Topic: BIR, keep it simple - 9 Korma Chameleon recipes

[macferret]

I agree that oily korma is not nice. I have seen it arrive swimming in oil, but this seems to have passed out of fashion with UK chefs, probably because since veg oil became pegged to the price of crude oil they can't afford to get through so much of it.

Our korma seems to swallow up amazing amounts of oil and ghee without it splitting out and sitting on top. probably due to the almond powder and coconut. I have never worked out how many calories there are in a portion. It must run to 4 figures.  But people - especially kids and ladies of a certain age - seem to like it. So while I have watched chefs cook a perfectly nice-looking korma in a dry pan, I don't want to mess with the recipe.

I have always thought of korma as the odd one out in the BIR repertoire: it is one of the most expensive sauces to prepare; it is always a joy to see on the ticket because it's so quick and easy to cook; and it is often ordered by people who don't actually like curry!

[Garp]

- gravy in too soon: you need to COOK those spices before you deglaze

I don't think this is necessarily true, MacF.

One of my favourite recipes on here is Stephen's Punjabi Masala, in which the base is added first, reduced, then spices added, then reduced further, then more base added, etc etc.

There are more ways than one to achieve the same end result

[Korma Chameleon]

Yes, it's not the intent of this thread to offer a perfect curry from start to finish. It's intended to show a shorthand approach that can aid recipe building, for those who already have good knowledge. Korma definately needs less oil, and that is touched on in the OP. How much less depends on personal preference and the base used. You need to adapt your final curries to each base in any case, with different levels of salt, oil, chilli, etc.; trial and error as you work through different bases.

There was some discussion earlier about the ingredients listed in my Korma. Despite my profile name, I'm not a big Korma fan, but my first and only Korma effort produced an excellent curry, which tasted just like restaurant Korma. So I ticked Korma off my list and moved on. Rogan Josh is proving more difficult; I have captured the basic undertones but not quite in the right proportions yet.

There are also loads of little skills you build to support all this, such as knowing the right final consistancy of the sauce, being sure there is a good period for cooking the spices, and daft things like frying capsicum longer than onion because onion goes softer quicker. Little things which make a big difference.

Chewy's video's, and in particular H4ppyChris's Chef Shams video's, are an easy way to pick up loads of tips. I recenty followed Chef Shams Bombay Potato; the first time I ever tried anything like it and it just came together easily and produced a restaurant standard potato curry side. Again, it was the base sauce that helped bring it all togther, fast and tasty.

[macferret]

- gravy in too soon: you need to COOK those spices before you deglaze

I don't think this is necessarily true, MacF.

One of my favourite recipes on here is Stephen's Punjabi Masala, in which the base is added first, reduced, then spices added, then reduced further, then more base added, etc etc.

There are more ways than one to achieve the same end result

Very true. I have seen chefs start with the gravy too, but I have never tried it.  Maybe I should have said "I need to cook the spices...." Using the method I follow, undercooking the spices makes for a poor sauce.

[Korma Chameleon]

I don't seem to find an edit button to update my OP. Anyway, today I finally I cracked Rogan Josh (1990's Bradford). My kitchen smells like the restaurant where I used to get this. My OP version was close, just needed a few tweaks.

Here the new recipe (in shorthand of course; see OP for details):

ROGAN JOSH
Spice fry: 1 tsp cumin powder, 2 tsp paprika
Late additions: 1 tbs yoghurt, 2 chopped fresh tomatoes, 1 tsp garam masala, pinch fenugreek leaves, 0.5 tsp sugar, 0.5 tsp tamarind concentrate, fresh coriander.
Turn off heat: 2 fresh tomatoes cut into wedges.

I continued my trek through various bases, but none of them beat Chewy's 3 hour. So my search ended. I do tweak Chewy's a little myself now though, adding a bit of coconut block and the widely used base approach of boiling up some hard spices and adding the stock back in.

My mad drive towards curry perfection slowed somewhat given I now have a base I'm very happy with, and a portfolio of curries wider than my normal restaurant menu adventures. So my challenge became Chinese and Thai food, and most recently I started brewing beer from grain. Oh happy days.