Quote from: martinvic on July 30, 2013, 12:14 AM
Sadly not everyone can afford to buy free range, organic or in bulk.

This is also true but IMO meat should be a luxury. People expect to have meat on their plate every day when in truth too much of it in our diets is detrimental to health and the public's demand for cheap meat sadly means more pressure on the farmers to deliver, welfare and quality standards drop and scandals such as BSE and the horse meat ones occur. The message is simple eat better quality meat but less of it. I couldn't afford to have it all the time myself either. I might have it once, maybe twice a week and even then it will most likely be the least favoured cuts. 

I came on this forum to learn about making curries, not to get into politics but this is a subject I feel strongly enough about to air my views. I have always been one to think of the bigger picture before I buy, not just meat but veg, fish, everything.

For an enlightening read on the subject the River Cottage Meat book takes some beating.

Natterjak. For the record no I don't eat in BIR establishments but not just because of the provinance of their meat...

I think regarding the free range issue it's just a case of ethics and taste. I personally do try to avoid all establishments that don't actively source free range produce. Eggs, chicken, pork or whatever. What they serve says a lot about how they think. Are they concerned about giving their customers the best or maximising profits? So no KFC, Subway, and god forbid Nando's! but it is hard. It's in the public's power and interests to reduce intensive farming. Just vote with your wallets. Of course some people just don't give a toss either way..

You are right Phil. Never, ever buy that intensively reared crap. Free range meat should be compulsory in my book. If it's good value you are looking for then you can buy two good sized breasts of free range chicken for ?3.49 from Aldi - probably the best deal I've seen so far. Always buy British and always look at the small print, the unsuspecting among us will be suprised how much halal chicken reared in places like Brazil and Thailand make it to these shores...

I take it Aussie Mick makes a mean pilau rice then?... Just done a quick search for the recipe out of interest but can't seem to find it...

Good point. I spent part of Saturday afternoon sourcing some of the spices I didn't have. All evening making the gravy, smashing cassia bark in the pestle and mortar (not fun), mixing the tandoori powder and the balti massala powder on top of rice and homemade pakoras....It wasn't until 4 hours later that the dinner was on the table. Was it worth it? No. The madras I recommended in my last post is an hard act to follow. I've just ordered the Abdul Mohed book. His recipes look much more like the real deal.

MM

If it's still of any interest I made this base up last night and followed the recipe for the balti madras from the same book using the pastes. The base on its own tasted pretty much like any other I've made. The final dish had a lot of depth but for me wasn't a true madras in my book. The best madras so for comprises of the following..

Undercover Curry Base (taken from Jamie Curle Website)
Dipuraja's Madras (although for the spices and g&g etc work in teaspoons instead of the prescribed chefspoons. Also, omit the salt)
Made with:
Julian's Mix Powder &
Julian's Pre-cooked Chicken (again omit the salt and don't be tempted to throw in the spicy cooking juices or the finished dish will be too harsh.)

Awesome! I would definitely recommend this to even the most 'seasoned' of BIR connoiseurs.

MM

edited by George: changed 2 instances of 'emit' to read 'omit'.

Thanks so presumably by doing this you're altering the flavour/cooking out any bitterness of the g&g and spices etc. Is this mixture always added to the garabi or is it ever added at the "cooking" stage aswell?

Quote from: Salvador Dhali on June 28, 2013, 02:00 PM
Interesting vid, Chris. Many thanks for posting.

My best guess on the 'mystery ingredient' is that it's a bhagar comprising tomato, garlic/ginger paste, and the usual spice suspects (a la Zaal, Little India, etc. See: https://curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#3e6b0bf1da120db7d8e5bd18a0265c48.jpg).

Or something very much like it?

Please can you explain what a bhagar is and how it's used in BIR cooking? An example recipe would be good aswell. ;-)

Thanks

Cheers UF

Yes this is the book with the pastes. I looked at those links. I had a funny feeling someone on here would have been familiar with the book and that particular base. As it happens I found loads of mooli on sale in my local Morrisons earlier so I'll give it a whirl asap.

MM

Hi All

I have Just joined the forum and wanted to introduce myself. My name's Mike, I'm a mad keen cook and foodie. I get up to all sorts of things in the name of culinary pleasure. I grow a lot of my own produce on my allotment, cure bacon, ham and corned beef, smoke fish, bake bread and take advantage of nature's free larder by foraging for all sorts of wild foods especially mushrooms... In my spare time I also enjoy a spot of carp and barbel angling.
I live in Worcestershire, not a million miles from the "balti capital". I love all sorts of cuisines - Italian, British, French, you name it but for me there is nothing more complex and challenging than the curry. What should be the most humble of dishes is to my mind actually the most sophisticated. I spent 10 years trying to replicate the BIR taste before realising that I was doing it all wrong. I'd fry off onions, garlic and ginger then add raw diced chicken, various combinations of spices, chillies and finally stock and coriander thinking it was only a matter of time before I "cracked the code". How wrong was I? It is only in the last 6 months through really researching the subject online that I have began to learn about base gravies, mix powders and pre cooked chicken and wow what a difference in results!
By joining the forum I hope to learn more tricks and tips in my search for the authentic BIR taste.

Thanks guys I have already posted a topic in the Base Gravy/Sauces section entitled "Pat Chapman Base Gravy" Please take a look.

Many Thanks

MushroomMike