Although sold as a side dish, I bought 2 and put them together in a frying a pan. It is VERY thick so I added some water and some finely chopped peppers. Add some chilli powder. WOW just WOW!

Although you wouldn't normally find Black Dahl in a BIR, this does have a BIR taste.

I haven't got a spice grinder... so I used a bread knife to chop whole spices on a chopping board. It works really well.

I put some Pataks Hot Mixed Pickle in a curry (and added some creamed coconut).

It tasted just like a BIR curry that I have had somewhere before. I can't remember exactly but it would have been a Pathia, Ceylon or Naga.

Could it be that a BIR Pathia, Ceylon or Naga might have Pataks Mixed Pickle in it?

My wife bought a Quorn Tikka Masala ready-meal and the kids liked it...

I had a look at the sauce ingredients and now I make it much better.

I have made it a number of times and it has always been amazing:

In a large frying pan (I use a 30cm saute pan):

Oil (I use Groundnut)
Onion (finely chopped)
Garlic Puree (I use a block of Taj frozen)
Ginger Puree (I use a block of Taj frozen)

Coriander (I use crushed seeds or powder)
Cumin (I use crushed seeds or powder)
Paprika
Turmeric
Garam Masala (I use Schwartz)
Chilli powder (I use extra hot)
* Black onion seeds (a tiny amount)
* Fenugreek powder (a tiny amount)

Tomatoes (I use a few quartered cherry tomatoes with the seeds removed)
Tomato Puree
* Creamed Coconut block (about an inch)
Splash of water
Plain Yoghurt (I use low fat Greek)
Single Cream

* are my own additions.

To that I add some:

Chopped peppers
A handful of sliced green beans
Some frozen haddock (skinless & boneless)
EDIT: I add some small frozen prawns too

I had a great Tarka Dal from a BIR take-away and I saw them take a lot of sliced garlic from a container. The container had a label on it for something else.

I could see that none of the bits were stuck together.

How do they do the thinly sliced garlic, do they fry it off before storing it?

My wife and I went there for lunch on our first date 20 ago and always rememberer how good the curries were. We went back to Manchester over Christmas and the cafe was exactly the same as we had remembered.

Rice and 3 curries, a can of pop, and add your own coriander and chopped green chillis all for only ?4.50 at lunch-time. ?4.95 at other times. The cafe looks a dive but the curries are great and cheap and it has a high food hygiene rating.

The veggie curries have a really good fresh flavour. One was a lentil curry that tasted fab. I would really love to know how to make it. The lentils looked almost black in colour. I asked the guy behind the counter and he said it was simple to make just fry the lentils in some chilli and then pointed to some chopped green chillis.

If anyone is ever in the area, could they please visit the cafe and let me know what you think might be in the black lentil curry?

As I was leaving I asked them which chilli powder to use, both chefs said "always use extra hot chilli powder, just use less of it for milder dishes".

I was passing a Farm Foods store and picked up a couple of packs of curry sauces by Mahal Spices for 69p per pack. I bought a pack of Vindaloo sauce and a pack of Balti sauce. They are not in a jar but in a pack.

We have just had the vindaloo and it is very good. Very hot but full of flavour. Vindaloo is too hot for me so I tone it down.  I squeezed in some tomato puree, drop of water, threw in a pack of frozen mixed veg (also from Farm Foods) and a pack of prawns.

Normally, I really don't like bought sauces (but I still keep trying them) but this is good. Nice depth of flavour.

I have just had a BIR Rogan Josh and there was definitely a lot of smoked paprika in it.

There was very little flavour other than lots of salt and sugar. I have just realised that my own curries are now better. I feel a bit sad about it.

I thought it worth posting a link to this as I have tried other Guardian recipies for Perfect Paella and Perfect Pizza bases and they were fantastic.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/nov/13/how-to-make-perfect-onion-bhajis

I really don't like Pataks pastes as they have an edge to them that tastes... wrong.

However,  this weekend I bought a new product... Sharwood's balti paste... as it was on offer.

I tried it tonight as I was in a rush, added some chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, drop of water, prawns, spinach, chick peas, peas... and it was very good. It didn't have that horrible edge to it that Pataks have. Very nice flavour.

I look forward to using it with a base gravy.

He said they put some in celery, onion, carrot, green peppers (and sometimes red too) corriander stalks, garlic paste, and ginger paste.

I have tried lots of tips and recipes from this forum but have never before quite got that missing BIR taste.

However, I was having a biryani at a BIR and I suddenly realised that the veg in the veg side curry has the same veg in it as you see in some recipes for a base gravy.

My theory is that the biryani vegetable side curry sauce is basically the base gravy that hasn't yet been blended. I have used my theory to work backwards...to work out what the base gravy must be, and it works.

I now have THAT missing BIR taste. It stems from the base gravy after all. Not long after I started cooking this gravy I noticed that it smelt exactly right.

Notice that there isn't any chilli at the gravy stage.

