Topic: Frequently Asked Questions

[Curry King]

I have started a F.A.Q with some of the most commonly asked questions, its only small but can be added to so pm me anything that you think should be added.?

Table of Contents:
What is base sauce\gravy
What is the "taste"
List of common spices
What does BIR mean
What's the difference between BIR and authentic curry
Who is this Bruce Edwards I keep reading about
What is this "Spice Mix" refered to in a lot of the recipes
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What is base sauce\gravy
The base sauce\gravy is one of the main components of the restaurant curry.? Every restaurant will have a big pot of this on the go all the time, it enables the chef to create any curry within a few minutes of it being ordered.? There is no 100% correct? base sauce recipe, every restaurants will be slightly different so the best thing to do would be try one of the basic ones and go from there:

Here is the index of base sauce recipes available on this forum:

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=422.0

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What is the "taste"
The "taste" which is refered on the forum is the specific taste and quite often smell that you get with a good restaurant curry.? It is this "taste" that we are all trying to emulate at home!

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Common Spices
Here is a link to the most common spices that you may need:

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=184.0

Here is a link to a site which describes spices with pictures etc..

http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/index.html
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What does BIR mean
BIR is short for British Indian Restaurant

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What's the difference between BIR and authentic Indian curry
The obvious difference is the base sauce, each BIR curry is made from the same base sauce,? authentic curry's are more often than not each created from scratch.? Taste wise they are completely different, which is why 99% of Indian cook books won't help you create anything similar to your local Indian takeaway!? The chef's base sauce recipe is a VERY closely guarded secret hence why you won't find many books with them in!


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Who is this Bruce Edwards I keep reading about
Forget Pat Chapman and Kris Dhillion the best BIR cooking articles were written by Bruce Edwards.? If you havn't done so already download and print both parts from here:

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=516.0

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=108.0

These articles are essential reading and many people on the forum use Bruce's restaurant spice mix in the recipes that have been posted.

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What is this "Spice Mix" refered to in a lot of the recipes

The Spice Mix, Restaurant Massla or Chefs Curry Powder all refer to a mix of powdered spices that are used throughout BIR cooking.? Rather than specify or use the individual spices this mix is used in place.? The most favoured one at the moment is the Bruce Edwards which is made as follows:

Coriander 8 Parts
Turmeric 7 Parts
Cumin 5 Parts
Curry Powder 4 parts
Paprika 4 Parts (optional)

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Please send me a PM if you think that something should be added.

[CurryCanuck]

Great idea CK - well done ....this is an area that members can reference on a regular basis .

CC

[curryqueen]

Good Stuff!  It will enable newcomers to access information with much more ease.  Well done!

[CashNCurry]

Agree. This is great for newcomers and the curry experts. Well done!

CashNCurry

[George]

As CK correctly points out in one FAQ: " Forget Pat Chapman and Kris Dhillion - the best BIR cooking articles were written by Bruce Edwards."

Perhaps we need to add a follow up FAQ to the effect of: "Who is this guy and where does he hang out?"

It seems incredible that virtually nothing is known about Bruce, or Kris for that matter. (We discussed Kris before.) I wonder if we could submit a search to a radio station or some other missing persons service.

Regards
George

[Mark J]

I'll ask Pat if he can put me in touch

[George]

I'll ask Pat if he can put me in touch

Mark

Did you manage to contact Pat and get any useful info, please?

Regards
George

[Kendo2008]

hi just looking at the spice mix part how much is a part?

thanx

Kendo

[joshallen2k]

How much a "part" is depends on how much spice mix you want to make. I usually equate a "part" as a teaspoon.

So for example, if the mix was 5 parts turmeric, 3 parts coriander, 3 parts cumin, and one part paprika, you would use 5 teaspoons, then 3, and so on.

By simplifying and using a teaspoon per part, you will usually end up with just enough to fill a spice jar.

-- Josh

[Roti]

hi just looking at the spice mix part how much is a part?

Hi Kendo,

Its "parts" (ie ratios) by volume.  As Josh says, its up you to decide how much you want to make, so you might use teaspoons, tablespoons, cups or even litres as your volume measure!  Its up to you! I usually use tablespoons as my volume measure.