Topic: h4ppyleader secret base and spiced oil revealed

[romain]

Hi Sverige

Thank you for your welcoming comments.

However, for the time being I'm just visiting and seeing how the forum has developed and what's new in the world of BIR.

Not sure yet whether I'll be contributing as I'm old school BIR and it looks like things have moved on a tad - but time will tell.

Cheers. 

SnS (smokenspices)

If I may, what defines old school? I'm always keen to learn and all too often what is old is what is new...

[Onions]

Birmingham in the late 70s. Or to quote Alan Partridge, "men in platform shoes getting arrested for bombings"   

[romain]

Haha. I was hoping for something a bit more specific. Like here's a link to a recipe(s) that embodies old school BIR for instance

[pete]

For what it's worth, I saw something very like Chris's magic oil ingredient at three takeaway kitchens I visited.

First time I was left alone in a takeaway kitchen,  for a few minutes while the chef was  taking an order  over the phone
Curiousity got the better of me.
I opened and had a very good look in their Fridge
Kept in large empty cans from white tower puree, was old oil
Loads of it
I tasted a bit
slightly hot a bit spicy, nothing obviously that special
For ages I thought this was salvaged by simply scooped off the top curry gravy. Then I thought maybe it was just old bhajee oil.
They never told me
But when I made reference to the special oil the chef said something very odd to me
"a tiger never shows all his teeth"
still don't know what that means
But I never found out the origin of the oil.
Then one day I randomly asked for some
and I was given a litre of it.
Using this oil as an ingredient I made the best curry gravy I ever cooked
Totally authentic
And the curries I made using the gravy, were absolutely perfect.
Just like the ones that takeaway made
I knew all their recipes, but up to that point could not duplicate them

A second time I came into contact with similar oil was at a takeaway making up a big batch of gravy.
Must be 14 years ago now
They had done the boiling loads of onion bit and left the pot for half an hour
The oil rose to the top of the pan
They scooped this off into another pan
They added, garlic, tomato puree and spices
then added loads of water
They boiled it til it had reduced right down again
Maybe took 20 minutes
Meanwhile they blended the boiled onion mix
Then added the oily mixture to it
I got asked to leave after then!
Apparently I was making chef nervous
So didn't see the whole Gravy method

The third time I saw oil like this was much simpler
The chef had old bhajee/poppadom oil
He had a chip pan full of it
He heated tomato puree, garlic ginger and spices for a few minutes then simply poured this into a cooked blended Onion mix in a large saucepan.
Don't know if it was important but the onion mix had been prepared the day before
then it was boiled up again and this oil came to the top

at all  the places where I used to visit, the gravy was way better than anything I could make at home
It was the whole essence of the curry made using it

so I'm really looking forward to trying Chris's recipe
Never had proper quantities before

and it will keep me pleasantly occupied for a while
I will post the results
Good or Bad

Thank you Chris

[Secret Santa]

The third time I saw oil like this was much simpler
The chef had old bhajee/poppadom oil
He had a chip pan full of it
He heated tomato puree, garlic ginger and spices for a few minutes then simply poured this into a cooked blended Onion mix in a large saucepan.
Don't know if it was important but the onion mix had been prepared the day before
then it was boiled up again and this oil came to the top

I think this is the essence of the "technique" and I seem to recall pointing this out to Chris on this forum somewhere just before he gave up on his ebook and disappeared into the wilderness. Kris Dhillon does essentially the same thing in her book, although for a much shorter cooking time. It wasn't new then and it isn't new now (as a technique). I think it was the final realisation that he actually didn't have anything new that stopped him in his tracks.

I wish I could find the post where I predicted what his unknown, ground-breaking technique would be.

[Secret Santa]

He pours "the magic" in at around 25.10 on this video back in 2013!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A91qv2O5eQw

[Secret Santa]

Haha. I was hoping for something a bit more specific. Like here's a link to a recipe(s) that embodies old school BIR for instance

Doesn't exist. That's why people like me get miffed. If you could find a chef from the 70s or 80s maybe they would reveal the techniques they used to achieve it.

[livo]

I do believe we actually had one SS.  Maybe even more than one over the years.
Some tough rubbery marinated chicken pieces, off the bone, done in the tandoor (or under the grill on skewers) anybody?

[curryhell]

I wish I could find the post where I predicted what his unknown, ground-breaking technique would be.

You'll find it here Santa

https://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=12073.msg96675#msg96675

[Donald Brasco]

I think you mean here:
https://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=12073.msg96795#msg96795

Reading that thread through, Mr Happy certainly did like to tease.  Would have been much better just to post the info on the forum rather than all that nonsense.