Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: stralan on September 25, 2012, 09:35 AM
-
Hi, not sure if this is the right place for this post but I'm sure it will be moved if not.
I have browsed the site on and off for a couple of years now and found the recipes and techniques excellent so thanks for creating such a brilliant site.
My first post is actually to ask for some help and it's pretty urgent. Tomorrow, I have to cook for 50 people and made my base sauce last, it was a bit watering and so I left it on to reduce but would you believe it..... I fell asleep. Woke this morning to find it had caught and burnt on the bottom. The base now has a slightly bitter taste, not too bad, more an after taste. I am loathe to start a new batch due to time and of course cost (there is about 25 litres of base).
My questions is, will I be able to use the base and disguise the taste? Curries will be a chicken korma, pork vindaloo and either a chicken bhuna or jalfrezi.
Hope somebody can help, thanks.
-
I simply can't say if the taint will come through or not, but if I were you I would cook the two mildest dishes now (korma, bhuna), one portion of each, and then assess for yourself. If you can taste the taint, best to start again regardless.
** Phil.
-
Thanks Phil, I'm going to give the korma a go, will let you know how it goes!
-
Welcome stralan and unlucky.
I'd get peeling the onions pdq
If its caught on, its no good, no matter how you try, you cannot rescue it :(
Down the loo with it, is my advice. :'(
cheers Chewy
-
Hi chewytikka, thanks for your reply - even though I don't relish the thought of starting again, I might have to do so!
Made the korma and still can't decide. It tastes like a korma but there is a definite slight after taste - it is edible but just not sure if people would notice. Will the taste be less noticeable in the bhuna and vindaloo? Wondering if I could get away with just making a new base for the korma.
-
My honest answer is, if you can taste the taint in the korma, best bin the lot and start again. A bad review by 50 guests is not going to enhance your reputation as a chef one iota, and the extra labour and expenditure will be far more than repaid by repeat orders.
** Phil.
-
Thanks Phil,
believe it or not, I won't make a penny out of it but only cover my costs as it's a favour to a crowd of expats. I did one a few months back and swore never to do so again......
I'm totally unsure of what to do, it tastes okay but there is an after taste, should have done the bhuna first as now I'm low on ingredients for the korma :(
-
Add a dollop of peanut butter, that usually is enough to disguise it. Who knows, you might start a new curry trend.
-
If only it were that easy - two of the guests have peanut allergy.
I have added tom paste to the korma, will add onions and tomatoes when I finish it later and it will now be a Malai - hoping nobody has ever tried the dish and won't be able to tell the difference!
Going to try a portion of the vindaloo now and see how it tastes. Any help on what medium dish would be best to disguise the slight bitterness? It doesn't taste at all burnt, just a very slightly bitter after taste. The pot was a 35 litre pot with 25 litres of base and about a 6cm diameter circle burnt on the bottom so not too much in comparison to the amount of base.
Fingers crossed for the vindaloo.
-
If only it were that easy - two of the guests have peanut allergy.
I have added tom paste to the korma, will add onions and tomatoes when I finish it later and it will now be a Malai - hoping nobody has ever tried the dish and won't be able to tell the difference!
Going to try a portion of the vindaloo now and see how it tastes. Any help on what medium dish would be best to disguise the slight bitterness? It doesn't taste at all burnt, just a very slightly bitter after taste. The pot was a 35 litre pot with 25 litres of base and about a 6cm diameter circle burnt on the bottom so not too much in comparison to the amount of base.
Fingers crossed for the vindaloo.
If you'd caught the whole of the pan bottom, then I'd say that Chewy is correct - bin it. But 6cm? That doesn't sound too bad at all, and if it doesn't taste at all burnt then the slight bitterness you're getting could well be down to overcooking (I find if I use green capsicum in my base and cook it too long it can produce a little bitterness).
I've managed to catch the odd base on the bottom of the pan on more than one occasion, and simply decanted it into another clean pan before heating, leaving the burnt bit behind, and it was fine.
