Topic: Why we cannot produce that missing taste ?

[Bobby Bhuna]

Hey Haldi, you've motivated me to try and buy some base from my local. Do you find the bases from all your locals taste similar or are they all just good in different ways?

On another note, my gran used to have a soup pot that was never cleaned. She just always had soup on the go and swore that this was why it tasted so good. Do you think they do that with base?

Also, have you ever tried adding mooli? I just ask because you said the missing taste was vegetablish.

Cheers, BB.

[Tamala]

I've just spent the afternoon trying to match a bought curry base sample
I can't do it
The best flavour simply isn't there
To add to my frustration I made a curry, using a bought restaurants curry gravy.
You know what?
It was 100% perfect
If I could make the gravy then I could make the curry
Yes, I have made several times 100% copies of BIR curries, but only when I use a bought curry base
Seriously, if you compare a bought curry base to what you make at home, it is not the same.

The "secret" is the gravy

Now THATS what I call "spot on" !

Listen to this man, the "secret" is in the base!  It is where the essence of the BIR taste and aroma is developed.  THIS is where "the magic happens".  The final cooking process is simply a tweak that produces the variations.  Without a replica BIR base you're f&*ked!  That is if REALLY replicating a BIR curry is your aim

[joshallen2k]

There are a number of "demo" base recipes on this site. Saffron, Rajver, etc etc.

Assuming the statement above is true - "the secret is in the base" - then why do these recipes not do the trick?

Is it an issue of scale? Chef's "forgetting" a key ingredient? These are crap BIRs?

For Haldi to say that using the base sample, the curry was 100%, is a huge statement.

Ideas??? I'd would pay a head chef of a known-good BIR to create the gravy in front of me, at 100% scale, with precise measurements, times and steps, and prove the outcome with a top-notch final curry.

Unfortunately there are no BIRs near me 

-- Josh

[haldi]

Hey Haldi, you've motivated me to try and buy some base from my local. Do you find the bases from all your locals taste similar or are they all just good in different ways?
Cheers, BB.

I have had samples from four places
The spicing is slightly different, sometimes a little more tomatoey,  but they all have this extra unidentifiable taste
You might not notice how big the difference is, unless you compared your home made base to it.
Then you you will try to alter your base to get this extra flavour and find that you simply can't get it.

Also, have you ever tried adding mooli? I just ask because you said the missing taste was vegetablish.
Cheers, BB.

Yes BB, I have tried mooli, swede, cabbage,turnips,carrots,chick peas,gram flour,fresh coriander,dried fenugreek,fresh fenugreek,aubergine

There are a number of "demo" base recipes on this site. Saffron, Rajver, etc etc.
Assuming the statement above is true - "the secret is in the base" - then why do these recipes not do the trick?
Is it an issue of scale? Chef's "forgetting" a key ingredient? These are crap BIRs?
-- Josh

The bases on this site are as good as you can get, without doing something extreme to duplicate BIR kitchens
The use  of poppadom oil may influence the final result too
I will post after I've tried that
I don't think it can be an intentional ingredient that we are missing
I think it may be circumstantial i.e. using something that we might assume is thrown away such as old curry gravy, old oil, old poppadoms

Is it an issue of scale? Chef's "forgetting" a key ingredient? These are crap BIRs?
For Haldi to say that using the base sample, the curry was 100%, is a huge statement.
-- Josh

Of that I am 100% sure
I have never produced that quality like that using home made base
It is exact

Now THATS what I call "spot on" !

Listen to this man, the "secret" is in the base!  It is where the essence of the BIR taste and aroma is developed.  THIS is where "the magic happens".  The final cooking process is simply a tweak that produces the variations.  Without a replica BIR base you're f&*ked!  That is if REALLY replicating a BIR curry is your aim

Thanks Tamala
I have narrowed my search to this single area

[JerryM]

it's getting more intriguing this post.

Haldi can we put u on the spot - appreciating it's difficult but can u try to explain how the BIR base differs from those on the site. i guess what does this

extra unidentifiable taste

do for your taste buds.

why i ask is i've made the following bases (in no particular order): rajver, saffron, ronnoc, ivangough (AIR), ifindforu, CRO2, currytester, SnS 2008, Bruce Edwards.

i've found that they all produce very good curries. but as we all know not quite their. within reasonable bounds they are all quite similar (except for CRO2 - only onion) although several have slightly different variations.

i now adapt the cooking of ea to add in the strong points of ea as spec base eg - ivangough uses whole spices which are removed before blending. all of these "adaptations" have improved the bases but still not got them their. i still have a few things to try but expect only minor improvement.

your thoughts that perhaps it's NOT something we don't know but circumstantial or part of the "how" would fit spot on for me.

the continuous simmer of the pot is say a good example.

on a specific for me (having not tasted a BIR base - and i will try to) i'm not sure if this extra taste is in the base or the oil (of the finished curry) and would appreciate your thoughts specifically on this.

[Bobby Bhuna]

Thanks Tamala
I hev narrowed my search to this single area

You get that she's being a bitch right?

[Derek Dansak]

I tasted a bir base. then tasted the final madras. my impresion was that i could have substituted the safron base that day, and the final curries would have been much the same. the bir base was mild spiced and fairly bland. a bit more of a taste of chicken than safron. and slightly more sour. but not that different. It certainly did not taste like the heavily spiced bases included on this site. 

[Tamala]

You get that she's being a bitch right?

Stop being a prat bobby  :

Haldi is absolutely right, in my opinion, hence my endorsement of his comments 

[Derek Dansak]

can that minor difference in the taste of the base really account for all those amazing missing flavors in the final curries?  surely its the spicing which is what we are not grasping correctly yet? and technique to some extent.   

[TGReaper]

Hi All,

I think it may be to do with seasoned frying pans and cooking pots but have not proven this. I am gutted as my local BIR manager invited me to cook in his kitchen for a night but i never did get round to it as he went back to India for 6 months and in the mean time his brother did not seem to keen to let me. By the time it was due for him to come back the BIR closed with no warning so never did get to get in the kitchen. Does anyone know a BIR manager well enough to get an invite? I believe the only way we can get to the bottom of this is to spend time in a BIR Kitchen.