Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: Peripatetic Phil on November 02, 2019, 08:58 PM
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Last night I visited another as-yet-untried BIR in Cornwall, and once again it was something of a disappointment. There were only two diners when I entered, but when I asked the owner whether he had a table for one he looked uncertain and had to ask the waiter who assured him that there was indeed one available. I order one plain and one masala popadom, a mixed kebab starter with a chapati, and a chicken Madras with a stuffed paratha, all washed down (over the course of the meal) with three large Cokes. The popadom were fine, as were the accompanying pickles, but when the mixed kebab starter arrived I had a sense of d
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I remember some years ago Tesco started to sell Naan bread, that to me looked like the real deal, it was labelled on the back "Abdul's Southall, they were great, sprinkle with water and microwave for 1 minute and then foil up.
They would always sell quickly, after about a year, no Abdul any more, now Tesco, not quite as good but ok.
So now im sure now what we get from supermarkets is the results of spies watching the BIR's being made and thinking how can we get machines to turn these out.
They are certainly giving it a go.
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I remember some years ago Tesco started to sell Naan bread, that to me looked like the real deal, it was labelled on the back "Abdul's Southall, they were great, sprinkle with water and microwave for 1 minute and then foil up.
They would always sell quickly, after about a year, no Abdul any more, now Tesco, not quite as good but ok.
So now im sure now what we get from supermarkets is the results of spies watching the BIR's being made and thinking how can we get machines to turn these out.
The Adbul
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Without digressing from the thread subject about 8-9 years ago at work we had a back door into the staff shop at a factory in London that supplied sausages and chicken to supermarkets, due to cancelled orders from the supermarkets, amongst other stuff we could buy packs of labelled finest sausages for 50p a pack of 8, and 5kg of chicken breasts for
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Without digressing from the thread subject about 8-9 years ago at work we had a back door into the staff shop at a factory in London that supplied sausages and chicken to supermarkets, due to cancelled orders from the supermarkets, amongst other stuff we could buy packs of labelled finest sausages for 50p a pack of 8, and 5kg of chicken breasts for
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I think your probably spot on there with those reasons, the factory was south London, I remember seeing the staff there with their white wellies on buying stuff in the shop too.
Also picking up on the original subject the Asian isles in Tesco are catching up with various ingredients for curries but i still prefer my Local Asian store,
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Also picking up on the original subject the Asian isles in Tesco are catching up with various ingredients for curries but i still prefer my Local Asian store,
The
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I've found that over the past few years, Tesco's range has been getting smaller and smaller. Not just 'Asian' stuff, but general.
Thinking of changing my supermarket.
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Yes they have got smaller, i think they used to be 450g originally, and I still get wound up when I see the sauce only covers half the chicken like its been squirted on followed by the film top, if just to remind you its a production line.
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I meant the range of products they stock as opposed to the size of each product :lol:
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Yes, Do support your Local Asian store, least the supermarkets squeeze them out altogether. If the local store hasn't got what your looking for, talk to them and they will probably get it for you. Supermarkets won't. Also the tiny little spice bottles are astronomical compared with packets from your local shop.
It's very true Supermarket curry's are getting better, I have tried a few but much better to make larger quantities yourself than you need and freeze. Gave up on supermarket Nan, I'd rather toast some Tiger bread with good old butter. Rice buy in at least 10 kilo bags, it keeps and improves with age.
As for getting started or new ideas checkout Latif's Inspired https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKlET6nkHSKNWef97D_UBkQ I hope more BIR chefs are inspired to post their recipes, methods and tips too.
As for post starting this thread. I agree many BIR's these days are just going through the motions and many are just churning out very unexciting meals. I think the turning point came when many seemed to give up their enthusiasm and turned finding the easy solutions, buying in premade bulk base etc. making many of them all taste the same, dull, lifeless and boring. It's a nightmare when I get a main course that I'd bin if I'd made it myself but sadly I've been served a few on my travels. It's refreshing when you find BIR'S striving to provide the very best in flavour and excitment in their dishes, chefs who are proud of what they produce and always striving to impress.
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Hallo Nadal, thank you for your comments, and welcome aboard. I notice that you included the same off-site link in both your reply in this thread and in another thread that you started
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As for getting started or new ideas checkout Latif's Inspired..
It's going off topic but I can't let that one pass. New ideas ... seriously? His curries are bog-standard fare you can get anywhere, not least of all from this forum. It's great that he's adding to the Youtube curry-fest that now exists but if only he'd done it ten years ago it would have been novel and possibly even new. But now, not so much.
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As for getting started or new ideas checkout Latif's Inspired..
It's going off topic but I can't let that one pass. New ideas ... seriously? His curries are bog-standard fare you can get anywhere, not least of all from this forum. It's great that he's adding to the Youtube curry-fest that now exists but if only he'd done it ten years ago it would have been novel and possibly even new. But now, not so much.
I agree with your comments,
Its strange, comments from family and friends enlighten me as to how far i have come when it comes to creating and cooking a curry, yet reading through this site reminds me how little i know, we are all on a journey, This forum and youtube serve as a springboard for many.
