Jerry is right it is mustard oil, the stuff was labelled "for external use only" in the early 90's, thatrs why bir's taste different today.
I think indian cooks still use it only on the sly because they dont want to be closed down for using an ingredient labelled unfit......
Spices of india sell it.
Most indian supermarkets/foodstores stock and sell it, most people in Bangladesh still cook with it.
A recipe told to me by my mate John who cooks and has cooked the best bir balti i have ever tasted....
Take a couple of onions and frey the f**k out of them, until they turn into a brown sludge, then add your spices and mustard oil and fry that together for 5 mins, add this mixture to your stock.
He also says that all this s**t about not browning your onions is b*****s, his words.
I can already imagine the kind of replies this will recieve lol.
And no Im not asking John to post here, he's computer illiterate and wouldn't waste his time, you'll just have to take it as said as i do and put up with it.

Blimey is that oil or water?
It is hard to tell is trhat basmati rice and if so was it washed and dried?
Ill make a portion for 1 sometime today and get a pic or 2 posted because that stuff you cooked just isnt right lol.
Ill follow the recipe to the letter. as i always do.

As far as spices go id just throw in whatever you fancy, i usually put in a pinch of black onion seeds as well sometimes but i dont go for overly perfumed spices like cloves and cardamons, but its a personal taste thing.

As for weights and measurements as long as you stick to  75grams of rice and 1/4 pint of water per person, ive never had a single problem. Ive done it for myself, for 2 3 4 6 people all the time just following those weights and its been honky-dorey.

The only problem you can have is the heat of your simmer, i used to have an eccentric cooker and that took 8 and a half minutes simmer the same steaming.
Then we binned that and bought a proper cooker what uses gas, and after a little bit of trial and error reduced the time to 5 and a half for both.
Oh and MAKE SURE your pot lid is a tight fit, if not put a sheet of tin foil over the top of pan then press your lid down onto it tightly. As its really the steaming thats the most important thing. thats what gets your rice fluffy.
Ive passed this recipe on to a few friends and family members and they love it.

I can take photos,only i cant get my head round this reducing the size lark lol. I can cook the rice fine but foto's? nope not yet.

Yes im going to finish off the sauce i made yesterday then start going through the ones on here.
Although it might be a few weeks till  im finished with this lot lol.

Ive just had a look at that link and theres a few recipes i havnt got thanks again:)

Nice one thanks cory ander, im not fussed about indian sweets or breads ive got recipes for that lot.
curry tonight:)

Blimey there used to be a noor jahan indian takeaway on the stratford rd near carspares in brum. It cant be the same firm this one was rank.lol

Hi commis, i do put extra stuff in my curries, its a bit of a cant leave it alone thing lol, but i am switching back to the original recipes now.
I dont know how many pages were in the original book but i have upto page 141.

I agree salt does bring out the flavours in dishes when cooking, but when its used its used for "salting to taste" i believe everybodies tastes are different and each restaurant therefore is going to have a different flavour, subtle but different.

That goes for all seasonings/spices, thats why when you go to someone elses favourite restaurant, that they absolutely rave about, you usually come away disappointed and revert back to your own personal favourite.

I think we choose restaurants/takeaways because they serve our own particular sense of taste, we dont just walk into the first one we see and find its excellent, we usually wander around trying different ones over a period of time until we get that eureka moment.
And i dont care what anyone says cornflour is used purely as a thickening agent.

Im glad it worked for you:)
The best recipes are the simple ones, even an idiot like me can do them lol.
Ive got a good naan recipe aswell ill dig out, the only thing with this one is it uses packet yeast and it takes an hour to rise.