Topic: I've seen a Madras cooked at a Restaurant

[pete]

Madras, Onion Gravy, Spice mixture


The spice mixture used by this restaurant is an equal quantity of

Curry powder
Paprika (which they call tomato powder)
Turmeric
Cummin
Coriander

I really like this ratio of spices; it?s very easy to remember

They boil mainly onions and a few peppers with a little tomato puree for about two hours
Then the mixture is pureed

They then heat some oil and fry garlic ginger puree along with 2 large spoons of Balti Paste (they said Pataks was ok, but theirs was from a Manchester company)
and add the pureed onion mix.
They then add 3 large spoons of their spice mix and cook the mixture for another forty minutes.

The finished gravy is BROWN not yellow like Bengal Cuisine.
It has a dark red oil on top.
The consistency is thicker too, more like a stew.

So I conclude that there definitely is no standard curry gravy.
Find one that works for you.
Although I didn?t get the quantities, I am sure we have all become experienced enough to guess it, to give it a go!!

I was shown how to cook a Vegetable Madras
I am not joking, it was absolutely delicious.

Ingredients: -

A couple of large spoons of oil taken from the top of curry gravy
2 teaspoons of chopped onion and green pepper
(I think it was fresh, although it could have been pre fried)
1 teaspoon of salt, dried fenugreek and balti paste
1 teaspoon chilli powder
3 teaspoon of the spice mix
2 large ladles of curry gravy
2 very large spoons of pre-cooked veg which included carrots, cabbage, brocolli and peas
A couple of chopped bits of pre cooked potatoes (almost a grey colour, not yellow)
Chopped fresh coriander

The gas ring was on maximum
Heat the oil from the curry gravy and add the onion and pepper.
Fry for a minute
Add the salt, dried fenugreek, balti paste and stir a little, mixing in (thirty seconds)
Add the chilli powder and spice mix and stir this in as well for about a minute.
Then add a quarter of the curry gravy.
As the pan dries, add the same amount again.
Then add the pre-cooked vegetables and stir
After a minute add the potatoes and the rest of the curry gravy.
Bring the whole lot to a rapid boil.
The oil is on top of the curry and bubbles like mad.
Stir occasionally and after about four minutes add the fresh coriander mixing in.
Turn off the gas and leave a minute
Scoop of the excess oil and guess where it goes??


BACK INTO THE CURRY GRAVY!!!

That gravy isn?t going to taste the same after an hour of that, is it?
I reckon that is an ingredient X that we will never achieve
There was no garlic ginger puree used in the final meal.
He said that was because it?s already in the curry gravy.
There was no tomato puree either.
That surprised me.
This will be a controversial point: -

I asked how to make a Vindaloo and he said it is made the same but NOT using chilli powder.
He acknowledged that some places treat it as a hot curry but he didn?t.
I think it?s a Nottingham thing.
The pre-cooked vegetables were done in oil, water and the spice mixture.
I reckon that will be very like the Bruce Edwards recipe from Curry House Cooking (but simpler)
Anyhow the curry was absolutely superb.
If someone else could get a Madras or Vindaloo recipe it would be fantastic to compare.

[Mark J]

Excellent, nice one Pete

[Yousef]

Pete,

You are the Man, how are you getting yourself in the kitchens.
You must have been in 4 or 5 now, so now I am determined to get myself in and do a proper report.
Thanks for sharing this with us, the Madras has been something I have been waiting to here about for ages now..... ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Just out of interest what brand of "Curry Powder" were they using?  I am so going to try this over the next week.

Well Done!
S

[Curry King]

Do you know if they make all their currys using balti paste then?   

[curryqueen]

Hi Pete,

Well you certainly have got the bug and you are very committed!  Well done!  Was this a restaurant nearby to where you live?  Tell me something Pete, in all the restaurant kitchens you have seen dishes cooked, how were the prawns prepared before putting into the curry?  I will try this madras today and let you know the resullts.  Can't wait! 

[PACMAN]

Pete

that sounds like a great recipe.
I think diffwerent restaurants have different ways of achieving the same goal hence the
different gravies. They also seem to have certain dishes that they sell more of and they
adjust the gravy to suit.

two minor points.

did you get to taste the gravies?
and where your recipe says 1 teaspon of salt,methi leaves  and balti paste is that 1 teaspoon each or for the
three as a whole

well done

paul

[Dylan]

Hi Pete,
Great thread (as usual). I was intrigued by what you said about them reusing the curry oil. It would be possible to replicate this on a smaller scale. Use more oil than you actually need for a dish. Once it's settled a bit pour the excess back into the jar with the rest of the curry oil. Do this with every curry you cook. Store the oil in the fridge between sessions.
 
I'll give it a go next time I have a cook up.

 I had a suspicion curry houses might be doing something like this - it wouldn't be something they would advertise because, I imagine, the food hygiene people would be against it. There would also be a problem with vegetarian dishes. If a dhal or something had been cooked with oil that had been in contact with a lamb vindaloo, it wouldn't, strictly, be vegetarian.
 I wonder if the other chefs you've seen neglected to show you this part of the process for the above reason?

[napole0n]

how were the prawns prepared before putting into the curry? I will try this madras today and let you know the resullts. Can't wait!

This is Pete writing.
I'm posting under this name because my real name won't allow "replies"
Actually this was a mixed veg curry but the prawns I have seen are thawed "frozen prawns".
I have seen them simply on a plate or in yoghurt cartons with water.
I think the water idea is best because prawns can get a bit "strong" and dominate the dish.

Do you know if they make all their currys using balti paste then?

The balti paste was in a prominate position.
There were no other pastes except a tandoori
So I would guess it goes in a lot.
Do you remember the word document from in2curry "my restaurant experiences".
That said a spoon of tandoori paste was used to jip up most meals.
In fact I think it says something about adding a bit of tandoori marinade in Kris Dhillons book.
I bought some of the Pataks Balti sauce yesterday.
It doesn't look anything like what they had.
Theirs looked like a dirty brown puree

Pete

[Mark J]

They would have been using Pataks paste, sounds like you bought pataks sauce instead. When I popped down my local Tesco I see they are no longer stocking the balti paste (and many others), seems like the use of pastes is on the way out. Instead they ahd shelves of curry sauces that you wouldnt even feed to a dog

[joe2]

Re:Pataks pastes. Ive watched the restaurant vans load at the Indian Cash n Carry near me, they nearly always have some big jars of Pataks pastes. eg. Kashmiri Masala, Balti paste.  Pataks pastes are legendary and would enhance most currys Im sure.
But as said above, beware the jars of Pataks ready made sauces - they really are disgusting, I read a poll on the net, of ready made sauces and out about 6 sauces, - every taster placed Pataks at the bottom of the list.