MARTIN'S ASHOKA MADRAS

[gazman1976]

thanks uncle frank but i am with panpot - once u have tried the bunjarra and g/g paste with the ashoka recipes i wont be going back as i am from Glasgow and i have found what i have been looking for

Garry

[Martinwhynot]

thanks uncle frank but i am with panpot - once u have tried the bunjarra and g/g paste with the ashoka recipes i wont be going back as i am from Glasgow and i have found what i have been looking for

Garry

With you on that one, Gazman.....I have put myself in early curry retirement based upon what Panpot gave us all - just need a South Indian style Ashoka recipe and I think I can rest (Panpot, are you listening?  lol!)

Regards to all

Martin

[mr.mojorisin]

this looks as if it is creeping into contention for my next curry adventure on the stove this weekend
i've made a couple of curries recently with onion paste and to me they had a certain something that I like
anyone tried this recently and if so......how good/bad was it ??

thanks

[Salvador Dhali]

That is the only "bad" one i have made with the Ashoka base all the other recipes have been quite nice.I too have been eating curries for around 30 odd years and have tried a varied amount to date from nearly everywhere in England and a few abroad but never have i tried one from Scotland (well one from Dunfries) so i just need to know "what is the difference?".And what is "that taste".
What makes the Ashoka recipes different from various recipes around this great isle we live on.
Thanks.

Hi Frank,

I'll try to answer to the best of my ability but the best thing would be go there and try one  ;D

The bunjara is very strongly flavoured (if you've never made it up).  It has notes that I would describe as Moorish (from the cinnamon), sweet and has a beautiful warmth to it.  This flavoured addition to the base sauce does 'elevate' the flavour to a more complex dish that you just quite can't put your finger on if I'm honest - it's just a wonderful blend of slightly sweet/tomato/subtle cinnamon/coriander taste that I've just not had in England (and I've lived in Hants, Herts, Gloucester, London, Kent, Belfast & Berks so have been around a few!).  The sauces are more reliant on the bunjara than a mix yet the taste is a bit stronger than in England.  In the restaurant in Scotland (speaking generally!) the portions are much bigger - I have relatives who visit London regularly and refuse to eat Indian there - too expensive and half the amount they say.

To sum it up, if it's possible, I'd say slightly more play on the tomato, cinnamon and coriander blend.  I'd pick a West Coast/Glasgow curry out of a taste challenge every time.

I hope (but doubt!) that helps.  If you're just curious try it.  If you're somewhere in England trying to replicate your local favourite restaurant I'd say forget this but perhaps the bunjara will inspire you to make your own speciality dish.

Incindentally, my parents are down visiting me just now and we've just finished an 'Ashoka'  bhuna.  We had my 'normal' bhuna on Friday night and my dad did say the Ashoka one tasted 'local' and he much preferred it. 

Happy cooking!

Martin   

Just found this thread, and having apparently followed Martin around the UK and Scotland (albeit unwittingly) on the curry quest, he's absolutely bang on about the differences.

My Scottish hunting ground was the West Coast (I lived and worked in Irvine and Glasgow), and after being used to "soft southern nancy" curries most of my life I was blown away by the intensity of the curries up there, and have been chasing that taste ever since.

Needless to say, I'm delighted to have found this and I'm champing at the bit to give this recipe a go, so will report back next week on completion of a hopefully successful mission.

