Topic: Back to my roots

[Alchemist]

I have also had great results with KDs recipes and techniques.  In my experience frying the spices it not essential, unless you are using whole spices.  You just need to cook them sufficiently to extract the full flavour, which is perhaps where the real skill lies.

[George]

My curries have been pretty much rubbish of late, and two attempts at re-creating a 60s/70s Bhuna Chicken this week failed dismally.  So today I returned to my roots.  KD1 base, absolutely to spec., and a KD1-inspired Chicken Madras.  It was /great/, just like my curries used to be. 

So are you saying the curries from recipes here on this forum are actually inferior to what you achieve by following KD1 recipes (exactly or closely inspired) from the mid-1980s?

Also, are your spoon measures level, rounded or heaped?

[Peripatetic Phil]

My curries have been pretty much rubbish of late, and two attempts at re-creating a 60s/70s Bhuna Chicken this week failed dismally.  So today I returned to my roots.  KD1 base, absolutely to spec., and a KD1-inspired Chicken Madras.  It was /great/, just like my curries used to be. 

So are you saying the curries from recipes here on this forum are actually inferior to what you achieve by following KD1 recipes (exactly or closely inspired) from the mid-1980s?

No, I am  saying that the curries from recipes here as prepared by me never seem to match KD1-inspired curries in terms of flavour, consistency (both senses) and BIR-authenticity.  Others may well have achieved far superior results using the recipes and methods to be found here.  What would be particularly interesting would be to hear from other members who have tried KD1, and who have also tried recipes from this forum that require the spices to be fried in oil, and to learn which of the two techniques in their opinion gives the better and more authentic BIR-style curry.

Also, are your spoon measures level, rounded or heaped?

The short answer is "yes".  In terms of the most recent recipe on which I have reported, the measures were /approximately/ flat, but I made no effort to scrape off any excess, and of course measures such as "1/5 teaspoon hing" are judged purely by eye and therefore subject to fairly wide error bars (in the present case, 1/6 teaspoon <= x < 1/4 teaspoon).

** Phil.

[gazman1976]

It will be worth it 
[/quote]

Worth the wait? I hope so as the last time we were told about 5-6 weeks? has that time passed now?

[George]

Phil

I tried something along the lines of your recipe this evening and it was relatively flavourless. I did so many things differently, though, that it's not fair to condemn your recipe itself. For a start, I used my own base sauce and I didn't have any rabbit stock to hand.

My pre-cooked chicken was grilled thighs. Perhaps these leeched more chicken juices into the sauce than your breast meat. I find that chicken juices are a curry-killer, rather than a benefit.

I'll try again, adding more spices to taste, to see if I can improve the flavour.

Not only does this recipe involve no frying of the spices. It doesn't include any onions or ginger/garlic puree in the final stage of cooking.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Phil

I tried something along the lines of your recipe this evening and it was relatively flavourless. I did so many things differently, though, that it's not fair to condemn your recipe itself. For a start, I used my own base sauce and I didn't have any rabbit stock to hand.

I doubt either made much difference.  Far more important (IMHO) was "did you use Bassar Curry Masala, Deggi Mirch and Kashmiri Mirch" ?

My pre-cooked chicken was grilled thighs. Perhaps these leeched more chicken juices into the sauce than your breast meat. I find that chicken juices are a curry-killer, rather than a benefit.

Mine was breast, pre-cooked in oil, g/g paste, Patak's Kashmiri Masala and turmeric (from memory, may be slightly inaccurate).

Not only does this recipe involve no frying of the spices. It doesn't include any onions or ginger/garlic puree in the final stage of cooking.

Yes, Kris tactitly challenges a great deal of the received wisdom, yet I still find her approach yields 1st-class results.

** Phil.

[George]

Far more important (IMHO) was "did you use Bassar Curry Masala, Deggi Mirch and Kashmiri Mirch" ?

I used bassar and deggi but I don't have any kashmiri mirch so I added a chopped green chilli instead. I think of all those as chilli for heat, rather than much flavour but I could be wrong.

[Peripatetic Phil]

I used bassar and deggi but I don't have any kashmiri mirch so I added a chopped green chilli instead. I think of all those as chilli for heat, rather than much flavour but I could be wrong.

B, D & K do indeed all contribute heat; K contributes colour; but B contributes a great deal of flavour.
** Phil.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Try this version, George :  my wife has just given it 10/10 and even I was willing to give it 8.5 :

• Make KD1 base to spec., reserving some of the green sauce (i.e., pre-tomato and spices) to pre-cook the chicken.
  
  
• Pre-cook the chicken :
  
  
  • 1lb chicken, cut into large curry-size pieces (each about 1oz after pre-cooking)
  • 3 tablespoons Asda Chinese stir-fry oil
  • 2 tablespoons reserved green sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1/2 teaspoon Patak's Kashmiri masala
  
  
  • Cook oil, sauce, turmeric and Kashmiri masala, stirring continually, at a moderate heat for five minutes
  • Add the chicken, stir well until all the pieces are coated, put lid on, cook gently until just firm (do not go too far)
  • Place sauce + chicken into a plastic takeaway container, allow to cool, then allow to rest in the refrigerator until needed
  
  
• Make the curry :
  
  
  • The chicken pieces from above
  • 5 tablespoons Asda Chinese stir-fry oil
  • 3/4 pint finished base (i.e., with tomato and spices)
  • 1 teaspoon Bassar curry masala
  • 1 teaspoon Bolsts curry powder (hot)
  • 1 teaspoon Kashmiri mirch
  • 1 teaspoon coarse rock salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground fenugreek
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/8 teaspoon chat masala
  • About two tablespoons coriander stalk cut into 1/16" pieces
  • About two teaspoons coarsely chopped coriander leaves
  
  
  • Place the oil and base sauce in a 28cm stainless steel non-stick frying pan and bring to a rolling boil, controlling the heat to avoid excessive splattering (induction :  60-70%)
  • Add the Bassar, Kashmiri mirch, curry powder and salt, stir well, add the chicken and cook at 60-70% for five minutes
  • Add the cumin, fenugreek, coriander and chat masala, stir well, reduce the heat to 30% and cook for three minutes, increasing the heat to 40 or 50% as necessary to keep the dish bubbling gently
  • Add the coriander stalks, stir well and cook for a further two minutes
  • Garnish with the coriander leaves and serve with red onion salad and microwave-cooked pulao rice

** Phil.

[George]

Try this version, George :  my wife has just given it 10/10 and even I was willing to give it 8.5 :

Many thanks for going to this trouble. The least I can do, is try it.

Yesterday, I used something along the lines of your chicken marinade. I used Pataks Balti paste, which I happened to have in the fridge, plus some lemon juice, fresh garlic and pepper. It's the first time I've got pleasant results from any Pataks paste. The  amount which entered the sauce didn't ruin it, like Pataks usually does. My sauce was my own, just following my instinct.