Curry Recipes Online
Curry Photos & Videos => Curry Videos => Topic started by: natterjak on February 24, 2012, 09:20 PM
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Tonight I cooked a Roshney-style curry using pork (left overs from roast) and with the intention of following Az's recipe, although it turns out I wandered from it somewhat due to incompetence. I did use genuine Az recipe red masala sauce frozen into two ice cube chunks and defrosted, hence the odd shapes but in other regards I didn't stick to the recipe because I made some schoolboy errors:
- omitting green peppers entirely
- forgot to add the green chillies at the frying stage, I threw them in after the base sauce was added which didn't work out too well
- added too much base sauce and swamped the dish a bit, leading to an extended simmer to get the consistency right
Still, the flavour was good and it was only ever going to be a work-in-progress as I develop this recipe and work on implementing what I learned at Zaal. I don't post this as a recipe to be followed by others and I don't set out my stall as an expert chef at all - I'm a beginner and happy to admit it, so tips and advice are welcome ;)
Note, the frying of the spices and tomato puree was brief, but the pan was very hot and the characteristic grab-the-back-of-your-throat-and-make-you-cough fumes were almost instantly apparent, hence my rapid application of base sauce.
In particular I'm struggling a bit with getting the onion to have the right texture. Despite only having the briefest of fry before the spices then base sauce were added the onions still came out soft and floppy in the final dish, whereas every BIR dish I'm been served in restaurants with chunks of onion in has firm onions.
Roshney Curry (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiW-qgk7-o4#ws)
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I can't play the video natterjack = error has occured
ELW
EDIT-OK now ;D
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I'd say you was a bit rushed there natterjack, especially with the onions.
They were big pieces and need a lot longer cooking.
Overall, it looks a job well done. :)
I'd be interested in your masala paste recipe as i havent had any answers to my questions yet in the paste thread ???
And the mess! I hate it, and so i decided for my last dozen or so curries to use my big saucepan/pressure cooker base. Yes shock horror :o :o
I've been wanting to say for a while now for all of us that are stuck with cooking on electric.
If your intent Isn't to flame the pan, then Dont bother with a silly little frying pan. ;)
I can make the exact same tasting curry in my aluminium pressure cooker base as a 24cm omlette pan!
What seems the important factor to me is the diameter of the pan.
The small curry pan is great for gas but pointless in my opinion for electric.
Save yourself the mess and use a big saucepan ;D
Frank.
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Hi Natterjak,
In regards to the onions, here at the restaurant in Australia, when serving in house, the onion chunks and green pepper chunks are flash fried, all this means is that for a dish with the large pieces in it, they are quickly deep fried and added to the dish near the end of the process rather then at the start.
This is done for two reasons, firstly as you mention they remain a little crunchy and secondly they maintain(the peppers) a nice color as well.
[EDIT] Sorry, seen this has been answered in the masala paste thread, thanks guys!
I too am hoping for some more info on the masala paste as well, hopefully over the weekend someone will be able to answer a few questions, and perhaps even a video of the last stage too would be great. Same too with the base and how the bagaar part is done.
Cheers,
Mark
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Nice one natterjack - good to see another member posting a video - respect to chewy for leading the way also!
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Good effort NJ, looking forward to recreating your finalised version of this dish. As mentioned its good to watch a video of someones efforts ;)
W
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I'd say you was a bit rushed there natterjack, especially with the onions.
They were big pieces and need a lot longer cooking.
Overall, it looks a job well done. :)
I'd be interested in your masala paste recipe as i havent had any answers to my questions yet in the paste thread ???
And the mess! I hate it, and so i decided for my last dozen or so curries to use my big saucepan/pressure cooker base. Yes shock horror :o :o
I've been wanting to say for a while now for all of us that are stuck with cooking on electric.
If your intent Isn't to flame the pan, then Dont bother with a silly little frying pan. ;)
I can make the exact same tasting curry in my aluminium pressure cooker base as a 24cm omlette pan!
What seems the important factor to me is the diameter of the pan.
The small curry pan is great for gas but pointless in my opinion for electric.
Save yourself the mess and use a big saucepan ;D
Frank.
Thanks for that reply frank, you make some interesting points. The onions are a conundrum right now , perhaps the way to go is to cook them longer (as you suggest) but then remove from the pan and re-add later (as masala mark suggests). In any case my current approach doesn't work as even with only a brief initial fry they are still limp and soggy by the end of the dish.
