Topic: Recent visit to my local BIRs kitchen

[King Prawn]

I guess that the smokey smell in the restaurant is from the tandoor cooking.

As for the savoury onion type smell, that is sometimes produced in the mornings when they are preparing for the lunchtime and/or evening trade.

I have noticed this smell coming from houses where Bangladeshis and Pakistanis live, so it can't be that difficult to do at home.

Maybe one day I will knock on a door and see if I can see what they are doing ;D

KP(V)

[Mark J]

He made a big thing about the 'stock' being the secret to any indian restaurant

Thanks for this MarkJ,

When he refers to it as "stock", do you think he's referring to what we call "curry base", or do you think he is inferring that there actually is some sort of stock (in it?) too?

Regards,

I think it was just the base

[Ashes]

I wonder whether we are being too coy about this?
Usually the questions people ask are designed to bring forth some secret
to BIR cooking we dont know but suspect lurks within the kitchens.

Maybe it would be better to just directly approach a BIR and tell them
what we are looking for, a certain taste/smell we cant recreate at home.

I bet you there are a lot of BIRs that will act surprised? - Personally I
dont think there is any secret ingredient. More likey there is a technique
plus a combination of spices which the BIR probably doesnt consider a secret
beyond anything else it creates in the kitchen.

Or there will be plenty of hushed tones, winks and flirtive movements
as if there is a big bag of secret spice locked insided a padlocked cupboard
with "Secret Ingredient" written on the outside - "Reveal on pain of Death"

But i doubt it. The only way forward is to keep asking those who
have direct contact with the world of the BIR. Describe what we are looking for
and ask how its achieved. swhat i think 
Regards Ashes

[King Prawn]

Ashes

I agree with you.

Most good chefs are only too pleased to show you how good they are (just watch them on all the TV cooking programs).

IMHO the only chefs that have something to hide are the 'dirty' chefs who use unclean procedures. I have seen these is many restaurants including Indian ones.

I always think that if you are not allowed near the kitchen, especially on a quiet night like Mon, Tue, Wed then there might be more to worry about other than the smell or flavour!

I say this with some knowledge as my last role was as a project manager for a large American based catering company...... And I have been in a few BIR kitchens over the years!

KP(V)

[Vinda looo]

I was hoping for a recipe from the take away Ive been delivering from, unfortunately all they told me was a basic curry sauce which we all do anyway. When I probed further as to attain how they produce that specific taste to their curries, they didn't want to know and thought I could easily inform other take-aways in the local area. There is some competition so I suppose being a business they cant take any chances, not that I would tell anyway apart from posting on here of course, which they wouldn't know about. Which brings me to the conclusion that each restaurant/takeaway has what they call their own little secret ingredient which makes their dishes what they think is the best and they won't reveal everything to us.

[andy2295]

There is no secret ingriedient. Its the method.

Regards

Andy

[haldi]

I was going to the takeaway one evening, last year, and there was this wonderful aroma.
So I asked what they were doing
They were frying garlic (in curry gravy oil) and preparing another curry too
They regularly cook several dishes at the  same time
I have seen them fry the garlic before and the pan is always flambeeing (from time to time)
Funny thing is, you aren't so aware of it, if you are in the kitchen.
Whenever I am cooking, and my wife is coming home from work, she says you can smell it from at the top of the road!
That really surprises me because it doesn't seem that strong

[Chilli Prawn]

There is no secret ingriedient. Its the method.

Regards

Andy

Hear hear, you are sooo right Andy, but I have got to know these guys & gals now and this is all part of the chase; the hunt for the holy grail, etc.  Cooking is not something you can learn by post, it requires someone to show you.  As YF says you can't demonstrate taste and smell with a piccy.

It is a pity we can't invent/come up with a standard simple process + ingredients that everyone can experiment with to get the idea and result; you know, like a chemistry experiment in school.  I guess that would spoil the fun of learning though, and the banter on the Forum.