Topic: A very passable Madras

[Robbo141]

I need to use up my two remaining regular Instant Pot base portions before I dive in properly and experiment with the Taz base I made last week. So this morning I just winged it and have to say I?m very happy with the result.   And that?s a rare thing for me.  I categorize it as madras-like but no way am I posting this in the recipes section as it?s just something I cobbled together.

Ingredients
2 TBSP canola oil
1 TBSP ghee
1 portion Syed?s service onions, about 60ml
1 portion Syed?s tomato pur?e, 60ml
1 TBSP garlic paste
1 TBSP ginger paste
1 portion of stripped rotisserie chicken.
1 portion Instant Pot base gravy
Fresh coriander for garnish

Spice mix
1/2 tsp Taz mix powder
1 tsp extra hot chilli powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp kasoori methi
3 dried red chilies, torn (I don?t know the type, just out of fresh so pulled these I had from the Asian supermarket)

Heat the oil and ghee
Add the garlic and ginger, 30 secs
Add service onion, cook 1 min
Add all the spices and fry 30 secs
Add tomato puree and fry 30 secs
1 ladle base and reduce
Add chicken, mix in
1 more ladle and reduce
Then add all the remaining base and cook down to desired consistency
Garnish with coriander



I freeze Syed?s service onion and tomato puree in these plastic pots.  I think they?re for ketchup but are just right.


I cannot wait to eat this curry tonight.  Possibly the closest I?ve come to BIR taste. It would 100% benefit from use of proper pre-cooked chicken, but I didn?t have any to hand so made do with the rotiss.  No better way to spend a Saturday morning.

Robbo

[Onions]

Looks like someone else has got their eye on it :-)

[Peripatetic Phil]

Looks like someone else has got their eye on it :-)

I think she's wondering where her brother went ...

[Robbo141]

Yes, Pants has a very keen nose when chicken is around.

Robbo

[livo]

Looks like a nice dish there Robbo and should have a little hint of chilli with the Extra Hot and 3 dried inside.

....  Possibly the closest I?ve come to BIR taste. ....
Robbo

I have 2 questions here.

Q1:  What do you think made it the closest to BIR you've achieved?  Would it be Syed's little ingredient preps or possibly the Taz mix powder (or both)?  Did you just nail the cook / reduction stages?  Possibly just a combination of everything coming together on the day?  I think we've all had the odd dish that just works for some reason.

Q2: More a technical one and off topic so I'll ask somewhere else in the forum.

[Robbo141]

Hard to say livo but I have one last portion of my Instant Pot base so will try a repeat and see. My suspicion is that I had a bit of luck and it all just came together. I actually let it sit overnight rather than having for dinner and will be having it for elevenses today.

Robbo

[Robbo141]

Second curry of the weekend.  Same as the above recipe, but with two variations.
I replaced the torn dried red chilies with one dried ghost pepper, cut in 3 pieces, in case it gets so hot I can choose to remove them after cooking.
And no meat.  Cooked the same technique, and I am a bit more confident now about pushing the reduction / caramelization stages.  The resulting sauce coats the chef spoon beautifully and tastes good.  But leaving out the meat definitely results in something lacking.  I will probably make some chicken tikka this week and give the sauce a bash, but overall, not too bad.
I think the extra effort of making Syed’s service onions and tomato purée are key to the result here. Maybe next I will try some recipe but raw onion and compare.




Robbo

[Peripatetic Phil]

That does look a very nice sauce, Robbo.  Have you considered just adding some halved hard-boiled eggs to it ?
--
** Phil.

[Robbo141]

Now that is a good idea Phil.  Rather than freeze, I will do that in the morning and have for lunch tomorrow.  Was considering making paneer, but eggs sounds good to me.

Robbo

[Peripatetic Phil]

Egg curry is now one of my favourites.  Sadly, when I was an apprentice with the GPO (many many years ago), one of our overseas cooks made an egg curry, but I would not try it — in those days, a curry had to be chicken or some sort of red meat, and it took me a very long time to realise just how good a boiled egg curry could be ...