This thread was originally about people interested in cooking at this BIR.  I have moved any posts about this to a new thread here:  https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4056.msg36760#msg36760  The remainder of this thread is now about the recipes arising from the discussions.  I hope separating the two topics makes things clearer for all - CA

Hi all.

I had a lengthy chat with the owner of my local curry takeaway after he invited me "round the back".....

.....The base =
Onions Boiled in a pan 2ft across and 1ft deep , for 2 hours
Nothing else added.
After boiling
4 chefs spoons of chilli powder ( in my opinion on the spoon it would be 2.5 cups total qty )
4 chefs spoons of salt
1 chefs spoons of tomato puree
4 chefs spoons of oil
After this is added blend with blender
Bring back to boil , simer for 1/2 to 1 hour.
Let cool , oil will come to top , scoop off and discard ( its thrown away )

Nothing else is in it, no ginger , no garlic , nothing , i sepecificly asked " is there anything else added ? " . He said "no". I aksed about carrots , he said " no , it would be too sweet . If we put carrots in we would have to use more salt"

To make the basic medium house curry ( he made this for me , I was 2 ft away from the gas ring )

Four chefs spoons of the curry base were put in pan.
Brought to boil.
Pre-cooked chicken added from bubbling pan on next ring. He told me small amount of Haldi and chilli was in with the bubbling chicken. It didn't look heavily coloured. Just looked like water with maybe 1 or 2 teaspoons of each in the water. I would say there was enough chicken for 6 or maybe 10 curries.
After boiling this lot ( note : I would say it was boiling rather than frying ) for about 3 minutes , part chefs spoon of Cumin added ( maybe about 2 teaspoons ) . same Powdered Coriander . 1 large pinch ( maybe a teaspoon ) of dried Methi.
It all looked nice an sandy coloured ( mid range to light brown ).
He asked " do I want it yellower" . I said no it looks fine.
He asked " do you want it redder " . I said no it looks fine.
He continued on a high boil for 2 to 3 minutes , then put it in the plastic tub , he emptied out of the corner of the pot any excess oil ( it went down the sink ) sprinkled a pinch of chopped Coriander leaves in and put the lid on . Done.

I asked " no garlic no ginger" he said " add garlic if you want, we do if they ask for it. we do do garlic curries and we do add ginger in some types"
I asked about other things too like Cumin , Ajwain , Cassia , Cinnamon and others , he said yes sometimes but in very small amounts.
His advice was keep it simple, don't add to many different spices, they will not improve flavour , they will just alter it and mask other spices or make it too intense. I asked about his HOT-ROD cooking ring . " do you need all that heat ? " He said "NO, it's just for speed , we have to be quick. I asked " could I make the same curry at home on my normal gas ring ? " he said " yes , it makes no difference , you can make it at home exactly the same". I asked about oil and does he save it or reuse it . He said no , they never save oil , they try to make curries with less oil now , viewpoints have changed . I asked have peoples tastes changed with regards to oil . He said not as far as he knows because they are selling more curries now , even though they have less oil in them but if someone askes for an oily curry , they can have one.  He said extra oil adds nothing to the curry as far as taste goes , it still tastes the same.

Now, on eating at home , it wasn't the best curry I have had from there , but it was a bog standard average nice medium curry. For my taste , a little lacking in oil , but strangly there was some red oil on the top by the time I got home and ate it but not much.
It slightly lacked colour for my preference.
I think he normally adds a few more bits for my usual order but keep in mind this was his demo to me of how easy it is put together. 

Hope all this is usefull knowledge for anyone whos interested.

Keep the faith.

Bit of confusion.
I downloaded the Bruce Edwards articles. I also read the FAQ here on the site. I Inputted to my Brain :
Coriander 8 parts
Turmeric 7 Parts
Cumin 5 parts
Chilli powder 4 parts
Paprika 4 parts (option )

This is obtained from Page 14 of "Curry House Cookery", and whats shown on here in FAQ's.
Then I read elswehere in the downloaded Bruce Edwards paperwork , under "Curry Powders" . 3 mixes : Hot , Medium, Mild. ..... So here's the Mild one :
Coriander 6 parts
Paprika 4 parts
Fenugreek 1/2 part
Cumin 1/2 part
Chilli 1 part
Turmeric 1/2 part
Allspice 1/4 part

Now, Im'e not questioning anyones wisdom here but you can see that these are significantly different.  The main thing stands out to me is the drop in quantity of the Turmeric and the massive increase in quantity of Paprika let alone the almost total reduction of Cumin from 5 parts down to 1/2 part.

Even looking at the HOT and the MILD mixtures in Bruce Edwards re-print I still can't fathom those in relation to the others. Main one being much less Cumin and there being Fenugreek in them yet non in the FAQ's mix.

I have stuck to the first mix , same as the one in FAQ's and to be honest , it's near enough for me but I would like to know , am I missing something here ?

Cheers all.

