It is a masala mix by MDH that a number of my mom's friends use in HUGE quantities!! ?these are the people who make "curries" by making base sauces first. It was because they always asked for large boxes from indian stores (the town I am from has no indian stores, restaurants, nothing - and the closest is a 2 hour drive away) that we decided to try it ourselves! ?I brought this up on a previous thread somewhere!
I started throwing it into all my dishes - gives a really good flavor. ?I have seen it in stores in massive boxes - but i dont remember if it was in the US or here in the UK.

Payal

Thanks George, I am making a list of these places.  I hate to randomly try places because most of the time the food is nothing great.  I have tried 5 restaurants in the Derby area and have only found 1 to have decent food.  I wouldnt dream of going to the other 4 ever again!!

Payal

What they mean George is a dry mix of spices....and i know some of them use mixes such as Kitchen King along with other spices they put together to add to the onions, ginger and garlic.

Thats what I mean George - nobody wants to give away their secret mix of spices - not even my mom's friends!!  I dont know which masalas they are referring to so thats why I ask and they just say "add some masala as you like" - it is so frustrating for me too!

If it is the base, how can each curry house know the "secret" ingredient?  I still think it in the technique.  My moms' friends make food which smells like an indian restaurant's food but nobody wants to give the details of the masalas!  They just say they use masalas with the onion, ginger and garlic.

Payal

Thank you so much for that George.  I checked out all the links and will write down the names in case I run across those in Leicester.  it is a starting point for me at least.  It seems maybe in the more heavily indian populated areas, there is more authentic food because that is what we like to go out to eat.  Eating BIR food is not authentic tasting for indians.  Not to worry, the curry houses will probably remain at each street corner!!  I am not sure local people used to eating curries will even like authentic indian food as there are no curries  ;D

Payal

And thats not all Ray!  I started at one of the sites and then linked on to many more!!  Its endless ;D

Payal

George

Thanks for that reply.  You are absolutely right in that it would make more sense to have someone with me who can tell me what is a good curry or not!  I can say from experience that the same restaurant can serve the same dish on 2 nights and it can be very different in quality and taste.
Yes, it was only after coming here 4 months ago that I discovered what a "curry" was.  We dont use that term in indian cooking.  We did have someone from england come to Texas and tell us he was craving a good "curry" but when i asked what that was, he couldnt really explain.  I assumed it to mean something with a gravy/sauce to it.
I went to one restaurant in Derby (Anoki) that i actually enjoyed but I dont know if what I had classified as a "good curry" or not.  It didnt have any taste that I differentiated as being special - just had onions and garlic and spices cooked in plenty of oil.  It will really drive me crazy if I go and have trouble identifying a "taste" in the food
Can someone suggest some places for me to start at..i know there was some place that some people said to stay away from in Leicester - I dont want to end up there!

Payal

Can someone suggest some places to eat in Leicester (along that line of indian shops) and a place outside Burmingham, called Hainsworth or something like that??  That place near Birmingham is where we have found lots of indian shops and many places to eat.  I have yet to eat the BIR curry and want to go to a good place.  Those are the 2 cities I will be going to the week after next as my family is coming to visit from the states.  I did find a very good place in Hainsworth - its been open for like 3 months and served very authentic indian food.  The lunch buffet was excellent but I want to try this fabulous BIR curry that everyone raves about.  Knowing and using all the indian spices very thoroughly, I may be able to help out in the mystery!!  Thats my hope!

Payal

The little plants dont have a "fenugreek" smell at all!!  they dont have much of a smell if i remember correctly - even when crushed.