Topic: Glasgow madras

[stevejet66]

Hi ss, well what can i say! my base was spot on and it lit every candle, once you diverse into very smaller amount's i dont think it will have the same effect, i would say it's splitting hair's so to speak, The emphasis on oil content is sometimes over the top (no disrespect) but would one go into a takeaway and ask the chef for the oil per portion ratio of the curry before the order was taken, I think the scientific side need's to be left aside as there to much calculating over portion's and oil. that's why the bir has its taste, in my opinion to cut corner's and still expect the bir taste is not going to happen.

steve.

[Secret Santa]

The problem is Steve that I haven't had a Glasgow curry recently so I don't know what I'm aiming for. Thirty years ago when I did have a few they were no different to the ones I got down South.

However, there was no cutting corners here. The notion that scaling down in some way changes the outcome is really not valid and apart from that I followed the recipes near enough to the letter. Don't forget that while this 'Glasgow' curry may be the type you and a few others have been trying to perfect it may not be (and certainly isn't in my case) what others may be looking for in a curry, particularly if this curry is supposed to be different from those down South.

[DalPuri]

once you diverse into very smaller amount's i dont think it will have the same effect,
steve.

Salvador Dhali, your probably not far out there, with the glasgow base i just halved everything

This base is already scaled down from a 25kg onion base. 

[George]

I don't know what I'm aiming for. ...The notion that scaling down in some way changes the outcome is really not valid

I agree. I don't mind where a recipe comes from or what it's called as long as it tastes good to me.

I also agree that scaling-down shouldn't change much.

I still haven't collected together the spices and other ingredients needed to try some of the Glasgow recipes for myself. So last night I threw various ingredients which I did have into a pan, to make a quick curry-from-scratch with no name. The ingredients included yellow pepper (always left over from the packs of three colours) and a couple of red onions. I ended up with a very unattractive-looking mid-dark brown sauce, after I'd blended it. It wasn't like anything in particular, except it tasted excellent.

[Secret Santa]

This base is already scaled down from a 25kg onion base. 

Precisely. And it would have been better all round if the scaling by BB1 had been to 5kg of onions instead of 7kg because dividing 25 by 5 is far less prone to error than dividing 25 by 7. In fact I would have preferred the original quantities, exactly as used in the takeaway, without any scaling at all.

[Secret Santa]

Just to show you how things can differ
my curries came out oily and I could spoon off excess oil
mine were cooked on a very high heat probably too much reduction
early days yet still experimenting 

That is interesting because I started off the cooking on my wok burner at 4.5KW which is more than most people have at home. I rapidly had to back that off as I would have had a pan full of charcoal (due to the overly thick base sauce) two minutes into the cooking. Even so I really hammered it and barely a trickle of oil escaped.

I know BB1 said full heat throughout cooking but the thick base just doesn't allow for that.

[Micky Tikka]

my base didn't feel too thick
Hard to compare unless we are all in the same kitchen

[Secret Santa]

my base didn't feel too thick
Hard to compare unless we are all in the same kitchen

Well I went by what BB1 said, i.e. "END RESULT SHOULD LOOK LIKE THICK LENTIL SOUP", and mine did.

[George]

In fact I would have preferred the original quantities, exactly as used in the takeaway, without any scaling at all.

I'd have preferred to see the list of ingredients for the full sized 25Kg batch as well.

BB1 - could you perhaps supply an ingredients list for the original quantities?

[Stephen Lindsay]

Now I've never had a curry in Glasgow BUT I don't think we can say that a Glasgow curry is necessarily a different species to the rest of Scotland. However I have had curries from Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee (next next biggest cities behind Glasgow) and loads of other other smaller towns in Scotland.

For point of comparison with Scotland I've also had curries in Cumbria, Yorkshire, the Midlands and Dorset. My g/f is from Dundee but lived in Northamptonshire for 20 years until last year and so I also have her experience as reference point of comparison. I see as much in the way of similarities from my own experience.

My point is that I believe there is a certain amount of geographical mobility amongst Scottish and English Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi people and therefore the must be some element of cross-fertilisation in terms of curry knowledge and skills amongst proprietors and chefs. I don't think it's right to assume that BB1s recipes represent the whole of Scotland any more than Abdul Mohed's, Dips, or Julian's recipes represent the whole of England. We should just judge and enjoy them for the curries they produce and as BB1's posts are getting great feedback that is valuable in itself.

Therefore I don't think we should get too carried away with differences and thinking that as soon as we cross the border we enter a totally different curry world. Sure you may not understand my accent and may wonder what possesses us Scots to wear the kilt and extend a friendly welcome with the phrase "what the (moderated) are you looking at". Yes we have our funny ways but the tartan (or Glasgow) curry is not, in my opinion, a homogeneous product.