Topic: Who believes there is a secret ingredient to the curry base?

[traveller]

Speaking of oil, do you think the BIR may use a touch of ghee (clarified butter) mixed with the oil to flavor the dishes?  It does give a very different taste and maybe BIRs use a touch of it mixed in the oil?  When that ghee smokes, it gives off a very different aroma.
Just an idea!

Payal

[DARTHPHALL]

I`ve tried vegetable ghee & it didn't seem to make much difference.. but my recipes/methods, have changed allot since then...time for experimentation me thinks....."i think you should go shopping all day darling"..."would hate for you to put up with the smell"!. ;D

[Ashes]

I really admire the dedication you guys put down to the quest for the perfect curry,
with people trying different things out it cuts the experimention time in half

BTW has anyone tried putting an onion tarka into their curry?
An onion tark is like caramelised onions, same principle
slow warming & extracting the starch and sugars to create a sweeter taste.

I put the recip? in the recip? forum

[raygraham]

Hi,

Perhaps we all need to start back into experimenting in these areas again.

I believe this site needs a few more adventurous pioneers to get experimenting a bit more. There are loads of base sauces on this site to chose so why not pick a recipe, let us all know what one your doing, get cracking and post the results!!!

As for Oil most of my local take-away's chuck out 10 gallon drums of the cheapest oil you can get. It's a tenner a drum!!
No sign of Ghee but asian supermarkets around me sell mainly the Vegetable Variety. I haven't tried Butter Ghee as I have seen too many people on intensive care with blocked arteries through Cholesterol overload.

However, I am sure it will add something to the taste but not used much at the B.I.R. I don't think!
I really do think Caramelised Onions might be worth trying more and have some significance in a dish as the more you read the more Caramelising turns up in recipes. I would be surprised if many B.I.R's spend the time to do this, as it would take hours to cook the amounts they would use.

Ray

[DARTHPHALL]

I hope to have a bash at caramelized Onions, as i said in another post there is a very distinct smell of Onion much like catering sizes of Maggi French Onion soup powder in my local`s Vindalloo , gotta be using some form of dried Onions, as long as my business ain't to busy i`ll post in the week my finds peeps OK .

DARTH................... ;D

[Mark J]

I agree darth, one night in my local bir when someone elses dishes were being brought out I closed my eyes and focused on the smell, oil, spices and onions was the conclusion I came to

[bryan@232]

    I have seen the whole process from start to finish. Around 13 years ago, as the guest of a friendly chef, I spent several sessions in the kitchen of a Take-Away. [ Including midnight to 4 am one Friday as they prepared for the weekend.] What I saw agrees in virtually every detail with Curry House Cookery, which is why I have said that everything we need is already on this site. The coincidence is too great for anything to be very wrong.
    I can produce a whole range of curries that have convinced everytone I have given them to, BUT I CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE. I think my curries are as good as those from most restaurants - they just lack the restaurant smell/ flavour. I have been trying for years to produce this, and have eliminatrd most things. I believe the base sauce is non critical. I have obtained a sample from a restaurant that made no difference to my curries. I have cooked sauce in a 10 litre pot to make sure it isn't quantity. I have bought a 25 litre drum of oil from an Asian grocer - no difference.
      I know that my methods, in the hands of a BIR chef can produce a first rate curry, so what am I doing wrong?  I had settled into a[ pleasant] rut with my curries, but this discussion got me thinking again. I think the answer lies in the end process, the method of fryin the spices, maybe.something the restaurant chef does automatically, and we dont notice. I have some ideas in this department, so I'll just keep trying, and report back.

[Yellow Fingers]

I believe the base sauce is non critical

I was going to do a poll as to whether people believe the missing taste and smell is a consequence of the base sauce or something added in when making the finished curry. The problem is it doesn't allow for explanations, which I think are more important in a discussion forum.

So where does your vote lie people? Do you think the 'secret' is in the base sauce or in the making of the curry?? Or, perhaps, is it a bit of both? (I really hope it isn't this!)

Only answer if you are prepared to offer some reason for your decision please.

[blade1212]

I reckon the secret lies in the finished dish. I think evaporation of the base is a key factor although something else is missing.

[bryan@232]

    The restaurant flavour can be present in dishes that dont use the base sauce, such as some versions of rogan josh, tomato puree based chilli masala, even some dalls. So I think the ' magic' happens at the end. The sauce just needs to be a savoury veg 'soup' with oil so that the ground spices dont make it pasty. Incidentally, I have tried making curry sauce without the oil and it was completely inedible.