Quote from: DalPuri on April 09, 2013, 04:18 PM
Bradford was a Huge let down for me as was Glasgow last weekend for a choice of good spice shops and fresh ingredients.
Its been a few years since i ate up there(restaurants before) so i was really looking forward to re-sampling this "Glasgow taste" again.
I was so disappointed to the point of being angry! 
What IS this? i said 
I tried 4 different curries from two takeaways in different areas. I thought they were bad here in Wales! but no,, these were worse and no better than German curries.  :

Really saddened to hear that, Frank.

There was no shortage of establishments offering quite simply stunning curries when I lived there back in 1981-82, and since I moved back down south I've often idly thought about jumping on a plane just to go back and revisit some of my favourite restaurants.

From what you say it sounds like I'd be disappointed though...

But surely there MUST be some top notch curry houses left up there?

I use Spices of India whenever I need to spend over

Quote from: RubyDoo on April 09, 2013, 01:54 PM
Obliged and apologies for mixing up my Dali's and my Dhal's   

Easily done, RD!

Meanwhile, a mere hour after placing my chilli order I have received email confirmation that it has been dispatched.

Now that's what I call speedy service!

10 out of 10 so far....

It is indeed. I'm still busy looking through some of the recipes and recipe videos, which beats the hell out of working.

Just found their eBay page, too, and pleased to see that they score 100% positive feedback over the last 12 months.

My order should be here in a few days, so I'll let you know if they live up to the rep!

Just been browsing the web in search of a good source of unusual / difficult to find chillies and seeds, and came across this excellent site:

http://www.chilliesontheweb.co.uk/

Not only do they offer an impressive range from around the world (India, Mexico, Peru, China, Thailand, Turkey, Burma, etc), plus a great selection of seeds and other chilli related goodness, but their prices are really good, and postage is free on orders above

Just been browsing the web in search of a good source of unusual / difficult to find chillies, and came across this excellent site:

http://www.chilliesontheweb.co.uk/

Not only do they offer an impressive range from around the world (India, Mexico, Peru, China, Thailand, Turkey, Burma, etc), plus a great selection of seeds and other chilli related goodness, but their prices are really good, and postage is free on orders above

Quote from: joadt on March 25, 2013, 04:58 PM
The green chilli pickle is that made by Pataks? Managed to get the other ones - I got a supermarket jar of green chillies in brine, would that be okay or just leave it out? Mince them?

You could chop up some brined green chillies, but you won't get the same flavour as you get from chilli pickle, which contains mustard, fenugreek, turmeric, and asafoetida. But better to have some chilli in there than none at all, I'd say.   

As Chewy says, most BIRs use Pataks pickles, and their chilli pickle is a decent one, but there are plenty of other good brands available, and they're all variations on the same theme. I'm currently using one from an Indian brand (Ashoka, which is made in Gujarati). It has more chillies in than many (60%), and is tasty but a little on the salty side.

Quote from: steevee00 on March 19, 2013, 07:26 PM
Nice one Salvador

I used Cinnamon stick (bark) from Supreme .

does the cassia have a less distinct aroma / flavour

cheers

Yes, cassia bark (which is sometimes referred to as 'bastard cinnamon') definitely has a less distinct aroma / flavour, and lends itself more to spicy dishes, whereas proper stick cinnamon is more suited to sweet dishes.

That looks spot on. Just a quick question though. You mention that you may use less cinnamon next time, which made me wonder if it was actually pukka stick cinnamon you used and not cassia, which is much more common in Indian cookery and is what usually goes into akhni stock.

See: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=newtip&dbid=31 for the differences.

Certainly, if it was stick cinnamon then its distinctive flavour would come through much more strongly in the base than cassia.

 

Quote from: kbmason79 on March 18, 2013, 04:33 PM
Hello Fellow curry lovers,

If I am correct in my thinking to achieve an authentic BIR curry at home will require you to cook at very high temperatures that can't be reached by normal domestic gas rings.
If this is the case how do other members get around this? would this mean investing in some kind of jet burner and stand? Also where could you buy these from?

Thanks

Barry

This is a debate that has been raging for many years, and will no doubt continue to do so. While it's true that most BIR chefs cook at relatively high temperatures with commercial gas burners, I believe that I am correct in saying that how much this actually contributes to 'that' taste remains a matter of conjecture, rather than fact.

Certainly, among members of this fine forum you'll no doubt find that some folk are fans of industrial blast furnace levels of heat, while others mosey along quite happily at more relaxed temperatures.

For what it's worth, I've tried both standard gas and electric hobs and 7.5kw burners, and while the 7.5kw burner is fantastic fun it doesn't magically create that BIR taste, which IMHO comes from correct cooking technique and knowledge accumulated from experience.   

If you're interested in checking a burner out, I recommend this site, where I secured this baby for under