Topic: Curry wrong(?)

[JohnSmith4]

Hi,

I'm new to cooking curry's, and tried a recipe I found online (a modified Bhuna). The smell of the curry was wonderful, but when I ate it, there was practically no taste at all, it was very bland. I was wondering where I went wrong? Recipe I used is below.

2 onions chopped
4 garlic cloves
25g root ginger
veg oil
2 tsp chilli flakes
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp garam masala
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
3 chicken breasts diced

Fried chopped onion, whizzed the garlic and ginger in a blender, added to the onion, fried. Added the spices and chilli flakes, fried a few mins more.

Added the chopped toms, and brought to the boil, added the chicken, then simmered for 30/40 mins.

Smell was wonderful, but practically no taste? I added salt at the end.

[Micky Tikka]

Hello Johnsmiths and welcome
That recipe would be more suited to the Chinese thread 

[JohnSmith4]

How so? It was a Bhuna recipe (that's what the recipe page said). I just modified it by using tinned toms instead of fresh.

[Invisible Mike]

Hi John

I think what Micky is getting at is the fact the curry contains no base gravy. The recipe looks more like a 'traditional Indian' curry if anything rather than a takeaway curry (which aren't actually Indian!) 

There's loads of info on here. How to make mix powder, how to make base gravy, how to pre-cook your chicken and how to cook your finished dish. Put them all together and you should be making curries with greater depth of flavour - the way your local takeaway/restaurant does it.

PS Too much garam masala in that recipe! A pinch is plenty in my book. 

Regards

MM

[Sverige]

Hi John

As others have said, despite the claims of the website you got the recipe from, it's really not a BIR style recipe and personally I'm not surprised it didn't taste good. I suspect the main reason is that after adding the spices and "frying", you were in fact boiling them as the onion and garlic paste likely still contained a lot of water, so the contents of the pan were not going to get above 100C.

BIR relies on a combination of flavours, but a couple of really important ones are spices fried in hot oil and onions boiled until they break down. With the recipe you posted, I don't think either will have happened. Best not worry about that one but rather read up on the forum about base gravy recipes and try some of the curry recipes (which make use of the base gravy).

Spending all day cooking a massive pot of base gravy only to get disappointing results can be should destroying, so feel free to check back with folks on here which recipes you're proposing to cook, before you do so. Just so you can get feedback on whether they are considered a good starting point. The only reason I say that is the forum has been going for so long there are hundreds of recipes, and some of the ones from the early days which beginners might pick up on are not really "state of the art" any more.

Good luck.

[JohnSmith4]

I understand. I've got plenty learning to do.

[ELW]

Hi JohnSmith4,
that recipe is traditional rather than restaurant or takeaway, in that its base is tomato rather than an onion gravy(base), which gives a sweet background against the spices which can be bitter.
Traditional 'Indian' cookbooks are full of recipes like that one. Coconut being another base in Southern Indian cuisine.

Some places would mix the different spices(mix powder) together for speed to add to the curry all at the same time. Some add enough oil & salt to their base so they don't need to add more making the curries. The mix powder method of making curries is predominant on this forum, but they are only different methods of achieving roughly the same thing. The base gravy can be thick or thin also, with thin requiring reduction in the pan. I would guess there's more methods that are not on this forum, but everything you need is on here to get you started

None of the places I buy from in Glasgow use mix powders when making the curries, except for garam masala.
The spicing is done when making the base gravy(which does use powdered spice) & in the pre cooking of meats & vegetables. That way the spice is cooked for longer & produces a better flavour in my opinion

A Glasgow takeaway / restaurant bhuna as i know it & if made with a bit of care, will typically differ from a basic curry by adding more tomato puree, garlic ginger paste & less onion gravy (base)used, giving a darker, slightly drier curry & completely different flavour.  A madras will have more tomato puree still, lots of blended fresh chillies in a paste & lemon juice. A south Indian garlic chicken dish will have a big spoonful of pre made 'south Indian sauce' added
 
 
Being Scottish you could try the Ashoka stuff below, which has different method again. Maybe to give you something to aim at?

]http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,5355.0.html]

Regards

ELW

[Secret Santa]

John it's better to do it the proper BIR way with a base sauce but that aside I can't see why your curry as it is would be tasteless.

So if we assume it's a recipe for three people, there being three chicken breasts being used, that's 3 and a third teaspoons of spices per portion and adequate amounts of onion, garlic, ginger etc. for a perfectly flavoursome basic curry. There is benefit to using proper technique but in all honesty you could literally throw all those ingredients in a pot, cook it up for half an hour and I guarantee it would make a very passable and tasty curry.

So where did it or you go wrong? Your method was correct and adding salt was a good thing. Old spices perhaps?

[Secret Santa]

None of the places I buy from in Glasgow use mix powders when making the curries, except for garam masala.
The spicing is done when making the base gravy(which does use powdered spice) & in the pre cooking of meats & vegetables. That way the spice is cooked for longer & produces a better flavour in my opinion

Ah it all makes sense now. I never really understood when you said they don't use mix powder how it could result in a BIR style curry. But there is actually mix powder in there it's just in the base and pre-cooks instead of adding it in later. Alex's Glasgow curry recipes on here do essentially the same technique so it must be a Scottish/Glasgow thing. It works though.

At least it's explained away my confusion - I can rest easy now.  ;D

[ELW]

But there is actually mix powder in there it's just in the base and pre-cooks instead of adding it in later

Well powdered turmeric for sure. I mostly use whole coriander, cumin seed & chuck in some fresh chilli when making a base, which turn really soft when cooked long enough. Same with precooks. I find these easy to blend in the base. I reckon fresh & longer cooked ingredients produces superior tasting food in general

ELW