Thanks for the advice guys. will try that lemon dressing, sounds very tasty. just made an excellant dansak using 2 tbs fresh lemon juice, one and half tbs sugar. its quite sweet with a hint of sour, just like a bir dansak. the lentils and methi offset the sweetness though producing that distinctive flavor that can only be dansak!. lovely jubs. PS, i will try your suggestions as well, they look spot on.   

I have been experimenting with lime juice in dansak, and also lime cordial, and lemon juice and sugar (not all at once ;D). whats everones opinion on the ideal way to get that sweet and sour balance just right for dansak. and get those taste buds tingling ;D  i think 2 tbs lemon and 1 tsp sugar? and possibly some lime juice??? cant quite hit the bir sweet sour taste. any help appriciated

Jerry i use 5 tsps of dd spice mix for my base. 1 tsp chilly powder, inch cube of ginger, 3 tbs garlic ginger paste. 2 - 3 tbs salt, and 1 tbs tumeric.  recently i have made 2 poor bases. i reached the perfect base (without knowing it) about 2 months ago. I think endless base optimizing is problematic, because the recipies you test each week, are being tried against a moving target (the base). i now intend to stick with my decent base, i was making 2 months ago, and tweak the recipies, and not the base. Would be interested to hear your thoughts on this. I am not sure garam masalla is right for the base, as its best added towards the end of cooking the main dish. I couldnt notice any garam maslla in the real bir base i tried. I do know they add some dd spice mix to their base + extra tumeric. Why dont you ask your local TA how they would spice their base? DD

Hi all, is the general concensus at the mo, that buying a gas burner will give a substantial improvement to the curry taste ? i am currently using electric cooker by the way. cheers DD

This post is interesting for sure. However i think a few of us need to sanity check this latest line of enquiry, by buying some real bir oil and see if we can reproduce haldis results. if the oil really is the missing link, (which it may not be) then we should varify this by attempting to replicate haldis fine work. the garlic probably does not burn as quickly, due to it being stored in a fridge and covered in oil. i was shown how to make bir garlic paste, and they make it with some oil to help preserve it. then refridgerate it.

thanks for the Tips CA, i have never been shown how to caramalize onions, so will try that suggestion.

when making the ashoka banjura onion paste try doubling the recomended amount of oil. the end result is a onion paste swimming in oil. however the oil is very good reclaimed oil. i used grapeseed oil.

Ok Haldi you have convinced me to try this oil, sounds cool. i will have to pluck up courage to ask to purchase some oil next visit to the local bir. Haldi do you think they make this oil as a by product of bulk cooking? or do you think they make it separetely? surely reclaiming oil from base will only ever provide enough oil for at most 20 customers? 

Hi CA, i have often thought this spiced oil is the answer. however from time spent in a bir kitchen i did not see them using such oil. they could have been lying when they said they only used veg oil. i think they did hold back on some secrets of the trade, as they stand to gain nothing by revealling all. however during my demo's over several weeks, i was baffled as to how they got those missing flavors. its odd. it must be something to do with bulk cooking and possibly the oil. wish i new the answer mate

Adrian, was the bhuna you recommend so highly from the KD book listed here (thats the one i own) or was it from a later edition. I am interested to have another look at that recipe