Where is everybody and where have they gone?

[curryqueen]

For some unknown reason this forum has gone very, very quiet!  Where is everyone old to the forum and also those who have registered and are not posting?  Have you all left the country for good, gone on holiday or just can't be bothered anymore!  I used to look forward each morning to how many different posts and comments in posts were being made!  You will be forgiven of course, if you have been hard on the road to finding "the taste".  I still maintain that it is the oil that is taken from each curry and re-used. 

[Graeme]

Me still here.

[Blondie]

Hi all,

I'm still here and have been posting, but, with little response.

It is difficult to think up new subjects to keep everyone interested.

It may just be because the site has been mal functioning recently and I don't know about anyone else, but on my return found that my login had been terminated, and on several subsequent visits the same thing happened.

I a pleased to say that everything appears to be OK again now.

IF YOU ARE HAVING TROUBLE WITH THE FORUM TRY LOGGING IN AGAIN..

Hope this helps people to return to the fold.

If you have all cleared off somewhere else, GIVE US A CLUE WHERE YOU ARE.

Cheers all,

Blondie

[merrybaker]

Maybe they tried leaving the base sauce outside the fridge to ferment... and it fermented a little too much.

[Curry King]

I found I was getting database errors at the begining of the week and the only way to get in was to delete my cookies and internet history and log in again.

[Ian S.]

... those who have registered and are not posting?

Oops!  I'll be one of those, then... ;D

To be honest you all seem so far ahead of me that I feel a bit inhibited about posting my feeble experiences.  I haven't done anything that's not already covered in depth here - though I've got plenty of disaster stories to tell about vast pots of toxic curry gravy being poured down the sink!

I'm also a bit of an internet thicko, and it can get a bit bewildering at times.

I'm out of work at the moment, and funds are a bit limited, so I can't really afford to experiment on a frequent basis.  I tend to only cook a batch of curry once a month or so, and I tend to err on the side of 'the devil you know', on the basis that it can actually be eaten by myself and my partner over the following weeks!

But I'm really enjoying reading these forums, and I didn't join with the intention of just lurking.  Bear with me and I'll try some of your techniques in my next curry and report back - if there's anything to shout about, that is!

All the best,
Ian
--

[Curry King]

Hi Ian,

If you can get down your local takeaway and hassle em for some recipes, im fairly sure that every takeaway will have slight variations in the base and standard currys.  Even if they seem identical its still worth posting as the more info the better! 

[curryqueen]

Hi Ian,

Nice to hear from you!  No matter how experienced or not you are doesn't matter.  The fact is that you are one of us who are trying to emulate the bir "taste".  Post, say what you want to!  For all we know you may already have the right flavour/smell and technique!  Look forward to hearing more from you.  What actually are your favourite bir curries?

[Ian S.]

Hi, both!

>>If you can get down your local takeaway and hassle em for some recipes

Ah, I'm afraid I don't have the bottle of some of you guys!  Though I did ask once at my (best) local takeaway if I could go in and watch my meal being cooked on a quiet night.  I was told politely but firmly that "we don't do that sort of thing".

My favourite BIR meals are Chicken Vindaloo, Lamb Madras and Lamb Pathia.  Chicken Dhansak too.  I always have Sag as a side dish and, if I'm sharing  I'll split a Sag Prawn.

But my top of the list is (here I'll get laughed off the screen) Chicken Tikka Vindaloo!  Yeah, I know, I know... A friend of mine introduced me to it and it wasn't 'till I tried some of his that I believed it could work!

I only try to reproduce plain Vindaloo, Madras and occasionally Pathia at home, though.

[Yellow Fingers]

I still maintain that it is the oil that is taken from each curry and re-used.?

While this is something that I do because it definitely inmproves the flavour, if you think about it, it can't be done by the restaurants. The chemical that makes chillies hot is fat soluble, so if you were making a vindaloo say then there would be a lot of the chilli heat in that oil. Imagine a restaurant doing this, after about ten curries the base sauce would be too hot to use for the mild curries. Unless they are being selective about which curries they spoon the oil from?

As far as the group slowing down, I think this is because we have reached an impasse. There are those of us here who are convinced they have sussed the method of producing the right taste and smell, and there are those like me who are 95% there but are now in need of new ideas.