I make curries. Have been doing so for about the last 25 years. Always striving for that BIR taste of course. Like many I get it spot on now and again or when Leo is in Sagitarius during a full moon in the mist of time down in cloud cukoo land. Ive been getting it "righter" much more lately since joining this wonderful site and learning from everyone here , thank you.
The last two made here being uncryticalable by me or my 'commanding officer'. She being very satisfied indead.
My main problems in the past ( now better understood ) were that of using too much garlic and ginger ( ginger mostly ). Also not using enough coriander ( oh boy that was THE big mistake ). So , perhaps you are with me now when I say my attention has been focused somewhat over this last week on Coriander so whilst still pondering many aspects of the use of Coriander ( see now I am spelling it everytime with a capital 'C') in my cooking I have just one question to ask ( theres many more but i'll post this one just for now ) . After putting fresh Coriander in my pan ontop of the curry , little heat , a few seconds pass then serve up. I go and eat the curry. Every mouthfull ( bleedin lovely it is . Oh Yes ) has Coriander in it. Some of it is the Coriander powder I put in my spice mix and some is the fresh chopped Coriander leaves and stalks I sprinkled in just at the end of the curry cooking . Now then, I notice a BANG in my mouth of Coriander but not in every mouth full. It's in every mouth full because I can see it. But I only get the bang now and again. What im'e talking about by a bang it a total upwelling of flavour that hits my tastebuds and stimulates something in my brain. Now , everywhere I look and read , I only see mention of Coriander having a lemon type flavour. This is strange as I dont get that , either from my own curry's or from takaways. What I get can be best described as a "creamy vanilla" taste. It's not exactly that but I can't describe it any nearer im'e afraid. I really really hope some of you know what im'e talking about here. Now whats puzzling me is this , I can't understand why I don't get it in every mouthful. I know "it" is there in the background but I only get the insense taste say once in every 3 or 4 mouthfulls. This leaves me to believe that its only a certain part of the chopped Coriander thats giving me this zing , bang wollop. All I can say for now is that all of a sudden , after years of messing and experimenting im'e a very happy chap. So happy in fact that my sharing of my recent experiences with my grownup kids and close friends is causing something of an annoyance as I can't stop bleeting on about it. Please tell me , which bit of the Coriander is causing this *`/X)($^~: Wow. ?

Sorry this is a long post . Why am I here writing this post at 6am you might ask. Last night , having bought fresh Coriander and Methi earlier in the day , I could resist no longer. It was about 10pm and I just had to make a curry. I asked my commanding officer if she wanted one but she said no, so it was still going to be made for 2 but one would go in the fridge or freezer and the other one to eat now. I quickly got to work with the pan, frying the usual ingredients ( no base this time ) . I used some pre-cooked chicken I had stored in the freezer so it was gonna be made as quick as I could. After 10 minutes I had the whole thing bubbling and was nearly to the end. In this time I had also made 2 Chapattis on my newly bought Chapatti pan. ( works a treat ). The only thing to do now was to HOT-UP the mix. It tasted very flavoursome but with NO Chilli in it yet, so I knew that once the red stuff was added it was going to be even tastier. I suddenly remembered that I had also bought earlier some "East End Green Chilli Sauce" ( see pic if I manage to attach it ). So, I decided to use that , then add chilli powder if needed. I put in 2 teaspoons of the "sauce" . Remember , this was a curry for 2 in the pan so you can guess approximate quantity. I did a small taste test and boy it was hot. I tried to calm it a little by cooking for a bit longer and adding more tomato puree and then decided to go with it so I dished it up. It all looked lovely. I put it on a tray complete with chapatti's and my usual glass of milk and presented the view to my wife as I entered the living room. Wow she said , that looks nice and it smells lovely.  On making a little scoop with a pulled off bit of Chapatti and sliding it into my mouth I knew there and then it was going to be a banger. It was lovely but very very very hot. Almost the hottest I have ever eaten ( but not quite ). because it was so flavoursome I carried on , thinking it might ease off as I got used to it. It didn't , but I kept eating and in between , needing to take larger and larger sips at my milk. I managed about half of it and didn't even get onto my second chapatti when I had to admit to myself I couldn't eat anymore. Jeeze it was hot.  ( yes it was tasty , so it's gone in the fridge to play with later ).
OK , now to THE KNOCK . What I'm asking is .... does anyone else get The Knock ? It's what me and the wife call it. Sometimes , when I manage to produce a cracking curry ( most are not, they're edible but average ). Some time after eating a "cracker" we get a sort of "bodily system earthquake". It's like all the spices in the curry have caused a shift in many bodily functions. My blood pressure may go up. Heart rate increase , Slight headache, feeling very hot ( not surprising that one ? ) uncontrolled sweating from top of head. Eyes feel like they're popping out a bit. Unable to focus properly. Stomach feels like it's a butter churn full of sloppy cement. After a while these symptoms subside and you're left with maybe a dull headache or a sort of hangover feeling. Now, this doesn't happen every time I cook a curry . I seem to suffer them more than my wife. The last one she had , she said she would never have a curry again ( but she has ) . Anyhow , this is what happened to me last night . I had a knock. Hence me being up from 5 am today and sitting here now typing this up.  What I want to know is ... does anyone else get "THE KNOCK" ?


If you use this sauce. ** WARNING ** ...... ITS HOT , use very sparingly.

I have been using mostly dried spices in my curry making exploits , all except ginger and garlic and of course the onions and meat which I buy and use fresh. A few months ago I discovered a smashing Asian supermarket in Rotherham and today I bought fresh Coriander and Methi . Megga cheap at 29p each for BIG bunch ( or 5 bunches for a quid ! ) . Now these single bunches are about the size of 2 normal lettuce so you can imagine how much there is ... far too much for me and the wife , that is unless we have curry every day for a fortnight.  ...... so, my question is , whats the best way to store these ?  in the fridge ? or in my cold cold workshop ?  or in a bucket of water ? or in ice ? and theres the question of in the dark or shade or light and even as with some fruits , with something else that helps preserve them. I don't want to dry them as I have loads of dried stuff anyway. All answers will be considered with due anticipation of a suitable recommendation.  oh yes , and also wondering where they get them from . Are they grown here in UK , outside or in greenhouses ?  Thanks all