Hi troops,
Just a quick note on the "toffee smell" that everyone seeems to be talking about. I had been reading about oil recycling on this forum so I decided to give it a try. I was using the last of annams base an adapted CTM recipe from KD CS. I used lamb as the meat ingredient. At the end of cooking I skimmed some of the oil off into an old plastic TA container. I had a sniff at the end of cooking and it smelt ok but nothing special. I also noted that during skimming some of the base sauce inevitably gets in there. I popped it in the fridge and forgot about it for a few days. I was making up new base so I decided to chuck it in for effect. When I opened the lid of the container POW! A "Toffee Spicy Like smell" that to be honest I don't know if I had smelled before in the curry. I just wonder if you were say to take 500mls of oil and heat it to high temp then add some ginger/garlic paste, a few spices such as methi, cumin, salt and a ladle of onion base. Then fry the hell out of it to caremalise the onion base. Cool it, stick it in the fridge to let it mature. Then use this to fry our curries in. Would this give the taste we seek? I shall try and report back ;D     

Hi All,
Why is it you always remember things while your offline? ! I just remembered reading somewhere that BIR's sometimes add a touch of Citric Acid to bases to preserve them for a bit longer. How this would effect the taste or not I don't know but maybe the something we are all thinking about that's missing? 

Hi ,
Anyone made any headway with Pakora?? I could never get that BIR finish on mine until I started using cornflour and yoghurt in my recipe as well as garam flour. Anyone manager to get it bang on? I need to do a further bit of experimenting with mine as the last batch was a bit rushed. I am renovating my kitchen just now. I will post a recipe once I have a result closer to what I would expect.

Oooh Errr! a lot of Chilli in that one Annam!!  Interesting point on the cooling to let the spices infuse. Nice post and looks the biz. I think i will ease off on the chilli as suggested lest there be a bout of Ghandi's revenge!! :

Droooooooooooollll !!!!  ;D

I usually grind the spices and then put them through a sieve. Then return the rougher parts to the grinder as well. I find if you only half fill the coffee grinder it does a better job. It's funny how the spice smells stronger outside than I though. It must be so strong that it dulls the smell senses quite quickly. The  day I mentioned I only ground up the Methi and the grindee was brand new. My wife popped out to the shop while I was doing the grinding and all she could smell was methi inn her hair when she was out! That's what caused the smell alright! The resulting curry was excellent as well!! Haldi, sniffing your fingers is an unfortunate by product of the quest!!! I was sniffing the kitchen wall the other day when a found a bit of curry I had missed on cleanup LOL!!! I reckon it all linked in the same way as curry tasting better the next day. It's just that your smell senses have had a rest from it and you get a fresh whiff the next day! Jerry I freeze the corriander leaves and use the stalks they reuse fine after freezing. Just keep them whole and chop them before you use them, otherwise if you chop before freezing you get one big corriander ice block!   

Hi All,
Bear with me on this as I know it isn't strictly in the right forum but after looking at so many bases and the on going debate ie Darth or saffron etc we only seem to see one or two different ingredients the crux of which seems to be peppers, cellery etc or the more fiery flavours. It has been said that Darths base is good for Madras and Vindaloo and Saffrons more versatile but Darths probably ahead for Hot rich curries, the debate continues! This got me to thinking what a BIR chef "Might" do. Make up a an Onion, Pepper, Celery paste to add into the base to give it the extra oomph! When needed? I know for a fact the Chinese T/A use pastes such as Lee Kum Kee Black Bean as a matter of course. We know some use Pataks. Any of our guys in the field see this done? I know Annam did on his kitchen visit. Could this be a part of BIR cooking we are 0verlooking?        

Hi Jerry,
In truth I would tend to agree. I managed to get bargain in a Blender with coffee grinder attachment this weekend so I decided to grind down some methi leaves. This led to a most interesting experience indeed. To explain, I am a mobile DJ and I had a party to do Saturday night. During the afternoon while I was grinding the spice I had been rubbing it between my thumb and fore finger to check on the smoothness of the blend. When I went out of the front door there it was , the BIR smell as large as life. I was looking around to see if I could locate the source of the smell, it was me ! When I arrived at the venue and got out of the van there it was again. I went inside and set up but could only smell faint whiffs of it. Later in the evening I had to go back out to the van and there it was again as large as life. Proof that fresh air intensifies the smell of this spice. When I made Annams base the Corriander stalks made a big difference to my base so I think I will try putting in about the same amount of unground methi leaves and stalks and see if that makes any odds. I don't think It will adversely effect any dishes as it is quite smooth spice anyway. I am going to try the Famed Darth base next time as it has most of Annams ingredients in and i do like his base!! Thanks for the update on the paste Annam!!

Hi All
One thing I never tire of is cooking Curry Indian or otherwise!!!

Hi Haldi,
I made it the other day as i tried Annams main recipe. Here's how i did it and it turned out ok.

Ingredients

1 large onion
1 Tsp Fennel seeds
1 Tsp Kolonji (Onion Seeds)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
2 Tablespoons Coconut Cream
1/2 tsp Red or Orange Food Colouring

Method
Quarter the onion and boil down with the fennel seeds and the onion seeds until the onion is soft. Once the onion is soft you may want to drain off some water so you have about 2 table spoons left in the pot. Mine went a bit runny as i left too much water in. Puree the onion and the seeds to a paste then add the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly. Seal in an air tight container and store in the fridge.