[ELW]

this looks as if it is creeping into contention for my next curry adventure on the stove this weekend
i've made a couple of curries recently with onion paste and to me they had a certain something that I like
anyone tried this recently and if so......how good/bad was it ??

thanks

I'd pencilled this in a while ago, I can't see it making a madras as I know it, but should be pretty good. The Ashoka stuff is fairly unique bir imho

ELW

[mr.mojorisin]

may need to ramp up the heat a little with some scotch bonnets
definitely gonna try this out this weekend.
will post results here.
If it fails I can always return to Chewys excellent madras or Abduls excellent Dynamite Chicken
can't really beat a good Glasgow curry IMO.
i gotta say that coz I stay there.lol
I've tried Indian curries in London, Leeds, Manchester,Bournemouth, Poole,Birmingham, Kent, Belfast and Corfu among various places but the Glasgow ones to me are the best.
maybe it's just what you're used to.
I've seen various debates on here about regional variations and the same is said for Glasgow.
You can have a Madras in the East end and it will vary tremendously from one in Drumchapel in the West.
cheers

[ELW]

may need to ramp up the heat a little with some scotch bonnets
definitely gonna try this out this weekend.
will post results here.
If it fails I can always return to Chewys excellent madras or Abduls excellent Dynamite Chicken
can't really beat a good Glasgow curry IMO.
i gotta say that coz I stay there.lol
I've tried Indian curries in London, Leeds, Manchester,Bournemouth, Poole,Birmingham, Kent, Belfast and Corfu among various places but the Glasgow ones to me are the best.
maybe it's just what you're used to.
I've seen various debates on here about regional variations and the same is said for Glasgow.
You can have a Madras in the East end and it will vary tremendously from one in Drumchapel in the West.
cheers

I'm finding the Ashoka recipe's to work really well now my cooking bir skills have improved. I don't think the Ashoka taste defines the curries we're used to in Glasgow, they're nothing like Shish Mahal, M India, or recently tried Rasoi(formerly called millenium platter) or any of my locals, but they do give me something good to aim at. Loads of garlic ends up in the dish, from the base/banjarra & dish itself. It's the first thing I can smell when i'm in any of their places.

The bunjara is very strongly flavoured (if you've never made it up).  It has notes that I would describe as Moorish (from the cinnamon), sweet and has a beautiful warmth to it.  This flavoured addition to the base sauce does 'elevate' the flavour to a more complex dish that you just quite can't put your finger on if I'm honest

That quote from the op, which I've only just read, is similar to what I posted recently after getting the stuff to work. It tasted no better than a Pataks paste until I learned the initial technique. It really comes alive in a dish, with no special cooking technique involved(just stir it in). It's use & creation really is the work of someone who understands flavours. I could never have came up with this of my own back. How it works in a  madras I'm not sure, but I think I'll give this a bash to find out
The Ashoka bir method  is definitely different to alot of methods on here.

@ mrmojorisin - My experience of curries down south is too limited to warrant a mention. I don't know why a curry produced in Glasgow would be any different say NE England? In Glasgow I often detect methi & what I think now may be singed garam masala(essentially a mix powder), which fly's in the face of things. There is a definite underlying hint of something strong, which I've seen descibed as intense.  If I was to  cut the GG content from the Ashoka stuff, I may have  a foundation for some kind of 'Glasgow taste'....or I could be well wide  of the mark............again  , but I'll keep at it

[ELW]

may need to ramp up the heat a little with some scotch bonnets
definitely gonna try this out this weekend.
will post results here.
If it fails I can always return to Chewys excellent madras or Abduls excellent Dynamite Chicken
can't really beat a good Glasgow curry IMO.
i gotta say that coz I stay there.lol
I've tried Indian curries in London, Leeds, Manchester,Bournemouth, Poole,Birmingham, Kent, Belfast and Corfu among various places but the Glasgow ones to me are the best.
maybe it's just what you're used to.
I've seen various debates on here about regional variations and the same is said for Glasgow.
You can have a Madras in the East end and it will vary tremendously from one in Drumchapel in the West.
cheers

Madras i'm used to must be 1 TBLSP chilli, pretty hot. If there's any left the following day, I notice alot of the sourness has gone & I can actually taste & smell  the lemon. Think I'll make this at the weekend also using Taj frozen G&G blocks to make the Ashoka ratio, they're so smooth they will mix together with a spoon. Those things are the new rock n roll for me

ELW