Topic: Running out of ideas

[emin-j]

Hi all,
Made my usual Madras,Onion Bhaji's,Pilau Rice and Bombay Aloo last night but this time used fresh Garlic & Ginger  (lately been using frozen for convenience) plus added two tbs of Rajah Curry Powder and 1/2 tbs Garam Massala to CA's Spice Mix.
The Curry was good but not as good as our local t/a.
The Bhaji's were OK but not as good as our local t/a.
The Rice was good but not as good as our local t/a.
The Bombay Aloo was better than our local t/a  ;D
Have tried all methods,different Bases,different Spice Mixes etc etc  :
The odd occasion I have bettered our local t/a Curry but I just can't seem to match their Savoury flavour in such a light tasting Sauce,what I mean by light is the consistency plus the local t/a's seem more Orange coloured to my Brown  I have used Orange food colouring in the Base Sauce which did give the Base a nice Orange colour but once the Spice Mix is added to the final Curry it turns Brown !
This makes me think that the majority of the flavour comes from the Base and as most Base Sauces tend to be Yellow in Colour they only add minimal Spicing (Chili and ? ) to end up with the Orangey colour.
I seem to have tried most permutations of ingredients and methods but to match the depth of flavour I have to Spice the final Curry quite heavily (1tbs of Mix powder) but this results in a bit of a heavyish Brown Sauce.
Just seem to be running out of idea's   

[Whandsy]

Hi Emin-j
Have you tried these Bhajis
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4443.0

If you look further down the 1st page there is a scaled down version of it and it's the one I now use. I find that recipe leaves the Bhaji a tad try so I add 2 dessert spoons of natural yogurt to it. I also use three quarters of a tsp of star anise pounded in a pestle and mortar instead of aniseed powder or fennel seeds.
As for the cooking, I have one of those cheap deep fat fryers that allow temperature control and so for 5 mins I cook them at 150c rotating them all the time and then crank them up to about 175c until they're the right colour. This cooks them all the way through.
This thread shows my results
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=6343.0
I think these are equal and better to a lot of takeaways

regards

Wayne

[emin-j]

Hi Emin-j
Have you tried these Bhajis
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4443.0

If you look further down the 1st page there is a scaled down version of it and it's the one I now use. I find that recipe leaves the Bhaji a tad try so I add 2 dessert spoons of natural yogurt to it. I also use three quarters of a tsp of star anise pounded in a pestle and mortar instead of aniseed powder or fennel seeds.
As for the cooking, I have one of those cheap deep fat fryers that allow temperature control and so for 5 mins I cook them at 150c rotating them all the time and then crank them up to about 175c until they're the right colour. This cooks them all the way through.
This thread shows my results
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=6343.0
I think these are equal and better to a lot of takeaways

regards

Wayne

Hi Wayne, Yes it is the IG Bhaji's I am currently making and I do use the Aniseed seeds plus some Cumin seeds but nothing comes close to our local t/a's 
The owner did tell me they fry their Bhaji's in Veg Gee  not sure I'm keen on trying that though !

[martinvic]

What spice mix are you using and what colour is it?

Only asking because the spice mixes I have used have all been quite light in colour, from yellow to light orange.
So that, with the yellowish base, doesn't turn the curry brown.
Then adding Kashmiri + ordinary chilli powder, in itself gives a nice colour without using food colouring.

Plus haven't heard of anyone colouring their base, I thought any colouring is only added to the curry you are cooking?

Martin

[Razor]

Hi emin-j,

The IG bhajis wre great at the time Axe posted them and really showed the perfect technique however, Chriswg developed it further using a combination of the Dipuraja bhaji and the IG bhaji and came up with this http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=5057.0

Now I've made these a thousand times and each batch has been perfect and bettered a good 95% of the TA bhajis around these parts.

Chris does mention further down in the thread that he thinks the addition of the lemon juice is a mistake based on a coversation he had with a TA chef, so leave that out.  I don't bother to add any asafoteda either but maybe you would like to?

As for the actual curry, my base is a light orange colour to start with but when I make a madras, I only add 1 tsp of gg paste, 1 tsp of spice mix, a good chefspoon of diluted tom puree (1:3 ratio of water), and 2-3 tsp of Kashmiri mirch. This gives my curry a very orange colour and the oil is almost red!  I've also started to add 1 star anise as soon as the oil goes in the pan but fishing it out before I plate up.  It's a little twist that really does add something to my Madras and almost replicates my local TA's Madras

FYI,

The base gravy I'm using is Chewys 3 hr base; http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=5635.0

The spice mix is my own http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4706.0

Hope that helps mate?

