My partner hails from Birmingham (UK, not Alabama) the curry centre of Britain and she had her favourite restaurants. Now, when I was getting to know her I said that I made a decent curry, and that's all I said leaving her thinking it would be a jar of Pataks or similar. So when I made her one for the first time, from a base I'd prepared days before, I wouldn't let her in the kitchen to see  what I was doing.

Anyway the inevitable "that smells good" could be heard as I carried on in the kitchen and when I served it up her first words were "it looks like it came from a restaurant". Then, after she'd finished mopping up her plate she swore it was as good as any restaurant/take away she'd visited in Birmingham. Now, in no way shape or form is she a fan of cooking, however, both she and one of her sons are cranking out BIR curries on a weekly basis.

Furthermore I got her to bring a curry from her favourite restaurant for a side by side taste test when she once came to stay, and to be honest guys, I couldn't say one was better than the other. Both had a slightly different taste, but there was no stand out winner.

Hi Guys. Hellish compliment from my partner the first time I made her a curry. She's from Birmingham and has loved BIR curries for years so knows a good one when she tastes it. I had told her I made a good curry but I got the impression, from her lack of interest, she was expecting a Sharwoods/Pataks kind of affair. Now, imagine her surprise when I served up her favourite Chicken and mushroom Balti for the first time. To say it was priceless is an understatement. She just couldn't believe I hadn't bought it from the local TA, especially as I served it up in a foil tray. I think only when she saw me make one did she fully believe I'd made it myself.

After that she coerced (another word for nagged) me to make one for her daughter and one her son who equally love their BIR curries. It was a Chicken Sag for her daughter and a Vindaloo for her son both of whom didn't believe you could produce IR quality curries at home (don't you just love proving people wrong) Funny thing though. When she told her son I was going to make him a curry, he replied "Oh, I prefer IR curries".

Anyway, when three curry loving Brummies say they are as good as anything they can get down there, I reckon that's as good as it gets. For those interested I use the  "Best 100 Balti Curries"  as the base.

After seeing many TV demo's for ceramic frying pans, I finally bought one from ASDA. What a waste of money that was. Probably the worst cooking implement I've ever owned.

Yes, it was fine for the first few weeks, but gradually everything started to stick. The pan also took on a burnt look which just wouldn't wash off. Having become totally peed off with this so called non-stick item, I called the maker and spoke to some woman in customer service.

Now I would class myself a decent cook, but this person treated me like an idiot. First I was told I should only ever use vegetable oil which I use all the time anyway. Next, and check this out, when I said even eggs were sticking, she asked how I was trying to cook them. The same way I'd always cooked them. Add a bit of oil, warm up the pan and crack the egg. No no no. I was told I should crack the egg into the pan while it was still cold!!

Talk about being fobbed off. She had no interest whatsoever. After looking on-line I read that many others had had the same problems with ceramic pans. Fair play to ASDA though as a couple of months after I had bought the pan I just happened to mention the problem I'd had with it and despite having no receipt they refunded my money. Buy one of these pans at your peril. You might be lucky and get a good one, or you might end up getting your fingers burnt.

Anyone remember being told this back in the late 70's early 80's the night after having a curry? I certainly do. In fact, you could smell it yourself at times. Therefore I ask where has that "day after" aroma gone. Why do work mates no-longer tell you to "go away you stink of curry.

We all know that cooking garlic for even a short amount of time reduces this lingering after effect that so many people used to complain about. Even the Bradford base that calls for 15 cloves of garlic doesn't create this day after smell. Neither when I have used a full tube of garlic in a base does it occur, either, so therefore, where has it gone to. It has to have vanished for some reason. Either that or people have become more polite.

Now, I am wondering if they actually cooked the garlic in the 70's/80's the way we do today. Perhaps they just added it directly into the curry when they were cooking the final dish. By that I mean no frying it off prior to adding the base. Obviously I have no evidence of this, but it does make me think. This garlic/curry smell that seemed to leak out of your pores the day after has been lost, so I can only presume it's down to the cooking method.

Anyway, I intend to try and recreate this lingering after effect that was so prevalent in the early days of BIR curries. I'm going to try and keep things simple for my first attempt. Basically making an onion gravy/base, with minimum or nothing added until it comes to making up the final curry. It may well turn out to be disastrous, but an interesting disaster if nothing else. Anyone else have thoughts on this. Good, or bad, I don't mind. And who else remembers being told "go away, you stink of curry"     

I'll report back on my efforts.

Hi everyone,

Thought some might like to hear the results of a little experiment that produced the best base and madras I've had in a while. I've been making BIR style curries for a good number of years...Chapman, Dhillon and from the 100 Best Balti Curries cookbook. All were reasonable but just not what I was looking for, that being 80's style.

Since viewing this excellent site I've tried the Bruce Edward's base and madras which I found too bland, and then CA's base and madras which I found to complex. By complex I don't mean in the making, but in the taste. There is no intended disrespect or criticism towards you in that statement CA and I hope you don't think there is.

Anyway. In looking for another base to try I went for the Bradford/Rick Stein recipe that many one here were impressed with. http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1894.0
  I liked the simplicity of the ingredients which I think would be close to those used in the late 70's 80's curries. After knocking up a batch I noticed, like others on here, how dark it was with quite a bit of heat from the amount of chilli used. To my mind this didn't leave much wiggle room for making the more mild, lighter curries, and although the madras I made from this base was pleasant, it still wasn't to my liking in terms of taste or colour.

Now, not wanting to discard this panful of base I set to thinking about how could I adapt it for further use. I wanted something that was lighter and less spiced to make it more versatile. I though that if I cooked up a simple onion, garlic and ginger base and combined this in a 50 50 ratio with the Bradford base it would be a good starting point. Once the onion base was made I combined a ladle of each and cooked it up. The resulting base was, well, perfect. Lighter in colour and much less spiced. What really struck me though was how sweet it was and the madras I made from it was first class and as good as any I've had from a restaurant, or TA.

When I next make the Bradford base I intend halving the spices, but increasing the garlic and ginger slightly. Hopefully this will produce the same result.

For anyone interested the onion base I made for the 50/50 ratio was. 3 medium onions. 1 tbsp garlic and one of ginger. This was sweated off in oil until soft then blended. For the madras I added 1 tbsp tomato puree. 2 tsp garlic. 2tsp ginger, 1tbsp BE spice mix. plus salt and green chilli to taste. A godsend I found yesterday was green chilli puree. For my use this is going to be the best thing since Gaviscon Liquid.

Sorry to ramble.
Steve.