http://youtu.be/ObZR6kdR-TE

http://youtu.be/ISmgOrhELXs

http://youtu.be/K3RLIU7T39I

Hi Goncalo,

I often frequent a local restaurant and enjoy good conversation with Ali who is the owner but has also spent much time in the kitchen over the years.

I haven't posted anything specific regards my chats with Ali as the snippets of info I get are are small and insignificant and usually take several visits to amount to anything worth considering. So not topic worthy as such.

Every now and then something pops up in conversation that I feel is worth investigating hence my question here.

Hope that helps.

Hi Jerry,

I hadn't commented on this as I wasn't really sure exactly what you were getting at and didn't want to waffle on without direction.

I honestly think the biggest problem today lies in the differences between old school and modern cuisine. My recent discussions with Ali the owner of the Shanaz have been quite interesting. I asked recently "so there was much more going on in the kitchen back then?" the reply simply "you have no idea!". My understanding is that many of these processes that once existed in BIR are no longer practised today. Restaurant owners want to cut down the work time in the kitchen and chefs want to be able to meet the high demand in an already busy kitchen on a Friday night.

It stands to reason that if they have consolidated some of these practises they will have less control over the final dishes that they wish to make. Which is why I feel that many dishes seem to be similar or lack that 'memorable' quality. Ending up with an array of acceptable dishes, with just a few really good ones.

So for me, I would suggest looking at the current recipes and what it is that gives them their character. Then work out if the ingredients in my base and spice mix are totally compatible with them. Remove the spices which don

Jerry, can I suggest you seek out lamb rump from your local butcher, I promise you won't complain of tough meat and it make the best lamb tikka.

I took Bangla Town to be the area of London of which it is in, much like China Town in soho.

Gohst actually means sheep, but as Phil states it is usually mutton but mostly lamb in the UK.

I laughed Jerry as I thought to myself, if this is shatkora, where is the shatkora? lol

Quote from: spiceyokooko on March 16, 2013, 03:55 PM
Do you have a base and sample recipe that goes with this mix powder? Is it right to assume that most of the individual dish flavour comes from the addition of spices to this mix when the actual dish is cooked?

Hi Spicey,

Sadly not i'm afraid, but it is something that I am looking into now that I have found my curry mojo again.

I think it is wrong to assume anything, but all the conversations I have had regarding old school and the snippets of information that I have garnered from them, suggest that there was alot more going on in the old school BIR kitchen by comparison to today's. 

If you use a base and mix powder that contains alot of spices, those flavours will be in the final dish, you won't be able to take them out. Like garam masala for instance, I don't want that flavour in every dish I make, so I wouldn't use it in my spice mix when I can simply add it to the dish when needed. So it stands to reason that I using a simple base and spice mix, will aloow the chef to create a huge array of differently flavoured dishes.

Hi Goncalo,

I use the IG Spice Mix as the chef has been cooking BIR since the early 70's. The food he produces is the standard by which I judge all others and it is second to none.

Each dish they produce has it's very own character which I believe is down to his old school philosophy to keep the base, mix powder, etc. simple to enable maximum control of flavour for the individual dishes they produce.

Many of the old school procedures, techniques and preparations have been consolidated in the modern version of BIR, to make it easier or should I say less time consuming. The down side is that alot of the flavour variations have been consolidated too and you end up with different dishes tasting similar.

To get the most out of the recipes posted on the forum, you really should use the intended spice mix and base together, in order to judge the resulting curry they make. Then you are in a position to change the components you feel need to be changed to get you closer to your goal, if indeed they need changing at all.

Cheers,

Malc.

I add it at the end of cooking just before serving.