"Does it matter what a bhuna looks like ?"

[Malc.]

I would go for the first one Phil as out of two it looks less oily but I am not a big fan of colourings for colourings sake especially green.

[Malc.]

I still don't agree that we as home cooks should copy the practices of modern BIR's in using artificial colourings though.

Neither do I, I don't use colouring as a rule of thumb. Of course, it does exist is some products, like my Tandoori Masala but I can not take it out and it's not practical for me to make my own.

[chewytikka]

Not a fair comparison.

If you are hungry, you are naturally attracted to exhibit A, because it has a rich and tasty looking
curry on it, with plenty of Chicken Fillet. The fried rice is secondary, but looks good and non greasy with
the right amount of peas and maybe a bit egg and onion.

The camera has caught the glint of too much oil on exhibit B which makes it less appealing.

So your the Winner Phil

[spiceyokooko]

If you are hungry, you are naturally attracted to exhibit A, because it has a rich and tasty looking
curry on it, with plenty of Chicken Fillet. The fried rice is secondary, but looks good and non greasy with
the right amount of peas and maybe a bit egg and onion.

You are only supposed to be looking at the rice!  :

I wonder which one you'd choose if you wern't hungry.

[spiceyokooko]

...like my Tandoori Masala but I can not take it out and it's not practical for me to make my own.

I'm pretty sure you could come up with a practical home made one if you were so inclined! I still have a bag of amchoor powder I've been meaning to use up in a tandoori masala

Commercial Tandoori Masala is primarily Paprika, Paprika, Paprika, Paprika, Salt, Sugar and a little bit of the usual suspects, I'm pretty sure a home made one would taste far better.

[Peripatetic Phil]

So your the Winner Phil

Neither are mine : one is CA's, and I regret I forget who prepared the other; I simply linked to it because it has achieved the same effect as I set out to achieve with mine.  This is one of mine :



** Phil.

[Malc.]

If you were blindfolded for example and were given say half a dozen Indian BIR dishes to smell, which one would you choose to eat? In the same way, if your blindfold was taken off, would you then change your mind based on what the dishes looked like?

I'm not convinced that appearance guides our choice in terms of what something should taste like. It's a con perpetuated upon us by wily restauranteurs to mislead us into thinking dishes are going to taste better than they actually are.

we make choices on dish descriptions, and past taste experience - not on what they look like.

Sorry to pick up on this late, but I missed a fair part of the debate.

I believe, blindfold removed, I could possibly choose another dish. This would be based on my attention to how much oil is in the dish, how the sauce appears generally, what is in the curry, etc. Smell is but one part of the whole. 

The real problem that causes debate here, is that we are discerning 'curry experts' and understand that colourings are not important or essential (sorry Phil I know you disagree) but the general curry eating nation are not so. I have had several conversations with restaurateurs that have indicated that removing the colouring has had an adverse effect on their custom, which supports Phil theory. But that doesn't mean we need to do this at home.

Past experiences also includes the visual memory of that experience so it does play a part, however much you agree to.

As for the Tandoori Masala, I may well look into it. I know the Rajah masala I have is fairly busy on the ingredient list, but I have wanted to get a spice grinder and this may be a time to do it. I cook alot of tikka and tandoori dishes at home, they are generally my goto fix.

[spiceyokooko]

Sorry to pick up on this late, but I missed a fair part of the debate.

All good comments which I happily agree with.

Of course visual appearance is important, but it's not the over-riding factor for me. It's taste, every time, and smell and aroma is very closely linked to taste, which is one of the reasons when you've been cooking and frying spices, particularly chilli your sense of smell can be over-whelmed by it, which also affects your taste.

I'm afraid I'm one of those annoying people when out in a group, who always wants to steal a spoonful of your curry just to taste I'm not that bothered what it looks like, I just want to taste it. However, if it's got aubergines in it like your dinner tonight, you're pretty safe, because I can't stand them!

It's well worth trying out mixing your own Tandoori Masala, you might be quite surprised at how much better it is over the commercial version. Tikka and Tandoori isn't really one of my things but when I have made them they've come out pretty well with home made masalas and marinating ingredients.

[Secret Santa]

I'm afraid I'm one of those annoying people

Now there's something we can all agree on!  ;D

[StoneCut]

To me both rice pics are appealing, however the first doesn't look like a Pilau rice to me. It's a "spiced rice" by the looks of it. A Pilau rice should look like exhibit B in my book. I guess it depends on what you name your rice