Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: JerryM on December 26, 2012, 09:54 AM
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Again it?s been a pizza year for me ? Nancy Singleton ?Mozza? inspiration and serious eats sourdough.
The curry highlight being Mogul (curry2go & Chef Nural). Also loved h4ppy-chris post on south Indian garlic.
My 2012 targets pretty much failed yet still very happy (we've travelled a long way). I ended up buying ifindforu?s mix powder (rather than trying to make) and will continue to purchase. I also continue to use his jalpur in chef garam.
Anyhow onto my 2013 targets:
1) get the sliced/chopped ?garlic? to my liking which will help open up range of mains
2) have more ?single main? curry weeks ie make the same main dish repeatedly. Although last year I thought this was the only way to deliver "recipe refinement" am now convinced.
In short have 10 out of 14 off mains I make that still need work. always on look out for more ?best? chef special dishes
anyhow real interest is what others are planning. Particularly as I sense members have made good progress this year.
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Hi JerryM,
For the new year I intend to concentrate more on other dishes like Jalfrezi,Butter Chicken and maybe a Biryani rather than our usual Madras,I like to perfect a dish before moving on and I think my Madras is sorted.Also my Onion Bhaji quest continues,just can not match the flavour of any of our local t/a Bhajis :'( did find some orange lentils in one the other day so will give that a go.
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emin-j,
appreciate your thoughts. it's always suprising how "others" thoughts get your own grey cells going.
onion bhaji quest is quite strange - Axe's post some time ago sorted it for me albeit i still use my original curryqueen "simple" recipe quite a lot. appreciate not easy but any thoughts on what the missing flavour is like.
the jalfrezi, butter chicken and biryani all sit well with the 10 dishes i'd like to improve on. madras is in the 10 too.
to be clear to anyone thinking about the future - i see this as a 2nd leg or new journey. the above dishes listed by emin-j i can already cook well - they just don't fit "best". i find at any TA or restaurant there is 1 or 2 dishes that i suspect the chef likes himself and are much better than the rest of the menu. these are what i call "best".
i think for me another important part is to sort of confirm what i think i already know. the journey so far has covered a lot of ground quickly and despite a few revisits could do with some fine tuning in targeted areas.
the jalfrezi is a good example. i use admin version (and difficult to improve on). it's one dish that i see tom puree as a big NO NO. since h4ppy-chris alerting to tins toms a natural question being would that work. the only other area i see improvement being on the use of fresh chilli. in the asian stores i know for example they have jalfrezi chilli and have used briefly in the past. from a looking back point and recently using the squat green chilli's in i think h4ppy-chris garlic i realize i need to use more fresh chilli and a wider variety.
butter chicken is very difficult for me as i've never tasted in BIR. i use an adapted bitchinsahsa. how you would improve it is anyone's guess. my 2 off customers love it as it is. this in itself is becoming another factor - there is much resistance within to try new or push the boundary.
the key to biryani is the sauce for me. i've not quite got madras or plain curry sauce as i know it just quite right. the tin toms is something i'm going to work on and perhaps need to try chewytikka's and the recent h4ppy-chris versions.
on the rice i'm quite happy using dipuraja with addition of coconut flour at end of cooking and a few marrowfat peas adding in.
i suppose in short a year of consolidation is planned sitting now from an armchair view and in no rush.
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mix powder is 1 other thing that has re surfaced given h4ppy-chris posting his mix.
i'd put this out of mind by buying ifindforu's (i've only used 1/3 of what i bought last jan which suggest i'm not using enough or not cooking curry enough - matters not). trouble is i don't know the composition (only in general terms)
main thing was that i could not really work out how "good" h4ppy-chris mix rates (is it worth making). i've tried many mix powders and know it is a vital key to BIR. what are the norms or acceptable range of ingredients - is the question for me. i've seen about 20 ish different versions via the site of which i've probably made around 5 off.
for me some norms would be if cumin is 1 unit (say 1 tsp):
1) coriander x2
2) turmeric x4
3) currypowder x6
4) chef garam 0.5
i'm not sure on paprika though - in or not. i tend to think in for colour but does that go against what you need for "cream" dishes. i've left chilli out as that is best for me added per dish given i have some in the base.
once again any thoughts.
