Hmm mixed results, I think the bottom line is it wasnt the same as my local although it had a taste that was similar and yes I think it was the taste, trouble is Ive been cooking all afternoon and evening and I just cant tell 

I made a mistake with the patia in that I added too much chilli (my wife couldnt eat it), although the achar was very good. Also I didnt water the base down enough so it was very thick

I saved some of the pathia and will heat it up this morning to try it in the cold light of day.

I have plenty of base left and some of the oil so my next experiment will be to get my wife to cook the curry!

Chicken Achar recipe from here: https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=602.msg5563#msg5563

Pathia recipe from here: https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=122.0

For the pre cooked onions Im going to try simmering them with a little salt and turmeric rather then pre frying

OK Ive kicked this off now, on opening the jar of oil the smell is incredible, it has a unique smell that is identical to that of the food from the restaurant it came from, my hopes are high! Its way more powerful than any spiced oil Ive created myself.

Im going to cook a base and then chicken achar and chicken patia.

Ive got the base going, im using this one : https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=723.msg7141#msg7141 the only change I have made to this is that I browned the ginger/garlic puree before addint the rest of the ingredients.

This has taken all of the oil so I will have to reclaim some before pureeing to cook with, Ill let you know how I get on.

which base did you go for?

Quote from: DARTHPHALL on February 24, 2006, 05:09 PM
there will be a huge portion of humble pie for us to consume

Humble pie tasting of the secret I hope! 

I think lasan means garlic?

Ill cook with it on Saturday, cant wait  ;D

The sad fact is, if this is the key then they have given me about a months worth of oil, so all I will need to do is keep asking them each month for a new supply 

Pics

Hi Folks,

Over the last couple of weeks Ive been thinking about what could be the source of the taste we seek in BIR curries. To my mind it came down to 2 options. First option is the preparation/cooking of garlic/ginger and most of all onions I think this is probably down to technique and experience, the other option is the spiced oil.

If the strong smell/taste we seek is tied to the oil then I think we have no chance of reproducing this, reason being is this strong taste is most likely due to the constant reclaiming of oil from curry gravy and curries of which the BIRs will cook several hundred during the course of a week, there's no way we can replicate this.

To put this theory to the test I have tonight obtained a sample of spiced oil from my local BIR, I go to this place every week and have done for a few years. They are very friendly and were more than happy to provide this sample for me (pictures attached below)

I will cook with this oil this weekend and to my mind this will put to bed one of these theories, if I can produce a dish to their taste then it must be down to their oil.

Woohoo sounds very promising, nice one.

You just need to rig up mikes and cameras now