Welcome aboard Bob

Funnily enough I've just made a bhuna for tea (bloody fantastic!)

You've certainly joined the right place ;D

Have fun!

Hey mike

I've just got to say I've just made a bhuna using this base and it is FANTASTIC!

This base is better than Darth's IMO (and I never thought I'd hear meself say that )

Superb base!!!

If you don't try it then there's something wrong with you

100% bang on  ;D ;D ;D ;D

Bugger the stew bases, bugger the turnip/parsnip sweetness etc etc..... I have been converted

And there's no need to leave it overnight either.....in fact, I doubt you'd be able to

Thanks Boss

Thanks Boss Smells great! Tastes very nice and alot more flavoursome than other bases I've tried ;D....Now I need a good recipe to try it out on....Have you any recommendations?

Just after I added the spices....


Finished result.....



BTW I got 5 portions out of this one

Hi Mike (resident nit-nurse I think I'll call you from now on lol  )

When I make a recipe like this, I'd use medium onions (if they're on a smaller side of medium, I'd use 5, if not, use 4). Again, it comes down to personal taste, if you like a more robust flavour, take the ingredients to the maximum, if you prefer a more subtle flavour, use the minimum.

I know it's not much of a help luvvy but because I don't know your taste preference I can't make that judgement :-[

Hi Cory

I think we kinda make the same point, albeit differently....For me, the missing taste that I'm looking for is that sweetness, I seem to get the rich, savoury flavour that I think you describe but as with everything it's a matter of personal taste.

I've seen plenty of posts from people saying that they get the smoky taste,and just as many from ppl saying that they don't even though they've used the same bases, recipes etc. I doubt that anyone will ever make a base or curry that suits everyone's tastes simply because we each have a different idea of what the perfect curry is, yet we are all in search of the perfect curry.

QuoteTo my mind, there is no question of what the "taste" and the "smell" of a good (albeit from days of old) BIR curry are.

Now I've had bad curries which have had the "taste and smell" but still been a crap curry I've opened many a take-away carton to be blown away by the heady aromas yet when I've put some in my mouth they've been awful

I'll bet most of us have served up curries to friends/family who say that they are exactly like a restaurant/take-away curry and we smile and say thanks for the compliments but we still feel that something is missing. lol when I made your madras, the hubby swore it was spot on, but that slight sweetness was missing for me, but it's a bloody good curry, certainly on a par with BIR's round our way (in fact it's a damn sight better than quite a few ;D ).

I think before we can all decide on what the perfect recipe is, we'd have to reach a consensus on what the perfect taste is (maybe a 500-member-strong curry-crawl is needed lol ;D )

If I never find the answer to my quest, I'm having fun hunting ;D

Another thing about the taste is that when we cook curries at home, we cook a "clean" curry, whereas in a BIR thre's bound to be some kind of cross-contamination of foods or aromas (look what happens when you leave bread near onions) I don't think we'd get bang on results every single time unless we made curries 8 hours a day like a take-away . I've been cooking side dishes and curries most days this week and everyone that comes near the house says it smells just like a take-away, but then the aromas haven't had chance to go completely away ;D

Thanks to this forum my curries are 99.5% there flavourwise compared to the BIR's we like and I'm chuffed as hell with that ;D It's just that slight sweetness I'm missing (although my hubby thinks I'm mad : MEN! :)

Hi Block

Quote from: block on June 28, 2007, 09:23 PM
I know I'm gonna enjoy being a member here, so much reading and so little time.

LOL! Tell me about it : I'm addicted to this place

Is there a Curryholics Anonymous?

Hi all

I had an interesting conversation whilst out buying some spices this morning...The store owner and my hubby got talking about my renewed efforts in curry making (lately it's bordering on obsession ) and he told me that he and his brother used to work in a take-away in the late 70's early 80's. He said that there is no secret ingredient, the bases they made were based on a typical English stew, just spiced up to give it that Indian taste...

It got me thinking, I'm a lover of Darth's base, which does use typical stew ingredients (excepting turnip/swede/parsnip) and now I'm wondering if that's the missing sweetness I could be searching for :-X.