Cooking in a pot is an excellent idea to prevent mess and splattering onto the hob and surroundings, but I'm not sure I have any aluminium saucepans, they're all stainless or Teflon coated. The importance of aluminium cookware for BIR cooking has been discussed elsewhere so maybe it's time to invest in an Ali pressure cooker which will also let me try chewy's 1 hr base. What size pressure cooker is it which has the same diameter as your curry frying pan? I see they are available in anything from 3.5l up to 12litres.
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Hi Natterjak,
In regards to the onions, here at the restaurant in Australia, when serving in house, the onion chunks and green pepper chunks are flash fried, all this means is that for a dish with the large pieces in it, they are quickly deep fried and added to the dish near the end of the process rather then at the start.
This is done for two reasons, firstly as you mention they remain a little crunchy and secondly they maintain(the peppers) a nice color as well.
[EDIT] Sorry, seen this has been answered in the masala paste thread, thanks guys!
I too am hoping for some more info on the masala paste as well, hopefully over the weekend someone will be able to answer a few questions, and perhaps even a video of the last stage too would be great. Same too with the base and how the bagaar part is done.
Cheers,
Mark
Thanks for the tip re pre cooking and adding the onions and peppers towards the end, I'll try this. I think JB has footage of the 2nd stages of both masala paste and base sauce recipes.
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Hi Natterjak,
In regards to the onions, here at the restaurant in Australia, when serving in house, the onion chunks and green pepper chunks are flash fried, all this means is that for a dish with the large pieces in it, they are quickly deep fried and added to the dish near the end of the process rather then at the start.
This is done for two reasons, firstly as you mention they remain a little crunchy and secondly they maintain(the peppers) a nice color as well.
[EDIT] Sorry, seen this has been answered in the masala paste thread, thanks guys!
I too am hoping for some more info on the masala paste as well, hopefully over the weekend someone will be able to answer a few questions, and perhaps even a video of the last stage too would be great. Same too with the base and how the bagaar part is done.
Cheers,
Mark
I'm also interested in seeing or hearing how the bagaar part is done. Was it done on high heat, like the 1st stage of cooking a dish?
I used this method as called for while making the Kushi base & in theory, going on the amount of spice going in, should impart something of the taste in the gravy. I never noticed any difference in mine though...surprise surprise ;D
ELW
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Good work Natterjak. Alas, i won't be providing any videos of my cooking due to lack of equipment :(. Obviously you feel you've a bit of work to do on this one still :). Funny how we get hung up on small details in search of perfect reproduction of dishes ;D. Can you remember what the onions were like after you cooked the dish at Zaal's?
@ELW, when referring to bagaar, i take it you are referring to the cooking of the spices and tomato mixture that went into the base sauce. If this is the case, i can confirm it was cooked on a high heat. There was no singeing involved if i remember rightly, being in charge of the pan at the time under Az's supervison of course. There were a few flames though ;D ;D. Hopefully Solarsplace will be able to upload the last few video clips soon to clear up unanswered questions.
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i'd post my videos......but...I don't think the mrs would be too happy :)
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i'd post my videos......but...I don't think the mrs would be too happy :)
We could post them under Vindaloo, For Extra Hot ;D ;D ;D
Les
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There was no singeing involved if i remember rightly, being in charge of the pan at the time under Az's supervison of course.
So why is "singeing" being put forward as something of a breakthrough? I didn't see much evidence of it in the Fleet videos and you appear to be in agreement. It goes against everything I've ever read about the optimal way to cook spices.
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There was no singeing involved if i remember rightly, being in charge of the pan at the time under Az's supervison of course.
So why is "singeing" being put forward as something of a breakthrough? I didn't see much evidence of it in the Fleet videos and you appear to be in agreement. It goes against everything I've ever read about the optimal way to cook spices.
It's maybe what makes bir unique, I can't taste singed /burned spices anywhere else
ELW
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Tonight I cooked a Roshney-style curry using pork
I've flipped between this and the original demo video
The only real notable difference is the pan's temperature
Nothing seems to happen the same way, because at home, the pan is too cold
This has got to effect it
I know it's an old argument, but it's one that doesn't go away
If you had done this at Zaal's, with their cooker, it would have been fine, wouldn't it?
