Ive been looking through some of the many posts on here, outstanding!  The topics are varied and full of excellent information.  I am surprised to see that some of the most popular bases i.e. Darthphal etc contain carrots and celery, I would never have thought they contain these ingredients because I hate both.  But some how they must combine to make the heaven that is a BIR curry, amazing.

I see several people have managed to see a BIR in action (Mark J).  I have only met one person who has had a tour of the kitchen of a take away from around here and he said the most unusual thing he saw was pans of liquid bubling on the stove and they had teabag like objects in them which the chef said contained some of the ingredients for the curry making process!  Unfortunately, this is the only bit of insider info i have but it might be useful to someone if it isnt already known!

Hello everyone, what a brilliant sight.

I have been trying to make Indian take away and restaurant style curries for over 10 years without any great success.  My first breakthrough came when I tried a David Smith recipe, which introduced me to the basic curry gravy.  Been experimenting ever since but sadly I have never even been close to replicating my local take away.  Tried the Kriss Dillon book but it didn?t live up to expectations (apart from the lamb shish kebabs) and have been looking ever since for ideas.

Now I have found this wonderful site with some really knowledgeable people, I cant wait to try out some of the excellent recipes!  Once again hello to every one and thank you for your marvellous contributions to this site, hopefully I will contribute my self as I go on.