Quote from: vin daloo on November 04, 2005, 07:57 PM
So whats the difference between A regular BIR and a birmingham balti house??

The biggest difference, literally, are the 'table naans'. They are as big as a table and I would love to know how they cook them in the Tandoor.

Quote from: pete on October 30, 2005, 08:47 AM
If it's what they call "salt" then we are in trouble!
That goes in measures by tablespoons in their base

In Chinese cooking, for those that do add it,? it wouldn't be unusual to add one teaspoon of MSG to each single portion dish. If you translate 1tsp per portion into, say, an eight portion curry base, then you would need to add 8 tsp or about 3 TBSP. So if you want to get the effect of the MSG, then several tablespoons added at the base stage would be appropriate.

Quote from: Midge on October 28, 2005, 06:42 PM
So thats why I was asking for the most popular one as I am suppose to make dinner tonight and an fast running out of time

So you want it tonight? All the base sauces should be left to 'mature' overnight. If you do not believe that then it dosesn't matter which one you choose.

If you really are going to curry up tonight then a base sauce will not even feature

high heat, lots of oil, plenty of garlic and anything you want in it is good.

Quote from: Curry King on October 28, 2005, 03:11 PM
I think Pete's right in that we all need to get together

I have to agree. I see no way to resolve the 'taste' and 'smell' debate unless we do. Somewhere in the midlands?

Man, i divvnt nae.

am gannin fer a broon!

Quote from: curryqueen on October 28, 2005, 04:17 PM
I have to say here, that the people using this forum are from different parts of the country, as well as from different parts of the world.

Hi curryqueen

Well first of all I don't care about the opinions of people from other parts of the world, unless of course they have sampled a reasonable amount of curries in standard Indian restaurants from different parts of the UK, or at the very least had a few curries from Indian restaurants in one part of the UK.

I know that sounds nasty, but I don't care. I don't partake in 'the pain of childbirth' forum, for example. The reason? Because I've never experienced the real thing.

But to answer your main point, and I've said it so many times now that I'm even boring myself. No matter where I've had a curry in the UK, they have, irrespective of the actual quality of the curry, had the same smell and underlying taste. It is unique to the indian restaurant curry and it is what I am trying to copy.

I'm still trying to find one of these curry houses that actually do not have the smell and taste I am talking about. I have never been to a restaurant that verges toward 'authentic' Indian cuisine, nor do I have any desire to. Perhaps this is why I have a very definite idea of what the 'smell' and 'taste ' is?

QuoteEnglish BIRs seem to cook lets say a madras in the midlands different to that here in the south.

I agree totally. But, in my experience at least, they will have a common smell and taste. One may be hotter, may have more veg, may have a? smoother sauce, may have less oil, may have tomato pieces, may be darker in colour. They still have the same underlying taste and smell.

Now unless in my travels across the country I have just happened, by sheer chance, to pick on the restaurants that conform to my idea of the 'smell' and the 'taste', I have to conclude that the smell and taste that I mean is universal, at least within the UK.

I think what bothers me most at the moment is that three (?) people say that they've copied Pete's prawn madras and it has given them an exact restaurant copy including both taste and smell. I've tried it twice now, although my base was slightly different, and I'm definitely not achieving the taste or the smell. Particularly not the smell.

I'm seriously beginning to wonder whether we really do have the same goal in mind when it comes to the 'taste' and the 'smell' of restaurant curries. But I have had curries at several places around the UK over the years and without fail the smell and taste have been there, so I don't see how we can not be aiming for the same thing. I just don't understand it.

An interesting read George, but nothing new really. I think that if you stick to the use of three oils, peanut, olive and rape seed (this one is a bit dubious though), you probably can't go wrong. Combine this with common sense usage, like using as little oil as possible in the first place and then reusing as little as possible, and I think you've done as much as you can to minimise any potential health risks.

As a matter of interest how does everyone dispose of unwanted oil? I add washing liquid to it, to emulsify it, and flush it down the loo. I feel guilty adding oil to the sewer system but I don't know how else to dispose of it. Any suggestions?

Brilliant. That's the sort of detail I like to see.? ?

When you say it had a stock taste, do you mean chicken stock?

Quote from: pete on October 27, 2005, 01:48 PM
The oil is not "chilli hot" either, it is just spicy savoury.

I don't have any argument with that, as long as you are referring to the oil scooped from the base sauce.

Quote
I have seen one restaurant scoop out the excess oil, from a cooked curry,and put it back into the gravy too.

This is where I have a problem. There is just no way a restaurant can be doing this on a regular basis. If you don't believe me, try this. Next time you make a vindaloo save some of the oil from it. Next day, when it's cooled, just taste a bit. You'll find that it is really chilli hot.
Now if they are scooping oil from curries all night, back into the base sauce pot or oil pot, eventually it isn't going to be palatable to those customers who just can't bear chilli heat.

Another strange thing about reusing the oil is that quite a few people here have seen curries cooked with fresh oil and yet they have still had the 'taste'. So either the reuse of oil is not related to the taste, or one person's idea of the 'taste' must be different to another.