself on spice as it's what I know least about yet realise how important it is.

[daveyham]

Jerry, what's your take on chewytikkas madras. For me it hits all the buttons.  I follow it exactly. 3 hour base, mix powder, madras recipe. I cannot fault it. It has the old school madras flavour I've been striving to replicate for years. The cooking technique is a key factor in getting it just right. I'm Newcastle based so the regional differences could be a factor. I've been cooking it for 2 years now. It stands up against restaurant madras's easily.

[gazman1976]

Jerry, what's your take on chewytikkas madras. For me it hits all the buttons.  I follow it exactly. 3 hour base, mix powder, madras recipe. I cannot fault it. It has the old school madras flavour I've been striving to replicate for years. The cooking technique is a key factor in getting it just right. I'm Newcastle based so the regional differences could be a factor. I've been cooking it for 2 years now. It stands up against restaurant madras's easily.

I've also done chewys Madras and base, defo a regional thing as I dont rate it atall.

[haldi]

I've racked my brain and spice seems to be the only thing left.

I feel very sorry for you and can identify completely
That's pretty much how I feel about things
I should be able to make a curry that tastes right by now

I 've tried the chewy recipes
The takeaways round here definitely don't use worcester sauce in their madras, and worcester sauce is a very strong flavour
Just over 10 years ago I spent 50 pounds on some "genuine" curry recipes from the internet with guaranteed results
The madras/vindaloo, from those recipes, had worcester sauce in
So the idea of worcester sauce was not new to me
It fills a flavour "gap" but it's not what I find missing
I must admit that Chewy's madras tastes incredibly good, if it's left two days in the fridge

Why's that?

Is it right, but I can't tell at the time, or is is it some sort of maturing process?

If it's the latter, then that does still lead a few avenues of possibilities to explore

I know that takeaways don't always use fresh curry gravy
It's kept in the fridge, and a required quantity is taken out for the evening's use
So it's not new
Maybe even three days old

Jerry, you mention the spice mix
The spice mix is important
You can use the desired amount of chilli you want with no detrimental affect on the curry, but if you use too much spice you will ruin it completely

The same goes for too much fenugreek and tomato puree

I still reckon the base should have all the flavour, or the potential of flavour, you are chasing
I made the JB base a few months back and it had that missing flavour

I've not made it as good as that, twice
I think it's to do with how I cooked the garlic tarka
Too easy to overcook, so I consider technique really is important
I'm talking about a 5 second accuracy on this particular stage

A couple of months ago a takeaway chef was letting me watch him cook my curry
He did the "superheat" bit for about four minutes
He kept tasting the boiling curry, waiting for the flavour to change
That's pretty important information
Some sort of a change  happens to the sauce
Maybe you can also take it beyond this flavour too, and ruin it

What really bugs me is spending 10 hours preparing something that isn't perfect
Some people have clearly reached their BIR goal
It was desperation that made me go on the Adey course
I wanted to join the elite
I can't believe that even the curries, he made didn't taste "right" to me


Jerry,maybe there's something wrong with our sense of taste?
It's been going on so long, I can't see an end
Just endless experiments

[Ghoulie]

Had a curry @ 6 months ago at one of my local favourites - Jai Kathmandu (nepalese) on Palatine Road, Northenden.  When you order their Veg Pillau Rice - it comes with a basic curry sauce as a separate item - you can order it any strength you want.  I usually leave it as a basic curry.  This particular night, the curry sauce didn't arrive with the dish - so I pointed this out to Govinder - the old guy who delivers most of the food.  He muttered something about the kitchen forgot and off he went.  5 minutes later he was back with the curry sauce by which time we had no real need for it other than to take home - but my wife & I dipped our plain naan bread in for a taster.  It was absolutely delicious - far better than usual - very very tasty, spicy but not hot.  When Govinder cleared up, I asked him who made the sauce.  He replied - he did, chef too busy!  I must see if he will open up on his particular take on a curry sauce - he never usually cooks as far as i know - but he clearly has the 'knack'.

The main chef here is absolutely brilliant and you can tell when he is on duty (Thursdays usually).  The guys tell me he has worked all over as a professional chef - including for the Oberoi hotel chain.

[Ghoulie]

Working in Bahrain - '76 - used to overlap into the nightshift to make sure transition was ok.  We had the task of completing 2 houses for Dec 2nd National Day.  Pretty hectic time in that period with a lot of overtime being worked - so i went into Isa Town to get a load of tikkas, naans & curry sauce to placate the workers.  Absolutely brilliant stuff from a hole in the wall outlet.  Went there many times after too.  The locals reckoned the curry pot was never emptied - just on the go 24 / 7 - very busy place.