We have all read this topic (which I can't find a consistent thread for - move this comment to it if you know it) over the years and thrashed it to death with opinions and possible explanations and some people have claimed to have come close.. and so I throw my hat into that ring with an observation from earlier this evening that immediately reminded me of this subject!

I have enjoyed many days out over the years and when it came to early evening, the aromas coming from 'Takeaways' and restaurants firing up ready for the evening trade have always made my mouth water, even if I couldn't immediately distinguish one style from another.

Earlier this evening, I was making my favourite from curryhell, which is the only recipe I have come across that uses a particular ingredient... during the final cooking process I used the opportunity to take some rubbish(refuse) out to the bin(garbage) and being a particularly warm, pleasant and clear night, I spent a few minutes staring up at the stars.

And so returning to my opening point, as some have discovered, we suffer from sensor overload whilst over the pan and curries have 'tasted' better the day after and food prepared by someone else always tastes better...

So maybe the missing 5% is all of that, being cooked by someone else, no sensory overload and a particular ingredient we associate with our favourite restaurant (I am sure they all tried to be unique and used more/less of some ingredients, 2 I remember well, 1 used way too much salt, the other too much ginger, yet some people liked them enough that one is still going strong 40 years later).

Add in a smatter of fondness of memory and all the vagaries that brings and I wonder.. was there ever a 5% or just some smell we associated with our favourite restaurant/dish/end of the night out?

Slightly off topic but when I used to go abroad, I could never get a 'proper' cup of tea until I was back in England.  So if you never had BIR, trying to explain it and the taste of it, even if perfect might be impossible and not as palatable as your currently much improved takeaways or best home efforts to reproduce have rewarded you with.

Conclusion.  The missing 5% does not exist, it is subjective.

My prayers and condolences for the family and friends of Simon.

I wasn't going to contribute until I read Ghoulie's post and it reminded me that on the Pyramid of Predators, we are only ranked 5 (top) because of our ability to use tools, other than that, in the natural environment of other predators, we are barely a 2.

Sobering thought.

Or even just 'Marketing Speak' for.... Pay more.

Back to the main thread topic, the lack of any response to my post, or many others, seems really indicative of how participation in this forum has fallen to what may be an all time low. It's so sad. Does anyone have any ideas of how we could re-generate some interest? The group tests done a few years ago were not a bad idea. I am guilty of not posting about things I have done over the past year or two, like buying quite a few curry tree plants and having them all die, before buying some more recently, to try again with a different approach. Maybe someone here knows about how to grow curry tree plants, for example.

I am guilty of not posting also.

Phil's recent discovery that lunchtime is the best time to prep. didn't need any further comment, imo, as I assume 99% of commercial BIR is prepared during the lunchtime/afternoons before evening service begins as cleaning after could run into the early hours?

I have not been keeping up with growing chilli's the last few years as my wife took a liking to succulent's called 'Japanese Money Trees' (aka Jade Plant - Crassula ovata) and my front window is full of the darn things without any space to get seedlings started over the winter/spring months and even then, my old greenhouse is all but a frame and a certain Pandemic put pay to replacing it with the larger one I wanted (as well as other issues).

My photo contribution has similarly been lacking as I am unlikely to inspire.  I know what I like, I try to cook what I like and that tends to be the same old recipes to be honest.  By the time I get home and to cooking something, I usually just want something quick and that involves going to a very short list of dishes I think I can cook passably/good.  The 'Josephine' thread was always inspiring for me.

As for 'real' BIR, I am not sure there is any left any more, particularly where I live.  It all seems to be Pakistani or Bangladeshi, with hundreds (I jest not!) of Fried Chicken offerings, so no real way to compare my production against Traditional/expert offerings.

Regards,
BAJ

Eastern Tandoori Chicken Patala

Ingredients:

- Portion of cooked Chicken Tikka
- 350 ml portion of heated curry base
- 2 Tbsp Oil
- 2 knobs of butter (each approx 1 Tbsp when melted)
- Rounded Tbsp finely chopped Onion
- 2 Tsp Garlic (ginger) paste
- 0.5 Tsp Meethi leaves
- 0.25 Tsp Salt
- 2 Tsp Tandoori Masala powder
- 1 Tsp Mix powder
- 0.5 Tsp Chilli powder or to taste
- 1 Tbsp Tomato paste already diluted 1 part paste to 2 parts water
- 2 rounded Tbsp ground Almond (or Almond powder)
- 1 level Tsp of Coconut powder or dessicated coconut
- 1.5 Tsp Sugar
- 2 Tsp Tomato Ketchup
- 1 Tsp Lemon juice
- Half a Tomato cut into quarters
- 3 Tbsp single Cream
- 0.25 Red Food Colouring
- 1 Tbsp chopped fresh Coriander

Method:

- Add 2 Tbsp spoon of oil to your curry pan and place on medium heat
- Add the finely chopped onion and first knob of butter and fry till they start to take on a little colour
- Add pureed garlic/ginger and fry until the sizzling from the puree subsides, about 30 to 40 seconds
- Add the meethi leaves, salt, tandoori masala, mix and chilli powders, pre-diluted tomato paste and fry for 30 to 45 seconds mixing well with the pan contents – DO NOT BURN
- Add 2 chef spoons of the heated curry base and stir in well and fry for 30 to 45 seconds
- Add half of the remaining curry gravy, almond and coconut powders followed by the sugar
- Give the pan a good stir ensuring all ingredients are well mixed
- Add the chicken tikka and stir
- Leave for 3 to 4 minutes to cook, checking occasionally, do not let it burn
- Add the remaining curry gravy, tomato ketchup, tomato quarters, lemon juice, stir and cook for 2 minutes
- Add the cream and food colouring and stir through the curry
- Reduce heat and leave to thicken to a normal curry consistency
- Add the coriander stirring it through the curry
- Add the knob of butter folding it in to the curry until it has melted
- Garnish with a sprinkle of fresh coriander




Tandoori Masala Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons Ground Coriander
3 Tablespoons Ground Cumin
3 Tablespoons Garlic Powder
3 Tablespoons Paprika
5 Teaspoons Ground Ginger
5 Teaspoons Mango Powder
5 Teaspoons Dried Mint
3 Teaspoons Chilli Powder
1 Teaspoon Red Food Colouring Powder


@Onions: I had already typed it up but not printed it for some reason.  There are some Capitalisations that are not in the original and I had put it into a standard format I like to use but the qty's are all correct.  I have some scribbles on my screen print, where I have used 1 Tbsp of Food colouring in the Ingredients to get the brilliant red colour in CH's original photo's.   I hope this helps.