I had some spare time this afternoon so I thought I'd have a play around with some new Madras recipes and methods. The result was very good, probably the best I have cooked to date, and while still not 100% there I believe it is on the right road. Some of 'the taste' was present.

To keep things simple, I had everything prepared before the pan went on.

Bowl 1

0.5 heaped tsp cumin
1.5 heaped tsp ground coriander
1 heaped tsp turmeric
2 heaped tsp hot chilli powder
1 heaped tsp garlic powder

Bowl 2

1 heaped tsp garlic / ginger paste
1 heaped tsp garlic paste
1 heaped tsp tomato puree (double concentrated)
Equal amount as above water
Mix together to form a runny paste

Other ingredients

1 portion base sauce (any APART from the CWG quick base - I used SNS)
1 chefs pinch methi leaves
1 big pinch chopped coriander
1 big squirt (sorry can't be any more precise) of lemon DRESSING

Method

Firstly I got the base sauce to a running boil in a saucepan

In the frying pan I added approx 2 tbsps Veg oil and left to heat up until smoking

To this I added the contents of bowl 2 and stood back shaking the pan a bit which encourage a lot of flames into the pan.

After about 20 seconds when the garlic was just starting to darken in colour I added a ladle of base sauce. Again this produced a lot of flames and spitting as the water based sauce hit the hot oil. I encouraged as much flambeeing as possible then left the pan still for a few minutes to reduce. Once the flames had died down I mixed in the Pot 1 spices.

I think this is a key part of the process. If you watch any of the webcams the chefs don't continually shake the pan and mix around the sauce, they just leave it to simmer hard and reduce down.

Once it was quite thick I added another ladle of base sauce, the lemon juice and methi leaves. I then left it still for another could of minutes to reduce down.

I added a third ladle of base along with a big pinch of chopped coriander and simmered slowly for a minute or 2 until it reached the desired consistency.

The result was lovely and will form the base of my lunch at work tomorrow. The taste was pretty authentic and lacked the tomatoey taste that my previous attempts have always been ruined by. The lemon dressing is a must and imparts a slight sweetness while not being too tart.

If anyone fancied giving it a go I'd love to hear your feedback. I know there is nothing revolutionary in the recipe but I think the combination of ingredients is very close to a standard BIR.

Hi Chris i will give it a bash on Saturday

Garry

I just had this Madras sauce with some rice for my lunch and it was beautiful. My only comments are that yesterday the garlic and ginger tasted a bit raw but after leaving to cool and then microwaving today it eliminated that. Next time I will holf off on adding the first ladle of base until the garlic is golden. It's tough to time right with all the spitting and flames!

I also think there might have been a tad too much spice in it. Next time I will halve the amounts (apart from the chilli powder and garlic powder).

I really like the method and it really encourages a bit of oil separation.

Quote from: chriswg on February 15, 2010, 12:40 PM
I just had this Madras sauce with some rice for my lunch...

That is a quality lunch chriswg, I bet your colleagues are jealous!

No salt Chris?

Is this a single serving?

Quote from: chris1 big squirt (sorry can't be any more precise) of lemon DRESSING

Yes you can, use a spoon 

Yes it is a single serving - albeit a 'man size' portion.

The lack of salt was an oversight. I'm used to working with the very salty quick base so I forgot to add it in. Do you use salt or MSG Cory?

Regarding the lemon dressing what I meant was in hindsight I couldn't accurately say how much I had used. Next time I'll try and quantify it better. I expect it is in the region of 2 tbsps.

I am also contemplating mixing bowls 1 and 2 together (with added salt) and a bit more water and fry / flambee that all together for a minute before adding the first ladle of base sauce. The concern is that the spices may burn before the garlic and ginger is cooked but if it is mixed into a paste then hopefully that wouldnt happen. Has anyone ever tried this?