Hi all,
After a late finish last night and after reading some of the posts re pans, ladles, after 8's madras problem and vinda loos 99% success with the madras i decided to do something about it.
We were due in at 8am but i caught the chef at home at 7.30. We decided that after what we had to do it would be good to try the method posted so far with differing frying pans and simulate home cooking as most of you will do.
So after knocking on my neighbours door at 7.45am hoping i would not get a brick thrown at me, i came away with 2 of his wifes frying pans. A very thin one and a thicker tefal one.
And for being a nuisance told them they could have a free meal. I am so nice on a Sunday.
Anyway work completed, experimenting began. The thin pan first. Oh dear very difficult to control. It was to easy to over-cook ingredients especially garlic which burnt too easy. Over cooked to burnt garlic turns bitter. We did not put any meat in but first madras not the best.
Anyway after 3 more attempts and adjustments to times and heat. Hey presto result perfect.
Next up the tefal pan. It only took 2 attempts to get it right and a better pan for thickness. Still not as heavy or thick as the ones we use.
So into discussion we went and came up with the following.
1. Garlic can turn your curry bitter.
2. We tried some dried methi leaves instead of fresh ones. We knew it would not be as good but by soaking twice as many dried ones in water for a good 10 minutes then draining off the water got us very close.
3. That we would recommend a pan to people and we will get one too. We will cook all of the dishes that i post first in this pan. This will also provide a better feedback for us to solve anyones problems/results.
4. I will post an updated cooking methods post, Medium curry, Madras, vindaloo, phall and bhuna based on todays findings.
5. We will continue to post ladles but add the ml equivalent as well.
Hope this will help
Andy