The redness in curries ?

[eshna]

I've noticed that nearly all the curries I have had in restaurants over the last couple of years seem to have become much redder in colour than they used to be. Not sure the colour matters all that much in the long run because it is about taste but I was wondering what do you think the chefs add to give it that deeper colour. My spice powder for home cooking is the usual 4 suspects so what would I need to add folks do you think ? I'm sure it's not just tomato pur?e.

[fried]

Red food colouring I'd imagine would be the biggest culprit. Kashmiri chilli powder also gives a nice red colour, as opposed to a chemical red colour.

[Salvador Dhali]

It could be a combination of things.

I haven't been in one BIR kitchen and found deggi mirch (too expensive). Instead they tend to use the standard hot (usually Rajah or similar) chilli powder, which is more orange because it contains far more seeds, and mix it with paprika to calm it down a bit and give it a more red colour.

Next suspect is tomato puree (diluted). While there are some dishes on the menu that don't include it, you'll find it in many BIR curries to some extent or another.

And there may well be a touch of red food colouring involved - especially if the chef has added a little red masala sauce to the dish. (Red food colouring is found in the commercial pastes used to make the masala sauce).

[StoneCut]

If Germany is any place to go by for BIR comparisons (hehe) then I must say that the red food colour powder constantly gets new orders at my local asian shop. They seems to burn through a LOT quite quickly. I know that our local "Indian" Restaurant buy their produce there (I even saw one of the chefs pack up some MDH ready-made mixes, yuk!) - maybe they buy up the food colouring. I have a little pot of it and just some grains is enough to paint anything bright red ...

[sp]

I find using Bassar Masala makes curries red too, although as mentioned above this may have more to do with the type of chilli powder used in the mixture