I have been using Taj frozen garlic and ginger blocks which are incredibly convenient, very cheap from Asda, and don't contain anything else. I also use these in Chinese and Italian food.

Of course which curry you turn this into (by adding spice mix etc. at the frying stage) is up to you. I have tried it making a biryani veg side curry and it was spot-on.

Tommy99 BASE

750g of small-medium sized peeled whole onions (Sainsburys Cooking Onions that come in a 1.5kg pack). Use a knike to cut each onion down one length side and into the centre.
150g carrot chopped into 2" pieces
Small-medium size green pepper cut into 3
200g of potato (this was a large uncooked Sainsburys jacket spud cut into 3)
200g white cabbage (I used 2 pieces of about 100g each)
200ml sunflower oil

2 blocks of Taj frozen garlic (from ASDA)
1 block of Taj frozen ginger (from ASDA)

1 level teaspoon of turmeric
5 Cloves
6 Green cardamom pods split open so the seeds can get out
10 whole black peppercorns
12 pieces of coriander with stalks

1 heaped tablespoon of tomato pur?e
1 very large ripe tomato chopped into quarters

1.25 litres of water to cover

Cover pan with lid and simmer-boil. Give it a stir now and then and cook until the onions are very very soft (takes about 1.5 hours). You might want to add a drop of water now and then to make sure the veg is just about covered. Near to the end of cooking you might want to break the spud and carrot into smaller pieces. Then allow to cool with the lid on for about half a day. I actually left it more than 12 hours.

Drain off the oil from the top of the base gravy. Save it and use some as the oil to start frying your actual curry. If making biryani rice then you can also use that oil to fry the rice part.

I thought that I would add my first photos and these are of my meal tonight.

For the veg curry - I used a base gravy recipe of my own (contains onions, green pepper, carrot, potato, white cabbage) and then used some of that (before it was blended) to create the veg curry. It was absolutely spot-on with that BIR smell and taste that I have been after for years.

For the rice - I  used cooked and cooled brown basmati rice. I fried it in some of the oil from the base gravy. Then added green beans, peas, egg, cauliflower, small prawns etc.  When cooking the rice I made a space in the middle of the pan and cooked an egg omelette. Rather than leave it whole and place it on top of the finished rice, I chopped it and mixed into the rice.

Next time I would use much larger prawns in the rice and add some pan roasted cashew nuts.

Image below: Finished curry.



Image below: Finished curry.



Image below: Oil from the base gravy.



Image below: Cooking the rice.

At this moment I am experimenting with a new curry gravy base.

I have just realised that the side veg curry dish served with a biryani in a BIR is actually the curry base before it is blended.

Am I right?

BIR, Chinese, and Thai Restaurants and takeaways have much bigger prawns that I see for sale in the supermarkets.

Which ones should I buy and where?

I made a Korma tonght that was so, so good that I have to tell you about it. It was also a lot healthier and easier to make than many others.

STAGE ONE

Taz base sauce - but I added 2 carrots, a quarter of white cabbage, 10 black peppercorns, 3 cardamon pods, and only used 4 tablespoons of oil rather than 400ml.

STAGE TWO INGREDIENTS

1 Frozen block of Taj frozen garlic (available from Asda)
1 Frozen block of Taj frozen ginger (available from Asda)
1 tablespoon of sunflower oil
1/2 teaspoon of hot chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garam masala (I use Schwartz)
1/2 teaspoon tandoori masala (I use TRS Tandoori Masala Barbeque Spice)
Carnation Light evaporated milk (I used about 1/3 of a 410g can)
2 inches Tiger Tiger creamed coconut block
Fresh menti leaves
250g pack of frozen king prawns
Handful of frozen peas

METHOD

Add the oil to a pan.
Add the frozen garlic and frozen ginger and dissolve into the oil.
Add the creamed coconut and dissolve.
Add the light evaporated milk.
Add a ladle of the base sauce.
Add the spices.
Add the prawns and peas.
Add the menthi leaves.

The above is for 2 good sized portions. I served with Tilda pure basmati rice, and a peshwari nanns.

Does it seem right?

http://www.marriagesmillers.co.uk/recipes/NaanBread.html

Here is a trick that I use to save having to cook a base sauce.

I cook onion wedges in some sunflower oil in a frying pan. Firstly on a high heat then I turn down the heat and I cook until the onions go very soft and translucent (which adds a sweetness).

I then take out the onions and use the oil to cook my curry as normal.

During the process, I use some pasata and add some finely grated carrot into the sauce.

Near to the end, I add the cooked onions back in to the curry.

My favourite food to add - spinach (drain and rinse from a can), frozen prawns and frozen peas to the sauce, with sliced boiled egg on top. This combination is really stunning.

I serve with plain boiled Tilda Pure Basmati Rice.

I am now wondering whether I could add some Pakora / Onion bhaji flour mix to the oil when I add the garlic, ginger etc. as that might give the taste of onion bhaji oil?