I know we all may have different perceptions of what the "taste" is, it could be that some of us are hankering after an older flavour of curry to some who have only been used to the newer stlye of BIR cooking which seems to be moving ever closer to authentic Indian food by using more exotic ingredients in their bases? This would explain better why some people feel that they have acquired "the taste" whilst some are left less well impressed using the exact same recipe.

P.S. Is curry-making becoming one of the bastions of masculinity or something? The shop owner assumed my hubby would be doing the cooking for some reason lol

Mind you, when I come to think of it, most men would only don an apron for curry making or barbecues....Is it some primal urge? ;D LOL

Hi Mike

I feel as though I am in some way responsible for the way in which this thread has wandered, but it wasn't entirely intentional. I felt (rightly or wrongly) that I had to explain one of my posts properly so that people would know that I wasn't setting out to be antagonistic. Like you, I'm extremely grateful for any recipes or advice shared and I thank everyone who has helped make this board what it is, but I am also saddened that what was once a fairly tight-knit community has been torn asunder purely because people voiced concerns over certain recipes/techniques or the validity of the claims made by the posters.

As George has said, discussions tend to wander, I can't really call this a debate since I have not noticed anyone actually put up an opposing view, but would more than welcome the chance to have a proper debate.

I agree that what happens here should stay here, and the same in reverse, but I have to say that Ali's post is an indirect answer to one of my earlier posts in this thread. I have refrained from giving a full and frank opinion of that post despite it raising so many more questions such as: Why can they not advertise (or give out the name of) the restaurant/take-away? (surely they advertise it in other places, even if it's only sticking a menu through people's letterboxes )I mean, he gives excuses (however flimsy) for why these things have not yet been delivered, but no reasons to explain the excuses, if it was a legal reason or whatever, then post and say so...there are other questions I have but I won't go into them here as I think anyone of reasonable intelligence will have the same questions upon reading that thread. I see nothing whatsoever in that post to warrant some of the "that'll show 'em!" attitude displayed by some of the members.

You say that this is not the place to complain about it, but it's clear that there are some members (or guests) at this board, who, for whatever reason feel the need to report on member's activities here, it had to be addressed here as I felt that other members need to warned that there may be repercussions elsewhere because of views expressed on this wonderful board.

Also, since this is a curry forum, when a site sets itself up and proclaims itself to be "The number one secret Indian restaurant cookery site", it is natural for members to debate whether it deserves that title, regardless of which board they are at, and who better to debate it than those who have a wealth of knowledge and experience in that very topic? Since Andy's recipes are posted here, and he claims to have the BIR taste using those very recipes, the debate is also going to crop up from time to time as people should rightly have the freedom to praise/debunk them.

I've been on the net since it's earliest days and have seen many people make outlandish or exaggerated claims, 99 percent of which have been proved to be completely false, and in each and every case people have been glad to have such things pointed out, since keeping doubts to oneself can only result in more people being taken in by online conmen. (I'm not saying that Andy is a conman, but there are plenty of things which for one reason or another just do not add up which rightly makes me suspicious). We've even had members fake their own death and come back a month or so later as an entirely different person, but they always get caught out and exposed. ;D

Why are there no pictures of inside the restaurant? (I know andy has a camera, so why not take piccies of the chefs during prep before the restaurant opens? He could always blank out the faces to protect the innocent lol). Personally, I have to say that if I were having the same accusations thrown at me, I would do something to shut people up and prove myself at the very earliest opportunity, it should not take months and months of promises and backtracking.

I think the way in which RCR has come to be was Andy's goal before he ever placed a post here in that name. I don't whether it's for the benefits brought about by e-commerce (I'm sure he'll get some kind of recompense for the books advertised on his site either by getting so many clicks via the ads or by commission on the number of books sold via the link from that site) or if he has just made himself out to be more experienced than he actually is to gain kudos from members and is now struggling to provide provenance of that experience.

Does anyone know which Sunday Magazine the article is to be published in? Or is this too one of the great secrets? And as for the fusing technique, well.......I've used that very same technique every time I've made a sauce (or even scambled eggs) : admittedly, I keep the pan on the heat, which is the only difference.... I never knew it was a secret to keep things moving in a pan to avoid things catching and burning, maybe I should add this skill to my curriculum vitae?

If I offend or upset anyone in any way by my posts here, I apologise.

No problem boss

I'm such a n00b ;D