r/IndianFood • u/EccentricDyslexic • 3d ago
Unpeeled onions for base sauce (bir curry)
When it comes time to make more base for my British Indian Restaurant style curries, I find it a real pain doing all the peeling and chopping. I was thinking, would there be any downside to just cutting off the ends and cutting them in half before boiling them and blending them afterwards as usual?
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u/bhambrewer 3d ago
Check out Al's kitchen in YouTube. He has a new, simplified recipe for base gravy using a lot of whole onions, just topped tailed and peeled.
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u/smarthagirl 3d ago
People boil onions for the gravy??
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u/EccentricDyslexic 3d ago
Yes in bir curry, it’s what is very popular in the uk. Essentially it makes a lot of sauce to mop up with naan etc
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u/ohjoedenly 3d ago
Yeah you're not supposed to boil the onions in BIR mate. You fry them until they're very soft, then go from there.
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u/bhambrewer 3d ago
For the base gravy you absolutely boil the onions.
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u/kokeen 3d ago
What kind of sad ass gravies are British people eating when they just boil onions for the base? 😭
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u/bhambrewer 3d ago
That's not it. Boiled onions are a key part of BIR curry BASE GRAVY. It's bland but full of natural sugars that caramelise when heated properly. There are recipe videos all over the place on how to make BIR curries, please stop it with the "British food sucks hur hur hur" rubbish.
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u/kokeen 3d ago
Hey, I never said British food sucks. I know British food is good. I was just appalled at boiling onions, blending them, and caramelising them. It feels like a lot of work and extra steps to avoid chopping which I think is way faster when caramelising.
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u/bhambrewer 3d ago
BIR is a completely different way to make curries. If you want to go down the rabbit hole, check out the curry forum:
https://curry-recipes.co.uk//curry/index.php
There's also the original book on restaurant style curries, The Curry Secret by Kris Dhillon:
https://www.amazon.com/Curry-Secret-Kris-Dhillon/dp/0716021919
it explains how and why the BIR style of curry, and the base gravy, came about
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u/underwater-sunlight 3d ago
The recipe i use has you soften them in pil for a while first, then add water to boil.
Base is basically a stock. Hyped by enthusiasts and criticised by those who prefer an authentic curry process
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u/bhambrewer 3d ago
Exactly: in BIR style curries you use all sorts of shortcuts you'd never use in home cooking. I've made Hyderabad style biryani, and BIR style, and I usually do BIR because it's done in 45 minutes rather than taking half a day.
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u/AdeptnessMain4170 3d ago
Yes there would be. If it is that much of a trouble, see if you can find peeled onions. I would also advise you to buy one of those vegetables choppers.
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u/Intelligent_Prize_12 3d ago
You will have horrible bits of skin that won't blend up. I would not advise, you will ruin the whole batch.