Quote from: daveeb on September 14, 2012, 10:02 AM
I spent a few hours in a takeaway last week and found out a few gems...

One of them was that he put 2 tspns if mix powder in a takeaway portion size of madras, however there was a tspn of red massala paste in there too!!

Seems to be a fairly common addition now. Either the more complex masala paste or just tandoori masala.

yeah, this one was made from toms, tikka, tandoori, mint etc etc
He put tom paste in and massala in so I asked why he didnt just put the red massala in, he said the tom paste was just for colour!

Quote from: daveeb on September 14, 2012, 10:02 AM
Hi there, just an update as Ive found my answer

I spent a few hours in a takeaway last week and found out a few gems...

One of them was that he put 2 tspns if mix powder in a takeaway portion size of madras, however there was a tspn of red massala paste in there too!!

Just thought Id let you know

daveeb

The red masala paste does keep popping up here and there I'm sure some of the purists will be shaking their heads   What other gems did you pick up on daveeb

I was in ther for 3 hours, we made the grabbi, mix powder, fish & chicken tikka, pre cooked chicken, madras, korma, bhuna, keema pilau and the red massala paste - coconut cream in the grabbi, frying the spices to within an inch of their lives, 2 tspn mix in the madras, red massala paste in all the curries it was watching that was the best thing.

"salt!! It goes in absolutely everything and without it the food would be boring" he said and he was right he kept dipping into the salt like a robot!!

Ive made a curry since and it is exactly the same as his

daveeb,

i've just switched on to the importance of the amount of mix powder but not yet got it pinned down.

since BE i reduced the amount i was using from 2 tsp down to 0.5 tsp. this does work for some dishes - mainly cream based. although been using same amount in hot fry too.

i now don't think a set amount can be used in all dishes - it needs to be varied. i've yet to go above 2 tsp and have 1 tbsp next on my list to try.

i would exclude anything else from the "sums" ie the red masala etc. it's the powders of the mix powder that's key. chilli is not counted either.

as an example of how tricky it is i put 2 tsp (normally 0.5 tsp) in the tikka masala this weak and the 1st dish for a long time not eaten fully.

i work on 300ml base being starting point for a single TA portion with a 3:2 reduction.

i'm also not that convinced that the level of base spicing is that critical either. i've tried both low and high spiced bases (1% to 7% based on the original onion volume) and don't feel it's significant in the final outcome albeit some spices have a proportionately greater effect ie cumin. coriander is the complete opposite.

something for the winter for me to work on.