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Very interesting to compare the lists of ingredients for Morrison's top five curries :
Flaming fiery phal : Chicken Breast (37%), Water, Onion, Tomato Paste, Green Chilli Pur
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Once made the mistake of buying a Mr Daves curry from Makro. It was worse than a school dinner gravy - pathetic. Bad enough for me to write to Makro to question the capabilities of their tasting panel. Never replied.
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Once made the mistake of buying a Mr Daves curry from Makro. It was worse than a school dinner gravy - pathetic. Bad enough for me to write to Makro to question the capabilities of their tasting panel. Never replied.
No surprise that they didn't. They're operating at the bottom end of the market. Prices are low and won't leave much margin for anything resembling "customer service". Good to report, so others don't make the same mistake.
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Yes they have got smaller, i think they used to be 450g originally, and I still get wound up when I see the sauce only covers half the chicken like its been squirted on followed by the film top, if just to remind you its a production line.
we choose where to shop on the basis of what we are cooking. The Tesco Extra at Maldon was our first choice but the range and quality has diminished so much, and now the deli and fresh meat counter is no longer open between Thursday and Sunday we go to Sainsbury
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Not sure how that alleviates MickyP
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In the Morrison's range I think the Madras is also very good for a ready-made Phil. It's not really a Madras; it would be called a Ceylon hereabouts. Plenty coconut. There are some curry leaves in it as well, which is not a bad thing.
Must get the pans out at home though, it's been a while.
Rob :)
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Must get the pans out at home though, it's been a while.
Rob :)
Yes it has - get the finger out man :wink:
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How sad, :tears: comparing supermarket curry, to anything BIR quality is a joke. :dislike:
especially the cheap meat, dry, overcooked and tasteless.
But if you dont like cooking or are challenged, it
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Tried yet another Cornish BIR last night, this one having opened only a month ago. Friends who had tried it said that the food was good but the service awful, so I opted for a take-away. Mixed kebab, lamb biryani, chicken Madras, pulao rice. In the mixed kebab, the seekh kebab lacked flavour but the other elements were OK. The lamb biryani was beef, with 100% certainty. The chicken Madras had an odd off-centre taste that I couldn't identify. The pulao rice was good. Based on the two main courses, I will not be going there again.
So this evening I tried yet another supermarket curry with my usual tweaks (fry in mixed garlic-infused & chilli-infused rapeseed oils, sprinkle with GM and fresh coriander, add salt to taste); this time it was an Aldi "specially selected" king prawn bhuna served with the remains of last night's pulao rice. Once again, a very acceptable curry, with lashings of king prawns, and certainly far better than either of last night's two "real" BIR main courses.
** Phil.
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Yet another supermarket winner : Hungry Elephant Gunpowder Chilli Garlic marinade + sauce. Marinade the chicken (I used four thighs, chopped across the bone into three), leave overnight in the 'fridge (I left for three days), fry until cooked (I fried in a mixture of garlic-infused and chilli-infused rapeseed oils), add the sauce and cook for around ten minutes (I added some coriander stalks and some fresh green chilli). I finished off with black kala namak, Mrs Balbir's garam masala and some coriander leaves. Once again a supermarket curry that would not disgrace any BIR (even allowing for the cornflour content) and better than anything I can get in a BIR or T/A within half an hour of Bodmin.
** Phil.
P.S.
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How sad, :tears: comparing supermarket curry, to anything BIR quality is a joke. :dislike:
I couldn't disagree more. As Phil says, some supermarket curries are very good indeed.
I recommended a couple of supermarket curries (now sadly discontinued) here a few years ago and came up against a barrage of disbelievers back then, too.
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I agree, i have had both good and bad, overall they have improved over the years.
my only gripe is clearly they have to weigh in the content of chicken so thats put in and they squirt the sauce on leaving some uncovered which doesn't look good, also it must affect marination.
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How very sad. I think I'll duck down to the shops and buy a supermarket curry. Obviously this forum isn't about actually cooking them any more.
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You are incorrect there, the forum is about cooking BIR. the thread isn't.
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How very sad. I think I'll duck down to the shops and buy a supermarket curry. Obviously this forum isn't about actually cooking them any more.
Isn't that a bit of an over-reaction? SOME (UK) supermarket curries are superb, as are SOME BIR dishes, although the latter cost around 3x more. There's plenty of room for both.
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You are incorrect there, the forum is about cooking BIR. the thread isn't.
So that's why I had to search back 6 pages / 64 posts to find anything about someone cooking anything. Guess what? It was me over a week ago.
Shopping appears to be the focus now. I'll go back further to try to find the previous post of some actually posting about cooking a curry.
Your own posts mickyp shows that 60 odd posts back you gave a recipe for a dip and 89 posts ago you apparently did some Onion Bhajis. I didn't look back any further but I hardly expect to find a photograph of a BIR Curry you've actually cooked and posted about.
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Personally with the lead up to xmas and 4 grandchildren around my feet i haven't had time for a lot of things, and now with new year approaching I'm sure it will continue. Happy New Year to you Livo, may 2020 bring you lots of people cooking curries.
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and others to talk about them ;)
After all, every artist needs their audience!
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