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Hi natterjak,
I was given my big pot when i first left home and its one of the most used items in my kitchen. Sadly, i've never had the pressure lid part so it has just been used as a stock/soup/rice/pasta/curry pot. well...everything really :D
It measures 24cm dia, and holds exactly 6ltrs to the brim.
I keep meaning to saw the brackets off that would hold the lid as these get in the way for a colander to sit and steam properly. Another job to add to the 10 year waiting list :P ::)
So i'll say again,, To all the curry cookin electric sufferin hob users, Ditch that wee pan and use yer big yin ;D
Cheers, Frank ;)
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Good effort NJ can't be easy when your being videoed ???
I think the problem with your Onions is you are reducing down for too long which means the Onions will continue to cook and soften,I appreciate you may have had a bit too much gravy and you had to continue to reduce to get your desired consistency but the Onions will eventually cook away to nothing,cut down on your reduction time or add your Onions later as has been mentioned. ;)
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When I make it I usually start by GENTLY frying the green peppers and onions in a bit of garlic ginger paste. I then put them to one side for later use.
I usually singe the spices in the ghee before adding the tomato paste, I then re-singe in the tomato paste before adding the chicken, peppers and onion and a big ladle of base sauce plus the massala paste. My biggest tip would be just keep calm and be brave. Everything in the video looked a bit rushed and panicky.
With the garlic tarka, add a bit of sauce from the curry pan to the garlic pan just before it's done. If you have a gas hob this will give the big flambee :) Mind your eyebrows!
Hope this helps. One day I'll get round to doing a vid myself. Maybe Solar will come round and do the filming!
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When I make it I usually start by GENTLY frying the green peppers and onions in a bit of garlic ginger paste. I then put them to one side for later use.
I usually singe the spices in the ghee before adding the tomato paste, I then re-singe in the tomato paste before adding the chicken, peppers and onion and a big ladle of base sauce plus the massala paste. My biggest tip would be just keep calm and be brave. Everything in the video looked a bit rushed and panicky.
With the garlic tarka, add a bit of sauce from the curry pan to the garlic pan just before it's done. If you have a gas hob this will give the big flambee :) Mind your eyebrows!
Hope this helps. One day I'll get round to doing a vid myself. Maybe Solar will come round and do the filming!
Thanks for the tips Chris. Apart from when pre-frying the pepper and onion do you add garlic & ginger paste at any stage in this recipe? Az didn't direct me to add any when cooking it at Zaal, which is unusual but I guess the garlic tarka at the end of the dish compensates.
Lastly, what's your view on the question of the size of the spoon measures for the red masala sauce: http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=7860.msg69858#msg69858 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=7860.msg69858#msg69858)
Presumably you've made this masala sauce at home a few times now?
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Good work Natterjak. Alas, i won't be providing any videos of my cooking due to lack of equipment :(. Obviously you feel you've a bit of work to do on this one still :). Funny how we get hung up on small details in search of perfect reproduction of dishes ;D. Can you remember what the onions were like after you cooked the dish at Zaal's?
I think they were much the same, melting into the dish. But then I think in the normal course of events Az would be using pre-cooked and adding them later so the result might be different.
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Tonight I cooked a Roshney-style curry using pork
I've flipped between this and the original demo video
The only real notable difference is the pan's temperature
Nothing seems to happen the same way, because at home, the pan is too cold
This has got to effect it
I know it's an old argument, but it's one that doesn't go away
If you had done this at Zaal's, with their cooker, it would have been fine, wouldn't it?
I'm not sure. It seemed to me that the pan was pretty hot on my home cooker 8) one thing I do find hard to judge at this stage is how hot the oil is before I add the spices to the pan. Seems a bit hit and miss. I'll work on developing some consistency in this area because otherwise my results are going to differ wildly.
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Tell you what cook mates
After thoroughly enjoying all the Zaal posts and reading/watching everything
I was fired up with new enthusiasm and now I just feel crushed
The last bit of knowledge seems unobtainable
I've seen hundreds of curries prepared at takeaways
It looks so simple until you try it at home
I just don't get it
I'm spending some part of an evening,next week, at my local takeaway
and I've run out of questions to ask
They've got magic hands, with every curry they make
Perhaps I should point out that it's only me (in my family) that is dissapointed
They simply don't understand the dissatisfaction
I can get 100% result using old manky oil
But I don't want to do that
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Hey natterjak
Good for you going to all the effort of making a video of your BIR cooking work in progress and uploading it for us all to enjoy. Thank you for posting :)
If I may, with all the best intentions suggest that the spices may benefit from a little more time in the pan before adding things to quench them, however great video.
