What is your favorite mix powder and why?

[goncalo]

I have been using C2G (w/o bassar) and so far I'm OK with it, it's not great, but I seem to have cling to it for some odd reason. CA's mix powder is decent as well. However, I would like to hear comments on other mix powders from the rest of ye.

I'm particularly curious about a few mix-powders, namely:
* kushi
* ifindforu's TA
* zaal

Though, I haven't made/tried any of them.

[haldi]

I normally mix up the spice mix to go with whoever's recipe it belongs to
But the other day I simply used East End's Mild Madras spice mix
And it was brilliant
For ,at least a little while, this will be my spicing of choice

[markh3565]

Zaal is good, if not the best IMHO - why because its simple and doesnt require anything you can't buy in the high street - do make it with home made garam massala though

Also don't loose sight of the base ingredients aswell.

By having the best mix doesn't mean it will work with the base, I've chopped and changed mix powders and bases chasing the 'holy grail' as we all do.
Certainly on the other forum I spent 3 years doing exactly this and tbh ended up almost where I started - confussed as to why I couldnt serve up a dish that tasted of BIR

Don't forget in the T/A environment spice mixes are simple, and I know from my local they use Natco over say Rajah due to cost - however you still get that taste we all look for from there dishes!
There base is simple aswell so it has to be down to the technique used by the chef

So best advise is - select a  mix powder - select a base and develop them together.

Knowing what I know now, its 80% technique/experience and 20% ingredients - here's my take on it

5 tbsp - Curry powder - Rajah Gold Madras
4 tbsp - Turmeric powder
4 tbsp - Coriander powder
3 tbsp - Cumin powder
1 tbsp - Garam masala
1 tbsp - dried methi
1/2 tbsp - Kashmiri Chilli powder

[natterjak]

I use the following, which I think is basically IFF but I might've altered it along the way, I can't remember:

5 curry powder
5 turmeric
3 coriander
3 cumin
2 paprika
1 garam masala
0.33 chilli

[Malc.]

Hi Goncalo,

I use the IG Spice Mix as the chef has been cooking BIR since the early 70's. The food he produces is the standard by which I judge all others and it is second to none.

Each dish they produce has it's very own character which I believe is down to his old school philosophy to keep the base, mix powder, etc. simple to enable maximum control of flavour for the individual dishes they produce.

Many of the old school procedures, techniques and preparations have been consolidated in the modern version of BIR, to make it easier or should I say less time consuming. The down side is that alot of the flavour variations have been consolidated too and you end up with different dishes tasting similar.

To get the most out of the recipes posted on the forum, you really should use the intended spice mix and base together, in order to judge the resulting curry they make. Then you are in a position to change the components you feel need to be changed to get you closer to your goal, if indeed they need changing at all.

Cheers,

Malc.

[spiceyokooko]

I use the IG Spice Mix as the chef has been cooking BIR since the early 70's. The food he produces is the standard by which I judge all others and it is second to none.

Interesting.

Do you have a base and sample recipe that goes with this mix powder? Is it right to assume that most of the individual dish flavour comes from the addition of spices to this mix when the actual dish is cooked?

[spiceyokooko]

I've been using CA's mix powder along with his base for some time with good results but I've recently broken with that and have been experimenting with my own concoctions just to see what influence what is having on the final flavour.

I've just recently made a batch my own base sauce which wasn't significantly different to anything else you'll find here but I wanted to experiment with cooking technique and ingredient ratios, specifically the onion weight to other vegetable (green pepper, carrot, cabbage, tomato) weight and to water + oil volume ratio to solid (onion + vegetable) ratio.

I also created my own mix powder to go with it because I wanted to remove the standard pre-bought ground Madras powder component to see what effect it was having. It was basically 4 parts Turmeric, 3 parts coriander, 2 parts cumin, 1 part paprika, 1 part chilli powder, 1 part fenugreek powder, 1 part garlic powder, 1/2 part ginger powder, 1/2 part cardamon powder, 1/2 part garam masala, 1/2 part mustard powder and 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, 1/2 tsp black peppercorns and 1 star anise all ground.

So far it's not been hugely different to what I've been used to but I've only made once dish with this so far so it's early days.

[Malc.]

Do you have a base and sample recipe that goes with this mix powder? Is it right to assume that most of the individual dish flavour comes from the addition of spices to this mix when the actual dish is cooked?

Hi Spicey,

Sadly not i'm afraid, but it is something that I am looking into now that I have found my curry mojo again.

I think it is wrong to assume anything, but all the conversations I have had regarding old school and the snippets of information that I have garnered from them, suggest that there was alot more going on in the old school BIR kitchen by comparison to today's. 

If you use a base and mix powder that contains alot of spices, those flavours will be in the final dish, you won't be able to take them out. Like garam masala for instance, I don't want that flavour in every dish I make, so I wouldn't use it in my spice mix when I can simply add it to the dish when needed. So it stands to reason that I using a simple base and spice mix, will aloow the chef to create a huge array of differently flavoured dishes.

[JerryM]

it's something i'd like to revisit (eventually). currently i'm happy to buy off ifindforu off ebay.

of the make it yourself i like derekdansak, kushi and above all mouchak.

why buy ifindforu - it's BIR quality and nothing else i've come across comes close

[spiceyokooko]

So it stands to reason that I using a simple base and spice mix, will aloow the chef to create a huge array of differently flavoured dishes.

Malc, thanks for your reply.

This is a subject I find really interesting and I do agree with everything you've said here and your previous post on the subject.

The BIRs of today seem to have refined the processes down to simplify dish construction for speed, ease and consistency, the trade off being that many of them taste the same and there's little differentiation between dishes.

The BIR's of yesteryear appear to have had simpler base sauces and mix powders but more complex final dish construction which would have led to more differentiation in the dishes produced. That sits quite happily with my own personal belief (and experience of) old school BIR's borrowing, adapting and relying heavily on traditional style Indian recipes for their dishes.

Old school BIR's appear to have started the commercial refinement of traditional Indian recipes for mass, repeatable, consistent kitchen production that the current modern crop of BIR's have simply refined down even further.

To revisit that old school taste one has to go back to that transition stage of traditional Indian food fusing with commercial kitchen practice.

A truly fascinating subject which suggests strongly that the way forward for those of us trying to recreate it very much lies in simple base's, simple mix powders but much more complex final dish construction.