Topic: What do we know about oil in BIR's

[curryhell]

Good work Jerry.  At least some members are working away for the common good and avoiding the debacles that have broken out elsewhere    If only some people would put as much effort into cooking as they do questionning, disagreeing, sniping, spitting hairs after they've already been split several times, theorising and harking back to a byegone era, we may actually make some progress on this forum. But i don't suppose that is going to happen, is it  :

[fried]

Curry leaves?

[DPN]

ive been meditating (literally lol) the secret of what makes BIR oil unique, compared to a home cooked oil.

i think we can agree now that there's no secret ingredient that is slipped in during the cooking process, a supressed spice.

if you look at oil as a sponge that likes to grab aroma's, as you enter a restaurant it is alive with aroma's that are being spewed into the air, spice's, ingredients being roasted, those lovely smokey flavours, a diverse range of spicey ecstacy    constantly coming into contact with this oily sponge, quickly accumulating many complex smells and tastes, exciting & intriguing to the palate.

the smell of a BIR, especially when your next to the kitchen is heaven to the nose. I dont think a small home kitchen has the intensity, in smell (and heat), to infuse the oil with that BIR kitchen smell.

its the smell of the BIR kitchen itself that breathes into the oil.

what do you think?

[Whandsy]

I make my own curries mostly with good results, however when I walked past my local takeaway of choice last night, the aromas were absolutely heavenly and I can honestly say my kitchen / curries have never come close to a smell like that

Maybe it's a combination of all the curries cooked, the fryer, the tandoor who knows but there within that smell lies the holy grail

Even the oil on the brown paper bhaji bags have the aroma

It's like chasing the end of a rainbow

W

[Secret Santa]

Even the oil on the brown paper bhaji bags have the aroma

Well that's a pretty big clue then. The oil can only come from the oil that the bhajis are cooked in, and the bhajis themselves and whatever else they deep fry.

Haldi always said the only secret is in the oil.

[Whandsy]

Haldi always said the only secret is in the oil.

And i think i'm inclined to believe the same, it makes so much sense, the cost savings to the industry by reusing the oil, the various spices being infused from frying lots of different starters etc.

If that is truly the secret, then everybodys base recipe posted on here would have a strong chance of being the real deal as opposed to having lots of differing opinions from us.

Wonder if anybody can acquire some left over fryer oil (yeuch!, i hear people say) but makes perfect sense to me

W

[JerryM]

thanks all - i'm in no rush on this and don't expect a quick result.

i'd go along with stevejett66 on No tamarind in the base - i love tamarind and am pretty sure it was not in the TA sample.

fried i'm not fan of curry leaves and can see the idea but the more i think about it's not a herb.

i tried black salt in a little spiced oil heated in the microwave and felt it has potential - i will use in the next base.

i've tried bhajis oil and whilst i don't dispute it use or effect it does not give a "zing".

i've tasted the frozen oil/base and it's defo flat - this oil uses my reworked chef garam mix and has been recycled through something like 5 off bases. the taste is good but misses that zing.

from DPN ideas one thing that does come to mind is that i've seen the TA chef pour off oil from cooked dishes (only some types). i know this has been reported several times - in fact Secret Santa and CurryQueen being the 2 most prominent in my mind.

i think this would have a very good chance of delivery the effect i'm after. i would have to take my blinkers off to adapt as i feel that most best curries have very little surface oil. the obvious perceived downside raised previously being that of chilli but that could well be offset in the base by reducing the new chilli being added.

if the black salt does not work then i either need to buy an oil essence or collect dish oil.

many thanks - some real good steers - well pleased

[fried]

I just mentioned it because most of the decent Parisian Indian restaurants are Tamil and they use fresh curry leaves pretty heavily. Vindaloo here doesn't taste remotely like in the U.K..There is a certain citrusy 'zing' though. Good luck with your search.

[JerryM]

fried,

the word fresh "herb" is another of those areas that i'd like to tryout. the example for me being in buying fresh coriander - there are always a good few "herbs" along side and i always tend to taste the methi and feel it tastes far better than the dried (i've only recently got to like the dried). chewytikka's hari is another example of something that has taken me by surprise and remains at the back of my mind for cooking dishes in general.

i will need to check if i can get fresh curry leaf - the dried taste quite sour.

i do have dried lime leaves which i use in thai green curry - they may be a sticking plaster - the taste difference i'm after is like you describe.

[fried]

Dried curry leaves always tastes musty to me and I can remember buying a box year's ago and never finding a reason to use them. The fresh ones are completely different. I haven't used them yet, only when I've eaten in a restaurant but I think I'll try some experiments to create that 'PIR' taste.