Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: Curry King on July 13, 2005, 01:13 PM
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Has anyone seen the new info posted on the Natco site?
http://www.natco-online.com/acatalog/Holy_Grail.html
Ive also posted this in the web links group but thought I would post it in here as well as there might be some disscussion!
For a start the claim that the biggest secret is the "The Secret Onion Paste" which might make sense due to the fact that the only onion in the main gravy is red onion? :o
It all seems a bit to different to me but I still might try it!
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Thanks for that, CK. I'll be trying this at some point.
Red onion... that'll be a second mortgage, then!
Interesting too that - like KD - they reckon 200ml of sauce is enough for one serving. There'd be a few angry customers round Essex way if restaurants served that up. Or do budgies eat curry?! :D
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I swear Ive read this before, does it seem like deja vu to anyone else?
Looks good though!
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Its seems similar to Prashad with the separate boiled pastes but I don't think Ive seen this before, especially not the red onion gravy!
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I swear i have made that curry sauce before, i remember using red onions. :'(? That is definalty ripped from somewhere else.
As to the rest of the stuff the Onion Paste is interesting and worth a go in my opinion.
Here is a copy and past of the lot for info: -
Introduction
We are eternally grateful to one of our customers (who wishes to remain anonymous - thanks again "M") for allowing us to publish his personal "Holy Grail".
We have frequently been asked how to replicate the taste of British "Restaurant Curries" - very different from classic? Indian dishes! There are many forums and links to sites that have their own opinions about this topic and believe me, we have tried most of them and found them to be lacking. Except for M's recipes below. The recipe below is the result of 22 years of trial and error and in our opinion is the truest, most accurate representation of the Great? British Curry - and it WORKS! It is, simply the best.
So, if you want to recreate your local Indian Madras, Korma, Bhuna,Dupiaza, Pasanda or Vindaloo in your own kitchen - here's how.
(Tip: Read ALL of these pages first so that you understand the principle ? then pick a curry and ensure you?ve got all the things you need before starting).
Basic Curry Sauce (with the secret ingredient)
4 large RED onions, coarsely chopped ? yes red onions!
2oz unpeeled fresh ginger, chopped
3oz peeled fresh garlic, coarsely chopped
6tbs vegetable oil
1tsp heaped salt
? tsp sugar
240g tin of chopped tomatoes
1tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder (important!!!!)
1tsp paprika
1tbs tomato puree
1tsp tomato ketchup
1.? Fry onion in 1tbs of oil for 10 mins on a low heat until soft (not browned)
2.? Put in the garlic, ginger and salt then add enough water to just cover the top of all ingredients.
3.? Bring everything to boil then turn down to a simmer for 30 mins (no lid)
4.? While this is simmering, place remaining 5tbs of oil, tomatoes, puree, ketchup and spices into another saucepan ? boil then simmer for 10 mins on low heat.
Separately blend both of the above VERY FINELY and combine, then simmer for another 15 minutes to ensure cooked and well mixed.? The blending is vital to the flavour/correct texture.? ? ?Add water if it ever gets too dry during this phase.? The end result should should be about 1600ml of gravy ? if it?s not, add water to this volume now.
The Secret Onion Paste? (biggest secret!)
2 lge white onions, chopped finely
4 cloves garlic
3tbs vegetable oil
Pinch of cumin
Pinch of cinnamon
Place raw onion and garlic into blender.? Add enough water to come about halfway up the side of the blender and blend until WELL smoothed.
Heat the oil in a pan on a high heat, adding the mixture (it will spit!!!)
Reduce this down until it gets drier then add the spices and continue frying until it turns into what looks a bit like bread dough.? This may take some time but is worth it for the final taste!? Be careful not to burn this as it will be ruined.? Taste the finished product ? tastes almost ?soapy? ? remind you of anything familiar?
