My curries, I feel are good, and I am happy with the taste I get. However, standard curries, eg bhuna, jalfrezi, rogon josh, while having very good flavours, tend to have a background similarity. I suppose this is to be expected to some point, because of using the same ginger/garlic paste, base, spice mix, pre-cooked meat, etc. Sometimes though, I would like a different tasting bhuna or jalfrezi. I do like the special dishes, eg butter chicken, bahar, jaflong, because they come out different because of different ingredients. It makes a nice change.

There are obviously massive variations on the same dish from restaurant to restaurant. So, my question is, what is the best way to get taste variation? 

1. Try different spice mixes? - not sure this would make a great difference.
2. Maybe use freshly chopped ginger and garlic?
3. Different base recipe - think many seem to say bases don't change the taste that much?
4. How about adding some curry pastes? Is that sacreligious? 

Any suggestions how to get good taste variations?

Just made a C2G madras. Plain and simple. Added some finger chillies. Nice. Added some magic masala sauce near the end and the taste noticeably changed. Finished with half tsp Mr. Naga and Wow. My madras normally seems a little plain but today, alongside a ceylon and a jaipuri, the madras takes the award.

I'll be breaking the seal of my Mr Naga tonight in a jalfrezi.  Can't wait!!

Quote from: RubyDoo on March 09, 2013, 03:26 PM
Just made a C2G madras. Plain and simple. Added some finger chillies. Nice. Added some magic masala sauce near the end and the taste noticeably changed. Finished with half tsp Mr. Naga and Wow. My madras normally seems a little plain but today, alongside a ceylon and a jaipuri, the madras takes the award.

Except that isn't a madras!

Yes, I do luv my Mr naga - made my beans on toast amazing!, but I am talking about variation of standard recipes.

Quote from: Secret Santa on March 09, 2013, 03:47 PM

Quote from: RubyDoo on March 09, 2013, 03:26 PM
Just made a C2G madras. Plain and simple. Added some finger chillies. Nice. Added some magic masala sauce near the end and the taste noticeably changed. Finished with half tsp Mr. Naga and Wow. My madras normally seems a little plain but today, alongside a ceylon and a jaipuri, the madras takes the award.

Except that isn't a madras!

Who cares? 

And that said, can you tell me at exactly what point something either becomes or stops being a 'madras'? Is there a definitive and globally recognised authority on this? I think not. 

Quote from: meggeth on March 09, 2013, 03:55 PM
Yes, I do luv my Mr naga - made my beans on toast amazing!, but I am talking about variation of standard recipes.

You too!!  ;D

I was thinking about this a couple of weeks ago. I remember years ago having a rissole in a chippy somewhere that had a dryish baked bean filling.
So while eating my beans on toast with a tsp of mr. naga, i had an idea for Naga Balls.  ;D

Start with a tin of baked beans with juice removed but not rinsed completely dry. add 1 tsp of Mr. Naga to them.

then take some Seekh kebab mixture and wrap around a tbsp or two of the beans to make a ball shape encasing the beans.

next, egg and crumb them and deep fry.

Its like a curried scotch egg without the egg. 

Frank. 

Quote from: DalPuri on March 09, 2013, 04:38 PM
I was thinking about this a couple of weeks ago. I remember years ago having a rissole in a chippy somewhere that had a dryish baked bean filling.
So while eating my beans on toast with a tsp of mr. naga, i had an idea for Naga Balls.  ;D

Start with a tin of baked beans with juice removed but not rinsed completely dry. add 1 tsp of Mr. Naga to them.

then take some Seekh kebab mixture and wrap around a tbsp or two of the beans to make a ball shape encasing the beans.

You know that's not a bad suggestion but it also gives me the mind to add Mr.Naga to the Keema mix and make kofte to add to a dish instead of chicken or lamb.

You could call them Naga Bombs and add to any standard dish, imagine....Naga Bomb Bhuna, eh, it's quite catchy, no?  

Naga balls! That just sounds right somehow! 

Quote from: Axe on March 09, 2013, 04:54 PM

Quote from: DalPuri on March 09, 2013, 04:38 PM
I was thinking about this a couple of weeks ago. I remember years ago having a rissole in a chippy somewhere that had a dryish baked bean filling.
So while eating my beans on toast with a tsp of mr. naga, i had an idea for Naga Balls.  ;D

Start with a tin of baked beans with juice removed but not rinsed completely dry. add 1 tsp of Mr. Naga to them.

then take some Seekh kebab mixture and wrap around a tbsp or two of the beans to make a ball shape encasing the beans.

next, egg and crumb them and deep fry.

Its like a curried scotch egg without the egg. 

Frank. 

You know that's not a bad suggestion but it also gives me the mind to add Mr.Naga to the Keema mix and make kofte to add to a dish instead of chicken or lamb.

You could call them Naga Bombs and add to any standard dish, imagine....Naga Bomb Bhuna, eh, it's quite catchy, no?  

Not bad but I prefer mine using beans because its quite different.
If you wanted a real explosion how about freezing some pea sized balls of mr. naga then wrapping the mixture around one of those for koftas? 
Could even add rice to make naga mines.  ;D