Hi bobby, i think we could all do with a 'bobby bhuna's bir' opening at the bottom of the road! lol

hi bod68, i agree totally with your comment regarding this site providing a near bir style. i think you could open an acceptable restaurant based just on this sites recipies and tips. however whether it could compete with a really good bir is another thing. good luck with the quest !

Hi, are you saying your madras tastes identical to a decent bir purchased madras? I can replicate poor quality bir dishes, but not the dishes from well regarded restaurants. despite having lessons from the head chef at a good bir. thats the reason i started this thread! The head bir chef seemed as lost as me, as to why i can't replicate that flavor at home. its obviously something circumstantial to bulk cooking. but what it is remains a mystery for many members of this site

From time spent chatting to a bir chef at my local, i suspect the answer is no! he learnt to cook from copying other chefs when he used to work as a kitchen porter. He reproduces all the techniques he was taught, and hey presto it produces great curries. however, despite many attempts, he has not managed to explain why my curries lack that missing taste. i have copied all the techniques and tricks he suggested, and although the curries are very good, they lack something. This makes me wonder what bulk cooking processes chefs might overlook when trying to teach how to cook a good madras. there must be numerous bulk cooking techniques which might contribute to the taste. for example cooking up large quantities of lamb and chicken each day. do the stocks from these get thrown in the base? what other bulk cooking techniques might we be overlooking at this site?  Does the fact the bir pan is so seasoned influence the taste? Perhaps future visits to bir kitchens should try to work out what these missing parts of the jigsaw are. Thats assuming the bir chefs know themselves!

There was a secret onion paste in the kris dillon curry secret book. i never thought much of it, but maybe i did not use, or make, it correctly. did anyone else get a good result with the kris dillon onion paste?

wow that looks involved. i like it ! its making me tired just looking at all those steps. great effort  

Hi Jerry, glad to hear you are still on the curry quest ! Your question is a good one. When i really concentrate on whats going on in the pan, and also turn the heat right up, i end up with an amazing taste every time. However,when i cook at lower heat, i end up with a overly spicy thick soup taste,which is not great. I believe the heat transforms the spices, and gets rid of the raw taste of the spice. it also seems to result in much more bir tasting oil in the dish. for me, the 8 minute flash fry at high heat is a must, (with thin base.) This method only failed once, when i added too much oil. the whole dish was fried, and the sauce was seriously greasy. i wont repeat that mistake again. well i probably will 

Hi all, sorry to hear about the disapointments some of you are having. personally i am pleased with having achieved 95%. i can now put a decent curry on the table every night if i wish! they taste miles better than the recipies in traditional indian curry books. The only word of advice i have, is use plenty of oil, and if using electric cooker, really pump up the heat to almost full capacity. fry the garlic at high temp in the oil. also make sure the base is really bubbling away at very high temp. this works for me, and hopefully it will help some of you. i am convinced very high temperature is part of the 'taste' factor. (provided the balance of spices is also spot on) Never over do one spice too much, as it drowns out the rest. Bir dishes are really well balanced, in terms of spicing. this gives that 'interesting' taste we all love.    anyway enough of my waffle! laters dudes

I was never too confident about how much garlic to use, and when to add it. however after watching many dishes cooked at my local bir i now have it sorted.
  The garlic ginger puree (finely blended with oil) has to go in right at the start, in fairly hot oil. The chopped onion is then added seconds later for a good old fry. BIR chefs use about 1 tsp of garlic ginger puree for nearly all dishes. My curries definatly taste better having adopted this method. Hope this helps, DD. Also add the salt early into hot oil, before base goes in. 

cool post. the biggest myth, that many bir waiters tell customers is "we use hundreds of spices to make all our dishes". its a complete lie, which just sounds impressive. Before finding this site, i completely believed this myth!  It actually amazes me how few spices bir chefs use.