Special Spice Mix (not that special)
Equal amounts of cumin powder, coriander powder, garam masala and dried fenugreek.? If unsure which brand to buy, try NATCO ? especially their garam masala which is superb.? I mix up a few tablespoons of each at a time and keep in a Tupperware tub, etc!
The above are a MUST for all recipes and corners cannot be cut in any way. The above recipes could be doubled up for ease and stored in the freezer in pre-measured amounts.
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How to make a basic ?Medium Curry?
800ml of basic curry sauce (should be around half the basic sauce recipe!? ? this is enough for? 4 people?s main meal)
5tbs Vegetable Oil
1 level tsp of salt
1tsp of ground coriander? ? ? ?
1tsp of ground cumin? ? ?
(This is the special spice mix but listed individually!!!)
1tsp of garam masala? ? ? ?
1tsp dried fenugreek leaves? ? ? ?
? tsp of chilli powder
fresh coriander leaves
Add oil and heat.? Add basic sauce (along with fresh chicken/other meats if using them) and simmer on high heat for 2-3 mins.
Add all of the spices and salt and continue for 5 mins or sauce separates from the oil.? Add the prawns (if your cooking a prawn curry!) and simmer for a further 7 minutes ? add any water if you feel it?s getting too dry.
Although the curry is now cooked, further frying is now required and this must be done in individual portions.?
At this stage (if you?ve doubled up the quantities) you can measure out lots of bags of 200ml/400ml at a time and freeze them for a quick curry whenever you need.?
You can now take out a bag from your freezer along with a couple of frozen chicken breasts in the morning and be eating within 20 mins when you get home.?
400ml of this basic curry sauce will be enough for 2 main dishes, therefore one entire recipe should be enough for 8 main dishes and so on.
The basic principle for a quick and easy curry (as fast as a restaurant!) is as follows:
1.? Add some oil to your ?individual curry? pan.?
2.? ***NOW REFER TO THE CURRY STYLE REQUIRED AND OBEY INSTRUCTIONS***?
3.? Then add the required amount of sauce and meat/cooked vegetables for one portion (only 200ml of sauce as it?s got to be an? ? ? ? individual portion for authenticity)
4.? Heat everything up and then add 1 tbs of the onion paste in the final minute
5.? Taste, if necessary add more of the ?special spice mix? - more fresh coriander for garnish
Voila?your individual curry!!!
From this method, you can have people round for a curry and given them all differing ones according to their personal tastes.
THE CURRY STYLES
For all of the types below, I recommend having the ingredients to hand as you?ll have to work quickly ? no time to start raking around your cupboards for stuff once you?ve started!!!!
Dupiaza
Whilst you are preparing the basic curry recipe, prepare the following
1tbs of vegetable oil
1tsp of Cumin seeds
2 large onions, sliced into rings
4 green or red chillies, halved lengthways
Heat the oil and add cumin seeds.? 5 seconds later add onions and chillies and reduce heat.? Fry until onions are soft and slightly charred.
Add to basic sauce, check seasoning, serve
Bhuna
Same as dupiaza but replace 1 of the onions with a chopped green pepper! (easy innit?)
Jalfrezi
1 tbs of vegetable oil
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1 large green pepper, chopped into chunks
4 green or red chillies
Korma
5 mins from end, add 1 tbs of ground almonds and 3 tbs of single cream.? (It?s that easy!)
Pasanda
Cook the basic korma and add 1? of a standard coconut block, ? tsp sugar and ? tsp turmeric 5 minutes before the end.
Madras
Replace ? tsp chilli with 1 tsp of chilli.? Add some lemon juice if you want. (how easy was that!?)
Masala
Add 4 tbs of Heinz tomato soup (& red food colouring) 5 minutes before end.? Serve with single cream on top.? (I guess the tomato soup fully justifies the ?7.50 price in a restaurant!)
Vindaloo
Replace ? tsp chilli with 2 tsp chilli and add 1 tsp of malt vinegar 5 minutes before end.
Pilau Rice? ?
