taste and smell revealed

[heat required]

hi..i think ive cracked it , i have made two curry bases, 1 from mamta gupta`s  and the other from kris dillons.   In both i added 3/4 of a teaspoon of aesofatida while making the base...which gives the sweet taste ..aso i use methi leaves but the most interesting part was when i tried to make a curry from the base i put a sliced chilli along with a teaspoon of chilli powder into hot oil and stirred quickly....wow the strong smell of burning chilli so i added the base sauce a bit at a time stirring..well rubing  the large chefspoon off the bottom of the pan as i went .the endresultwas the smell and tate with red looking oil round the edges.I dont know how long i can burn chilli without wasting it but i feel really heating chilli like this is the answer to the secret...along with aesofatida a small drop of yoghurt too near the end. another thing i found was making mince curry i always ended with a fatty tasting mince when i followed any recipe well what i do now is dry fry mince for a while and empty out all liquid before adding to curry sauce..i hope this helps

[NairB]

Interesting development, heat required. 

I'm sure some of the more experienced chef's will have something to say about this.

Funnily enough, I posted in the Chinese section about something similar to this regarding my Chinese chef putting chilli oil in a very hot wok when I ask him to make my chicken curry really hot and tasty.

Does the hot chilli overpower you and attack your nostrils making you sneeze?

Interesting coincidence this.  :

[After8]

If a chili works, then maybe a pepper will as well. They are the 1st thing that goes into all the Bruce Edwards recipes. In the KD book, the chilli powder goes in before the other spices!

A8

[Yellow Fingers]

Hello HR

I don't think it's the frying of the fresh chilli and  chilli powder that's giving you that effect, I think it's more likely to be down to the asafoetida and methi leaf. Next time include the chilli as before but add it last after you've added the base. I'd be willing to bet - but not too much - that you will get the same flavour as by your original method.

And asafoetida giving a sweet effect, that's a new one on me! Asafoetida is often used as a replacement for onion and garlic and usually gives a, umm, onion and garlic savoury flavour.

By the way, while I'm on the subject of asafoetida, don't buy Vandevi brand. It comes in a small yellow pot and is almost totally flour and turmeric, with just a hint of asafoetida and you don't get the full effect of the asa as a result. Good brands are Bart spices and Natco.

YF

[heat required]

hi, thanks for the tip about aesafotida make..mine is vandevi . i will be buying another make for my next curry...  as for it and methi being the taste they work with all other ingredients to finally give a flavour.  Well ive tried kris dillons base for years but always found still missing something. which included methi full teaspoonsfull, more recently i added aesafotida which helped ....but still not right  untill i fried the chilli..which was a mistake...full of the lager  , anyway it gave the taste..have u ever got a spicey mince pizza which has the taste when u finish eating it u can smell that smell off your hands .mmmmm u could eat your fingers too lol...well thats the taste i got..btw the ive always added  chilli to curry but always after the base was in the oil as "were told never to burn spices"which to me is why i never got the flavour, i think chilli needs heat to bring out that flavour ...i wouldnt burn other spices though ,I dont know how the restuarant do it but ive a feeling they get high enough heat even with the sauce in to fry the chilli as they have bigger cookers.btw i was at the restuarant last night ...i still need a bit work to get to theyre  standard  but theyre 1 of the best ive ever tried, but im real close  i hope some of you try this next time you make a curry maybe make double just in case it goes wrong but i really believe im near as for the base i dont think it matters as long as onion,garlic ginger and tomato is there, i dont use veg stock or carrots or celery or mooli which i know some restuarants do.anyway i hope this helps in the quest.

[heat required]

oh well i take it no  one thinks my post is the answer ... i have made two curry`s out of that base and both were the best cury i have made...and i will certainly be doing it again. I wonder if anyone tried it

[haldi]

Sorry HR
              there's been so much on this site lately, that I've not had a go yet

[heat required]

thanks for replying haldi, i was wondering why no-one answered    i am going to make a dhal tommorrow and i`ll try the chilli in it...with the hot oil.. i will report back  with results

[Panpot]

I agree with Haldi, recently the site has become a full time job and there is so much to have a go with. I will get round to it though. I posted my experience of a carry out on another thread the other day where the chef started with a tablespoonful each of garlic and ginger paste and a red paste that looked like tomato puree. I now realise that may well be a chili paste.

Jeera on that thread said he would go and check out the shop too so maybe we can get him to ask about the red paste.

The enthusiasm for all of us searching for the grail is what has me hooked here not to mention what it has done for my cooking. Cheers Panpot

[Curry King]

I know what your saying I tend to print out most new reicpes and my "to try" pile is fairly hefty