I have everything ready for a beef curry today. I thought I'd go off-piste and make this one up as I went along. None of my current curry portfolio use green cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, coconut etc. A curry I used to cook before my 'base sauce awakening' did include 3 of the above and was a real nice curry, so I thought it worth giving some of these additions a go. Just wondered if you have any advice; perhaps even a curry that I have missed that contains such things? I even thought about adding sultanas; yes, way off-piste  . Is it a mistake to go the aromatic route with beef, and would you have any advice if I did?

I've been cooking curry's over 20 years, but only in the last couple of years did I get into base sauce. Amazing how you can knock up a curry so quick.

Lots of different chefs method's are very similar but very wordy, which tends to make them seem different and can have you lose focus on the main thread. While documenting, I try and keep things simple and put the rest of the "fluff" down to experience. This way I managed pull together 9 completely different curry recipes in 1.5 pages of A4. Essentially it's a super short, concise, ebook. Thought I'd share. Not sure if this is the best place for such a thing, but I see this thread as more about 'keeping it simple', using a standard approach, adapted slightly for each recipe, and less about the recipes themselves. Follow this standard approach, and take ideas out of other peoples recipes to try and match what you are looking for in your own curry.

CURRY METHOD

Pre-fry
6 tbs veg oil
1-2 tsp garlic & ginger paste
1-2 tbs fine chopped onion & green pepper
Fry above until just before browning.

Spice fry
1 tsp chilli powder
Spices
Add above and fry some seconds.

Main cook
1 portion base sauce
1 tsp salt
1 portion of pre-cooked meat
On high heat, add some base sauce bit by bit to prevent the spices burning. Add the salt. Add the meat. Reduce to simmer. Thicken the sauce to the desired consistency.

Late additions
Add the aromatics and other late additions and simmer for a minute or 2.

THE CURRY'S
You'll notice I only fill in the blanks below. The ingredients in the curry's below are to be ADDED to the standard cook outlined above...

Standard
Spice fry: 1/2 tsp cumin powder.
Late additions: 1 tsp garam masala, pinch fenugreek leaves, fresh coriander.

Madras
Pre-fry: 1 tbs tomato puree, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce.
Spice fry: 1 tsp mix powder.
Late additions: pinch fenugreek leaves.

Jalfrazi
Pre-fry: half onion, half green pepper, half red pepper, 1 star anasi, 1 tbs tomato puree.
Spice fry: 1 tsp cumin powder.
Late additions: 1/2 tsp garam masala, pinch fenugreek leaves, fresh coriander.

Bhuna
Spice fry: 1 tsp coriander powder.
Late additions: 1/2 tsp garam masala, fresh coriander.

Bhuna Masala
Pre-fry: 50g mushrooms, half green pepper.
Spice fry: 1 tsp cumin powder.
Main cook: 1/4 tsp red food colour powder.
Late additions: 1.5 tsp garam masala, pinch fenugreek leaves, fresh coriander.

Do-Piaza
Pre-fry: 2 small onions (cut in strips).
Spice fry: 1 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 tsp coriander powder.
Late additions: 1 tsp garam masala, pinch fenugreek leaves, fresh coriander.

Korma
Change to standard: only 4 tbs veg oil, no ginger & garlic paste, no onion & green pepper, no chilli powder.
Spice fry: 1 tsp cumin powder.
Main cook: 2 tbs finely ground cashew nuts, 1/4 tsp yellow food colour powder.
Late additions: 150ml single cream, 1/2 tsp garam masala.

Sagwala
Change to standard: 7 tbs veg oil.
Spice fry: 2 brown cardamoms.
Main cook: 200g well chopped frozen or tinned spinach.
Late additions: 1.5 tsp garam masala.

Rogan Josh
Spice fry: 1 tsp cumin powder, 2 tsp paprika.
Late additions: 2 tbs yoghurt, 1 rough chopped tomato, 1 tsp garam masala, pinch fenugreek leaves, fresh coriander.

My favourites are the Jalfrazi & Sagwala, both made unique with the addition of their respective hard whole spice. Keeping my recipes written simple like this allows me to see easily what it is that contributes to the flavour of each curry, and so more easily pick out problem additions or omissions as I continue my search for perfection. My current base sauce of choice is Chewy's, which I split into 6 portions and cook with 400-500g meat.

I was pretty disappointed with my first attempt at Balti. I prepared by trawling through all Balti recipes, on several forums, to try and find a similar thread that ran through them all. Nothing really stood out, other than many mentioning that Patak's Balti paste was the key. Well having tried it I can tell you that it certainly is not!

So that leaves me pretty flat with nowhere to go on this.

I'm starting to think that the real Brum Balti flavour remains the unknown of these otherwise fantastic forums, forums which have helped me crack the BIR method and massively expand my curry portfolio. So am I correct, or is there anyone out there who thinks they know the key? Is it fennel, starting with more water and boiling down, lots and lots of fresh coriander, using a specific Balti base, or what? Is there anyone that thinks they know the main key towards unlocking a real Brum Balti? Thanks.

I don't feel too old myself, but it proudly states outside that it opened in 1986, and I've been going there since that time, but not frequently enough that they ever got to know me. It was never a posh place, more like a cafe, 'pee from a distance' when you go to the loo type of thing. The food was to die for though, best ever. In the last few years they upgraded from cafe style and attempted the restaurant look, the son took over from the ageing chef. Being more one for a takeaway, I didn't go into the new restaurant part until recently. In some ways I'm quite upset that it marks the end of an era for me, because, after all these years, it's sure I'll never go back again. Maybe I got snobby or they just failed to move along with the times, but the experience was shocking.

To offer just an idea... imagine walking in, not long after opening, and seeing all the knives and forks laid out. You notice that the napkins are not neatly folded around them, but seem strangely squashed around them. So you look closer and see that the cutlery itself is dirty, as in used! You persuade yourself that it must be a table someone just left, so look for a clean table. But all the tables have used knives and forks laid out! At that point you can't quite bring yourself to believe this is quite right, surely there must be some other explanation, but no, when pointed out, the waiter (son) goes and changes our cutlery, but none of the rest, just ours. Before their restaurant upgrade they didn't offer cutlery, you ate with chapattis. Perhaps they should have stuck with that.

Believe me when I say I'll talk about this experience for years. The food has to be outstanding to cope with such things, and it no longer is, so never again.