Quote from: Phil [Chaa006] on December 21, 2015, 07:03 AM

Quote from: PlainPopcorn on December 20, 2015, 05:32 PM
I could take your par-cook idea, but cooking it with spices will mess with the end flavour of the sauce which I've put so much time into getting right.  But I'm no expert so maybe you know a solution?  I can post the recipe if you'd like.  Thanks for lending your ear.

I don't "know" a solution, but perhaps I can suggest one ...  Prepare the sauce as you would normally.  Then place the pork in the sauce and cook in a slow cooker until nearly ready.  Then prepare a second portion of the sauce, remove the pieces of pork from the first batch of sauce, wipe them dry with kitchen paper (or wash them quickly under the tap -- the idea is to get rid of the superficial layer of older sauce while still leaving the inside of the pork suffused with its flavours), then add to the new sauce and finish off as normal.  Just an idea, but it may work.  Also (a) KD uses cashews in her korma recipe, not almonds; (b) perhaps see http://thecurrysecret.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/pork-tikka-masala.html?utm_source=BP_recent for ideas.

** Phil.

I would have never have thought of that, it's given me a good solution so I'll give it a go.
Thank you for the link.

Quote from: ELW on December 21, 2015, 12:05 AM
I doubt many people would notice a difference between almond and cashew in a curry

Regards
ELW

Thank you,
that's reassuring.

Quote from: Phil [Chaa006] on December 20, 2015, 06:25 AM
Can't help with the nuts aspects (don't eat nuts of any sort; loathe and detest them !) but as regards the pork I do not think that cooking separately will work -- the flavours need to infuse into the pork, which they can't do if it is seared and cooked separately.  What is your reason for not wanting to cook the pork in the korma sauce ?  You could always par-cook it (with spices, of course) separately in advance if you are concerned that it may not cook sufficiently in the sauce.

** Phil.

My fears are that cooking the pork in the sauce will either make it tough or not cook all the way through. I've never timed the korma recipe but it's really quick, on high heat and has cold stuff added to it frequently until the end of the recipe.
I don't want to simmer it too long after everything has been added because I just do not know what it will do to the taste and texture. There's fresh fruit puree in there as well.
There's only one point in the recipe where you leave the sauce to simmer for a while but it's 3 minutes tops.
It could work if the cubes of pork were about 1 by 1 cm, but I think that's too small.

I could take your par-cook idea, but cooking it with spices will mess with the end flavour of the sauce which I've put so much time into getting right.
But I'm no expert so maybe you know a solution?
I can post the recipe if you'd like.

Thanks for lending your ear.

Dear whoever reads this,
I've been wondering about two things, namely how much of a difference it will make to use finely ground raw cashews in a korma recipe (for the family) in place of almond powder and what the best way is to cook chunks of pork for the same korma recipe?

About the cashew vs almond powder;
I have been buying almond powder from the asian grocery store but it has lots of added sugar in it and it doesn't help toning down the sweetness of the korma.
The only other place that sells ground almonds is very expensive and I'll be stuck with a bag of almond powder I won't be using in the short term.
I suppose I could buy a small amount of whole almonds but I already have a bag of raw cashews I could potentially use.
I'm planning to grind the cashews to a fine powder using a coffee grinder that I only use for nuts and spices.

The ground nut powder goes in at the beginning of the recipe so I assume the raw cashew powder will be completely cooked at the end. I could also dry roast them in a non stick tray in the oven before cooling them off and grinding them into a powder.

As for the pork chunks in the korma, I was planning on frying them in ghee in a separate pan and just adding them to the korma when both were done.
Is there a better way than that?

Any advice is appreciated,
Thanks for reading.

Quote from: Geezah on November 28, 2015, 08:25 PM
Dig a hole, bury it then cook a proper curry.
That will add depth to a korma

I'm surprised it took 15 comments for someone to bring this up.

Quote from: Secret Santa on November 27, 2015, 10:59 PM

Quote from: leodis1970 on November 27, 2015, 07:30 PMNot really into fruity curries...

Neither was I until i tried Kashmiri for the first time. Who'd have thought banana in a curry would be sooooo delish! Lychees on the other hand have absolutely no place in curries as far as my tatste goes...blech!

Quote... but I can actually imagine milkshake powder working - banana flavour, sweetness and milk/creamy powder lol.

Like I said I was only half joking. Price being the main driving force these days due to much competition, if I were a BIR chef and wanted to get banana flavour into my sauce I wouldn't use real bananas that would have to be really ripe to impart much flavour. No, I'd cheat and add banana flavoured milk shake powder as probably the cheapest way to do it.

I hate lychees in curries. I hate canned lychees, they're slimy and gross. I do like fresh lychees but rarely if ever buy them due to the price.
No that's not right, that sounds weird. I have bought far more expensive fruit (durian to be precise) and was perfectly okay with justifying the cost. But that's addiction talking, and I'm not addicted to lychees.
Banana milk shake powder would be a great solution for my trouble with finding ripe bananas. But the problem with banana flavoured anything is that it often tastes "chemically/artificial".

