Topic: That smokey background flavour

[Nickywelsh]

I was chatting to a chef at Tandoori Lane in Fulham about 6 years ago, asking him why/how many of the curries have such an incredible smokey flavour, yet not too overpowering. Back then I thought it was from the chicken or lamb tikka imparting their flavour from the tandoor, or maybe smoked paprika, but he told me something quite different, something I'm yet to try but think I will give a go since it popped back into my head a few days back...

He said that it was mainly house special dishes he used it in, but that many BIR's use this method to achieve the flavour.

Apparently they fry lots of garlic in oil until it's browning. They then take out the garlic (with a slotted spoon I imagine) and drop a few hot coals from the tandoor into the oil. How long the coals stay in the oil, I have no idea. I do remember him saying "we use just a little, just a little, it's powerful" meaning the resultant oil I guess.

Apologies if this method has already been posted.

[Invisible Mike]

Yep. The penny dropped for me about 6 months ago when I ordered a garlic chilli chicken at a restaurant. The smokey flavour was definitely the result of browned garlic. Ever since when making a base I always fry the garlic and ginger paste until slightly brown at the baghaar stage and also when making the final dish. It's definitely one of those fabled "missing 5%" flavours. Before, I was always afraid to brown garlic thinking I'd ruin the dishes!

Incidentally, just a tip when making a base. Simmering for another hour after adding a browned garlic baghaar really mellows out any harsh burnt garlic notes, but you still get that moreish depth of flavour... 

Chinese takeaways use it too. See video.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wryyc-aAMEc

[Secret Santa]

Nickywelsh I think they're just using the traditional dhungar method whereby you do indeed drop a hot coal into oil and let the resultant smoke cloud infuse into the  (covered)  dish. It's used to good effect in dhansak dishes usually.

The oil istelf isn't used directly, at least not in the traditional method, but it can be infused with garlic, cardamom, cloves etc. before adding the coal somewhat like you describe. It's certainly worth a try if you haven't done it before.

[rasseru]

I was speaking to an Uber driver the other day, who used to work as a chef.  I asked if he could give me one secret to good curry flavour (after i told him about my method of making bases, then curry styles etc) and he told me exactly that. 'Fry big pieces of garlic until brown - not burnt!'

He also said about frying spices properly is important

[Peripatetic Phil]

Both the garlic and the proper frying of the spices make perfect sense, yet Kris Dhillon has demonstrated unequivocally that one does not need to fry (qua fry) the spices in order to achieve the real BIR flavour,  What takes place, I continue to wonder, during the KD method, that creates the BIR flavour without any overt frying of the spices ?

** Phil.

[Secret Santa]

What takes place, I continue to wonder, during the KD method, that creates the BIR flavour without any overt frying of the spices ?

Hmmm...it's so long since I've cooked using the KD way that it was interesting for me to referesh my memory and interestingly it sort of matches my current "dump it all in" method whereby all the ingredients are literally dumped in the pan in no particular order and boiled/fried at the highest heat until done. It really does produce a very good (if not perfect) result without any finesse required to avoid burnt spices etc.

To answer your query though Phil, the spices are still adequately fried because there are always localised pockets within the bulk that reach well above the 100 celcius one might expect if you (incorrectly) believe that the water is holding the boiling point down. This is so no matter the method employed and is a good reason not to overstir the pot.

[redman1212]

Hi SS - does your dump it all in method include all the base?

[rasseru]

I tried this yesterday and less is more I think, dont brown the garlic too much as you can really taste it, mine might have been a bit too thin (and 3 big cloves!) 

while it wasnt spoilt it was recognisable.  But its a good addition I think, much like a nice tarka is in dhal

[Secret Santa]

Hi SS - does your dump it all in method include all the base?

Yes, dump every ingredient in at the same time. In fact I put the frozen base portion and frozen, precooked meat straight in the pan as well, without defrosting first. You don't want to do this with too little oil though or it just boils rather than fries and that definitely doesn't produce as good a result. Just scoop off any excess oil after it's rested a bit at the end of cooking if you don't want to mix it back into the curry. I don't claim it produces the best curry ever but it's not far off a properly crafted effort and so much less effort.

[Secret Santa]

I tried this yesterday and less is more I think, dont brown the garlic too much as you can really taste it...

That's sort of the point though. We want that taste in there. So, you really do need it just a smidge away from being burnt but then only use a s much as suits your personal taste. Obviously you used a bit too much in this case.