Mustard Oil is abundant in all of our local Asian supermarkets so seems like it should be widely used and I have used it in one or two non BIR recipes. It is awful stuff and overpowers about every other taste in the dish. Leave it alone I would say. I have read that in certain parts of India they use it for cooking but unless it is used in minute quantities it would spoil it for me.
I do believe Asians buy it for cosmetic or medicinal reasons but apart from this I don't think it has much relevance in the BIR and I certainly haven't seen it in any restaurants.

Ray

Hi,
If anyone has a problem downloading this (Yellow Fingers!!) I am afraid I can't tell you how to do it but just P.M. me and I can sort out the problem through the post!!

Ray Graham

Hi Mark,

Yes the taste of the BIR is also there next morning but this taste was very strong and more raw garlic than anything. Not in my mind the typical BIR taste.
I will be trying the other two I bought soon and will reserve judgement on this range of products until I have tried a few of the others on offer.

Ray

There is one small take-away near me that definately uses Patak's pastes as they have huge containers of it above the cooking area and spoon in so much of each into the curry. The food tastes O.K., not great but acceptable but I must admit you do feel a bit cheated when you know it comes out of a "ready made jar".
I have actually made some really good curries at home using only Patak's Madras Paste for the spicing but the sauces are not anything like as good..

Ray

Quote from: Blondie on September 23, 2005, 09:25 AM

Quote from: Mark J on September 22, 2005, 10:40 PM

Recently, walking through a large council estate near where I live, I smelt THAT smell.? It was definately coming from one of the houses in a particular street, but I couldn't make up my mind which one.

Hi all,
A lot of the Asian houses I go in through the course of my work smell like that too, yet some seem to have a more "home cooking" smell about them unlike the restaurant smell.
These smells drive me nuts and no matter if I have just eaten I could put away a steaming bowlful of whatever they are cooking anytime, it just gets your taste buds going mad doesn't it!!
It gets worse about 6:0pm when half of Bradford starts smelling like it when everyone gets tea started............murder!!.

I do think it has something to do with the continual cooking with spices and the way the smells permeate just about everything they come into contact with. I am not convinced it is due to one particular spice so the search might not prove fruitful.
It is true an empty curry house still has that smell about it even when the cooking was finished hours before.

But I have just come to the conclusion I live in an area with hundreds of curry houses, and thousands of Asian homes all churning out tons of curry every day yet I am not doing any asking!
So, I will make a more concious effort whenever I come across the smell to ask what the answer is. I can imagine the funny looks I will get but what the heck, it's all in the interest of science!

Ray

Hi all,

A short time ago the website www.currysauce.com was mentioned with their claims to have curry sauces just like the restaurant.

I decided to give them a try and through the website found two outlets not far from me.
Both outlets are specialist deli's and it is clear these sauces are not obtainable everywhere but can be ordered from the website in six pot quantities for ?24.90p inc post. That is a whacking ?4.15p per pot.
In one of my local shops they were selling at ?2.99p and at the other ?3.50p. They come chilled, not frozen but can be frozen at home if required.
They claim to be for four servings but like most other sauces I have bought would only serve three or two hungry diners.

I bought the Madras, Jalfrezi and Morrocan Tagine which the shop owner said she eats all the time and is fantastic.

So far I have cooked the Morrocan Tagine which is a curry sauce with Apricots. First impressions of texture and smell were very favourable, the sauce being the consistency we make our bases with pureed Onion visible and a good quantity of Apricots.
It is an attractive deep brown and was simple to par-cook the chicken and simmer for 10 minutes or so.
The sauce seemed to thin down with cooking and became a more watery consistency and lightened in colour.

As for the taste...........well in fairness it is a nice tasting curry and a little different to what I expected ( after all it is supposed to be Morrocan, not Indian ) but my first impression was............Patak's sauce and that taste of processing so common in jars or chilled sauces.
I expected something fresher as it was from the chilled cabinet yet tasted like it had come from a jar! It also had a long lasting after taste of Garlic which I don't mind but the taste was still there next morning!

All in all a bit of a dissapointment for what it was and certainly the price lets it down! The rest of the family ate it but there was no enthusiasm to suggest it was anything special.
I think a much better "quick curry" could be made from a jar of Patak's Paste and a tin of Tomatoes and just as fast.
On the other hand a portion of pre-made base sauce from this site would beat it past the post anytime.

I am yet to try the Jalfrezi and Madras but have a sneaky feeling I am going to experience the same.
I will let you know when I do.

Ray

Hi Y.F.
Now I get the picture better. Sorry but I misunderstood your original meaning.
I think it a good idea but I personally find explanation a bit awkward. Curry is quite complex in it's tastes and textures and describing what you experience in words is to me hard. However, I can only try. Some of the photo's on the site speak more than words so how about more of these!

We have a lot of recipes for bases etc on this site but not too many folk trying them out and reporting back. I would like to encourage more members to try out what's on offer and review these on the site.
For instance I intend to go back to the "100 Best Balti" book and recreate their three bases and following that am going to try the two stage restaurant base by Mridula Baljekar.
And as you say the gradual addition of this sort of info can only be a positive step forward for us all.

Ray

I will look out for his "Favourite Restaurants" Book. What makes you rate this one as I have never read it?

Ray

I have his book "Quick After Work Curries" and must say after trying some of the recipes many years ago now use the book as a doorstop although it isn't much good for that either!!

As much as I try to find the positive side to his work I always seem to end up dissapointed with the end results although with credit to the guy he has put a lot of work into the subject over the years ( and made a lot of dosh, no doubt!!).
Ray

Ooooops!!, sorry Pete, have looked again and she doesn't give an "all veg" option!

Ray