Is there anybody out there?

[Peripatetic Phil]

Back to the main thread topic, the lack of any response to my post, or many others, seems really indicative of how participation in this forum has fallen to what may be an all time low. It's so sad. Does anyone have any ideas of how we could re-generate some interest?

IMHO, the problem lies less with interest than with medium.  Imagine that CR0 had started life as a Usenet newsgroup.  How many would still be interacting via NNTP today ?  Very very few, I would suggest.  Well, CR0 did not start life as a newsgroup but as a mailing list.  How many people today interact with like-minded individuals through the medium of a mailing list.  Once again, I would suggest "very very few".  Like it or not (and I personally detest it), online conversation and discussion have moved from newsgroups and mailing lists to so-called "social media".  If CR0 were to be re-born as a Farcebook "thing" (I have no idea what the parallel concept is called in the social media world), I suspect that we would have 100 times as much interest (or more).  I wouldn't participate, and I very much suspect that you (George) would not, but many many others would.  My EUR 0,02.

Oh, and a question, to those who primarily interact with others through the medium of social media and the use of a mobile 'phone (I use neither, whence my need to ask) — does it take significantly more effort (when using a mobile 'phone) to respond to a comment posted here than it does to respond to a comment posted on (for example) a Facebook page or a Whatsapp group ?

Maybe someone here knows about how to grow curry tree plants, for example.

Never tried, but Murraya koenigii and Bergera koenigii are sub-tropical to tropical.  Are you trying to grown them in a heated greenhouse ?
--
** Phil.

[Bob-A-Job]

Back to the main thread topic, the lack of any response to my post, or many others, seems really indicative of how participation in this forum has fallen to what may be an all time low. It's so sad. Does anyone have any ideas of how we could re-generate some interest? The group tests done a few years ago were not a bad idea. I am guilty of not posting about things I have done over the past year or two, like buying quite a few curry tree plants and having them all die, before buying some more recently, to try again with a different approach. Maybe someone here knows about how to grow curry tree plants, for example.

I am guilty of not posting also.

Phil's recent discovery that lunchtime is the best time to prep. didn't need any further comment, imo, as I assume 99% of commercial BIR is prepared during the lunchtime/afternoons before evening service begins as cleaning after could run into the early hours?

I have not been keeping up with growing chilli's the last few years as my wife took a liking to succulent's called 'Japanese Money Trees' (aka Jade Plant - Crassula ovata) and my front window is full of the darn things without any space to get seedlings started over the winter/spring months and even then, my old greenhouse is all but a frame and a certain Pandemic put pay to replacing it with the larger one I wanted (as well as other issues).

My photo contribution has similarly been lacking as I am unlikely to inspire.  I know what I like, I try to cook what I like and that tends to be the same old recipes to be honest.  By the time I get home and to cooking something, I usually just want something quick and that involves going to a very short list of dishes I think I can cook passably/good.  The 'Josephine' thread was always inspiring for me.

As for 'real' BIR, I am not sure there is any left any more, particularly where I live.  It all seems to be Pakistani or Bangladeshi, with hundreds (I jest not!) of Fried Chicken offerings, so no real way to compare my production against Traditional/expert offerings.

Regards,
BAJ

[Robbo141]

Hi all
In terms of content, this forum is great.  Recipe / technique / ingredient information is second to none in my opinion.  It's a pity that it seems to have died off a bit but always will be my go-to when I want to read up on Cory Ander's madras from 2013 or whatever.
I'm sure you'd have more interest if it was a Facebook group, but I also wouldn't go there as I don't have an account and never will.  This site is really not user friendly, particularly when it comes to uploading photos.  Every pic I take with my phone I have to share with my iPad, load it into my excellent Affinity Photo app, resize, export to lower the file size, save it, then upload to this site's special place to get a link code, then paste in this text box.  What a palaver.
I could whip up a nice vindaloo, using the Taz base, which has become my default now and gets me as close to the real BIR deal as any I've tried, faster than I could get the pic of the dish in here. Well maybe not but you get my point.