To counter the bitterness, I'd simply add a little mango chutney to the curries as you're cooking them to give a bit of sweetness. In the Vindaloo and Madras curries, with a splash of lemon dressing and the chilli heat, from what you say I'd doubt that anyone will notice.
But whether you go for rescue or cure, I hope it works out okay for you.
-
Thanks SD - yes, definitely no burnt taste, if anything it seems to have cooked most of the flavour out of the base leaving only the taste of chili which is strange as I didn't add a lot of chili to the base. No mango chutney here sadly, I usually make my own but with three curries, nearly 100 bhaji and 60 naan to make, I'm not going there today ;) I might try some palm sugar or jaggery in it but then it is going to taste like nothing anybody will have tasted before!
Wondering whether to go with a Pathia now in the hope that the jaggery and tamarind paste will mask most of the bitterness - though I did that last time and wanted to go with something different, decisions decisions. Going to play around with single portions of different dishes and will try the lemon or some tamarind in a masala and see how it goes. Have given myself until 2pm as the cut of point whereby I'll have to either run with it or head to the shops...
Thanks again everybody.
-
Thanks SD - yes, definitely no burnt taste, if anything it seems to have cooked most of the flavour out of the base leaving only the taste of chili which is strange as I didn't add a lot of chili to the base. No mango chutney here sadly, I usually make my own but with three curries, nearly 100 bhaji and 60 naan to make, I'm not going there today ;) I might try some palm sugar or jaggery in it but then it is going to taste like nothing anybody will have tasted before!
Wondering whether to go with a Pathia now in the hope that the jaggery and tamarind paste will mask most of the bitterness - though I did that last time and wanted to go with something different, decisions decisions. Going to play around with single portions of different dishes and will try the lemon or some tamarind in a masala and see how it goes. Have given myself until 2pm as the cut of point whereby I'll have to either run with it or head to the shops...
Thanks again everybody.
Not sure if you have any guinea pigs to hand, but it would be good to be able to get someone else to test a trial dish for you before you make the final call. (As has oft been documented here, after lengthy periods of cooking our taste buds tend to become a little jaded.)
If your tester grimaces and complains about the bitterness, you know what you have to do.
On the other hand, if they give it the thumbs-up...
-
Not sure if you have any guinea pigs to hand, ...
I'm really glad I read this message to the end. When I got the the part quoted, I had this awful feeling you were going to recommend guinea-pig curry as a good way of disguising any taint in the base !
** Phil.
-
Not sure if you have any guinea pigs to hand, ...
I'm really glad I read this message to the end. When I got the the part quoted, I had this awful feeling you were going to recommend guinea-pig curry as a good way of disguising any taint in the base !
** Phil.
Well, if you happened to be in Peru, or Bolivia, where guinea pigs are a major part of the diet, or even in parts of Ecuador or Columbia, then I would have no hesitation recommending it!
Apparently, Peruvians consume around 65 million of the wee things every year, and the meat is said to be similar in taste to rabbit and the dark meat of chicken.
It's something I'd be happy to try if I was in Peru, but reckon I'll give it a miss for the moment...
-
Well thankfully, I only have two rabbits, no guinea pigs and they are not the eating sort!
Samples made of madras, pathia and vindaloo have passed the volunteer taste test - even though they aren't 100% so I'm going to go with it. Could be a silver lining here, if they don't like them, they won't ask me to do another curry night ;)
Thanks again for all the help :-)
-
If only it were that easy - two of the guests have peanut allergy.
Oh, fair enough. I thought the Korma would have nuts in it, so it seemed like a reasonable suggestion. ;D
-
No problem all suggestions were more than welcome. I only use coconut in the korma, which confusingly, is actually a drupe, not a nut and as such, it doesn't contain the allergy causing protein. Even almond would be okay for most nut allergy sufferers, peanut is the one to worry about - my son is one of those with the allergy :(
Thankfully all three curries have now been made and are safely in the fridge. Bhaji, naans and sides tomorrow!
-
Surprisingly, salt is much better at masking bitterness than sugar or other sweet things.