Fill and switch on your kettle
Whilst this is happening heat up a little oil in a pan that comes with a tight fitting lid
Allow 3oz of BASMATI rice per person (weigh it!!! And it must be basmati ? nothing else works! You can also be boring and soak the rice in water first but I never bother)
Salt to taste
2 green cardamom pods (split open slightly) per rice serving
1 whole clove per serving
When the oil is warm, add the raw rice and spices together
Mix well, ensuring the rice gets coated in the oil ? don?t worry if it starts to turn white
Turn down the heat to minimum
Quickly pour the boiled water into a measuring jug
(allow double the fl oz of water to the rice weight)? ie for 4 portions: 12 oz of rice and 24 fl oz of boiled water.
Stir everything around to stop any sticking and place the lid on securely
Cook for 12 minutes on the lowest heat setting
After 12 minutes take from heat and leave for another 12 minutes (do not remove the lid ? the steam will continue to cook the rice!!!)
Later take the lid off and you can add a drop or two of food colouring for that restaurant effect ( I use a drop of red at one end of the pot and a drop of green at the other ? leave for a while and then mix through the white rice for a realistic effect)
I would normally make the rice first and, while it is resting, knock up the curry sauce.? The rice stays hot like this for a couple of hours if you don?t keep removing the lid and let the steam escape!)
This recipe will give impressive results if you measure/time things accurately.?
A piece of cake?.
(For plain boiled rice, omit the spices and food colouring).
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I swear i have made that curry sauce before, i remember using red onions. :'(? That is definalty ripped from somewhere else.
Do you remember if its actually any good?
Who is the mysterious "M"? ::)
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Natco say: "There are many forums and links to sites that have their own opinions about this topic and believe me, we have tried most of them and found them to be lacking." They can't have missed this forum, so it appears they are none too impressed.
I understand red onions are widely used in 'authentic' Indian cuisine, not least since they are closer to the type of onions most readily available in India. But has anyone ever seen sacks of red onions in BIR's?
Notwithstanding any reservations, these are grand claims by Natco, just like all the claims by many rip-off authors before. If these recipes do not produce the 'holy grail' of curries, just what are Natco playing at? Therefore, I am optimistic that they will.
Regards
George
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Hi All,
I think perhaps that NATCO may be sniping at the in2curyy (East End) website when they say that they have tried other forums, after all they are rivals.? And as for there being "many" forums and websites that deal with restaurant style Indian cooking, I haven't seen many of them.? Has anyone else?
cheers all,
Blondie
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And as for there being "many" forums and websites that deal with restaurant style Indian cooking, I haven't seen many of them. Has anyone else?
There's a couple of curry and Indian cooking forums but CRO not included I have to agree with Natco they are lacking somewhat, especially in2curry.? Although in fairness to East End they don't promote themselves as a forum for restaurant style curry, it just ended up like that and I suppose if it wasn't for their curry chat page we wouldn't have this forum as it is now? :)
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I think perhaps that NATCO may be sniping at the in2curyy (East End) website whent they say that have tried other forums, after all they are rivals. And as for there being "many" forums and websites that deal with restaurant style Indian cooking, I haven't seen many of them.
Blondie - you suggest a reference to a single forum, yet Natco's text clearly refers to multiple forums, e.g. "MANY forums and links...we have tried MOSTof them..." But as there are only perhaps half a dozen forums, I say again that I would be surprised if Natco (or the recipe author who may have written all the text) had missed this site.
Regards
George
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George,
You take everything too literally, you should try reading between the lines a little, this isn't the first time you've picked me up on something I've posted. I, like everyone else is entitled to an opinion, but many people are afraid to post on this and several other forums just because of people like you and your zero tollerance to minor inaccuracies.
It may help others to become involved if they did not live in fear of being picked up on the slightest error or difference in opinion from your own,
thanks,
Blondie
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Blondie
I'm sorry if I've offended you. I tried hard not to, and believe I have never criticised you in the way that you have just criticised me. You said:
- You take everything too literally
- you should try reading between the lines a little
- many people are afraid to post on this and several other forums just because of people like you and your zero tollerance to minor inaccuracies.
