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

[Yellow Fingers]

Well im pleased I have my curry as good as I can get it with the information I know

Ah but therein lies the problem, it's more about what we don't know than what we do!

if I were to whip up a quick curry now and you to try it I would be failry sure that you would be impressed with the result

Of that I have no doubt, but I do doubt that it would pass side by side comparison with a good bought curry. This is not a criticism of you, my curries, good though they are, would equally fail this test but for me it's not enough to accept that that's as good as it's going to get.

[Curry King]

Of that I have no doubt, but I do doubt that it would pass side by side comparison with a good bought curry. This is not a criticism of you, my curries, good though they are, would equally fail this test but for me it's not enough to accept that that's as good as it's going to get.

I don't think you have much of a choice, there will aways be something missing, bar installing a full restaurant kitchen at your house, employing your own chef and making curry every night on a restaurant scale I can't see what else you can do.  I've spoken to chefs and ive even had one round my house, he offered to come round and show me what to do, he even said, "you will not get it exactly the same at home" even he couldnt reproduce it exactly the same at home.

You may believe there is some secret ingriedent missing that once discovered everything you make will taste exactly the same as restaurant curry but as you have said yourself, you've been searching for 20 years yet still are no closer to knowing! 

[Mark J]

This includes the curry recipes in this forum which are if the posters are to be believed from real reastaurants.

Lol!, are you seriously suggesting we are making these visits to kitchens up!

[pete]

Lol!, are you seriously suggesting we are making these visits to kitchens up!

I can't blame people doubting us.
The recipes we've brought back have got us close but NOT given people what they want.
In fact, they have not given me what I want.
My biggest disappoinment, was the way the Bengal Cusine Curry Gravy, wasn't right.
Why it doesn't work, remains a mistery.
The curry, they cooked with it, was a prawn rhogan josh.
Prawns have a very strong aroma and I couldn't really tell it wasn't totally right, at the time.
On the up side, I can do it as well as they did!

[Yellow Fingers]

The recipes we've brought back have got us close but NOT given people what they want.
In fact, they have not given me what I want.

That doesn't mean they are not appreciated Pete! Sometimes we can learn as much from what we don't achieve as we do from what we do.

[pete]

Today I am reheating some frozen curries
My freezer has got ridiculously full of left overs
I decide to do an blind aroma test on them
One of them was a curry house curry
That was the clear best without a doubt
Absolutely gorgeous
But a very close match was some whole onions I had cooked in my tandoor
Mark J has said he thinks, the aroma is something to do with onions
Judging from this, I completely agree
Maybe there is something more to the pre fried onions tecnique, than we know

[Mark J]

I asked my local takeaway chap about pre frying onions and he said all he does is fry them with a pinch of turmeric, I asked how long for and he smiled and said 'until they are done', he then said about 10 -15 minutes.

I watched him pre fry them the other day, he uses the same pot as the cury base and does them with the lid on.

When he cooks a single dish he slaps in an amount which I would guess is about the amount you would get from cooking a smallish medium onion, its a good cooks spoons worth

And the other thing I noticed was how long he fries the spices in the oil for, its a good couple of minutes, Im always scared they will burn and never leave them this long, tonight I am cooking a chicken balti and I will fry the spices for longer and see how it turns out

[blade1212]

The pre fried onions I witnesed going into a final dish in an open plan BIR were coloured vellow and still had a 'firm'  look about them -- originally I thought they were cooked with curry powder, but tumeric and 10mins cooking sounds about right.

[pete]

IAnd the other thing I noticed was how long he fries the spices in the oil for, its a good couple of minutes, Im always scared they will burn and never leave them this long, tonight I am cooking a chicken balti and I will fry the spices for longer and see how it turns out

I look forward to your results
That's always a worry I have
On the issue of prefried onions:-
Do you think the chef almost deep fries them, or shallow fries in a just enough oil?
I think the depth of oil in the pan makes a big difference to the end result
I asked a chef how deep the oil was for making the curry gravy (remember this is in a massive pot)
He said about an inch deep
When they start off the gravy, with the garlic ginger puree, it will be more like deep frying it

[Mark J]

The onions I saw being pre cooked were being shallow fried