I too was given a staff curry recipe from my local. i never posted it as i felt it was not bir enough. This was 3 years ago.  I will try to find it and post it.  It was useful as it was the only time i could replicate one of there curries. It was very nice. It also confimed to me that the spice mix they shared was the real deal. Its a shame they were not so sharing with there base and madras. Their staff curry had some bones in it and pumpkin pieces, and was hot like a jelfrezzi. I will try to find it for you guys, its actually better than many cook book recipes. They added so much spice mix, but watered it down, and kept reducing it afterwards. Just like they do with bhuna. It still amazes me how they managed to put half a chef spoon of spice mix in a madras, yet it tastes sweet, not spicy. When i do this at home it ruins my curry. Even if i add lots of base and evaporate it all.  Odd hey !

Ok , cheers guys, thats basically confirmed what i suspected.  I guess time will tell, if his recipies rise to the top of the pile.

I am impressed with Abduls fine efforts in posting so much for us. Nice gesture. Normally i would try the base , but due to work i am short on time.  Are these recipies some of the finest on cr0? Do experienced members rate these as seriously worth trying? or would they be a step sideways , rather than I definate step up from existing methods?

How does the jalfrezzi and madras compare to others cr0 recipies?

I would love to hear some feedback, as I have had no time to try these recipes ,but am burning with curiosity?

cheers DD

Hi curryhell, yes i did once think the same. However i have let base mature for several days and it does get i iny bit nearer the bir taste, as the onions begin to ferment. but not significantly better to be worth repeating.

It is a fact restaurants are cagey about revealing there base sauce recipe. i think they will provide the spice mix at a push, but not the base sauce recipe. This was my experience anyway.  I must ask to get a demo at my local of them making a base sauce. They never said this would be a strict no no. It may be a bit odd though turning up in the morning !! 

I find most good recipies in any good indian cokery book work well in slow cooker. Perhaps adding extra meat might give a more depth of flavour . thats what i do anyway. chop the onion up as small as possible, then it disappears into a sauce after 9 hours.

Thats odd when i purchased some real bir base , and cooked with it ,the taste  was nothing like there curries. We need more members to repeat this. Is it only me and haldi that have actually purchased a tub of real bir base to try at home?  surely others have tried

Interesting to hear about all your discoveries. What is bhooning?  i assume you mean the technique associated to bhuna dishes, where you reduce the sauce down and fry spices in the remaining oil?  or do you mean something i have missed?   

Hi , thought i would start a new thread for people to add individual breakthroughs or even just odd unexplained findings that could be relevant to achieving the illusive taste.

Here is my highlight of the year.

1) i made a simple traditional curry with generous amounts of tumeric, coriander powder and cumin. and the other usual ingredients, + half tin tomatoes and onion. THEN ADDED DOUBLE THE AMOUNT OF UNCOOKED CHICKEN BREAST.
2) put the slow cooker on for 9 hours.
3) the curry was average , the chicken was suculent and melt in your mouth.
4) However when i came back the following night , re heated the curry in the slow cooker for 1 hour, the curry
was completely different. It had improved 10 fold.
5) It was like a completley different curry than i had the night before.
6) The taste had some of the characteristics of that deep savouy taste of a good bir curry.
7) In 4 years of cooking it stood out as the only curry that came anywhere near that savoury taste a bir curry has.
To me this is a major new line of enquiry. I need to transfer this taste to my bir style curries.
9) It must be due to the chicken juices and the spices relaxing and mellowing overnight. .

Hi paul, i have a good feeling that in the next year or 2 we will all break through to the next level. I reckon we will discover something on our own (amongst cro members) , someone at cr0 will make a new leap of faith , and we will truly reach the next level. I think we have all become stuck at a certain point for 2 long. However the laws of endless experimentation would predict a breakthrough at some point. I will post my findings later when i get time ( i am at work at the mo, so little time to post)  Its not ground breaking but i felt it was very interesting. it might point the way forward

Hello paul, phil jerry and all the other old familier peeps at the cro scene. Good to have you on board still !  Where did all the others disappear to  
Things have been quiet on cr0 for a while, as paul so rightly pointed out. Its great some of the old members are still around though. Its encouranging to know i am  not alone on the quest. Its also good to see a few new names as well , nice one!  I must admit since moving house my time to try new curries has been severely disrupted. I did have a couple of interesting outcomes worthy of posting. I think i will begin a new thread for this called " Breakthroughs of 2011"
   Paul i did get a step closer to the savoury moorish taste you mentioned, but i will post that on the new thread.