Please indicate anywhere where I have criticised you like that. This forum thrives because of different opinions and a lively debate. I tried hard to support the forum with various suggestions and by frequently clicking on the sponsor banners. Others have contributed far more than me. But I do not wish to cause trouble, so I will take some time off to re-think my position in the interest of avoiding any further conflict.
Regards
George
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I have just tried adding the "special" onion paste to my regular vindaloo and to be honest it gave it a funny tang, not right at all. It maybe because I didnt make the gravy and the rest but the paste itself didnt taste anything special :(
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This "m" character posted a thread about two years ago on in2curry chat.
You got an email from him
He was helpfull and enthusiatic
I tried the secret paste and it's not a bad addition to any curry
But it really isn't that special and worth the preparation it takes
As for any red onion theories:-
I know the people who supply my local restaurants
The only onions they buy are the standard white ones
They are not always the same
It all depends on the time of year and availablity
I buy the same ones
The red onions are double the price!!
Maybe some places buy red, but not around here
I like the idea of Natco competing with East End on curry house recipes
We still might get something we want!!
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I don't remember him from in2curry but then again if it was an emailed recipe I might not have been sent it.
Has a anyone tried making one of the currys from scratch using the red onion gravy, spice mix and onion paste?
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I don't remember him from in2curry but then again if it was an emailed recipe I might not have been sent it.
I copied and pasted this
It's the follow up comments
I can't find out the original anymore
Started by: L
Created by:? L
Replies: 2
Ingredient "X" that M refered to?????
Could anyone tell me what this ingredient "x" is? Ive left a few messages and emailed a few people but no-ones answered. Id be gratefull if someone would let me in on this "secret" before i make my next batch of sauce!!!!!!!!!
Add Reply
From:? Ray Graham
Posted: 25/08/2004 16:07:08
? Add Reply
Sorry L don't know what ingredient "x" is either but I do wish folk using this site didn't keep secrets or make mysteries out of things. Lets all share our knowledge and experience in making curries freely. That way we can get to find out the best way of re-creating our favourite restaurant taste.
From:? raj
Posted: 25/08/2004 18:15:54
? Add Reply
2 lge white onions, chopped finely 4 cloves garlic 3tbs vegetable oil Pinch of cumin Pinch of cinnamon Place raw onion and garlic into blender. Add enough water to come about halfway up the side of the blender and blend until WELL smoothed. Heat the oil in a pan on a high heat, adding the mixture (it will spit!!!) Reduce this down until it gets dryer then add the spices and continue frying until it turns into what looks a bit like bread dough. This may take some time but is worth it for the final taste! Be careful not to burn this as it will be ruined. Taste the finished product add the onion dough (1tbs per main meal) during the last minute then serve. It should give you a restaurant 'soapy' like flavour.
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I have just tried adding the "special" onion paste to my regular
Hi CK
Did you taste the onion paste before you added it? What is that 'soapy' taste that's mentioned all about?
Also what did you take 'bread dough' consistency as meaning; raw dough texture or baked white bread texture?
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Yeah it had a soapy taste I think down to the fact that the onion is blended raw and with the water all froths up. I cooked it for ages until it was thick like bread dough and it was very green ???
To me the final product didnt taste of much and thats exactly what I thought of it in the curry, nothing special :(
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I don't even know what he means by this " It should give you a restaurant 'soapy' like flavour. "
What soapy flavour?
Soap Vindaloo!
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Did you actually use white onions ck or standard 'pink' ones? Do you think he actually meant white?
Not that a BIR would use anything other than cheap pink ones of course :)
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Hi All,
I am not colour blind, but I have never seen a pink onion, what are they called, and don't say pink onions.
