I am planning to make a batch of c2g  3litre base, but I don't have a pressure cooker. How can I work out the timings with a standard pot?

Welcome dude! After trying CA, trying Taz's base. Making korma is really easy and tastes wonderful! let me know how you get on and if you need help with Korma

This is mostly food for thought.

When I lived in Cambridge, I used to take a lot of taxis to and from the towncenter, I lived off north of Cambridge near Milton. Most of the taxi drivers in Cambridge are bangla and they claim to have been chef (or still being chef at night time) in the past 10-20 years both in the bangladesh and in UK (particularly Cambridge).

Once, while on my way to tesco by taxi I was talking to a chap and he said he used to be a chef back in the late 90s in some of the "highly rated" indian restaurants in Cambridge, some of which have changed name and owners and chefs, etc. From some private exchange with CA who used to live nearby, he may have experienced meals made by this chef. So I told him which were my favourite takeaways in Cambridge and he didn't thought they were very good, he recommended another one instead. He said: the chef at this restaurant used to be my master. He knows how to infuse flavour in a curry.

So I asked him if he would take 100 pounds to teach me how to cook. I also added I would buy everything else needed and have a kitchen where to practice this. I just needed his help. He said "Yes, absolutely. I'll even help you making the mixes and have everything ready, the powders in the right portions, etc, so so you can cook a meal in 10-15mins.  At the time, I had no idea what real BIR cooking entailed, garabi wasn't even on my best dreams, so bear with me when I say that his comments had a big wow factor.

I was broke at the time, so I postponed the lessons. The following day, I ordered from the takeaway of his master and spoke to the chef and asked him to prepare my meal exclusively and that I had been sent by the-taxi-driver-s-name. His curries ranged from very good to very poor. He was impressive with chiekn tikka, chicken jalfrezi, chicken tikka shatkora and his bombay aloo (The best I've ever had!). His korma was horrible! On one fine day, I thought I'd ask whether Ali (the master) had any interest in teaching me how to do it and I extended the same offer. He laughed in a nice way (he was an incredibly friendly and humble chap!) and said "a lot of the tricks are in the timings and that is something I can't teach easily in one day. I've started cooking when I was 8 years old" (he sounded to be in his 50s) "but sure. Let's plan it. I can't do this week as I have a wedding, but next week  you can come in at lunch time and I'll show you how to prepare one or two dishes."; Sadly, the "It can't be this week" dragged on and on for a few weeks until I ended up not finding the time as I was moving back to Ireland by the time he called me and I had a ton of stuff to do before my departure. With that said (apologies for lengthy write-up), it makes me wonder why don't we all contribute 10-50 pounds towards clarity in the BIR taste?

I'm pretty sure there is a ton of other curry chefs from the 80s reformed and/or driving taxis who would easily take in the 100-150 pounds to teach the art. And, I know a few people have already attended courses, but what about singling out a specific chef that you know is a trusty achiever of the bir taste?

Quote from: Stephen Lindsay on January 21, 2013, 09:00 PM

Quote from: spiceyokooko on January 21, 2013, 08:46 PM
Stephen

Any thoughts as to why? Any common denominator between the three dishes?

Well I have to thank curryhell for the brinjal recipe which my g/f says is a 100% clone of what she used to order in Northamptonshire. In that sense I got lucky on the back of CH's efforts, fine chap that he is.

As for the PJ and Pathia, it's been down to extensive and meticulous experimentation with notes taken at each stage.  By meticulous I mean changing only one ingredient each time the recipe has been revised. By extensive I mean persevering for weeks if not months until I got what I thought was as close as possible. G/F and I had a PJ and Ceylon tonight and she said the PJ was as good as any curry she's ever had. I won't argue with such praise  .

I know there's been a bit of a debate on the site about whether cookery is art or science. I tend to think it's both and that empirical process of testing, reviewing, refining and then completing this loop again and again is the science bit, which with some experience behind you can become art like due to judgement calls about what goes with what.