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Ive stopped using paprika,I found it coloured ok but to much of it left the dish grainy and dry tasting, i add a tsp of orange food colouring to my mix which leaves a nice golden looking curry dish, most birs are loaded with food colouring. just a thought!
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i think paprika is a ground spice that goes off very quickly leaving a sour taste. the observation being from none curry cooking where i use quite a lot. only buy small amounts.
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i think paprika is a ground spice that goes off very quickly leaving a sour taste. the observation being from none curry cooking where i use quite a lot. only buy small amounts.
I'm sure i've read this on more than a couple of occasions elsewhere Jerry. Hence I try to avoid using it or using mix powders that contain it.
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Reckon I will just keep going. Madras and the occasional vinders will be my mainstay. I cant see much point to changing them greatly to be honest. Plan more experimentation with methi dishes. Chicken shatkora is also a likely target. A balti is imminent. I think I will limit bir starters to chicken and lamb tikka; the rest are likely to be traditional vegetarian recipes, e.g., potato baskets filled with various chaats. Lots of veg side dishes are on my to-do list as well. Should keep me busy for a while! Thanks again to the CR0 for great recipes, and the all-important inspiration. Coincidently, I have just realised that since starting making my own offerings 12 months have gone by with no colds or flu, touch wood. Thought I had succumbed to one recently, but curryhells phall neutralised it. All good!
Rob :)
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Plan more experimentation with methi dishes. Chicken shatkora is also a likely target. A balti is imminent.
will keep look out for when you get to these. there really is so much to this curry that'll keep us going for a good while.
the methi is something i've got into liking (when it's hard fried). what i have noticed is that the fresh leaf tastes really good and certainly keep thinking i must give it a try (using it like fresh coriander).
i must buy a jar shatkora too having had niece curry in restaurant that was based on it.
all fingers crossed on getting better at balti too.
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had my 1st opening "go" at the garlic.
thought i would use south indian garlic as the dish. given recent spot on info from h4ppy-chris and that it can be a personal fav dish.
i know 3 off versions of the dish:
1) CBM / h4ppy-chris - garlic added at start
2) fav TA - pre cooked slithers added at end
3) fav restaurant - no idea on method tastes fantastic
there's also
4) Az's Zaal method - separate fry
i'm not sure what my target is and just intend to mess about with the various methods until i get i guess a cross between 2 & 3 (probably including 1 & 4).
no 3 (fav restaurant) is a really difficult dish to explain. it's smooth (not like a madras), has what i think i should call "piquant" after taste. no visible garlic. possibly a hint of pink colour.
method -
1) pre cooked garlic slithers on gas hob in my Zaal pan using oil (1 chef),v ghee (1 tsp) and butter (1 tsp). then drained on kitchen paper and left to cool.
2) used h4ppy-chris recipe without red pepper. added in golden syrup (1 htbsp) and touch tamerind (1/2 tsp). did not blend chopped tin toms. no methi. added garlic slithers at end
the cooking did not go well - the syrup spoon stuck in the base jug causing a panic and over singing the spices. the result was something like a 6. the garlic taste was ott.
thoughts going forward
1) chopped tin toms need blending for this dish - too lumpy
2) too much garlic (for the 1st time)
3) need to think about "piquant" and how it's produced in BIR - blended red pepper perhaps with some large red chilli may be something like
4) a little tom puree might be needed
link h4ppy-chris : http://cr0.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,11119.0.html (http://cr0.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,11119.0.html)
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...i know 3 off versions of the dish...