I really think this is such an important thing for us all to see how, and also in particular been seen on how we as individuals are all cooking the curry's in order for us all to further improve our own techniques.
Cheers
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Tell you what cook mates
After thoroughly enjoying all the Zaal posts and reading/watching everything
I was fired up with new enthusiasm and now I just feel crushed
The last bit of knowledge seems unobtainable
I've seen hundreds of curries prepared at takeaways
It looks so simple until you try it at home
I just don't get it
I'm spending some part of an evening,next week, at my local takeaway
and I've run out of questions to ask
They've got magic hands, with every curry they make
Perhaps I should point out that it's only me (in my family) that is dissapointed
They simply don't understand the dissatisfaction
I can get 100% result using old manky oil
But I don't want to do that
Hi Haldi, I only ever do side by side comparisons with a t/a version rather than ask anyone. It's not that the curries I've made in the past are not nice to eat...they just don't taste like the bir's........thats all the bir's I've ever been in!
Look at the technique in Kris Dhillon's The Curry Secret & compare it with say Zaal or Chewytikkas or CA's recipes...the spices are cooked in hot gravy, rather than oil/tomato paste. Although I could make a tasty curry from the kd stuff, I was never going to be able to achieve the bir taste@ home, using this method. Maybe spices can be 'singed' in gravy on a big burner, but I don't think so on my bog standard gas cooker. I could add layers of flavours all day long to a curry, old oil being one of them, but they won't make the dish bir if the initial stage isn't correct.
All I used for testing was base(any base), tomato paste(not puree), mix powder(Zaal),GG,oil(i used fresh Flora sunflower oil :)),salt . I didn't need anything else to find that changing my technique, changes the taste of these ingredients together dramatically. A tentative approach when doing it, doesn't do me any favours
Good luck
ELW
Edit- You could ask the chefs in the t/a if they cook the spices at home in the same way & if not why not?
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Hey natterjak
Good for you going to all the effort of making a video of your BIR cooking work in progress and uploading it for us all to enjoy. Thank you for posting :)
If I may, with all the best intentions suggest that the spices may benefit from a little more time in the pan before adding things to quench them, however great video.
I really think this is such an important thing for us all to see how, and also in particular been seen on how we as individuals are all cooking the curry's in order for us all to further improve our own techniques.
Cheers
Hi Russ
Thanks for the tip, I've actually already cooked tonight and have only just seen your post above so didn't incorporate your feedback. You know I agree with you that videos are useful even if they're a video of something which didn't necessarily work out right. Many videos are made to present a recipe for others to copy and there's nothing wrong with that at all, but I think there's also space for videos like mine which are for discussion rather than the finished article if you see what I mean. Certainly it's useful for me to get feedback from others on here who can suggest different techniques etc (like having lots of other chefs looking over my shoulder) :) and hopefully others will also get something useful either from what they see in the vids or from the discussion which ensues. In any case it seems sensible to carry on videoing and uploading, even if my vids are not necessarily instructional epics which can be replicated by others. ;D
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Tonight's effort - inspired by Solarspace I made it with prawns:
King Prawn Roshney Curry (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIiS2Du71Ng#ws)
Some thoughts.... The onions were better being pre-fried and added later but I'd probably add them even later next time to preserve some more "bite". I added 1 tsp salt with the spice mix and this turned out to be a bit too much for my taste. Finally the prawns were a wee bit tough so I probably added them too early.
Apart from that - and most importantly - it was delicious :D
Comments welcome of course.
EDIT: I think I'm still adding too much base because it takes a long time to reduce down to the right kind of consistency.
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Nice one Chris ;). Pictures speak a thousand words but videos are really useful for beginners and to provide feedback on the technique. The end result looks the real deal. Even in the pan halfway through the cooking stage it was looking BIR. On the singeing, I was on the edge of my seat thinking get the bloody gravy in now or else it'll all end in tears. I'm dying to know how near to BIR do you think it was. By the way, I like the obligatory coughing at the beginning ;D. Did you see Chriswg's suggestion of spoonful of curry into the tarka before adding it to the finished dish??
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At about 10 minutes the gravy looks to be threatening to catch on the bottom of the pan, but then a stir with the spatula leaves the bottom of the pan clean.
You can see this in Chewy's vids.
