I definitely believe there are secrets in BIR cooking.  It could be in the technique or  the ingredients or both.  Either way there has to be some secret to it because if there wasnt, then someone would have recreated it, even on a small scale at home.  The food industry is renowned for keeping secrets, look at Coca Cola for instance.   

I know who isn't interested in our BIR quest, Gordon bloody Ramsey.  If you want authentic Indian food then why bother to go out and pay extortionate prices when you can cook it your self at home from one of the plethora of genuine authentic Indian recipes out there.

What  a total disappointment, the only thing I managed to glean was that all the curries were made from three separate stocks.   And Gordon Ramsey was treating the staff like royalty!  I wonder why?

George, I think Fumble might be right also when he mentioned that good BIRs are becoming a it of a rarity and this might be due to health and safety issues.  But how do the good BIRs remain good over the years because they must also be subject to the same health and safety laws?  Or could it be the good ones cheat?

My favourite BIR (not a restaurant but a takeaway) has been around for years and is extremely popular and very well known around these parts.  When you order a chicken Madras or Vindaloo you have to specifically ask for "breast meat" or you end up getting the more undesirable parts of the chicken.  This to my mind must mean that they cook whole chickens on mass, probably boiling them.  Their curry sauce has a very strong chicken flavoured component to it but not like you would think.  Although it is strong, it in no way overwhelms everything and in fact it is more like a subtle after taste.  I have tried to recreate this effect using various methods including very concentrated chicken stock and stock cubes, this has always failed because it overwhelmed every thing.  Which brings me back to the health and safety and good BIR issue, the poor BIRs I have been to also have this chicken flavour but it is either too strong or virtually undetectable.

Stew, what kind of money do you think we might need to raise in order to tempt a good BIR chef?

it might be worth mentioning that when I am stood waiting for my order in my favourite BIR, there is virtually no noise coming from the kitchen at the back.  This is in stark contrast to the Chinese take-always which always seem to have the clatter of woks going on in the background.  If heat and rapid cooking was the secret to BIR curries, wouldn't there be more noise going on like in the Chinese establishments?

Stew, if we truly managed to buy the REAL DEAL then we might potentially have our own money spinner on our hands.  In essence, those who stumped up the cash would act like a syndicate of share holders and could potentially market their product.

Haldi your dedication is impressive and I know how frustrating it can be.  I bought a Madras sauce from my favourite BIR and took it home and subjected it to an autopsy.  I removed what solids I could find and tried to identify them with the help of my wife who is a qualified chef.  We found what looked like; fragments of bay leaf, the skin off a green chilli or capsicum, some small seeds that could have been cumin but they were slightly smaller a bit like arjowan and we also found some very small spherical objects which could have been some kind of flour or milk product or poppy seeds, just dont know.  There was also a tomato component floating around along with lots of oil.    From a taste point of view and over and above the normal flavours we detected, a strong chicken flavour, very slight hint of cinnamon and Turkish delight (rose water).

Your right George, there might be too many pitfalls to get this thing off the ground but I think if enough people show a genuine interest then that would be a starting point.  We could then take it further but if we do get to the next step, yes I think it  will get more difficult.  At the end of the day we all want the same thing and if I could have my own personal curry wish granted, I would ask for the perfect BIR curry written down as a recipe and it would replicate the best BIR every time at home. 

Could money buy such a wish?

Looking good fumble, very similar looking to my last results when i made this excellent base.