Hi Jerry - I think many might have missed my post about another version of the dish while the tantrums were in full swing last month. This is the link (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,11207.msg84772.html#msg84772) to the recipe and I can say that it is very, very good and certainly worth trying out. :)
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Naga,
many thanks - i had missed your post. tantrums are real put off for me - its the food and our collective helping of each other that matters.
have had a quick flick through the recipe and will need to check it in detail. it does not jump out anything new for me. link to my previous efforts http://cr0.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4333.0 (http://cr0.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4333.0)
your comment on jam is very interesting though - do you have more info. having thought more about what i'd tasted i felt although the restaurant is top notch and although i'd love to think they buy red peppers and chillies specifically to blend for use in this type of dish - part of me thinks they don't. in short i went and bought some chilli chutney and chilli pickle - yet to taste them. also remember something about same in the curry2go book and need to read up on it.
i also now realise that there is a massive selection of chutneys and pickle and need to do some more homework before revisiting the shop.
the jam sought of sounds right against my recollection of what i was tasting.
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...your comment on jam is very interesting though - do you have more info....
The chilli jam recipe is taken from a thread on the site:
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,7961.msg70136.html#msg70136 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,7961.msg70136.html#msg70136)
I don't separate my home-grown chillies, but just bung them into a freezer bag when they ripen. I made the jam with a couple of handfuls of frozen, mixed chillies instead, probably to excess of the recipe amounts! I also used Nishaan crushed garlic instead of the cloves.
The recipe certainly worked for me and it's a regular addition to my curries now.
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Hi naga, I doubled the amount of ingredients for the chilli/garlic sauce from that recipe, adding chilli powder when i ran out of fresh. Thats where i lost control of it. It was way too hot, I ended up freezing it then throwing it away. I will have another go at it using cbm little india base, when i have time, as i think it has potential. The chilli jam idea sounds like a neat little shortcut, when looking for hot & sweet
Going forward I'm switching back to fresh GG, I've been using frozen blocks of each from asda. They are another great shortcut, but going back to fresh to see if i can notice a difference, as my curries have nosedived recently, for no good reason
ELW
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Naga,
many thanks for link (which i'd missed).
this really looks promising (except for the vinegar - always difficult to get help from BIR chefs but from a direct question vinegar was a clear No No).
puts the cat among the pigeons - i've opened the 2 off jars i bought. the chutney tastes delicious. the pickle is for the bin (quite surprised as it's the pickle that curry2go recommends which makes me hold back until i've cooked with it - it might be you just need a little - it also needs blending for use in curry and that may help the taste). never been a fan of lime pickle and the chilli goes into the same boat
the chutney sounds very much like the jam; ingredients red pepper, garlic, sugar, syrup, cumin
i feel pretty sure it's the chutney that is being used in the restaurant dish i like.
LH chilli chutney - RH chilli pickle
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/9cf0db2ed4a09bf7484b7db52607b575.jpg) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#9cf0db2ed4a09bf7484b7db52607b575.jpg)
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Here's a couple of pics of my chilli jam - I took them with the old steam-driven moby, so they're not perfect by any means! The jam is actually a good bit more brighter red than the photo suggests - more like raspberry conserve than anything else.
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/2a8ad97d7d42cfdec864cf23b3742286.jpg)
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/01252764ae6b60f20ad2e3e45bc302bf.jpg)
Also, this is the garlic and garlic/ginger paste I've been using for a good while now - and I use it in everything in place of fresh.
http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=272620834 (http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=272620834)
http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=272620898 (http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=272620898)
It's not 100% pure (84%), but its very handy straight out of the fridge and tastes fine (and I always put a bit extra in anyway lol). :)
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Naga,
many thanks for pics - appreciated. i do like to make everything i use but have had to accept that it's not possible when it comes to curry (fridge is full of pasco/patak pastes, lemon dressing, green chilli paste).
will try the bought chutney before taking stock on what flavour it delivers and if i need to make my own ie jam (which looks pretty similar).
best wishes
ps i know fresh garlic / ginger is best but i too relent most of the time and buy same from home bargains
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So much for a thread about New Year Resolutions - it seems to have turned into a thread about anything and everything!
I've started 2013 as I hope to continue, based on success I found upon starting to use my pressure cooker. I also hope to spend more time following my own hunches, rather than wasting too much time and money following Internet sourced recipes which aren't written up with sufficient care, for example regarding spoon measures. Or video footage where we don't even know if the resultant food tastes any good. Earlier suggestions of mine based on real-life taste testing did not seem to attract much interest - perhaps because it might be far too revealing.