Stick around guys. Keep cooking. Keep posting when you can.  Some of us don't have the luxury of being able to pop out to a takeaway / restaurant for that requisite BIR hit.

Cheers
Robbo

PS
Made this Sezchuan boiled fish dish recently that I had in Beijing many years ago. The numbing effect of the special peppercorns, combined with the heat of the chilies is really something.

[Peripatetic Phil]

All points noted.  As I don't use a telephone for anything other than making and receiving telephone calls, I am not in a position to investigate how difficult it might be to upload an image therefrom.  Using a desktop computer, and trying to insert an image (

Code Select Expand

[img][/img]), I see that I am offered BB-style markup with no clue as to how to indicate the image of interest.  If I locate a suitable image on the web, I see that I can insert it between the opening and closing img tags as follows :, and a guess allows me to insert " width=200" as an attribute:value pair to the opening "img" tag to get it to a convenient size.  However, that pre-supposes that the image is already on the web.  If the image is only on my local computer, I can add it as an attachment (see below)— might that be a more convenient option for you, Robbo ?

[George]

This site is really not user friendly, particularly when it comes to uploading photos.  Every pic I take with my phone I have to share with my iPad, load it into my excellent Affinity Photo app, resize, export to lower the file size, save it, then upload to this site's special place to get a link code, then paste in this text box. 

I'm fairly sure the most time consuming and irritating part of your criticism no longer applies. When I recently uploaded an image of a food pack I was pleased to see I could upload the image directly using the Attachments button at the bottom of the reply screeen (but not quick reply for some reason).

[pete]

I used to live for this site
I would upload cooking demos and read every contribution made
I went to London for a paid BIR cooking lesson. I was still dissatisfied with my results. I eventually spent £500 on a cooking lesson with Adey Payne. After that failed I just kind of gave up. I came to  the conclusion BIR can't be cooked at home to the same standard. There's always a missing wonderful flavour which I believe comes from the old bhaji oil in the curry gravy. But CRO was always and still is the best site. I guess also the advent of curry house chefs showing recipes on YouTube has stopped interest on this site. When I first started posting noone knew anything .it was all groundbreaking . These days it seems like it's all common knowledge . Just look at how many BIR books there are now!

[George]

Pete  - Good to hear from you. I know you have high standards. Which dishes, in particular, do you feel you can't quite match? Haven't any of the youtube videos helped? I tend to mix and match ideas from multiple channels to form my own hybrid type recipes based on my hunch of what might work. For years, I have been able to make chicken biriani and chicken dhansak to a similar standard to some of my favourite BIRs but no other dishes are tried and tested to the same degree as those. So my approach has been to focus all my effort into replicating very few dishes - my favourites. I should make them more often now that BIRs are tending to price themselves out of the market, in my opinion.

[pete]

Hi George
It's not any particular dish that I'm dissatisfied with
It's more of a general lack of curry house flavour and aroma that bothers me
I can make curries as good as some takeaways , but just can't achieve the standard of the great places
I've come a long way
I think maybe some of it , is simply because I can't enjoy a curry after I've cooked it

We talked about it a long time ago
It's the exposure to the strong smells when making the curry

Every now and then I get a curry out from the freezer that I made
And occasionally I'm very impressed

I'm probably my worst judge

Nice to hear from you again too
This all started in 2004 didn't it?
Can't believe we're still talking curry now!

[Robbo141]

90% of the time, I cook my curry in advance and reheat.  BIR is so messy with all the spatter that I prefer to cook on my outdoor grill burner. We only have electric in the house so the grill burner is a godsend. Also doesn't stink the house out.
If I could make a vindaloo to desired BIR standard, I'd be set.  I'm moving from North Carolina to the Chicago area soon so maybe will have some curry house luck in my new location...

Robbo

[Kashmiri Bob]

it looks like Chef Din will soon be lifting the lid on old school BIR methods and recipes. 

Isn't that what he already claims to be doing? Or is this a new level of "old school BIR methods and recipes"

Latest update by chef Din on Facebook is that he is making a batch of the 60s/70s base (using the original recipe) today.  Will post vids on his Youtube channel next week; including various curries.