Ray

[PaulP]

I know where Emin-j is coming from I think. Like him I usually use a full tablespoon of spice mix against 500 ml of base to make 2 small portions of curry. And yes my curries end up more brown than orange. Even with the new secret spice mix from ifindforu my curries are still lacking somewhat.

Even the Shere Khan chain TA in the food mall in Liverpool's St John's market has "the taste". Their food is not freshly cooked and sits unlovingly in heated trays on their food store. I think they use chicken thigh meat, probably cooked on the bone then separated. The meat is delicious and very tender.

On a brighter note I bought a Tescos chicken madras for lunch and had to put two thirds of it in the bin. I enjoy my own curries far more than any supermarket curry I've tried. I'll check out my new spice mix with either ifindforu's base or a chewytikka base and see where that gets me.

Cheers,

Paul

[emin-j]

What spice mix are you using and what colour is it?

Only asking because the spice mixes I have used have all been quite light in colour, from yellow to light orange.
So that, with the yellowish base, doesn't turn the curry brown.
Then adding Kashmiri + ordinary chilli powder, in itself gives a nice colour without using food colouring.

Plus haven't heard of anyone colouring their base, I thought any colouring is only added to the curry you are cooking?

Martin

Hi Martin,
I am currently using CA's spice mix plus I have added  2tbs of Rajah curry powder and 1/2 tbs of Garam Masala ,the spice mix is Orange in colour.Reading this post plus Razors it seems you both use Kashmiri Mirch whereas I have been using Kashmiri Chili which I believe is something different.

[emin-j]

Hi emin-j,

The IG bhajis wre great at the time Axe posted them and really showed the perfect technique however, Chriswg developed it further using a combination of the Dipuraja bhaji and the IG bhaji and came up with this http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=5057.0

Now I've made these a thousand times and each batch has been perfect and bettered a good 95% of the TA bhajis around these parts.

Chris does mention further down in the thread that he thinks the addition of the lemon juice is a mistake based on a coversation he had with a TA chef, so leave that out.  I don't bother to add any asafoteda either but maybe you would like to?

As for the actual curry, my base is a light orange colour to start with but when I make a madras, I only add 1 tsp of gg paste, 1 tsp of spice mix, a good chefspoon of diluted tom puree (1:3 ratio of water), and 2-3 tsp of

Kashmiri mirch

. This gives my curry a very orange colour and the oil is almost red!  I've also started to add 1 star anise as soon as the oil goes in the pan but fishing it out before I plate up.  It's a little twist that really does add something to my Madras and almost replicates my local TA's Madras

FYI,

The base gravy I'm using is Chewys 3 hr base; http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=5635.0

The spice mix is my own http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4706.0

Hope that helps mate?

Ray

Hi Ray,
Yes it is the Bhaji recipe I use that you have linked to and although they are probably the best flavoured Bhaji's I have made they are still nowhere near as good as our local t/a but the owner did tell me they fry their Bhaji's in Veg Ghee and not Oil but I'm not keen on that  I also noticed you say you use 2-3 spoons of Kashmiri Mirch and this is something I have never used and I can see how adding this should give an Orange colour so I'll be looking out for some,thanks' for the link to your spice mix will be giving this a go soon 

I do have this Ray ?

[chewytikka]

Hi emin-j,
The next time you make a base garabi, only add Salt and Tumeric and a Chef's spoon of Tomato Puree
after you've blended it and put it on the second boil/simmer.

Thinned right down with water this will give you a bright yellow base garabi, even if you leave it on
simmer for ages. (M&S do a very light Italian Tomato Puree. Excellent).

Any mixed powder will colour and darken any garabi, especially if its got garam masala in it.

Kashmiri Mirch is Kashmiri Chilli powder, one in the same and Its my preferred chilli powder (MDH)

Cheers Chewy

[emin-j]

Hi emin-j,
The next time you make a base garabi, only add Salt and Tumeric and a Chef's spoon of Tomato Puree
after you've blended it and put it on the second boil/simmer.

Thinned right down with water this will give you a bright yellow base garabi, even if you leave it on
simmer for ages. (M&S do a very light Italian Tomato Puree. Excellent).

Any mixed powder will colour and darken any garabi, especially if its got garam masala in it.

Kashmiri Mirch is Kashmiri Chilli powder, one in the same and Its my preferred chilli powder (MDH)

Cheers Chewy

Thanks' Chewy,
I don't have a problem with any of the Base Gravy's I have made they all turn out a yellowy colour but the final curry ends up quite brown in colour compared to my local t/a (well 2 t/a's ) and the Gravy in their curry's is light in texture,orange and very savoury.