Blondie
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Hi all,
I've seen this soapy taste mentioned before on the in2curry site by a guy called Martin Jones, I wonder if this is "M",
cheers all,
Blondie
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Hi Blondie,
I'm not an expert but I have heard standard cooking onions refered to as pink.
So to my knowledge in our supermarkets we have the bog standard pink (which is anything but, this is the whitish green onion with brown covering aka the standard onion), we also have Spanish (red) and I have also seen an onion that is pure white
cheers
Mark
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I just used normal cooking onions, it really didnt smell very pleasant and there was no taste to it that I thought would have.
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I think this red onion idea is a complete myth. I don't know how it got started but I've tried several types of onion when making the base sauce and there is no difference whatsoever. I don't know about the paste though I haven't tried that yet.
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I find there is very little consistancy with onions.
I have bought wonderful white "cooking onions" before.
They cook great and you can use them raw too.
The trouble is that onions keep very well, and I am sure I have been buying the same source stock for months.
Gradually the quality degenerates.
The red onions, which I see in asian shops too, look really good, and can taste great.
They are always about twice the price of ordinairy onions.
The same rule applies to them.
You get good and bad.
Having a quality onion is all that counts.
The only difference then, can be strength and sweetness
For making a quantity, the price definitely rules out red onions.
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Im not even going to attempt another guess at base sauce ect. until this balti book comes out. Being a perfectionist i end up throwing too many efforts away! It gets me down!
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hi vin daloo
have you tried the curry house cookery recipe by bruce edwards. recently i have had fabulous results that even my wife now eats my curries vinadloo being our fave :) but i have made a few minor alterations to the ingredients. leaving out the finely diced green or red pepper from the final dish and using sun-dried tomato paste( by salca) instead of tomato puree(bruce says from a tin, but never been able to find in a tin) the result IMO a bloody good bir vindaloo.
has any one else had good results using bruce's recipes?
by the way the smokey aroma of your final dish can be acheived by adding 2-3tsp of the pre-cooked meat sauce to it as it simmers i have done this before again using bruce's cooking methods the house smelt of smokey chicken for the rest of the night.may be i wrong but i'm just following my nose ;)
just try :)
cheers gary
(i do have a recipe which i managed to print off the "curryhouse.co.uk" before mr smith made it pay per view.did this just before crimbo last year i will post it when i can. it makes 2 portions of basic curry sauce)
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hi woodpecker
I copied the recipe you mention today, ill give it a go, the curry gravy sounds promising, it also mentions making a seperate sauce for rogan dishes which makes sense as most rogan dishes ive had are red in colour and ive seen a large pot of red sauce in a kitchen before. Has the recipes got "the taste" then?
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by the way the smokey aroma of your final dish can be acheived? by adding 2-3tsp of the pre-cooked meat sauce to it as it simmers
I am sure anything missing, has something to do with a meat/chicken stock.
I've not tried meat sauce, intersting that you say it's smpkey
What I don't understand is why Bruce Edwards doesn't mention this
It's an extremely thorough article
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If using the Curry House Cookery sauce recipe, I reccomend reducing the amount of carrot to about 2 medium carrots for the full 4 litre quantity specified. If making less,adjust accordingly.
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hi pete
he doesn't include this as such to include with his recipes but if you look at the very last lines in brackets he says "and save some of the sauce, it can be added to your curries". now i have actually pre-cooked chicken his way and added 2tsp of it to my curry and the house was filled with a fragrant smokey aroma which lingered everywhere for hours. by the way pete well done for getting your tandoori. i agree about the timmings given for cooking chicken tikka (8-10) tandoori chicken (15-20?) i'm sure i have read this somewhere before not sure where though.
hope this has helped :)
cheers gary
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To get back to the thread topic, I tried the Holy Grail recipe and found it very good. The "secret onion paste" bothered me a bit because it did not smell right and tasted awful on its own, but when blended with the other stuff the "soapiness' completely disappered. It also took absolutely ages to cook down to the raw bread dough consistency AND it went green - but someone told me thats because I cooked it in an aluminium pan and the onion reacts with the aluminium and goes green - tried it in another pan and they were right!
