Best of BIR

[Cory Ander]

I find the bhunas on here laughable compared to the taste of a real bhuna - and no I can't reproduce that taste either. A thick sauce and added onion and pepper does NOT a bhuna make.

I find comments like this singularly unhelpful (and equally "laughable").  Better, surely, and surely more constructive, is to ask "what DOES a Bhuna make?" (in your humble opinion SS?).

If you can't answer THAT question, then you're certainly onto a loser!

Let's face it.  There are several recipes, in the Bhuna/Bhoona/ section of the forum, that claim to be derived directly from BIRs, including:

• Dipuraja's Chicken Tikka Bhoona
• Dipuraja's Bhoona Prawn Puri
• Panpot's Ashoka Karahi Bhuna
• Panpot's Ashoka Chicken Bhuna
• Haldi's Vegetable Bhuna
• Woks Up's Bhoona Prawn Puri

Then there is CK's Lamb Bhuna that has had many, many accolades.

If you find ALL of the above recipes "laughable" then, surely, it is incumbent upon you (for your sake, if for no one else's) to define what it is that is that you feel is lacking in them?

For instance, they all contain:

• vegetable oil
• curry base
• garlic ginger paste
• tomato paste
• onion and pepper
• spice mix
• meat and various other ingredients
• all cooked, in a similar manner, to a dryish sauce

What is it, exactly, that you find "missing" from all of these (allegedly BIR) recipes? 

Or, perhaps there is more to "cooking technique" that I/we have previously given it credit for? 

[JerryM]

Razor,

i'm reluctant to put madras on the list. having given it some thought i think bhuna should also come off the list and probably CTM. for info i added CTM as i've had a brown version of the dish in the past which is not like the std TA and is very good)

the reason for this is that i'm trying to pin down dishes that we've not already got on the site - those that at sort of at the top of the BIR restaurant trade.

solarsplace's roshni is exactly the candidate.

a bit more explanation - these are the dishes that are very few. they are the ones that the chef really likes and cooks particularly well. i often find them in a restaurant that i've not visited before and usually are down to a friend who know's the place recommending the dish.

for example i love sylheti. in the Dilshad in the midlands this dish is to die for. surprisingly my local fav TA which i rate a 10 has the dish under it's specials but it's not to die for at all.

what i'm saying is this is quite a muddy picture. so initially we just need to get a list of all those "special" dishes that you remember distinctly as something special. there is no point discussing there merits at the moment - we just need everyone to add their own personal special dish (and importantly the ingredients listed in the menu and the location of the restaurant).

for me i would add thali but as this is a banquet of several dishes and courses i don't feel it's justified candidate.

i think in the main you won't find these dishes in a TA only TA Restaurants.

[JerryM]

CA/Secret Santa,

i share this interest in the bhuna and also the vindaloo.

so as not to muddy this post i'll add new post so that we can try to improve theses dishes too.

[JerryM]

to add a further example this is a dish i've got my eye on currently.

Tava: This appetizing spicy dish is cooked with tender chicken or lamb, marinated in green masala and mustard seeds, tossed in cherry tomatoes, shallots and green beans, and then lightly garnished with coriander.

BIR is http://www.saffronellesmereport.co.uk/about.htm

ps the green beans would be a 1st for me but you've got to keep an open mind.

[Peripatetic Phil]

a bit more explanation - these are the dishes that are very few. they are the ones that the chef really likes and cooks particularly well. i often find them in a restaurant that i've not visited before and usually are down to a friend who know's the place recommending the dish.

This provides useful insights, Jerry : like, I suspect, many others, I misunderstood the thrust of the thread.  But I have to say, for me the "Specials" section of the menu in most BIRs leads to terrible disappointment only too often, in that the so-called "Specials" are almost invariably based on pre-tikkad chicken/lamb/whatever rather than using "fresh" (or non-tikkad but pre-cooked).  So now I make it a rule that whenever I want to try a new restaurant, I will first try their Chicken Madras or similar, so that I can judge them on their basics.  If and only if these are OK will I return and perhaps try one of their specials, but even then I will grill the waiter as to whether the primary ingredient has been pre-tikkad, and if he assures me that it has not, and it is, I send it back !

** Phil (who personally wishes that CTM had never been invented !).

[George]

to add a further example this is a dish i've got my eye on currently.
Tava: This appetizing spicy dish is cooked with tender chicken or lamb, marinated in green masala and mustard seeds, tossed in cherry tomatoes, shallots and green beans, and then lightly garnished with coriander.

Why are you trying to shift the focus on to obscure dishes that most people have never heard of when, if you and SS are right, we haven't even cracked the recipes for basic dishes like Madras and Bhuna? I'm not sure who's right, i.e. can anyone really cook curries which taste as good as served by the best BIRs? My gut feel is that at least a few people can, and it was the driving force behind my Come Dine idea, to try and discover who these people are, and which dishes can be 'ticked off'. I feel that Blade's tikka can be 'ticked off' because I've never tasted much better in a BIR.

[Razor]

George,

we haven't even cracked the recipes for basic dishes like Madras and Bhuna

And it is for that reason why I suggested the Madras.

Personally, I never look at the house specials, as like chaa suggest, they're often a bit of a let down.

I had a madras last night from my local TA, and it was just devine.  I could taste a hint of lemon, I could taste a hint of garlic, ginger and chili but there was still a taste/smell that eludes me and many others I suspect.  It's that, that I'm more interested in.

Ray

[mickdabass]

I had a madras last night from my local TA, and it was just devine.  I could taste a hint of lemon, I could taste a hint of garlic, ginger and chili but there was still a taste/smell that eludes me and many others I suspect.  It's that, that I'm more interested in.

I agree with you Ray. Since I started cooking curries from this forum I tend to buy less takeaways (obviously) and recently I have been satisfied with my own dishes. However a few months ago I went to an excellent restaurant in Coventry and literally a split second before I ate that first spoonful  I smelt that elusive aroma that some of us are striving for. So George I think your point that our memories of tastes fade over time is true but I dont think they are ever entirely forgotten

[Panpot]

For what it's worth IMHO there are throughout this site excellent recipes. Even with regional variation so much to enjoy here too. Perhaps with so much experimentation and in my opinion the mismatching of base sauces with pastes and spice mixes we distort and don't remember the very best that can be found here if we follow to the letter recipes from an authentic source without the usual regional prejudices. PP PS can I apoligise for the spelling inn my post above. I often find this is happening when I post from my iPhone don't know why though.

[JerryM]

Chaa006,

you have sort of hit the nail on the head - these "special" dishes are few and far between - hence the post to try and narrow down which they are.

so far for me i have roshni and bahar.

it looks from the posts that the list is not going to grow that much.

For All those a bit sceptic:

there are without doubt (as Panpot and most of you already know) excellent dishes on the site. i know that the information to cook them yourself to BIR standard is on this site.

this post is to push our knowledge and expertise a little further.

as an example if you picture BIR as a hill. i thought for a long time i would not be able to climb it. Yes KD1 got a little way up. once you get to the top of this hill it's a bit like fell walking you realise there are more hills but further away. i'm trying to get in my own mind which of these is best to aim for.

hence all the post are just what i'm after - the more views the better.

in the absence of come dine i can't think of any other alternatives.