I reckon this is an important part of the overall process too, on top of the initial spice singe.
Looks great btw nat, good job :)
Gary
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Hi NJ
Nice One.
Looking much more relaxed and confident on this second attempt.
Probably, because you not cooking rice at the same time, which can be distracting. :D
How would you compare the taste, with the one you cooked at Zaal?
cheers Chewy
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Well done Chris, great video and lovely looking curry. 8)
How much base are you using for each curry then?
I probably use 300ml at the very most, but lately I've been using a 500ml tub full for 2 curries.
So for each curry I'll add half a ladle 50ml at the start, after singeing, cook it right down, then add a full ladle 100ml.
When this has cooked right down, add the precooked meat and veg, give it a good stir round, and then add the final full ladle. This is then cooked out to desired consistency.
Oops sorry, not trying to tell you how to cook yours, just i think it's important to cook each ladle of base right down, before adding more. I used to add a load in one go and. like you, that seemed to take an age too cook down too.
Cheers
Martin
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Did you see Chriswg's suggestion of spoonful of curry into the tarka before adding it to the finished dish??
I did but I think the reason for his suggestion is to flamb
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At about 10 minutes the gravy looks to be threatening to catch on the bottom of the pan, but then a stir with the spatula leaves the bottom of the pan clean.
You can see this in Chewy's vids.
I reckon this is an important part of the overall process too, on top of the initial spice singe.
Looks great btw nat, good job :)
Gary
That's an interesting point Gary. Yes the sauce was starting to stick to the pan and perhaps you're right that this helps develop the flavours. Julian from curry 2 go thinks this is important:
The Curry Pan (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFG4FB9DhXM#)
When we were at Zaal, Az told me not to stir the Roshney once it was set aside onto the lower gas burner for the simmer stage. Perhaps the purpose is to allow it to catch on the pan a little?
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Hi NJ
Nice One.
Looking much more relaxed and confident on this second attempt.
Probably, because you not cooking rice at the same time, which can be distracting. :D
How would you compare the taste, with the one you cooked at Zaal?
cheers Chewy
Yes I knocked up some pilau yesterday morning which does take the pressure off when cooking the final dish. Compared to the zaal dish mine was too salty, not quite as sweet and lacking in overall depth of flavour. But I'm using up my base gravy made to Abdul's basic recipe and will go to either your 3 hour base or the Zaal base next time i cook some. These I would expect to be a little sweeter as they incorporate the bhagar stage and 2nd cook. Overall I felt it was progress and the potential to be able to fully replicate what I cooked in fleet is certainly there.
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Well done Chris, great video and lovely looking curry. 8)
How much base are you using for each curry then?
I probably use 300ml at the very most, but lately I've been using a 500ml tub full for 2 curries.
So for each curry I'll add half a ladle 50ml at the start, after singeing, cook it right down, then add a full ladle 100ml.
When this has cooked right down, add the precooked meat and veg, give it a good stir round, and then add the final full ladle. This is then cooked out to desired consistency.
Oops sorry, not trying to tell you how to cook yours, just i think it's important to cook each ladle of base right down, before adding more. I used to add a load in one go and. like you, that seemed to take an age too cook down too.
To last night's curry I probably added about 450ml of base. I think it's a little too much because the taste of the masala sauce didn't come though as strongly as I expected and the cooking duration was too long. I think if everything is in correct balance I should be cooking for around 8 mins.
On the adding of the sauce I've seen both approaches in the videos I've watched. Some, like you, will only ever add 1 ladle and cook down, others seem to load the pan up with sauce and just let it cook out for the whole cooking time. Not sure of the merits of each approach so maybe I need to compare and contrast. But then there are so many other variables at play which might skew my results... Ah well I'll just have to cook a load more curries then, not a bad life 8)
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Natterjack,
don't bother sieving the base (although i've never tried). just concentrate on what the base tasted like at Az's and re creating it.
also as said above pre fry the onion and green pepper. for me in reclaimed oil on very quick hot heat.
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NJ your looking like a Pro ;) 300ml of base is about right and you should be making the AZ base if you want to replicate the Zaal taste complete with the whole spiced water ;)keep up the good work.
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Thanks emin-j and jerry. Maybe I'll make the Zaal base but will sieve it as I'm intrigued to see what effect this has and I'm sure chewy wouldn't do it unless it made a worthwhile difference. That guy knows his onions! :)