Topic: Why are BIR Curries Today Different to Those of Yesteryear?

[joshallen2k]

The Ashoka, for instance, clearly is not Bangladeshi owned and run

I wouldn't be so sure to jump to that conclusion. I just think they are trying something different with their menu choices and methods. Not what I'm looking for, but to each his own.

A few of the names mentioned on the Ashoka website (owner, chefs) sound like they could definitely be Bangladeshi. The owner is a guy named Imtiaz Aslam. I'd bet a few quid that he's Bangladeshi.

I'd say being Bangladeshi is a strong indicator of more traditional BIR establishments, but not a dead certainty. Some of the other points you make would also come into play.

[Cory Ander]

A few of the names mentioned on the Ashoka website (owner, chefs) sound like they could definitely be Bangladeshi. The owner is a guy named Imtiaz Aslam. I'd bet a few quid that he's Bangladeshi

I thought the owner's name is Sanjay Majhu?  I read somewhere that he was born in Kenya and arrived in Scotland when he was 2, 4 or 12 (take your pick!)?  His mother is Sikh and his father is Hindu http://www.nriinternet.com/NRIrestaurants/UK/Sanjay_Majhu/index.htm.  And that they specialise in "authentic Parsee cuisine"?  And that they are "the only Indian restaurant in Scotland to use the method of oven bake cooking, without the use of oil"?

Nevertheless, I suppose my point is that there are more and more Indian restaurants that are reflecting regional Indian, rather than specifically Bangladeshi, menus and, consequentially, more traditional cooking techniques.  Members who are more familiar with these restaurants will undoubtedly perceive them to be "typical BIRs".

[joshallen2k]

Here's the extent of my research: http://www.ashokarestaurants.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=1&Itemid=137

Maybe Panpot could clarify...

[joshallen2k]

"the only Indian restaurant in Scotland to use the method of oven bake cooking, without the use of oil"

I think that's rubbish. On the recipes section, I checked the Chasni, Korma, and Rogan Josh - they all use quite a bit of oil. Given these are obviously "home" recipes, without a base.

I do recall the Ashoka base sauce being one of the greasiest I've made...

The only oven baked component of the Ashoka recipes that I can recall was the marinated chicken.

[Cory Ander]

I think that's rubbish

Hmmm, that statement might be from another (i.e. non-Harlequin owned) Indian restaurant?  http://www.ashokaglasgow.co.uk/

[joshallen2k]

Hmmm, that statement might be from another (i.e. non-Harlequin owned) Indian restaurant?  http://www.ashokaglasgow.co.uk/

You're right CA. I assumed you were referencing the "Ashoka" from the Panpot threads - which was Ashoka at the Quay - a Harlequin restaurant.

How many Ashokas does one city need?  :-X

[Cory Ander]

I assumed you were referencing the "Ashoka" from the Panpot threads - which was Ashoka at the Quay - a Harlequin restaurant

So did I! 

Better scrap the bit about "parsee" and "oil free oven baking" then....but the rest still stands 

[JerryM]

i feel the state "%" of the Bangladeshi chef is far worse than perceived.

i have no idea what has happened but the vast increase in BIR in recent years is not related to an increase in Bangladeshi chef's. yes some restaurants have opened additional outlets but Bangladeshi are mainly family businesses and well aware of the pitfalls of expanding too much.

i ask where the chef is from whenever i try a new place. the staff whoever they are like to talk about this ie about themselves.

i am sure imposter's have filled the market having only a small part of the knowledge or the lack of passion in food that the Bangladeshi have - it's like comparing english and french in terms of cooking.

[Bobby Bhuna]

My first curry was a chicken Madras from a little place in Kinross around 1999 / 2000. It was like molten lava. I daren't think what their Vindaloo would be like. Anyway, I went back about a year ago and got one. It was nothing like I remembered. It was just like a remarkably average hot Madras recipe for here. It was the same chef and everything. Next time I was in I asked if they changed their recipe. They said they had not. I would suggest that when I reminisced about the curry, my brain put a bit of a silver lining on it. 

I certainly think that the old school guys on the forum are looking for something different to what they're making but perhaps a little less different than they think?

Making as many curries as I do, to the very high standard that the recipes on this forum allow, I'd say I've developed a bit of an educated BIR curry palate. Places that I used to think make great curries are often now just so-so but nothing about the establishments appears to have changed. Could this improved BIR curry eating palate contribute to member's feelings of places going downhill? I mean, you'd have to be buying BIR all the time to go through nearly as many curries as you do when you're knocking up base sauce batches left right and centre!

Alternatively, the chef at that little place in Kinross just made me a shit curry! (no pun intended)

[currymonster]

My first curry was a chicken Madras from a little place in Kinross around 1999 / 2000. It was like molten lava. I daren't think what their Vindaloo would be like. Anyway, I went back about a year ago and got one. It was nothing like I remembered. It was just like a remarkably average hot Madras recipe for here. It was the same chef and everything. Next time I was in I asked if they changed their recipe. They said they had not. I would suggest that when I reminisced about the curry, my brain put a bit of a silver lining on it. 

I certainly think that the old school guys on the forum are looking for something different to what they're making but perhaps a little less different than they think?

Making as many curries as I do, to the very high standard that the recipes on this forum allow, I'd say I've developed a bit of an educated BIR curry palate. Places that I used to think make great curries are often now just so-so but nothing about the establishments appears to have changed. Could this improved BIR curry eating palate contribute to member's feelings of places going downhill? I mean, you'd have to be buying BIR all the time to go through nearly as many curries as you do when you're knocking up base sauce batches left right and centre!

Alternatively, the chef at that little place in Kinross just made me a shit curry! (no pun intended)

Some interesting points there Bobby. Its well accepted that our taste buds change as we grow older, for example I used to hate sprouts as a kid but now I love em. If we are comparing curries of today to those we tasted 20 or more years ago isn't it almost guaranteed that they will taste slightly different today? Also we develop a tolerance to chilli as we eat more of it, so a Madras would be like Molten Lava if we hadn't eaten much chilli laden food before that. Could it also be the same for the other spices?