They seem to have 2 smells - the savoury one before opening, then it all goes Smokey when the punters turn up!

A8

Many thanks to you, and to your mates at work Andy.

A8

No I wasn't pi**ed, just in too much of a hurry and hadn't done my preparation work properly.

I did think it was hugely significant though, that the curry had that taste, and smell, in spite of all the things I'd done wrong. Technique must be the key.

I'll try again, but with the right consistency of garlic. It does highlight the importance of how you cut things up, how this is directly linked to when and how you use the ingredient in the recipe.

One thing I'm keen to do is to follow a 'suite' of recipes, that go together as a collection from the same source - ie, base and subsequent dishes from the same source (ideally curry house) as I guess the flavouring of the dishes will depend on the base. 

A8

Never feed curry to cows then!

All the base recipes seem very similar to me, give or take the odd spice or vegetable. I'm pinning my hopes more on finding out and learning  the techniques used  in BIRs to give the smell and taste, as opposed to a specific missing ingredient.

A8

It occurred to me that, if we can get the base sauce right, and can master the techniques for curry-making, then we can start inventing our own house specials. We can do this simply by taking a traditional Indian dish, using its spices etc, and replacing the onions garlic and ginger with our own base gravy. I would guess this is what happens in BIR's and possibly how a lot of the 'standards' originated.

Just a thought.

A8

I've just come back from the supply shop with MSG and asafoedita. The latter took a long time  to find as I expected it to be a with the spices - it was in as small container like a salt shaker. That stuff absolutely honks ( kinda smokey smelling!!) so I'm keen to know how much a chef's pinch is as I don't want to overdo it. The man who served me stressed this as well.

I'm ready to try and make a curry, althought I'll be using an existing base as I don't have a big enough pan for Andy's.

A8

Andy,  is the cooker on full bore for the whole of this cooking process?

A8

If a chili works, then maybe a pepper will as well. They are the 1st thing that goes into all the Bruce Edwards recipes. In the KD book, the chilli powder goes in before the other spices!

A8

Years ago, there was something about Glasgow on the telly, how it had changed over the years etc, and it showed an Indian curry house that did breakfasts of curried scrambled egg. I quite often curry a tin of beans, which takes no time at all

A8