Orange curries, please help!!

[Secret Santa]

Oh, and don't rule out the obvious such as the use of food colouring.

I would respectfully suggest than an orange colour (as opposed to red) is more likely to be the result of the omission of heavily-pigmented ingredients rather than their inclusion ...

** Phil.

You've clearly never had occasion to use orange colouring powder Phil. It'd make black, orange!

http://www.preema.co.uk/food-colours/food-colour-powder/deeo-orange-powder-500g-detail

[Peripatetic Phil]

I use it routinely in my pulao rice, Santa (the powdered colours are wonderful compared to the liquid) , but I do not believe that any BIR would have added such a thing to a normal curry 20 years ago ...

** Phil.

[Secret Santa]

I use it routinely in my pulao rice, Santa (the powdered colours are wonderful compared to the liquid) , but I do not believe that any BIR would have added such a thing to a normal curry 20 years ago ...

** Phil.

Do you not then consider CTM a "normal" curry? There probably isn't another curry so laden with food colouring and that's the way it has been since it was first introduced and how long ago would that be? Forty plus years?

In London in the eighties all the jalfrezis were green, Purely through the addition of food colouring. Some other dishes were made more red as well, all of them "normal" curries. In particular food colouring was added to differentiate a particular establishment's curries from another one down the road and even to differentiate one similar curry from another, a madras and vindaloo for example.

I don't think you're right on this one.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Do you not then consider CTM a "normal" curry?

No, I regard it as an abomination, but that isn't really relevant here ...

There probably isn't another curry so laden with food colouring and that's the way it has been since it was first introduced and how long ago would that be? Forty plus years?

Maybe.  But I was speaking specifically of orange food colouring, not red.

In London in the eighties all the jalfrezis were green,

I have no such recollection.

Purely through the addition of food colouring. Some other dishes were made more red as well, all of them "normal" curries. In particular food colouring was added to differentiate a particular establishment's curries from another one down the road and even to differentiate one similar curry from another, a madras and vindaloo for example.

I do not dispute for one second that red food colouring has been used in BIR cuisine for at least 50 year (nothing else could explain the colour of tandoori chicken); but I remain convinced that so-called "orange" curries owe their appearance primarily to the minimal use of highly-coloured ingredients rather than the use of artificial orange.

I don't think you're right on this one.

"I may disagree with your views, but I will defend to the death your right to hold them"

** Phil.

[tempest63]

SS what part of London do you hail from?
Coming from the Bermondsey area I must admit that in the curry houses we used, from Bermondsey to Brixton and the edge of the City/East End, the curries were uniformly brown or a pale Korma; I don't recall ever seeing a green one.
When visiting in-laws up in the Midlands we used to see some weird and wonderful concoctions that were similar to those in London by name only. Never looked the same or tasted the same.
But saying that, my kids insist I no longer have a memory, just a forgettery, so they may have been purple!
T63

[jadeoboe]

Wow, I've really started something here...! Ok, I don't mean orange as in bright orange, probably red. I don't know, it doesn't really matter, It's just that I know that if my curry looks nothing like that then it doesn't taste anything like it either. Even the texture seems to be wrong - I don't understand the confusion as if you have been in any Indian restaurant in the past 20 years then this is what you get!!

By the way I already use red colouring...

[SoberRat]

I remember green jalfrezis but they are not like that anymore.

[Invisible Mike]

Jadeoboe

The Taz base produces a madras that is orangey coloured and subtly spiced, at least when used with my madras recipe.... You might want to reduce the oil content though.

[jadeoboe]

Thanks MushroomMike, it's ok I'm not afraid of a bit of oil 

I have used the Taz base in the past, with Stephen Lindsay's recipes - what is your madras recipe if you don't mind me asking? You don't add extra oil do you as I thought the Taz base just used the oil already in the sauce....

[Invisible Mike]

To be honest if I ever made it again I'd probably drop the oil to 150-200mm myself. And as you said, the curries you are trying to replicate are "not overly oily". I like to start off any curry with oil, if only reclaimed from the base itself or pre-cooked chicken as I like to tarka the G&G and mix powder to mellow the flavours before "building" the dish so to speak. It's a nice base and the subtlety leaves room for extra spicing to suit your tastes. My madras is as follows.

3 tbsp Oil (skimmed off the top of the base if using the original recipe amount!)
1 tsp Garlic & Ginger Paste
1 tsp Mix Powder (you could also get away with up to 1 tbsp in this base)
1 level tsp Methi crumbled fine
1 tbsp Tomato Paste (1 pt tomato puree 2 pts water)
2 tsp Extra Hot Chilli Powder (or to taste)
Pre-Cooked Chicken (I quite like the Glasgow recipe)
Salt
2 ladles Base Gravy
Squirt of Lemon Dressing
1 tbsp Fresh Coriander finely chopped. (1/2 Stirred into the curry two minutes from the end and 1/2 sprinkled on top)

You know the rest!