Garp - I hear you on the biscuit/sconey reference.

I've tried probably dozens of "self-rising flour" based naan recipes. To me they all have the biscuit-ey characteristic.

The best naans by far have been the ones that forgo the self-rising flour in favour of yeast.

I know it may not be BIR, but these days its gotta be yeast for me.

-- Josh

Hi there - my path has pretty much followed yours. I'm in Toronto (High Park area).

You will get a ton of useful advice on bases and recipes. Personally I use a rotation of the Chewtikka base, Zaal base, and Little India.

If you are looking for a BIR style curry, the absolute closest I've found is a restaurant in Peterborough, Ontario called Shafiqs. In fact, I've found nothing in Metro Toronto that comes closer to BIR than Shafiqs. There are some excellent "authentic Indian" ones though.

If you're east of Toronto, make the trip to Shafiqs!

For getting some of the hard-to-find ingredients and spices, I use Bombay Bazaar in Markham.

-- Josh

Thanks CH for the reminder link to this recipe.

Missing something here.

I've been waiting for CT to enlighten us on the Red Masala Paste and Sauce used in this recipe for CTM: https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,12298.0.html

This link CH refreshed me on implies they are the same thing. The video for CTM does not (or at least adds it at separate times in the recipe).

CTM is the one dish I'm still striving for BIR quality.

CT can you throw us a bone?

-- Josh

Hey Jeff - welcome aboard.

I've been in Canada for over 10 years now, and I know exactly what you mean!

Where do you live, in case I can point you in the right direction.

Cheers,
Josh

Hi Chewy - are you going to enlighten us as to the red masala paste and sauce?
Cheers,
Josh

Ok - it's time to make my base for tomorrow.

CT had the most votes, but I'm going to try the Little India to mix it up. Peeling onions now.

Thanks all!

Will report back with pics

Josh

Weird. Seeing as the CBM Little India received a number of votes, I checked out the video. Worked fine for me...

Thanks guys - and Aussie Mick, I know CT and CA's bases work great. I just thought I'd test the waters to see what other experienced members have currently landed on, as I do enjoy mixing it up and trying different approaches.

-- Josh

Hi All,

I've had to put my curry cooking on the back burner for a while, but I find myself hosting a dinner party on the weekend, and thought it was prime time to show off the BIR curry skills.

Recently I've been using Chewy's base, but I'm out.

I always like to experiment, so I thought I'd look at a few others. Appreciate experienced members votes on a base to try for the event.

Thanks all for your input! I will report back with pics.

Cheers,
Josh

CA, my thoughts...

QuoteSmall scale (rather than large scale) curry base

Agree with this. I don't recall any home experiments with a 60L pot. I'd be personally surprised though if this made a noticeable difference over a typical "large" base posted on cr0.

QuoteShort cooking times (rather than extended cooking times) for the curry base

Also interesting to understand is what they do with the base at the end of day... is it left to sit overnight? Do they ever just "top it up"?

Small volumes (rather than large volumes) of dish preparation

QuoteLow power heat sources (rather than high power)

I and others that I recall have used high heat sources to cook curries in similar times to those observed in a BIR. I am curious though the BTU's of a typical BIR gas range compared to high powered home ranges, and those standalone outdoor gas rings.

QuoteUse of frozen curry base (rather than unfrozen)
Use of frozen garlic, ginger and tomato paste (rather than unfrozen)

I've rarely used frozen g/g so couldn't comment on the difference. However I can say for sure that when I went from freshly grating/mincing ginger and garlic to pureeing a mix with oil, that my curries improved dramatically. I'd never go with fresh mince again.

QuoteUse of frozen coriander (rather than unfrozen)
Slow usage of spices (rather than high usage)
Availability of nicely impregnated spice infused oil

Ahhh - the old/spiced oil argument. I honestly can't say one way or the other which is closer to BIR - with spiced or unspiced oil, having tried both over the years. I think though that there is enough video evidence to say its not a standard practice, and I've not seen reports that say those curries cooked with fresh oil are any less "BIR".

-- Josh