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George,
there did not seem to be much interest in what members are going to do different this year.
i've not got much that i feel i like to do either - i'm essentially at peace with BIR. in fact pizza is now my no1 challenge.
i suppose a tad lazy on my part - i did not feel the extra comment was worth a new post.
i very much agree on your thought of following your own hunches - as you say a lot of wasted time often results following "blue sky" information.
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i've tried out both jars. the chilli chutney is brill. the red chilli pickle in the bin - awful
i've been using the "dipuraja" method in a deep saucepan on my domestic hob ie all in at the start to make a few half portion dishes - 9 off in total so far.
the ingredients being: oil, methi, garlic paste, ginger paste, mix, puree, chilli sauce, blended tin toms, base, mango chutney, yogurt, mint sauce, golden syrup, pineapple juice, pineapple blended, chilli chutney.
i'm aiming ultimately for a "garlic" curry based on h4appy-chris recipe for south indian garlic.
so far i've ruled out: ginger paste, syrup, pineapple and i think mint.
next i'm moving onto the garlic options feeling i've got the basic sauce good enough (essentially h4appy-chris plus mango chutney plus chilli chutney).
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I admire your tenacity and fortitude in your quest for the best recipes, Jerry! Good hunting! :)
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had a sort of unexpected outcome to the garlic frying attempt. i got this "taste" that i've had repeatedly before that i thought was down to v.ghee in all the samples that i made. it's hard to describe - it's a harsh taste. i make garlic butter for garlic bread and pizza and this never has this harsh taste in fact the complete opposite.
i'm going to have to do some more garlic frying to try and find the cause.
anyhow these are the samples made (heated pan, added oils etc, smoking, add garlic, shake pan):
1) Top Left - oil, butter - light browning
2) Top Right - oil, butter x2 - medium browning
3) Bottom Left - butter - medium browning
4) Bottom Right - salt, butter, - heavy browning
5) Bottom Middle - salt, butter, v.ghee - heavy browning
6) Far Top Right - salt, oil, butter, v.ghee - heavy browning
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/5dfee63d160fc900258b8ef95ffcaf7e.jpg) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#5dfee63d160fc900258b8ef95ffcaf7e.jpg)
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i was so gutted on the garlic result that i decided to ditch the slithers and try the zaal method again - i've tried the method quite a few times now and had 1 off really top notch result on the 1st go but the rest of the subsequent attempts pretty much rubbish.
well pleased - i got the top notch taste in both curries that i cooked. the curries being h4appy-chris South Indian plus mango chutney (touch say 0.5 tsp) plus chill chutney (say 1 htsp). i still need to add in the onion/green pepper and some tikka and plan a further "curry week" homing in on the qty's.
i think the reason for the success on the zaal garlic was down to crunching the cloves. the rest of the method i've followed down to a T on the video without success. the other possibility is that during the garlic frying i realised that the oil/etc does not take on any taste of the garlic - this allowed me to hot fry the dish once the zaal garlic addition point was reached.
anyhow well pleased with the dish. the difference between dish 1 L:HS and 2 RHS being dish 2 had no fresh coriander and x2 mix powder (1 tsp).
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/496170a1b6e0c42c0476ce1eb0a60d78.jpg) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#496170a1b6e0c42c0476ce1eb0a60d78.jpg)
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Hi Jerry. I may have missed what you are trying to make here, so just ignore this if I'm off track. But am trying to work out some intense roasted garlic flavours myself. Have you tried Janu's garlic chutney? Found it in a couple of Asian stories. Best way to describe it is as very unlikely to be eaten as a dip, and the Mr. Naga equivalent of garlic pastes.
Rob :)
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getonthegarabi,
in short the 2 things for this yr:
1) master the "garlic" in curry
2) leading onto having "curry weeks" to improve taste of the hot fry dishes
not come across garlic chutney but have added it onto my shopping list - sounds well worth a try.
following the success of the chilli chutney i'm convinced there is learning for me on these "off the shelf" jars that i would normally just pass by. plus the fresh herbs too.
many thanks