Topic: Need help with butter chicken sauce. Where am I going wrong?

[monkora]

Hi all, I'm in Wellington NZ. Curry houses in NZ tend to be very good, and my only curry goal is to be able to make a butter chicken like my local takeaway. I usually make a vegetarian version since my gf is vegetarian so I'm just trying to mimic the sauce.

My usual recipe is:

Finely dice one onion, fry this in ghee until almost brown, then add 4 finely diced cloves of garlic, and stir for 20 seconds.

Then I add spices, usually 1tsp garam masala, 1tsp tumeric, 1tsp ground cardamon, 2tsps tandoori bbq masala, sometimes some cumin and paprika. I fry these with some tomato paste.

Then I add one 400g of chopped tomatoes, my veggies and simmer away while I cook the rice, then I add fenugreek, simmer a little longer then add about 150ml of cream. It tastes good but nothing like the takeaway.

Today I tried making a base sauce first, which was 4 onions, 1 small carrot, 1 stick of celery, 6 or 7 cloves of garlic, ginger, 1tsp cumin, 1tsp tumeric, 2tsp fenugreek leaves, 1tsp fenugreek seeds, 1tsp ground coriander. I boiled away for about 30mins then added more tumeric and fenugreek and coriander, then boiled for another 35 minutes. About 150ml oil I think. It smelt really good initially then perhaps I got used to it and couldn't smell it so much. I had to top up with water a few times.

Then I made the curry as usual except fried spices first then added gravy base instead of frying onions/garlic. Added tomatoes etc... Tastes like a more watery weaker version of what I make usually I think!

Where am I going wrong?

Cheers!

[ELW]

Hi Monkora. Ive no experience of nz curry, but  forum member Masala Mark had kitchen experience of Australian restaurant curry, which may be similar. He used to post some interesting stuff.

Butter Chicken with video:

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,8382.0.html

List of Masala Mark's gravies posted by curryhell:

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,12713.msg103685.html#msg103685
Different technique to bir
Hope this helps

ELW

[monkora]

Hi ELW, cheers for those links I'll have a look. The only India I've had in the UK was in Edinburgh at a Indian/Nepalese place called Ghurka if memory serves, but it was very good. My sister is living in UK says the curries in general seem to more be like some vegetables in a bland gravy? But maybe this is the post 1990 thing you guys have been talking about.

Who knows maybe if you came to one here you'd think it was awful! All personal preference I suppose.

[hunnepap]

To have something like this, it's very enjoyable.

[jounetsu]

It has been my experience that the cooking out of the tomatoes is critical-  you need to get them to almost caramelise, else you'll get a bland flavour.  Also, try using more butter/ghee/oil at the start to prevent the toms from sticking to the pan. 

Once I'd realised that I was undercooking my tomatoes, al of my sauces have improved *dramatically*

I hope that helps

Paul

[monkora]

It has been my experience that the cooking out of the tomatoes is critical-  you need to get them to almost caramelise, else you'll get a bland flavour.  Also, try using more butter/ghee/oil at the start to prevent the toms from sticking to the pan. 

Once I'd realised that I was undercooking my tomatoes, al of my sauces have improved *dramatically*

I hope that helps

Paul

I haven't had a chance to try this for months but thinking of giving it another go. I usually put a whole tin of canned tomatoes in, I wonder if tomato paste would be better?

[martinvic]

Ground almonds?