Topic: Inferior 'gravy' based curries...

[PaulP]

One more Les from ifindforu:

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=6171.0

I'm hoping to try one of these soon myself as I'm nearly out of base!

Cheers,

Paul

[Les]

Thank's again Paul
Yeah, I'm getting a bit fed-up with making base gravy all the time, Seem's like all my curry's have the same taste, (well I suppose that they would have, using the same base ;D) getting a bit boring now,  Thought I'd have a change, Need a new challange ;D

Les

[adriandavidb]

I've never tried making a so-called Handi curry but if we're talking about curries from scratch versus curries from base gravy, I've recently reverted, like you perhaps, to preferring curries from scratch. I find they're easier and more tasty, with no need to store large amounts of base sauce.[/quote]

Me too, one reason I've not been on this (still excellent) site recently: the Misses & I subsist mainly on what we call 'scratch curry', that is curry cooked from scratch rather than BIR-style.  The whole BIR thing (as we all know) is just supposed to be a time saver to enable BIRs to serve-up finished dishes in short-order, essentially assembled from pre-cooked parts.

Whilst I still love BIR-style food, I tend to make curries now from scratch becasue I get tastier results, and by the time base sauce and other pre-prepared stuff is taken into account, BIR is not really any quicker. I remmeber one one the members here saying that a BIR chef they had spoken too saying essentially the same thing (it might have been in a thread comparing different types of onion for base sauce)

I still love BIR food, it's just they are different, kinda like filter coffee compared to instant. I happen to like Nescafe Gold Blend, I just prefer the stuff made directly from ground beans!

I now believe I can surpass any of my locals with my own BIR style stuff, but the 'scratch' curries taste better still.

As a parting shot I would say (just as Secret Santa has suggested in the past), that I have NEVER been able to equal the flavours I found in a Pakistani BIR back in 1982-85, near Leeds Univeristy. It was a cheapo place, all the dishes were virtually identical, but it did not have to be other, because the taste was amazing.

[ELW]

I like 'curries' full stop. whether bir or not, but I have to disagree on which tastes better. The flavour hit from the best  Indo/Pak restaurants ,regardless of how they're achieved, is something fairly unique. This forum is proof enough of that. I've had homecooked curry in a Pakistani home, where the womenfolk cook all day every day, very tasty, very fresh, yes, but nowhere near as tasty to my palate as the bir version. The food critic & Peter from Family Guy lookalike, Charles Campion, once wrote "tikka masala was created for the ignorant". God knows who he was talking to to but no one was listeing to him thats for sure. Catering for Western palates? They are after all true entrepreneurs.
Looking at the whole bir process & the seemingly oblivious chefs, what we like about bir may simply be a by product of a fast, hot commercial environment 

How does not using a base gravy make it a curry from scratch?

Regards
ELW

[bamble1976]

I have tried many home cooked traditional cuuries over the years and i dont think they are anywhere near a good bir curry imho

regards

barry

[Salvador Dhali]

I like 'curries' full stop. whether bir or not, but I have to disagree on which tastes better. The flavour hit from the best  Indo/Pak restaurants ,regardless of how they're achieved, is something fairly unique. This forum is proof enough of that. I've had homecooked curry in a Pakistani home, where the womenfolk cook all day every day, very tasty, very fresh, yes, but nowhere near as tasty to my palate as the bir version. The food critic & Peter from Family Guy lookalike, Charles Campion, once wrote "tikka masala was created for the ignorant". God knows who he was talking to to but no one was listeing to him thats for sure. Catering for Western palates? They are after all true entrepreneurs.
Looking at the whole bir process & the seemingly oblivious chefs, what we like about bir may simply be a by product of a fast, hot commercial environment 

How does not using a base gravy make it a curry from scratch?

Regards
ELW

"Family Guy lookalike, Charles Campion..." Lol...

"How does not using a base gravy make it a curry from scratch?"

Good point, ELW.

For instance, I've just made up a quick 'micro base' (a diminutive version of the Zaal base) to cook tonight's vindaloo, and it contained garlic, ginger, onion, red pepper, tomato, cumin, coriander, turmeric, chilli powder, Asian bay, cassia bark, green cardamoms, etc....

Sound familiar?

Next, I'll be preparing and cooking more of those essential ingredients to add to some of the base to complete the process.

The fact is that I have prepared a curry 'from scratch'. I know because it's been ongoing for the last 2 hours.

The essential difference between 'traditional' and 'authentic' is surely one of style and technique.

As said, happily I love them both.

[Micky Tikka]

Deed down we all love curries ( not that deep) on certain occasions to get my perfect curry I've actually been to 3  Restaurants to get different dishes I like for my take away .No pleaseing some people 

[ELW]

I like 'curries' full stop. whether bir or not, but I have to disagree on which tastes better. The flavour hit from the best  Indo/Pak restaurants ,regardless of how they're achieved, is something fairly unique. This forum is proof enough of that. I've had homecooked curry in a Pakistani home, where the womenfolk cook all day every day, very tasty, very fresh, yes, but nowhere near as tasty to my palate as the bir version. The food critic & Peter from Family Guy lookalike, Charles Campion, once wrote "tikka masala was created for the ignorant". God knows who he was talking to to but no one was listeing to him thats for sure. Catering for Western palates? They are after all true entrepreneurs.
Looking at the whole bir process & the seemingly oblivious chefs, what we like about bir may simply be a by product of a fast, hot commercial environment 

How does not using a base gravy make it a curry from scratch?

Regards
ELW

"Family Guy lookalike, Charles Campion..." Lol...

"How does not using a base gravy make it a curry from scratch?"

Good point, ELW.

For instance, I've just made up a quick 'micro base' (a diminutive version of the Zaal base) to cook tonight's vindaloo, and it contained garlic, ginger, onion, red pepper, tomato, cumin, coriander, turmeric, chilli powder, Asian bay, cassia bark, green cardamoms, etc....

Sound familiar?

Next, I'll be preparing and cooking more of those essential ingredients to add to some of the base to complete the process.

The fact is that I have prepared a curry 'from scratch'. I know because it's been ongoing for the last 2 hours.

The essential difference between 'traditional' and 'authentic' is surely one of style and technique.

Good post &  pretty much how I see it

[mr.mojorisin]

handi curry...amongst various other interesting things

http://pakistani-hot-recipes.blogspot.com/2007/06/hot-curry-recipes_13.html

[Salvador Dhali]

handi curry...amongst various other interesting things

http://pakistani-hot-recipes.blogspot.com/2007/06/hot-curry-recipes_13.html

Splendid. That Chicken Handi recipe looks delightfully simple, but I must admit to never having used yellow chilli powder before.

That's just gone on the shopping list!  ;D