Hi,

being new to the forum and BIR cooking, I don't really have mind-bogglingly things to post. But I searched the forum and found nothing, so I thought I share this one and try to upload a photo.

You know the dry seed mix restaurants offer on checkout? Every chef I've asked about the name just smiled and said "SOOOOOOOOONF!" - until I found out Soonf is just the Indian word for fennel, which isn't really helpful. Some refer to it as "Soonf Masala" or "Mukhwas", but I don't really know what the real name is.

For me, it has become an essential with (or better: after) Indian cooking and eating. You put a spoonful of it in your mouth and chew until the aromas of the seeds are released.

It is supposed to:

- give a fresh breath due to the mint that's included
- help digestion through the fennel, cumin, persian cumin and anise seeds
- and I have found that it helps greatly in reducing the craving for cigarettes, as the chewing of spices gives a far better satisfaction than eating sweets or whatever, and it has less calories (except the sugar coated fennel, of course)

I put it together like this:

3 TBSP    fennel seeds
1-2 TBSP   sugar coated fennel seeds (available in Asian stores)
2 TSP   cumin seeds
1 TSP   persian cumin seeds
1 TSP   anise seeds
1 TSP   dried mint (Poodina)

Other possible ingredients include:

1 TSP   coriander seeds (not really a great addition IMO)
1 TSP   crushed betel nut (they are common, but thanks no! I once bit a tooth out on one, so never again.)
1 TSP   dill (does nothing for me)

I only use it in this dried form, but I have also seen it cooked in oil and eaten as a dessert, which I have not yet tried. Also, some say the seeds, esp. the fennel should be roasted before mixing together. I have not liked it better when roasted, I just put it together right out of the bags.

Well, now.. the regulars here will probably laugh about this post, but hey - enlighten me with suggestions about how to improve this. Think of any other seeds and spices that could work with it?

If this has been posted a thousand times, sorry - I couldn't find anything due to the lack of a proper name.

And finally, here's a photo of a fresh bowl:



Cheers,
m0rq

Hi again,

thank you all very much for your replies!

@Stephen Lindsay: You're right, I will try to work with Mick's base for some time now to see if I can get the results to my liking. A lot of testing with different dishes will be necessary, and I'm not complaining. It's just good to know there are so many possibilities to try, even if it takes years. That's the journey for the perfect curry, and how do they say: the journey is the best reward. Euphoria is a clean licked Karahi ;-)

@Garp: I'd guessed that on this forum would be many people with a journey to find the perfect curry similar to mine. That's really funny and on the other hand I'm glad that I don't need to become desperate over possible "curry secrets never revealed". It will need time to absorb all this information, this forum is such a valuable resource. Oh and yes, I'll try to post some photos of my curries, this is indeed a piece of art we should share.

@Geezah: thank you for the link! Indeed, I was thinking about making my own Naan's for some time, while I'm still using the supermarket ones that can be reheated in the oven. Of course they cannot compare to restaurant Naan's or selfmade ones. But Naan's are an absolute must. My top three essential side dishes to a curry are: Mixed Pickels (vegetable and chilli), Mango Lassi (to better celebrate the ups and downs of hot chilli flavor) and Naan bread (preferably the ones with green chilli and garlic baked in them, or just the plain ones). I'll definitely save your link for later and will try it!

@LOUP: So you're three months ahead of me, I will need to catch up quickly. I'm really eager to see what my curries taste like after a few months more practise and knowledge.

Again, thank you for your replies, I'm looking forward to making many more curries and sides and hope I get something to share with you!

Have a good time!

m0rq

Namaste, fellow Curryholics!

I found my way into this forum after messing around with Indian cooking, and I thought I'd leave a message here to introduce myself and let you know - once again, I suppose - what road took me here.

Being from Germany, and having lived all my life in two bigger cities, I was always in a good supply of Indian restaurants and takeaways. But three years ago, a new job directed me to the far Northwest, close to the Dutch border. And let me tell you: there are no acceptable Indian restaurants in this region at all. You'd have to go all the way to Amsterdam or Cologne to get a decent curry.

That's when I decided to no longer bear the craving for curry, the desperate search for restaurants and the ever-being disappointment after finding just another tourist rip-off restaurant with mediocre quality. So I bought my first book of "Cooking Indian Curries".

You all know too well how wrong that was. At that point I didn't even know I wasn't looking for "authentic Indian cuisine", I was desperately looking for the BIR style without even knowing it.

I tried all the "authentic" ways with Vindaloos, Rogan Josh, Madras and the like, with quite satisfying results, but you guess it, completely missing that special BIR taste. Having been to London quite a few times, I knew there were especially good Indian restaurants, but still I hadn't figured out that it was this style that I was calling for.

All by accident I stumbled over the BIR ebook by Mick Crawford (CBM), which opened my eyes in an instant. I bought it and made my first base gravy this weekend, along with pre-cooked chicken, pre-cooked vegetables and mix powders.

And then.. my first Chicken Madras that tasted like I was expecting it. Okay, it was far from being perfect, but it came so close that I got really euphoric. The whole concept of preparing everything and then putting it together in a quarter of an hour blew my mind. Having quite the perfect consistency when just pouring in the base and letting it simmer for a few minutes made all the work so worthwile. And the ability to freeze the pre-cooked base and chicken gives so much opportunity to have a curry whenever I want, that's just unbelievable comparing to the effort that the "authentic" cook books demanded (quite often an 8-12 hour process including the marinades).

On further reading, I found this forum and the many many different opinions and possibilities people have already tried with BIR style cooking. I'm so eager to try them all. But I'm not even 20% through Mick's first ebook and my stomach is already revolting after three days Curries in a row. Guess you'll have to take a break inbetween, that's going to be hard :-D

Anyway, I'm glad I found out about BIR cooking, about this forum and I'm looking forward to learning and trying a lot more. Hopefully I'll come across some knowledge to share with you all.

Get out the chilli powder and have fun!

Best regards
m0rq