Pretty good I thought - just as well, I've got a freezer compartment full of little plastic bags of the stuff.
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A friend of mine came to me recently and said he had found a base sauce recipe that produced perfect 100% copies of his local.
Obviously I was very interested and when he sent me the link I was disappointed, it was this Natco grail link.
Anyway I never did try this at the time so decided to give it a go this weekend, I copied what my friend did as follows:
Made the base as described (I covered the onions on the initial slow fry and probably sweated them for over 20 minutes)
I than made 400ml of the base 'medium curry' with my chicken cooking in it.
And finally I fried 2 TSP cumin seeds and a fresh chilli in some ghee and added that to the base medium curry. Note - I didnt do the onion dough soap paste thing
The result was stupendous, without doubt the closest I have come to replicating the BIR at home.
My wife normally says my curries are better than the local BIR's and she doesnt get the taste we are all seeking, however with this one she realised what I was after and said it did have that restaurant taste.
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Did you use red onions ?
I'm a bit confused with the recipe for the final dish (say a madras). Do you need to cook a 'medium chicken curry' first and then make a madras out of it or can you go straigt from base sauce and cooked chiken to the final dish ?
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Seems like we're going in circles again. If you look at the ingredients and method used in the base it's not a million miles from KD's method. Have you never tried KD's base Mark J?
YF
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Hi Mark,
Do you think you could post a link to the recipe you used for me, would be grateful. How close do you think you have got then? CQ
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The original recipe is on the first page so I'm giving this a go now with the red onions in the base and the 'soapy onion' mixture for later (I hope this is worth it as it has taken about 2 hours to get to the 'bread dough' stage).
Definitely reminds me of the KD base but I wonder if the pre-fried tomato stage is key here. Look at the recent posts by Dragon who owns a restaurant ... he swears by using Tomato Frito (fried tomatoes !!!).
PS I ground up some cinnamon stick - smells 10X better than an old jar of ground stuff I had in the spice cupboard so I'll let you know how this turns out later.
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Definitely reminds me of the KD base but I wonder if the pre-fried tomato stage is key here.
KD's uses fried tomato and spices as well and we've had other recipes on the forum that used fried tomatoes in one form or another, so I don't think this will make much difference.
Anyway, being a sucker for punishment I've just made a batch of the base up and guess what, it's almost exactly like the KD base. The only big difference seems to be the sweetness, it's very sweet, which must be down to the ketchup, fried onion and added sugar. I like a bit of sweetness but this one seems too sweet. Not made a curry yet though.
YF
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I was trying to say that maybe the fried tomatoes is *the* key step. I've tried the KD version loads of times in the past and had mixed results. I've put my best results down to being drunk at time of cooking and ars*holed at time of eating :)
I'm a bit pissed right now, so things are looking up for this one.
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Sorry but it definately tasted like a KD curry that I'd made years ago. It was very nice but not what I was searching for.
fyi.. the soap was pointless too.
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Jeera: Yes red onions and yes it is confusing! I read it that you do need to cook a medium curry first. Also Jeera note I didnt do the soapy onion bit (nor did my friend).
YF: Yes tried KD's base, I dont get on with it (and you're right its not a million miles away, also not a million miles away from Terry's base)
CQ: I just followed the base recipe and then medium curry as I described in the post, otherwise as stated, I used veg ghee instead of oil at all stages. Also I have recently thrown out all of my old spices and this was the first curry I have cooked using all fresh spices. All spices I from whole except paprika and turmeric.
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I didnt do the soapy onion bit (nor did my friend)... I just followed the base recipe and then medium curry as I described in the post...
So you left out the white onions and garlic (from the soapy-bit) altogether? Or did you add them with the red onions and first portion of garlic when you made the basic sauce?
