Topic: Observations through the BIR kitchen door

[Bobby Bhuna]

I was getting a lamb Madras last night from my now favourite local BIR (it really is excellent - seriously old school - the kind you need a good immune system for) and tried to have a little peek through the kitchen door. Apart from the fact that I noticed two different men handling my popodums, I noticed the following probably fairly irrelevant things.

• Large square plastic tub full of what looked like veg oil - the chef appeared with a tiny ladle and scooped a couple of ladles into the curry pan.
• 2 similarly large square pastic tubs filled with lightish orange masala mix
• Heard the gentle sizzle and chefs spoon hittting pan and stirring round, the same way I get when I do the garlic / ginger paste / tomato puree / spice mix stage in my Madras
• They had 3 massive plastic what looked like paint tubs but huge, filled with peeled medium / large onions. I found this a little strange because these were just sitting on the floor and it was nearly midnight - their closing time. Perhaps they make the next nights base batch that night or something.

The conclussion here is probably just that they use oil, spice mix and a somewhat similar cooking process to many of us.

If anyone else comes up with hopefully more interesting observations, please share.

[Derek Dansak]

Good work Bobby! can you install a descrete web cam next visit!  only joking! but wouldn't that be great if you could!

[Mag1973]

Next to my friends cooking range he has a number of metal containers attached to the wall, from memory these contained.

Methi,Salt,Chilli powder,Masala mix,Tomatoe Puree,Turmeric so these seem to be his main ingredients.
He also has a large jar of homemade Ginger/Garlic puree in oil on a shelf.
Also there are jars of homemade mixes he uses for various meals like balti's,korma's etc and surprisingly, (to me),quite a few of the Patak brand of pastes etc,when I asked him about those he said some were as good as he could make so saved him valuable time in the prep.

[mickdabass]

I wet out for a curry friday night in Sutton Coldfield. Is only the second BIR curry that I have had in 18 months!!
There were two things/smells that caught my attention. The first smell was boiled onions, and the second was fried tomato paste! That got me thinking: has anyone tried blanching/ boiling their chopped onions before frying? Next time I cook a curry (friday) I think i will try par boiling the onions and maybe adding a little more tomato paste to my curry
cheers
mick

[Bobby Bhuna]

The first smell was boiled onions, and the second was fried tomato paste! That got me thinking: has anyone tried blanching/ boiling their chopped onions before frying? Next time I cook a curry (friday) I think i will try par boiling the onions and maybe adding a little more tomato paste to my curry

Could it not just be the base your smelling with the boiled onion?

[parker21]

hi mick
yes i have tried it. it's a pat chapman technique or it was in one of his books, did not really make any difference! the sweetness is derived from slowly "caramelising" the onions first with lots of oil and a couple of tablespoons of water  and some salt then simmering for about 45mins dependant on number of onions used. oh and carrots in the base.
regards
gary

[mickdabass]

Could it not just be the base your smelling with the boiled onion?

Yeah BB you're probably right.I suppose my nose is now better tuned for these things since I've started on the quest

[mickdabass]

hi mick
yes i have tried it. it's a pat chapman technique or it was in one of his books, did not really make any difference! the sweetness is derived from slowly "caramelising" the onions first with lots of oil and a couple of tablespoons of water  and some salt then simmering for about 45mins dependant on number of onions used. oh and carrots in the base.
regards
gary

Hi Gary, have you experimented with the ammount of tomato paste to get a sweeter taste? I would think that too much would be a bit overpowering though. IMO I wouldnt have thought that it was common BIR practice to caramelise onions simply because it takes a long time. I'm only a novice so what do I know???

[parker21]

hi mick caramelise is probably the wrong word to use. cook the onions in veg oil water and salt until you smell a sweeter smell and not raw you will know when you try it what i mean. and as i have said before a description of a smell will only be believed when you follow a process and smell what you can smell ;D
this information has come from a reliable source namely my local "Rajver"

hope this helps a little more
regards
gary

[mickdabass]

Thanks again for your advice Gary. Im not going to ask any more questions for the time being as I think we are drifting away from the subject of this thread. I will give this technique a try and will let you know how I get on
Regards
Mick