So I prefer using actual bananas, and I have the luxury of time and a few extra pennies to spend on a test recipe. Time until christmas rolls around at least. Better get my butt into gear.

Quote from: leodis1970 on November 27, 2015, 07:30 PM
Banana milkshake powder is a funny suggestion, but in all seriousness, there are all sorts of strange ingredients that you wouldn't think of in all types of cooking.

So long as it's not harmful, I really don't have a problem with it if it creates the desired effect with no hassle and no waste. Not really into fruity curries, but I can actually imagine milkshake powder working - banana flavour, sweetness and milk/creamy powder lol.

Nah I agree, if it works, it's cheap and if it's not harmful  I don't mind them using whatever.
Banana milkshake powder could be a substitute for a portion of cream, all of the sugar and the banana.
You'd have to find a brand that doesn't taste "chemically" though.

I'm not one for sweet curries in general but I did approve of my local indian take-away malaya and kashmiri. I'm making it for the family on christmas. It'll be the only BIR style curry there, the other stuff that I plan to serve is more traditional indian.
They're the kind of people who can't stand hot/spiciness, so I thought a korma style recipe might be a crowd pleaser.

[/quote]

They tend to do that light trick with tomatoes here, not so much with bananas though. Definitely not a conspiracy...well, other than to con us into buying unripe fruits! 

QuoteI bought 2 anyway and when I came home I put them in a bag with some apples, hopefully that myth is true that that helps ripen them up.

No, not a myth. All fruits produce ethylene gas and that makes other fruit ripen. Usually though it's avocados you use as they produce a greater quantity per fruit. Personally I just leave the bananas in the fruit bowl for anything from 3 - 6 days and they ripen somewhere in that time. You definitely want the ripe fruit though because the sweetness makes all the difference and, of course, they have a better overall flavour. Just be careful not to overcook as they'll go to mush quite quickly. Add near the end depending on how ripe they are.
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That's relieving to hear.
I'm just concentrating on the sauce right now, so I add pureed banana because the malaya had banana flavour in the sauce itself. At the moment I'm not adding any meat, or sliced banana.
I don't want too much distracting my tastebuds since the first and last time I had that malaya was in early january.
I've also got a small stomach, so I use half the recipe when test-cooking. The one person portion has me stuffed to the gills, queasy as hell, in pain and not able to bend over or sleep for the next 5 hours or so.
I learned that the hard way 

I wish that I'd taken a more analytical approach when tasting that first and last malaya, but I had no idea I'd want to really replicate it.

Kashmiri was one of my favourites back in the day and I don't go much for mild curries, so it must have been good!

They were always mild, no banana flavour in the sauce, with sliced, ripe banana and definitely no desiccated coconut, which grosses me out frankly.

I'm only half joking when I say that I bet if you poked your head into the kitchen where you get yours you'd find a tub of banana milk shake powder on the shelf. Anything goes these days.
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I wouldn't put it past them
Sure there's decent take-away places but there are also some where everything goes.

10 years ago there was this dutch tv-program where they filmed the kitchens of take-away places (burgers, doner kebab, chinese food, greek, pizza etc) unannounced.
Basically a film crew went with the branch of the government called something along the lines of "health and food inspection".
Difficult to translate it, it's a government division that makes sure products made in the netherlands or imported to the netherlands are safe, like food or children's toys, and they also inspect places where food is made and served to customers.
Like you'd expect some of these kitchens were really horrible, but surprisingly one or two were squeaky clean.
But you could also see strange ingredients, things you wouldn't associate with the end product especially if you know next to nothing about how people cook in fast food places.
I remember seeing stuff in buckets, like a bucket of creamer, a bucket of smoke flavour, bucket of duck? fat.
Sadly I don't remember it well, but the creamer bucket stayed with me. It was clear they didn't use it for coffee. What use does a chinese place have for a bucket of coffee creamer?
I can't imagine the dish they'd use it in.

Went grocery shopping today, and there were only greenish yellow bananas again. And they shine coloured light on them to make em look better as well. Basically you pick the ripest bananas, put them in your basket, walk over to the canned goods aisle just to find out that the bananas magically changed colour and you go "surely these are not the ones I picked".
I know that sounds totally mental, like something a conspiracy fan might say but it's true and so effing disappointing.
I bought 2 anyway and when I came home I put them in a bag with some apples, hopefully that myth is true that that helps ripen them up.

Quote from: leodis1970 on November 26, 2015, 07:34 AM
To be honest, I still reckon ghee of either type is better than just oil (personal taste, not everyone will agree), so if cash is tight, you'll probably find the cheaper vegetable one is still a good choice and not far off half the price.

I've got butter ghee, the cheesy smell becomes less over time the more I scrape the top layer off. I keep it in the fridge.
But I'm just going to use for this recipe as well, especially if the smell becomes less during cooking.