Topic: How to Make Spicy Oil ? The Secret to Truly Replicating BIR curries?

[haldi]

Haldi - what does your bought BIR oil taste and smell like?

It has "the taste"
It's smells slightly spicy and also a bit of fried onions.
All in all it's quite subtle

Haldi do you think they make this oil as a by product of bulk cooking? or do you think they make it separetely?

I think it's used oil added into the gravy
I am still trying to duplicate it myself
The problem is:-
What do you do with all the fried food that has to be cooked in it?
I tried keeping the oil for a month,while I cooked bhajees, chips & pakora in it, and mine went bad
I didn't think oil would do that
Having said that, I didn't keep it in the fridge
The oil never got the right colour either
It stayed far too golden

[curryqueen]

AT LAST!!!!  It has finally sunk in to some.  I am so glad that some of you have tried oil reclaiming as I swear by it and have done for years now.  Unless you try this method then you'll never know, lets face it you havn't a lot to lose. Go for it! CQ

[parker21]

hi CQ great to hear from you again wondered if you had fallen by the wayside as darthy baby had. are you still cooking your vindaloos? and have you had anymore demos? what base recipe are you using now?
won't inudate you with too many questions but overwhelmed to hear from you again.
regards
gary

[Cory Ander]

the difference between 'reclaimed' oil versus purposely 'seasoned' oil. One is not the same as the other. Although both are actually 'seasoned', the latter would be developed to achieve a specific taste using a 'recipe'.

I understand what you're saying SnS but, to me, they are just alternative means (i.e. reclaiming oil versus synthesising it) to an end (i.e. spicy/seasoned oil).

It seems to me that, so far, there appears to be three alternatives:

1.  Get it from your BIR (this will obviously be quickest and give the best match, but how to produce it will still remain a mystery)

2.  Generate it by constantly reclaiming the oil from bases and other cooked dishes (this seems to be the most common practice but it is bound to give variable results and it relies, to some extent, on cooking large volumes of food)

3.  Synthesise it (as you indicate) to a known recipe and procedure (a replica oil might be hard to attain but it would otherwise provide the most controlled, consistent and repeatable method I believe)

It is the third option that I intend to focus on (not much seems to have been done here...though I do note Ghanna's recipe for an Ethiopian seasoned oil which I might try and/or adapt?). 

My initial intent is to take a litre or so of vegetable oil and fry whole spices (e.g. cummin, coriander, cassia, chillies), powdered spices (e.g. tumeric, paprika) and onions, garlic, ginger, and tomato paste and filter.

I'm hoping that this will produce a red coloured, sweet, spicy, oniony, garlicky seasoned oil similar to what would be naturally produced in a BIR.

[haldi]

I'm hoping that this will produce a red coloured, sweet, spicy, oniony, garlicky seasoned oil similar to what would be naturally produced in a BIR.

It must have the low smoking point too
When you fry in reclaimed oil, everything cooks very slowly

[Unclebuck]

Watch Maliks video K

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3102.0

about 3 Min's in.. you can see the used/spiced oil, Then the chef gently scoops more oil from the existing base and adds it to that gigantic pot! they obviously think its important.

[haldi]

Watch Maliks video K
about 3 Min's in.. you can see the used/spiced oil, Then the chef gently scoops more oil from the existing base and adds it to that gigantic pot! they obviously think its important.

Yes, you're right
I'd forgotton how big their cooking pots are
They must be a very busy place
Did anyone say they'd had food from there?

[JerryM]

Watch Maliks video K

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3102.0

about 3 Min's in.. you can see the used/spiced oil, Then the chef gently scoops more oil from the existing base and adds it to that gigantic pot! they obviously think its important.

i'm surprised how little they recycle into the next batch.

on a similar note but along the lines of Haldi's intererst in used oil - i saw on the live cam old fryer oil being put into the base - quite a lot it something like 2 or 3L. i've taken no interest as it's not an area i feel i'd like or need to go.

on a personal front i too am well pleased to hear from Curryqueen - have really enjoyed reading the posts.

[Panpot]

 I too am delighted that CQ has posted,thanks you have been a big influence along with other stalwarts past and present here,making progress early on with your recipes and encouragement sucked me into the site and without it I would probably never have got myself in behind the scene at The Ashoka. Elsewhere I have been looking for your recipe for Pilau Rice and have encouraged others to use it but it seems to have been archived, perhaps you could re-post it.

Anyway I am involve in a health project that involves using oils and the advice from the experts is to store oil in dark opaque containers even tin and to use it within four weeks once opened. Without becoming a bore the chef at the Ashoka used the surplus oil from the Bunjarra and would supplement form any surplus from any dish particularly that day as the cooked multi portions for their Buffet Night.

[George]

It is the third option that I intend to focus on (not much seems to have been done here...though I do note Ghanna's recipe for an Ethiopian seasoned oil which I might try and/or adapt

CA - I agree with your approach here. It must be possible to synthesize any flavoured oil you like, even if it's not what the BIRs do.

I tried Ghanna's Ethiopian seasoned oil some 2-3 years ago. It was sensational in terms of the aroma produced in the kitchen and outside the back door, probably. In terms of aroma intensity, it was probably the closest I've got to being outside a BIR. But I do mean intensity. It smelled great in its own right but it wasn't the BIR smell. So, I thought, all I need to do to move from Ethiopia to a UK BIR is remove one or two ingredients and add a few more until I arrive at the 'BIR aroma'. I made a couple of attempts and then gave up. I never even used the oil which I produced. I should have tried to make a 'unique' dish like a Biryani or something just to make use of that fine oil, even if it was nothing like a BIR biryani. It might well have been better!

My experiment had me thinking that the smell from BIRs in the afternoon, before they open even, might well be coming from mass oil production. A curry teacher who sometimes advertises on this site mentions the importance of flavoured oils, too.

Regards
George