Beer madras bir style
Curry...!!
- Thread starter Clint
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'Beer' Madras... Freudian slip...?
Nice thread. Had a good read. I too have the Dan toombs books. I’ve spent hours making spice blends/ base sauce and marinating meat to make curries and trying to get that authentic BIR flavour. After the last curry I made with seasoned oil, spice stock, base curry etc etc I turned to wife and said it really isn’t worth the time and effort when I can pick up the phone and have one delivered which is far better in flavour.
Don’t get me wrong they’re decent curries the flavours are there and intense but it’s just not the same, I can’t explain why.
One thing I haven’t done is get a stainless pan and really let the sauce caramelise. And I’ve always added the base cold…
honestly do I give it another go? Do any of you think your curries have that same depth as a BIR curry? And if you do please help!
Don’t get me wrong they’re decent curries the flavours are there and intense but it’s just not the same, I can’t explain why.
One thing I haven’t done is get a stainless pan and really let the sauce caramelise. And I’ve always added the base cold…
honestly do I give it another go? Do any of you think your curries have that same depth as a BIR curry? And if you do please help!
I need to buy a proper pan, as you say it must add something and they don't nothing else in a curry house
Do you know what, during lockdown we got curries from our favourite local restaurants and they just weren’t the same… so I think there is an element of the whole ‘restaurant’ experience (maybe it’s the music!!). To be fair, we tend to be our own worst critics :-)
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Aluminium pans also work and are usually cheap.
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If you enjoy it, yes. If you simply can’t resist the challenge, yes. If you fancy a break from it, do that! It’s really your call
If you want to know how your local place does it so well, get cheeky and ask them if you could pay to have a lesson from the chef?
Cheshire Cat
Landlord.
Curry base from Dan Toombs curry bible made yesterday now in freezer in 4 containers.
nice! I am getting stick from the management for having “filled up the freezer” with curry base, curry stock and tubs of spices keeping fresh (to say nothing of all the hops…)
Cheshire Cat
Landlord.
I also made the garlic and ginger paste.
works well to freeze it in the ice cube tray, then transfer to a ziplock bag
Cheshire Cat
Landlord.
I know but no ice cube trays 
nor me - but I found the fridge door had one of those trays to hold eggs in, and that works a treat (exactly one tablespoon size)I know but no ice cube trays
or maybe just put 1tbs dollops of it onto a Baking sheet?
Cheshire Cat
Landlord.
Just ordered 2 on Amazon delivery tomorrow.
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Mick Crawford’s ebooks are worth a look.
Great effort!
You should add the base hot. A lot of the techniques involve high heat..and not burning it! A difficult balancing act...see some videos where the pan catches fire...this is the bit that's hard to replicate without burning your kitchen down! But..it adds lots of flavour. I 99.9% cook outside...
I have to say this thread has really inspired me to start cooking curries again from scratch. I last tried it in the mid-90s with the Curry Club books, no Youtube back then and I struggled with some of the techniques as I'm not a great one for learning from books.
I've been following Latifs Inspired on Youtube, made several of his recipes including this Chicken Dhansak last weekend, which went down very well His Base Gravy had a lot of ingredients so I found a simpler one, which worked fine.
I've been following Latifs Inspired on Youtube, made several of his recipes including this Chicken Dhansak last weekend, which went down very well His Base Gravy had a lot of ingredients so I found a simpler one, which worked fine.
The books like these ones ... ?
The 90's (or more likely the 80's) is probably the last time I opened them, but IIRC they are a nightmare to follow as you have to keep jumping between different sections...
That's the ones, the Pat Chapman books! I don't know where they went to, probably lost in a house move.
But yes, every recipe seemed to refer to 3 or 4 others, which then referred to 3 or 4 others. 3 of us had these books and were single / newly married, no kids at the time, so often spent a whole Saturday making gravies, pastes and spice mixes. We'd have an expedition to the local Asia supermarket to stock up on spices. All with varying degrees of success.
But yes, every recipe seemed to refer to 3 or 4 others, which then referred to 3 or 4 others. 3 of us had these books and were single / newly married, no kids at the time, so often spent a whole Saturday making gravies, pastes and spice mixes. We'd have an expedition to the local Asia supermarket to stock up on spices. All with varying degrees of success.
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Made this batch for tomorrow, traditional style rather than from base gravy
Was quite nice as it was but to thicken the sauce to suit everyone's preferences, I ended up taking the chicken out, blitzing the sauce and adding Greek yogurt which finished like this. Also pinched some of the sauce and marinated some pre cooked cauliflower as a side dish, so tomorrows meals are sorted!
Was quite nice as it was but to thicken the sauce to suit everyone's preferences, I ended up taking the chicken out, blitzing the sauce and adding Greek yogurt which finished like this. Also pinched some of the sauce and marinated some pre cooked cauliflower as a side dish, so tomorrows meals are sorted!
