Achieving BIR Quality Curry.

[littlechilie]

We all seem to have drifted away from BIR curry of late, so to bring a curry topic back in to play I will post this question.

Are members still having difficulty achieving BIR quality curry? And if so were do you feel your not up to scratch?

For example.

Technically?
Base Gravy?
Spice?
Garlic & Ginger Paste?
Oil?
Pastes
Style of Curry?

Myself, I would like to start concentrating my time mastering the art of making great curry paste.

Do any secrets still remain undiscovered? Maybe all the BIR secrets are now available online! Posted free for us to feast our eyes over.

[Madrasandy]

Good post LC,
Im struggling on mix powder. I have been using Abdul 8 spice but feel it isn't right, I like it but want to change and aren't sure to what. Cant decide if it should contain more spices or less spices, at a bit of a dead end TBH

[curryhell]

Good shout LC.  I'm struggling on a couple of things at the moment with my recent vindaloo experiments.  As for curry paste, not sure this is key, but may add a twist to certain dishes.

And a friendly warning, i'm tired of moderator reports about drivel and off topic stuff being posted in threads    So think before you post because if it isn't very much on topic, it won't be there very long  :.  Sorry, but i have limited time at my disposal and i really don't need to be reading through drivel and dross that barely relates to the topic it has been posted in.

Rant over...........but i am serious 

[livo]

A few months ago, in a balti mode, I made a jar of balti paste which I found really lifted a dull rogan josh. It was my own creation after looking at several sites on pastes. I have used it several times and really like what adds to a dish. I'll post some links when I get to my computer. On tablet atm.

[littlechilie]

Hi CH.
I was a little unclear in my original post, I would like to get to grips with a authentic BIR balti paste. Also it would be ideal if I could replicate Laziza tandoor paste, or get as close as I possibly can.

I belive JB mentioned a balti paste being produced by his local Curry house, after gathering his base gravy recipe he was hoping to secure the recipe.

Hi MA.
Interesting point on mix powder, clearly a very key part of BIR flavor.

[Gav Iscon]

Also it would be ideal if I could replicate Laziza tandoor paste, or get as close as I possibly can.

But surely Laziza is cheap enough to buy lc for just to replicate it?. Now if you came up with a better paste now that would be good.   

[George]

Are members still having difficulty achieving BIR quality curry? And if so were do you feel your not up to scratch?

Yes, on dishes where my attempts to 'crack them' have got nowhere near so far, not that I've tried more than two or three times on each item. For me, that's the vegetable sauce to accompany biriani, as well as a good quality saag aloo.

No, I'm not having difficulty on the dishes which I can now make consistently for my own taste. These include chicken dhansak and chicken biriani. Both employ similar techniques which I've developed myself, so perhaps if I use the same techniques on the vegetable sauce and saag aloo, I might make some progress.

Overall, the main thing missing IMO is a set of top notch recipes for top notch tastes. When you succeed in producing whatever flavour you seek (this may differ from person to person, of course) then I think you can look back and talk about the list of items you suggest. But how can you know if it's pastes, oil, garlic or whatever, when all you know is that you're not there yet, like I'm not, with vegetable sauce and saag aloo.

[littlechilie]

Also it would be ideal if I could replicate Laziza tandoor paste, or get as close as I possibly can.

But surely Laziza is cheap enough to buy lc for just to replicate it?. Now if you came up with a better paste now that would be good.   

Good point Gav Iscon, it's just so hard to get hold of in Norfolk, so when I add postage it becomes quite expensive to buy!

But I like your thought on improving a paste, I'm not a fan of the corsely chopped Ginger in Laziza. It always looks like Hair if you know we're im coming from ;D

[Gav Iscon]

Good point Gav Iscon, it's just so hard to get hold of in Norfolk, so when I add postage it becomes quite expensive to buy!

But I like your thought on improving a paste, I'm not a fan of the corsely chopped Ginger in Laziza. It always looks like Hair if you know we're im coming from ;D

Its impossible to get up here. Bought some in Birmingham but is was cheap as chips in Manchester on the curry mile.

And the ginger hair    Its nice though, the paste that is.

[livo]

Here are some links I found useful in creating my own hybrid Balti paste. It is a mix of all 3 ideas and I think from memory I added some heavily cooked out onions and extra oil as well as putting oil over the top of the it once in the jar.  It was an experiment that worked really well, but I'm foolish for not taking exact notes. It is still good in the jar now after many months in the refrigerator.  I've used about half of it.

http://www.recipesource.com/ethnic/asia/indian/03/rec0351.html

http://www.kidspot.com.au/best-recipes/Dinner+7/Balti-curry-paste-recipe+2394.htm

http://www.indiansimmer.com/2011/09/indian-curry-paste.html

George, I understand what you say in having reached satisfaction with the regular dishes.  I can happily say that Chicken Madras and Rajma Masala are in my "can do" repertoire now but I'm still nowhere near satisfied with my Lamb Rogan Josh.  Naan bread is a remaining headache for me and I'm off on a different approach today.  I'm leaving H4ppy Chris and CBM behind for a few different ideas.  This one looks very promising.

http://www.goodfood.com.au/good-food/cook/how-to-make-naan-bread-tips-and-a-naan-recipe-from-sneh-roy-20140812-3dk9r.html

Edit: but then again maybe not. It has a recipe Baker's Percentage calculating to 115% which is a bit wet.  This is with yogurt and oil being counted as 100% liquid but even so it is way too loose.  I've used Atta flour and added 100g of plain bread flour to give approx. 70%.  I'll post my findings in a thread more to do with naan, so as not to derail this one further.