Hi People
Recently went for a holiday to Spain, came back Christmas Eve, whilst out there as you do we went went for a curry. During the course of the evening I got quite chatty with the waiter, complimenting him on the food etc.

Well to the point, after the meal we sat there having a drink when the owner showed his face we got chatting and I explained my interest in Indian cuisine and showed him a copy of CTM recipe that I recently posted on this site, and asked him his thoughts on the recipe. He said that the CTM would probably be OK but there is no way that he would put in cumin seeds, Lemon juice, Fresh Mint or Fresh Chillies, in fact he said no Indian dish (BIR Style) uses lemon juice, and during the conversation he said no way does he ever use vinegar in any of his recipes.

On we go, I asked him outright "is there a secret to the base sauce" he said no, "one base I make 35 different dishes" OK we can all do that I thought, he agreed that the base sauce will vary slightly from chef to chef so I wrote out the KD basic sauce recipe, which he looked over and said not enough tomato puree so I said how much? at least half a kilo he said, and twice as much onions, I explained that this is only for home cooking purposes and he said OK but you still need about 200 - 300 grams of tomato puree, he couldn't be specific but obviously we are not adding enough.

He then said "where is your seasoning?" its there I said (salt), no he said garam masala, without garam masala you got no base it will be too bland, how much I said for the amount I am making, 2 heaped tsp, added when you are boiling the onions, garlic & ginger.

Well I am not saying that this is that elusive secret, its too obvious for it to be a secret, but give it a try,? and as he said there is no secret, he also said during the evening you have to put mustard seeds into a madras dish and to obtain the redness of a vindaloo dish he uses the big long red sweet chillies dried.

I am not looking to start a debate I am just passing on the information I was given, I have made the base and cooked a chicken dopiaza and there was a difference, and in my opinion, for the better.

Happy cooking peeps ;D

Quote from: extrahotchillie on January 03, 2006, 01:20 PM
CTM would probably be OK but there is no way that he would put in cumin seeds, Lemon juice, Fresh Mint or Fresh Chillies

Neither would I, CTM is supposed to be a creamy, sweet and mild curry.

Quotehe said no Indian dish (BIR Style) uses lemon juice

Definitely wrong. He may not use it, but all UK pathia and dhansak curries have some in.

Quoteput mustard seeds into a madras dish and to obtain the redness of a vindaloo dish he uses the big long red sweet chillies dried.

This is just his variation on the theme. Mustard seeds are very noticable when whole and no madras I've ever had has had them in.

You didn't say how the curry you had there compared to your usual fare.

CTM at my local restaurant has lemon juice in as does mine and I think its an essential component of the dish? ;D

Also meant to add great report   

I, like the rest of you always use lemon juice, I am only passing on information, whether its right or wrong I don't know maybe it just has to be tried. 

As far as the mustard seeds go I haven't tried them yet, I was thinking about fine crushing them in a pestal & mortar, like you, I haven't visually seen mustard seeds in a madras.

The sauce I cooked and the dopiaza certainly had what I can only describe had an extra richness about them, I will make another batch and post the pictures.

There are some Mustard seeds in my locals Vindalloo & Tindalloo.

Quote from: extrahotchillie on January 04, 2006, 08:57 AM
As far as the mustard seeds go I haven't tried them yet, I was thinking about fine crushing them in a pestal & mortar, like you, I haven't visually seen mustard seeds in a madras.

I do get mustard seeds in currys from a particular takeaway that I use, as far as im aware they are fried at the very begining until they start popping.  I've tried them myself and they didn't make a massive difference to the final taste.

Quote from: extrahotchillie on January 03, 2006, 01:20 PM...passing on the information I was given...

First class stuff, a well written and interesting read, too. Who knows if other BIRs use lemon juice and vinegar(I suspect some do) but it doesn't sound like that chef does. Why would be lie about that? Anyway, was your meal there up with the best of BIR? I assume the chef was of Indian extraction, was he?

Regards
George

The chef was of Indian extraction, Punjabi infact, although we didn't have a madras infact it was a balti and it did taste quite good but I will be honest with you I bet you could cook as good, I think we all can, lets be fair we put an enormous amount of effort into them.

An intersting part of the meal was the starter, usual things, except he said be careful with this one its very hot. I tried it as you do, wow! very hot we asked what it was and he told me carrot, CARROT I said, yes carrot done in a chili sauce, we are the only restaurant on the Costa Del Sol to do it, certainly not for the faint hearted.

We are going out there again in a few weeks and I will certainly ask him for a few more tips.

Ive seen lemon wedges (BIRest) and lemon juice (BITakeaway) going into a pathia