Topic: Addiction or way of life?

[zerajera]

Hi,

I've been a curryholic for over 40+ years - will it ever end?

Beer 'n' Curry is driven me nearly all of my adult life - oh a few other things have popped into my life from time to time (women, kids, work etc) BUT - curry is the king. When I first started looking for tips and recipes (before the internet), Pat Chapman was the only curry mentor around and finding good British Indian restaurant recipes and tips was near on impossible, so years of reverse engineering and trial and error yielded some good random results but how things have changed. What with some excellent books, YouTube and the internet & forums, home curry cooking is getting better and better.

So "HI" to all you other curryholics and thanks for letting me into your world!

Zera

[Peripatetic Phil]

Welcome, Zera.  But an immediate question -- you have been a curryholic for almost as long as myself; do you believe that you can still find today (in Indian restaurants and/or takeways) the same flavours that you first experienced in the 70's, and if so, where ?

** Phil.

[zerajera]

Welcome, Zera.  But an immediate question -- you have been a curryholic for almost as long as myself; do you believe that you can still find today (in Indian restaurants and/or takeways) the same flavours that you first experienced in the 70's, and if so, where ?

** Phil.

Thanks for the welcome Phil. The short answer to your questions is "no". I'm generally disappointed at the lack of quality of cooked meats, that whole spices are seldom in curries anymore. I don't travel around so much as I have done in the past, researching restaurants and locations, visiting and reviewing restaurants. Where we live we try to dine locally and have a handful of Indian restaurants at hand. We're quite lucky as they are all quite friendly and willing to cater to our specific needs (to a degree), however saying that - I have recently started re-discovering some of my old cooking skills, restocking the spice cupboard, buying in some new cooking pans, books etc. as I'm disheartened again by the quality of British Indian restaurant food. Hence going on-line and looking for tips, tricks & recipes.

Regards,

Zera

[Invisible Mike]

Welcome Zera

Can someone explain to us young uns. What the fuss is over the curries of yesteryear? How were they different/better than they are now?

MM

[Geoffbrick]

Welcome Zera.

 Early curries were out of a packet Vestas,just add boiling water,then came Chinese dining,chicken and pineapple,chow mein.Eventually the curry "revolution"started,away from the football,into the pub,find the closest curry house,eating a Madras mopping your brow with a Chapatti,drinking a gallon of water .
I'm getting on a bit now,but can remember them like yesterday,but will say that curry and balti houses have improved no end.The t/a is a different question.I'm in the Midlands now and am lucky to have a fair few to choose from,but on travelling around have tasted some absolute dross.This prompted me to have a go and try to acquire the BIR tasting meal.I'm still on this journey and enjoying it.There are plenty of guys on this forum (ladies too),who will be more than willing to help,to pass on the "knowledge"

[Geoffbrick]

Good luck,and enjoy the journey.
  Geoffbrick .

[Peripatetic Phil]

I'm getting on a bit now,but can remember them like yesterday,but will say that curry and balti houses have improved no end.

Sadly I cannot agree there. In "the good old days", there were bad curry houses and good curry houses, but each one was different and each dish on the menu was different.  Now there is little variation between curry houses (apart from the very pretentious ones) and little difference between the individual dishes.  If you listen to the recent Radio 4 "Crisis in the Curry Kitchen" programme on BBC i-player you will hear why.  And this is not a recent phenomenon :  the BBC highlighted exactly the same problem over ten years ago.

** Phil.

[zerajera]

I agree with Phil the best Indian restaurants I held in high regards were all small family run restaurants and the chefs eventually retired or closed their businesses down. 2nd - 3rd generation kids don't want to work in a curry house as a head chef and there is an inevatable skills drain on Indian cookery. 70-80's Indian restaurants generally speaking the food had a better more complex depth of flavour, they cooked food with whole spices. Most Indians restaurants now think the British public are shocked to find a clove or green cardomon in their dish. Maybe so, but I miss those little flavour bombs. Oh and of course Bombay Duck too!

Still kiting up to cook my first batch of curried gravy this week from a recipe found here. Wish me luck.

Zera

[Garp]

I think it's probably more to do with things we did/tasted/saw/experienced when we were younger.

Every generation says the music was better back in the day, the films were better, the food was better etc etc. I don't think any of this is true, it is simply that we were in the prime of our lives then, and now hark back to those days.

It is an inevitable result of a market-based society that if lots of people like something, then lots of people will try to make money out of it - resulting in lots of outlets churning out the same shit.

I don't think it's worse, or better, than the 'old days', just a natural, unstoppable evolution.

[Invisible Mike]

Good answer Garp thank you.