A negative View On BIR

[Les]

Are you right or are you right,
British food is not renowned for blowing your taste bud's. But is that our own fault for not trying to improve it, being happy with what granny churned out about 50 years ago, I think us Brit's are stuck in the past when it comes to food, afraid to change cause granny wouldn't approve

Hs

And could someone please tell me what "Daag" Curry is

[commis]

Hot
A daag is a dry, onion plus spices base. Look for 50 best curries book.

[Les]

Thanks commis

[Tomdip]

Ray,

I love my chai masala - but it is made from Tea bags (Palanquin brand) sort of like an Earl Grey with a black pepper kick.  Not the same as authentic stuff stewed in a saucepan with whole spices but a lot nicer to my taste.

[chriswg]

The British Curry is one of the greatest inventions ever. They were designed to be eaten with (or after) 6 pints of Lager on a weekly / monthly basis. The hotter it is, the more manly you are - it's a simple fact. Finishing your first Phall is a rite of passage among the curry elite.

Compare this to rural India where grandma cooks for the whole family. Spices are freely available and cheap and they help disguise the taste of meat that might be a very cheap cut, or past its best. They eat this every day so the spicing has to be minimal. I don't think I could live on British Currys every day (maybe for a week or two). Imagine the carnage if you tried! I'd need to get a bidet for a start and I'd constantly stink of curry seeping from my pores. That's not to mention the health implications of that much fat every day.

I do take exception to the authors comment about some of the works takeaways use a generic base sauce e.t.c. Actually some of the best BIR's I know cook like this. In fact, I tried one last week that advertised the use of 6 different bases and individual spicing rather than spice mix - it was terrible. Give me a 5 minute Roshney Chicken from Chutneys every time.

I'm not sure what the point of this mini-rant is. I guess what I'm trying to say is lets differentiate between Indian food and a British Curry. They are two totally separate types of cuisine. I don't ever suggest to my friends we meet up to eat some Indian food, we are going out for a curry. Fast forward 20 years and we might see the 'Indian' monika dropped from the menus. The UK will be full of curry houses, most of which will be staffed by European chefs due to the tighter upcoming work permit regulations.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Fast forward 20 years and we might see the 'Indian' monika dropped from the menus. The UK will be full of curry houses, most of which will be staffed by European chefs due to the tighter upcoming work permit regulations.

OMG, my worst nightmare : "BIR goes Nouvelle Cuisine".  2cm portion of rice, 1cm high, with three tiny pieces of guinea fowl, Soay sheep and langoustine, drizzled in an artistic pattern with a sauce containing spices, chocolate and anchovies, and priced at just less than a Bentley Continental.  Aarrrgggghhhhh !

[chriswg]

 ;D

I was thinking more along the lines of them churning out the standard BIR fayre but you are right that would be a disaster. Imagine the local rugby team turning up after 10 pints to eat that!

[Malc.]

The British Curry is one of the greatest inventions ever. They were designed to be eaten with (or after) 6 pints of Lager on a weekly / monthly basis. The hotter it is, the more manly you are - it's a simple fact. Finishing your first Phall is a rite of passage among the curry elite.

This made me chuckle as it reminded of a an old friend who challenged a TA over the phone in a drunken stupor one night. On a lads night out we crashed back to his gaff and decided it was time for a ruby TA. So list in hand he rang the local TA who took his order. At the point of his own specific dish , a Chicken Madras, he got brave and started hurling abuse down the phone about the last Madras he ordered not being hot enough. He added in his own immortal words "make sure you add extra chilli this time, as much as you like!".

Concerned only with my own fast growing need to eat onion bhaji and poppadums etc. we waited for the delivery. 20mins the door bell goes and one of us retrieves the several bags of Curry that was ordered, which is then handed out. Amongst this the familiar tin foil and carded top container with the immortal words Chicken Madras Extra Hot. "That's mine, give it 'ere" were the last words we heard from him that evening.

He opened the container and poured the entire contents over the mountain of Pilau Rice on his plate. Then proceed to take 3 massive and quite quick mouthfuls in his proud display of manliness! This was quickly followed by his face turning a very bright shade of scarlet and his forehead perspiring profusely. Shortly after that, he rushed to the kitchen and downed two pints of water. Before proceeding into the toilet where he spent the next half hour, draped over the porcelain telephone throwing up and groaning in a low tone about how hot his mouth was.

Silly boy! My CTM was lovely

[solarsplace]

@Chris

Great mini-rant

@Axe

Brilliant story

@Any

I would love to suggest to the author of the article referred to in the OP link to visit one of my favourite BIR's the Mogul in Brookwood Surrey. Here you can clearly see that the chef takes a serious amount of pride in his craft, I would hate to think how offended he would be if someone were to suggest that he did not put his heart into his food.

I have only unfortunately been there twice this year, however, each time I thank the waiter and ask him to pass complements on to the chef. The Chef always comes to the table to have a little chat about the cooking etc too! really great - Trouble is I don't go there enough to ask him for cooking tips unfortunately - although you can watch them cook through the saloon style doors.

ATB

[Peripatetic Phil]

I recall going to the Maharajah of Chislehurst one evening with a group of friends, one of whom had never eaten a BIR curry before.  We helped him to choose the mildest dish on the menu (probably a Korma), and all went well until he asked what we were eating.  I told him mine was a Bangalore Phal, and he asked if he could try some.  I said "of course", and he took a spoonful.  What followed was not unlike Ray's story : he drank three whole jugs of water, pausing only long enough between each for the waiter to fetch a refill, and ate not another mouthful the whole evening.  Very sad -- I should probably have warned him off, rather than allowing him to share.

** Phil.