Topic: Is anbody here at curry nirvana?

[Whandsy]

The reason for my question is there are a lot of people with knowledge, a lot with ability, a lot with delicious looking pics and a lot with memories of curries from the 70's and 80's
I, personally, feel i can cook a lot of things to an excellent standard but my curries (whilst seemingly excellent to everyone else) are missing massive depth of flavour.  :-\Just when i think its good, the next visit to the takeaway blows it out of the water,  I no longer buy in to the spice overload anymore as i can walk out of a restaurant 2 hours later feeling stuffed and still thinking "wow, that smells ace!"
Big Boaby seemingly has done it for a few, Chewy talks like he's walking the walk (and maybe so) but i'm now left thinking "Where's this ebook Chris?" Final jigsaw piece?
 I'm only a few miles from him so maybe his takeaway is nearer to my goal ?
If this doesn't help then i'm giving up

It cant be this hard can it?

W ( after a few beers)

[Malc.]

What I would suggest you do is let someone else compare your cooking side by side with your favourite TA/BIR. Many of us are able to cook a curry with excellent results but we never appreciate this. Through the cooking process, our senses are numbed. Take that out of the equation and ask a trusted friend to judge your dish. One that hasn't been in the kitchen whilst it cooks.

[h4ppy-chris]

The reason for my question is there are a lot of people with knowledge, a lot with ability, a lot with delicious looking pics and a lot with memories of curries from the 70's and 80's
I, personally, feel i can cook a lot of things to an excellent standard but my curries (whilst seemingly excellent to everyone else) are missing massive depth of flavour.  :-\Just when i think its good, the next visit to the takeaway blows it out of the water,  I no longer buy in to the spice overload anymore as i can walk out of a restaurant 2 hours later feeling stuffed and still thinking "wow, that smells ace!"
Big Boaby seemingly has done it for a few, Chewy talks like he's walking the walk (and maybe so) but i'm now left thinking "Where's this ebook Chris?" Final jigsaw piece?
 I'm only a few miles from him so maybe his takeaway is nearer to my goal ?
If this doesn't help then i'm giving up

It cant be this hard can it?

W ( after a few beers)

Thats sad to hear Whandsy don't give up, i'll tell you what i will do for you if you want. Come to your house, i will watch you make a curry, then i will make the same curry using the same things as you. then make a curry using the things i brought with me.

[Whandsy]

Thats sad to hear Whandsy don't give up, i'll tell you what i will do for you if you want. Come to your house, i will watch you make a curry, then i will make the same curry using the same things as you. then make a curry using the things i brought with me.

Nice one Chris, I'll pm you 

W

[Kashmiri Bob]

Curry nirvana?  Probably yes.  It's all very subjective of course. I'm now happy with the knowledge that I will never be able to achieve the quality results of the Bengali chef at local TA.  Not far off sometimes, I've made some stunning currys, but somehow there's always a little bit of the magic missing.  Even after spending months watching the chef at work.

Rob 

[Curryking32000]

From the curries I've attempted I would say yes I've pretty much mastered them and its a majority of the traditional dishes and a few speciality ones.  Compared mine to a number of outlets and mine are better than some.

[rjo333]

Chicken Ultimate is going to get us there boys - be patient.

[uclown2002]

Chicken Ultimate is going to get us there boys - be patient.

yeah of course

[Stephen Lindsay]

I've stuck with the Taz base pretty much for the past two years (along with my own base which is derived from Taz with a few tweaks of my own, though the method is the same. I think my curries have improved dramatically during that time. I'm happy with them and think they equal any curry I've had locally in the past year, and they are better than some.

the key points for me are:

- practice practice practice -  I've managed to cook at least two curries a night, 5 times a week for the - past two years
- sticking to the same base and spice mix
- sticking to a few core recipes then expanding incrementally
- feedback from others, mainly my g/f, who will provide constructive criticism, not always positive, e.g. "needs more salt, too mild, too sweet, too sharp"

[Derek Dansak]

Is curry nirvana just off junction 6 of the m25 ?   

Totally agree with Stephen lindsays comments.

About a year ago I really do find comparison with local ta's is no longer a source of misery.

This took 5 years to arrive at this point.

Settling into your own style is the key.

For what its worth I would try the following if you are not at curry nirvana yet.

try and choose one base and then stick to it always. (very small adjustments are ok now and then, but record them and note what works)

regulary practice the madras, as its a great way to assess how good your skills are, and also see where they are lacking.  I still do this, as a learning exercise.

if you cant make a good madras sauce then its time to get back to basics, and ask the following
1) is the base sauce somehow too over powering and ruining the madras. If answer = yes try a plainer base.
2) is the madras lacking taste? if answer = yes, try lots of other madras recipes, spice mixes etc.
This approach will teach you to incrementally change the taste, which is important part of learning curve.

When making base sauce pay attention to how much water you add, and base spicing etc. The base is so important as a madras contains mainly base sauce, a little meat and a touch of spice, garlic and lemon.
 etc.  If the madras tastes disappointing I found the base is usually a culpritt.  Try a new base and never return to that old base, even if other people at cr0 swear by that base!! don't be a sheep !

Once you have experimented for a year or 2 you should have a decent madras sauce. Then stick to it and make tiny incremental changes each month, for example what happens if I add some adjawin spice to the base, does this add or detract to the taste of the madras.  Or what happens if I use 100% garlic paste instead of 70/30 garlic ginger paste. Or what happens if I use ghee instead of rapeseed oil? Or what happens if I make the base with white onions instead of brown onions? 

Once you begin to answer these questions the madras will really begin to shine !

Hope this helps , you wont learn this in any e book !