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Left out alltogether
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hi i dont think the base has a lot to do with the final taste.I think the frying of the garlic and the ginger does.I start my curry with about 3 tbls of oil over a medium heat add chopped chicken.after a minute add a tsp of fresh ginger and tsp and a half of garlic.Stir fry this for ten minutes do not burn the the garlic and ginger.Add the spices you want but only in small amounts nothing worse than over spiced currys.Like you buy from tescos or sainsburys.Now add your base sauce and cook for another ten minutes add fresh corriander and serve.boootifull.
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I have tried this curry and frankly it wasnt worth the effort. To be honest I think it is a bit of a red herring!
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To be honest I think it is a bit of a red herring!
No.
They are red onions
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LOL hadi. ;D
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This is from the 'curry secret' book. the base is good, there is a better base on this forum though. However the secret onion mix tasted very disapointing. The recipies for the curries are crap, dont waste your time!. they taste nothing like a BIR. I have had better results using the special spice mix from this forum, and a big tbs of pataks balti paste. I have now given up trying for the BIR taste. I now believe it is better to try to work out how all the ingrediants work together , and make my own delicious currys. I may even stuble across the BIR by accident. I think my understanding of how to combine ingredients is the key to BIR cooking. I believe it takes years of work to fully understand how the ingredients truly work together. My aim is to achieve this by trial and error, with some intelligent guess work. I will post any results for you guys asap.
Has anyone seen the new info posted on the Natco site?
http://www.natco-online.com/acatalog/Holy_Grail.html (http://www.natco-online.com/acatalog/Holy_Grail.html)
Ive also posted this in the web links group but thought I would post it in here as well as there might be some disscussion!
For a start the claim that the biggest secret is the "The Secret Onion Paste" which might make sense due to the fact that the only onion in the main gravy is red onion? :o
It all seems a bit to different to me but I still might try it!
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I've put my best results down to being drunk at time of cooking and ars*holed at time of eating
I'm a bit pissed right now, so things are looking up for this one.
ROFL!!! ;D ;D ;D
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Derek,
by all means experiment a little and i too think it essential to "know" your spices (what they taste like, how strong they are and when used).
the thing is if i'm pretty representative of the members then the site is only say 5% short of the BIR taste. it's this last few % where the maximum gained can be achieved.
there is always going to be the "own" element. my taste buds for eg have been brought up on anise but not everyone?s. i suppose what i'm saying is adapt what's already done not a start of scratch approach.
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Blimey this is an old thread, just in case anyone who reads this thinks about trying the onion paste don't bother it's muck :D
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I had a takeaway from a place on Haydn Road, Nottingham
Pretty sure they have changed chef
It wasn't the usual flavour
But something about it reminded me of the onion paste, mentioned in this thread.
I'd made this stuff years ago and wasn't that impressed, but I know it's very easy to cook something not quite right
You know how it is
Cook a curry at home and it's brilliant
Do it a week later and it's just "ok"
So I thought it deserved a second chance
I made a half quantity, of this "M" soapy onion paste
Even though the recipe uses oil, it is effectively boiled
While it was finished and still hot, in the pan, it seemed very ordinary
Absolutely nothing spectacular
But when it went cold, the smell completely changed
It has a very distinctive BIR aroma
I must admit that it still tastes bland, and a little bitter
I wouldn't want a platefull
But I can't wait to add a little to a simple BIR recipe
I have frozen a small carton of the paste and will use it next week end
I shall report back what happens
I would assume that most people have left this old recipe, long behind
But fingers crossed, maybe it will deliver
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OK folks. I added this biggest secret paste to a couple of curries. It certainly did no harm or added an unwanted flavour. But it didn't give the special lift I had hoped for. I ended up with two very nice curries, and that everyone enjoyed. It's just me who's dissatisfied
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Thanks for that Haldi.
Guess thats another "secret ingredient" kicked into touch.
I made the bunjarra paste a couple of times as per panpots recipe a few years ago. It was a pain to make, and again, added an unusual taste, but not the extra lift I had hoped for either.
Regards
Mick