I play guitar and it's a bit like you have to get the technique first but when you couple that with creativity (i.e. choice of notes) then that's where music starts to happen.

I also think I've nailed the Chasni (the tartan curry as some call it) and a few others but the one's I mentioned first have become my highlights.

I play guitar too and I can see where you are coming from Stephen. I've made a conscious decision not to learn theory so that my ability to compose would be 70% feeling and 30% technique. However, I think I need to disagree with you that creativity cannot be an essencial element to discovering the BIR taste. It can be, if you are doing it on a trial and error basis and using your brains to fill the gaps of your recipes. Then again, this is me thinking loudly. I'm also an engineer and I tend to think everything in mathematical terms, so sometimes I tend to follow a "scientifical approach to cooking".

This also makes me realize something interesting after revisiting this thread. Some of the "highly spoken" members of this forum claim they don't attain that taste reliably everytime, to paraphrase Phil, "on a good/bad day", etc. Not that it is a bad thing, but seeing how far I've come with only a few successful recipes (and a ton of appreciation for everyone leading me in the (hopefully) right direction to BIR taste) I feel quite proud and grateful for the efforts of many. I am not as ambitious as some of you, having mostly stuck with the bangladeshi curries in Cambridge, but I know it is a hard path, especially when you are starting fresh like me

For me it's the Chicken Korma and Chicken Tikka Masala with Taz Base. Pilau rice is only subtly different.

Quote from: tonymexico on July 11, 2008, 02:27 AMI tried the natco recipes some time ago, what a pile of s**t. If natco are claiming that this is the authentic bir taste and smell then they must have the worst curry house in Britain nearby. The red onion is slightly sweeter than white but overides the balance of any of the dishes you make with the base and a more balanced taste can be achieved with the addition of sugar at the end of the cooking process(something many curry houses sneak in but keep quiet about). As pointed out by parker 21 the onion paste is a complete waste of time, you may as well put a bar of soap in as it would probably add more to the flavour than the rancid taste it imparts. All in all if anyone tries these recipes, be warned, you are just chucking away valuable ingredients.

LOL

The majority suggest it's like soap. However, on the other hand, there is also 2 positive reviews and some "It's ok, not great" comments. Makes you wonder how bad it is, but probably will give it a miss (unless I run out of base sauce recipes)

I just ran into this page at natco's website, which claims to have the secret recipes for that BIR taste:

http://www.natco-online.com/acatalog/Holy_Grail.html

Has anyone tried these? Judging from the writing, I suspect the recipes have been copied verbatim from somewhere as there is a part where NATCO spices are recommended in an indirect manner. Also, their base sauce recipe seems oddly familiar too.

Quote from: Salvador Dhali on October 26, 2012, 05:34 PM
Salt, Coriander, Red Chilli, Garlic, Ginger, Black Pepper, White Pepper, Turmeric, Sugar, Mace, Cumin, Citric Acid (E330), Cinnamon, Onion.

Any korma connoisseurs fancy trying it and reporting back?

It should be noted that Korma isn't originally  a BIR dish. It has it's roots in persia and originally it's not even a sweet dish as we see it in birs. It's a nutty and mildly spiced dish -- that is essentially how the pataks korma paste tastes like.  The south indians for example eat a version of korma that is fiery and makes use of tomato. Coconut is not always used in the original recipes.

Quote from: chewytikka on January 19, 2013, 01:39 PM

Quote from: curryhell on January 19, 2013, 09:22 AM
If all else fails, use the traditional method - brillopad with plenty of elbow gease 

Hi gagomes
Do this in any case and buff up your new Ali pans, your curries will glide



cheers Chewy

thanks chewy, but I have a question: Wouldn't making the pans glide using the brillo pad (which I need to buy, btw) bottom tamper with the roasting effect?

That video really opened my appetite. What makes a "tuk tuk"? It looked like you were doing a jalfrezi w/ red masala, perhaps tuktuk is what you call it? and also, what is the recipe for the red massala you thrown in?

thanks a lot, will be checking the state after throwing the oil away. Wish me luck!