Almost ready for 1st BIR style meal...

[TiredRob]

So after lots of reading on here, and watching a fair number of videos on you tube, I'm almost ready to delve into my first BIR style curry...

Made up a batch of CA's spice mix a few days ago - I confess I did make one small mistake already, realised after I finished that a little of the paprika I threw in was smoked - most was normal though, and it overall mix doesn't smell smokey at all, so hopefully that won't affect anything too much. Must pay more attention next time though!

...and today, after first creating some garlic and ginger puree's, I also made up a batch of CA's base gravy recipe. All looks and smells great to me, and I now have a freezer full of tubs all neatly stacked, along with one tub left in the fridge for (hopefully tomorrow's) first curry. That probably would have been tonight actually, but I'm still waiting for some indian curry leaves to arrive before I pre-cook my chicken. Then I think it'll be a nice Jalfrezi for first test. Or maybe a Vindaloo. Or maybe both...

I'd just like to say a big thanks for all those who make up this forum btw... I'm really looking forward to testing some of the recipes on here, and would never have got started without the info I found here - so thank you.

Will post an update when ready!

[Alchemist]

Great start Rob (bet you are living up to your forum name now!).

When cooking, don't be afraid to let the base gravy stick to the pan and then scrape off - this is the key part of getting the best possible flavours. Good luck, let us know how you get on.

[rshome123]

Good luck Rob. You're committed now you've made big batches of everything. Anticipating your excellent curries.

[TiredRob]

don't be afraid to let the base gravy stick to the pan and then scrape off

Yeah, I saw that on rshome123's videos... this could be my biggest problem actually, since all my pans for our (induction) hob are all pretty decent non-stick jobbies - but I'll give it a go, and if I can't get any decent caramelisation then I guess I'll start looking for alternative suitable pans.

[Westy]

Rob , I wouldn't worry too much about caramelisation and so on - you'll have enough to worry about cooking your first few dishes . Just enjoy it and concentrate on the basics - you'll love the results

[kimgary]

Wishing you all the best with your first cook, take your time and enjoy it, with the induction hob and non stick pan after you have made the curry I would remove 2-3 tbsp. and return it to the pan, high heat and let it sit and bubble away reducing, stir a little if it looks like its burning, this should almost give you a caramelization flavour then stir it back into and thru the main curry, should only take 2-3 mins on a high heat.
Regards
Gary.

[TiredRob]

Thanks chaps - I'll see how that caramelisation thing goes - and will try the return to hob idea if I feel like it needs it. Not going to stress out too much about it - it's all good at this stage.

Anyho, I just pre-cooked a pan of chicken and watched the spices for a bit before tossing the meat in (damn it's hard to not continuously stir fry like I'm used to)... our hob gets bl**dy hot, so I actually had to turn it down a bit for fear of burning things, but as it sizzled and bubbled away, the mixture definitely looked to me like it was doing the right thing - dark and sticky/goopy - so I'll see how it goes on the first 'proper' cook.

[Greybeard]

That looks brilliant Rob, good luck with your first fry off.

[TiredRob]

The first cook is done.

I did two lots of chicken Jalfrezi in the end - the missus doesn't like things too spicy, so she asked me to dial the chillie powder back to 1.5 teaspoons of mild, as opposed to the 2 teaspoons of hot that went into mine.

My kitchen now looks like a bomb-site... but that was the best curry I've had since we moved into our local area a couple of months ago.

After eating, Karen then decided she'd have preferred me to stick to 2 normal teaspoons of chillie powder in hers after all (duh) but mine was spot on in terms of heat/spice: very tasty, lots of flavours going on, and nothing too dominant over anything else. I also needn't have worried about the caremalisation thing either with my non-stick pan - it looked to me to be doing just fine (was scraping a layer off the bottom of the pan and edges after each thickening after gravy being added). So no apparent problems there.

All in all, I'm going to call that a pretty good success really. Thanks again to Cory Ander for the recipes from the ebook - which I followed as closely as possible.

I'm sure I probably did lots wrong - and I certainly have some 'workflow' issues to address (I'm thinking the Blue Peter school of everything in little pre-measured pots all in a lovely row sounds like a great idea for starters)... but by the 2nd serving I did feel like I've pretty much got the idea ok... so I think the next one will probably be a bit calmer.

Anyhow, here's a quick snap of the result before I scoffed it. Excuse the crappy iphone picture... I was keen to start eating. :lol:

[Greybeard]

Looks like a real success there, Rob. Wait until your friends hear about your curry making skills - the bomb site can only get bigger

[TikkaTom]

Rob that's a fantastic looking jalfrezi to start off with! They will just get better and better from here as you perfect your technique. Don't worry too much about the caramelisation thing, I get similar results in nonstick and stick pans. Good work!

[seafret]

Hey! That looks excellent! Pleased to hear it all went well.
It does get easier to manage the work flow; setting everything you need out logically before you start to heat the oil is a good habit to get into. You'll still make a mess of your kitchen and hob though it's worth it!

[rshome123]

Fab pictures Rob, and a great first cooking session. The more you cook curry the more you will improve (usually).

[kimgary]

You did nothing wrong, you cooked a meal and loved it, you will only go from strength to strength now, you will never look back, you will spend more, you will want a tandoor etc etc, but for now be content, you have joined a special brotherhood, a BIR home chef, I think for a 1st try I will give you 11 out of 10 if your other half had not convinced you to tone hers down and she was 100% happy then it would have been a 12.

Fair play to you. you did all the leg work, making your base gravies etc, IMHO there are no short cuts to producing BIR style curries, if you went into a bir kitchen you would witness just how labour intensive it is in prepping and then how easy it is to put any curry together in minutes.

Wishing you all the very best in your new venture, you have probably joined the number 1 site for help and encouragement for you to reach your goals.

Trouble is you will be cooking a lot more and never be invited for a curry.

Kind Regards
Gary.

[Westy]

That looks spot on Rob - nice one

It's a real revelation that first home cooked BIR curry , I still remember my first ..... and what it led to

[Wob]

Well done Rob! Looks great!

Prep wise, I'm in the pro prep camp. I use those plastic take away boxes - dead easy to wash up.

Its a tiny bit more washing up vs recovering from a kitChen bomb site!

[Cory Ander]

Just to ensure that no members (who don't have a copy of the ebook) feel alienated, all of the recipes are available on this forum:

• Spice Mix
• Curry Base
• Jalfrezi

All looking good, Rob, thanks for sharing your results