Topic: Question about "The taste" or "the smell".

[CurryCanuck]

Good point George - there is a staging process when incorporating certain ingredients . Salt / pepper are traditionally added at the beginning then adjusted . Garam masala is usually added toward the completion of a dish because of its more delicate nature ( where prolonged cooking would nullify the taste ) and perhaps produce and unwanted result . This statement is based on both perception and personnel experience . Realizing that tastes do vary , some people might beg do differ and prefer the " hard edge " of well cooked spicing .

[Chilli Prawn]

Nope, I don't disagree at all. This is very to my cooking process, and I can assure you also the way most Asian cooks work.  I think if you blast the spices to death then you end up with a nothingness, e.g. no depth and no ltitude in spice flavours.  As we have discussed before, all spices roast, cook at different rates, and the 'chemical composition' of each spice reacts differently with others.  Hence the careful staged addition approach is the best.  However, and there is always at least one, when making bases this does not necessarily follow for some of the methods I have seen.

Happy Cooks are a delight to work with......

CP

[DARTHPHALL]

Could this imply that if when cooking a Curry that we should be able to tell if we have got it right as soon as its ready, & not the day after which is the general consensus on the forum.
As in a Bir the Curry is cooked very quick, is this a better way to keep the Curry taste rather than cook & eat the following day, one thing Ive noticed a good tasting curry can be cooked quite easily, but a curry with the taste or smell (this depends on your perception) needs to be quick cooked?

[Yellow Fingers]

When you eat at a restaurant the curry is cooked and on your table in minutes with both the taste and smell. So leaving your own efforts for a day before eating may improve the flavour, but if we're trying to match the restaurants then it shouldn't be necessary. So the answer to your question is that both the taste and smell should be in the curry the moment it is cooked, and I don't know about you, but I still can't achieve both and have never achieved the smell.

[DARTHPHALL]

No i cant get it (the Taste/Smell) & yes i agree.
Recently i have noticed that with the Oven method that the heat of the Chili powder diminishes after its cooked & even more so the next day regardless of it turning out excellent Curries.
I think we have come to another positive conclusion, in that if it ain't right after its cooked..It ain't right  ;D.
Looks like I'll be getting a Hot Wok for Christmas after all  .

[Curry King]

For me the benefit of leaving a curry that you have made to eat later is that it gives your senses a chance to freshen up.  When you have been standing over curry's and spices frying for a while I find that I become used to it, almost desensitised to the smell and aromas.  I'm sure this makes as much difference as any gain in flavour from it sitting there over night.

[Yellow Fingers]

I used to believe that cooking curries desensitised your senses but I did an experiment - which I've already posted a while ago - but in essence I blasted my senses by cooking a base sauce and a couple of curries while I waited for a takeaway curry delivery. I made sure I ordered from a place that I knew made curries that had the taste and smell. When it arrived, and despite the huge curry smell already in my house, when I opened the door I immediately got a waft of the "smell" from the takeaway. That's how powerful the smell is that I'm trying unsuccessfully to replicate.

[DARTHPHALL]

Sorry YF amongst all the info on this site i/we have to ingest i missed that experiment, so at least we all know now, I understand what CK means as well, after cooking all the Garlic i put in my Curries.
I think this warrants being in hints & tips, your experiment outcome YF as a good indicator of success.
Maybe the blandness of Bir Curries the next day indicates also the much lower amount of Spices in them also?
The more i cook Curries that taste exceptionally good the more i think i overspice & i have to agree with those who put very few spices in their Curries.
Here is a quick example of one which i have had very close results with even though it is not as tasty as other recipes i use.

Spices used for Vindalloo/Phall.

Ground Cumin.
"""""""  Coriander.
Chili powder.
Fenugreek leaves.
Garam Masala.

Thats it!
And oddly enough this recipe is the one that once in a Blue Moon produces the Smell as with my Favorite Bir.
The only other ingredients which i think there is much less of is the Tin Tomato's,Ketchup & Puree.
I would be interested to know of all your recipes which produces the closest Vindalloo for you & see how much variation there really is between them all, as this may be of great help to us all as i get a feeling there Will be very little in it.
This one of the reasons why i have gone back to my roots of cooking, you can get a bit lost cooking curries & you get to a point were they are too good & maybe like me you have missed the point, cooking an exceptionally tasting Curry is not hard, but cooking a very close copy of a Bir is.
I agree on the point about Oil being an important carrier, not matter how unhealthy, but I'm not sure were the cut off point is in quantity although i am generally using 500ml in a 4 serving sized dish.
I will start a new thread as i think interesting points have been brought up here, thanks guys.

[Ashes]

This is the most fascinating part of curry making...
Ive noticed that too much black pepper can kill a curry dead, black pepper for some reason masks the flavour of some spices.

I hope the "secret" isnt some instant packet flavoring some curry houses use to add a more meaty or more vegetably taste (like oxo cube or something). Id like to think of it as technique, but alot of ppl here have very professional equipment and still cant reproduce the flavour. So its not just cooking on a high heat, after all, balti places (real ones) cook on restaurant cookers but their flavours are completely different and lack a BIR taste.

It seems alot of places like to make up base sauces the day before and this will produce a curry which is "smoother" and slightly more complex in taste, as the flavours mix together they are harder to distinguish, but i dont think its as simple as this, otherwise we would have found it by now :.

The only way to find out is to ask or pay a curry house or chef? Curry is so complex it might always remain a secret ingredient

Ashes

[Chilli Prawn]

I agree ashes.  I still can't quite get that taste, aroma yes, but that finished BIR taste no.  But, I still think there isn't a 'secret' ingredient; just technique, the right equipment, and perhaps the base.  But on the latter, BIRs use lots of different base recipes and still achieve what we all seek. 

Inspector Ranjit Clouseau to the rescue, voila!

CP