Topic: Few newbie questions........

[dellydel]

Hi guys,

Been reading this forum a fair bit the last few days as im looking to put the 'KD Curry Secret' book back up on the shelf and try a few recipes off here!

However, there are so many bases on here with so many mixed opinions I dont know which one to start with.  And then the same with the main dishes!

After much deliberation I think its either going to be;

Base - Admin new base / Bruce Edwards / Darths
Dish - Curry King Bhuna (with chicken instead) / Stew's Madras / Rajver madras

Please help me in deciding what to try first, all suggestions welcome  !

I do worry however that I am getting my hope up to much about how great and authentic it will taste.  I mean, I havent found a post yet that says "thats it, I have done it, it taste just like my local!"  Can I expect the fished result to taste anywhere near the real thing?

Finally, does anyone on this forum actually work in a BIR?  I know people have been in the kitchens and even learnt the recipes so thats the next best thing, but how come no one has got it %100 correct?  I read about the currys on here being %95 best!  Surely if you have been there and seen it, then followed the same recipe with the same ingredients, it cant be any different....  : ;D???

Forgive me for all my questions  :-[

I look forward to your answers,

Kind regards

Del

[Secret Santa]

...I know people have been in the kitchens and even learnt the recipes so thats the next best thing, but how come no one has got it %100 correct?  I read about the currys on here being %95 best!  Surely if you have been there and seen it, then followed the same recipe with the same ingredients, it cant be any different....  : ;D???

Well dellydel that's a very pertinent question and the thing that comes to my mind is that no one (not even haldi I think?) has seen the curry base made from start to finish. Now, to me, that's very important and it has become more so since watching the Malik videos. There are just so many things going into their base that I can't help feel there is a, dare I say it, secret ingredient! Well, actually, no, not a secret ingredient, but a combination of unknown ingredients that we just don't see in any of the bases posted on this site.

So for me the secret ingredient myth actually isn't a myth it's just that it's secret INGREDIENTS not ingredient, and they are secret not because they aren't showing us but just because no one has ever been able to see the base made from start to end.

I've seen the so called techniques for making the final curry so many times now that I am convinced it is not there that the magic happens, although those techniques are required as well! No, for me, the base is the key to this and unless someone gets to see the whole operation, nothing missed out, then we are never going to close that last 5%.

[dellydel]

Arr I see!

Well if no one has actually stood in a kitchen from start to finish and then tasted the final dish, then I see your point!

Thanks for your reply bud.

Cheers

Del

[JerryM]

this is the answer we are all very much interested in.

i thought it was the base but it's not. the malik does put a certain amount of doubt back but not enough (they use loads of ingredients). i've made a load of different base from the site and one post got talking about real BIR base. i realised that all my deliberation were in making the final curry the same as BIR and unfortunately there are mainly variable if u trace back  right the way to starting the base. i u knew what the base tastes like then this would cutthe variables significantly. in short i asked at my local TA who i know and frequent.

real BIR base (or at least from my TA who produce 10/10 curry) is very similar to the site bases with few ingredients, minimal spicing, very thin but yet full of onion and carrot to a lesser extent. there was one taste i'm trying to get which i thought was fennel and i'm still playing around with the spices to get the intensity of oil. but at the end of the day the last 5% lies elswhere for me.

it's either mater of fact (something BIR's do) but we just don't think about doing the same at home or it's completeness of recipe. the latter certainly holds true for several recipes on the site when there is no gap for me - they're 100% BIR.

this is a good post to read http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=200.0

[dellydel]

Thanks for your reply Jerry,  I will read through that post when I get a bit of spare time, im sure there will be a lot of interesting points there, thanks!

So to answer my other question regarding which base & which dish to try first, any have any suggestions?

There are so many which sound so good......

Base - Admin new base / Bruce Edwards / Darths / SNS saffron new base
(leaning towards SNS Saffron)

Dish - Curry King Bhuna (with chicken instead) / Stew's Madras / Rajver madras /    
CA's Chicken Phal, Vindaloo, Madras and Curry / Bruce Edward's Madras Recipe (from Lorrydo)
(Probably try the Bruce Edwards one)

Which of combination of these is likely to work best and get closest to BIR quality?

Cheers guys, really appreciate your advice and comments!

Del

[SnS]

So for me the secret ingredient myth actually isn't a myth it's just that it's secret INGREDIENTS not ingredient, and they are secret not because they aren't showing us but just because no one has ever been able to see the base made from start to end.

Hi dellydel

Welcome to the forum.

At the Saffron, I have watched the chefs make the base from start to end and there is no 'secret' ingredient or ingredients ... unless of course they hid it from me or added it when I blinked - which I doubt. I was in their kitchen for 3 hours on a Saturday afternoon.

[dellydel]

Hi SNS,

Thanks for the welcome!

What dish would you recommend trying first to accompany your 'Saffron' Base then buddy?

Really cant wait to try it out  ;D

Cheers

Del

[haldi]

At the Saffron, I have watched the chefs make the base from start to end and there is no 'secret' ingredient or ingredients ... unless of course they hid it from me or added it when I blinked - which I doubt. I was in their kitchen for 3 hours on a Saturday afternoon.

Hi SnS
       did you post th full size base?
I'd be interested in that one.

[JerryM]

the saffron base is in my top 3 - it takes some beating.

i do think Bruce's is a good starting point - for me it's a sort of yardstick

[Secret Santa]

the latter certainly holds true for several recipes on the site when there is no gap for me - they're 100% BIR.

Hi jerry. It still depresses me thoroughly when I see statements like this. I don't doubt your sincerity but, despite trying many of the bases and many of the recipes ( but not all by any means), I still find that they land woefully short of what I'm after, lacking in all cases that special taste and aroma. I would agree that they are a match for many of the current BIR curries, but they themselves are so poor compared to what I was used to get years ago that it offers little comfort for me.

To sum up: be happy that you have achieved 100% match, but, be sad that you don't, as it were, know what you're missing.

Out of interest is one of your 100% matches a madras? If so can you post the base and curry recipe and any special techniques and I'll give it a go as I need a new batch of base. I can but hope!