CA's Chicken Phal, Vindaloo, Madras and Curry (Illustrated!)

[lorrydoo]

Hi Cory, have made your Madras curry today using ifindforu base.  It looked the part and I will post some pictures when my phone decides it wants to communicate with the PC.

I added some concentrated brown chicken stock to get that BIR chicken flavour but no it wasnt having it and it was undetectable!

Personally, I think the two components we are looking for are 1) the chicken flavour in the sauce.  2) The sweet taste (possily in the oil). 

Do you know anything about Knorr Boullion?  Because my intensive stock didnt come close to working, hence are we looking at a flavouring product?  I priced up the Knorr  boullion (Veg and chicken) 1kg and they were ?12 each Macro, do you think the BIRs might use this?

Sorry for all the questions Cory, but this quest is driving me mad and I keep making good curries but not BIR ones, Im just drawing a blank every time.

Regards,

Barry.

[curry_fanatic]

Tonight I am going to make your Vindaloo with Darth's base.  I will let you know how it turns out!

[Cory Ander]

Hi LD,

Sorry about the delay in replying to you LD!  :

Thanks for trying the recipe.  I presume that, from what you say, you were disappointed with the end result?

I empathise with your frustrations and quest LD.  I'm pretty sure that most of us, with very few exceptions, share them! 

A little while ago, I started a thread about flavour enhancers, etc, that might be of some interest to you? (here: https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1484.msg12938#msg12938)

I would also add that I am certain that high heat is instrumental in brining out that BIR taste and smell, as indicated here: https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1851.0

[Cory Ander]

Tonight I am going to make your Vindaloo with Darth's base.  I will let you know how it turns out!

How did you get on CF?? 

[curry_fanatic]

Made it, it was very good.  I only ate a bit of it and had the leftovers the next day.  I truly believe the theory about not cooking the curry yourself giving the "taste" as I enjoyed it more the next day.

Only problem I had was that a bit of water seperated from the curry when finished.  Any ideas for that?  I don't want to cook the crap out of the meat to reduce the water content so I think I will try adding the base gravy bit by bit so each addition has more time to reduce.

[Cory Ander]

Hi CF,

Thanks for your reply CF

Hmmmm....if your pan is hot enough, any water (in the base), or that you have added, should evaporate quick sticks!   

What SHOULD separate is the oil!  I really don't understand how the water will "separate"   

If you added too much base/water (or too much at a time), and it didn't evaporate fully, you should just end up with a thinner/runnier sauce (with little oil separation)? 

I agree that you don't want to cook the crap out of the meat (nothing worse than dry, overcooked, chicken! ).  A few minutes, on full blast, to evaporate any excess water, wouldn't do much harm though?

When the water "separated", did you have it on rice by any chance?  Excess water can come from the rice if it isn't drained thoroughly.

[curry_fanatic]

Thanks for your help CA.  I've been trying to get that BIR taste for a few years now and I honestly think that I've cracked it.  I think the key is cooking your base sauce and tomato paste until nice and dark, and using lots of oil.  That's it!

[Domi]

CA does it again ;D Very nice recipe Mr. Ander

I made this last night and it tastes spots on! if we hadn't already eaten, we'd have scoffed it last night but we were stuffed :-X I'll post up a piccie later on

I don't think my home cooker gets the same heat as your ring (gas ring that is ) so I cooked each stage a little longer, the result was darker than I expected but the taste was great (although I admit I was a little worried when I tasted it before I put in the final stage ingredients).

I'm really looking forward to eating it tonight (so is Mr. Domi lol)

Thanks again CA

@curry_fanatic...I usually add my tomato paste (if using) to the base and heat it a while before I prepare the rest of the curry ingredients, so it's on a slow simmer for a while and I believe (maybe I'm kidding myself lol) that it does make a difference to the final taste

[Cory Ander]

Hi Domi,

Thanks for trying it and so glad you found it to your liking!   

How much chilli powder did you use, by the way, Domi?  I've been a little apprehensive because I know chilli powders vary enormously in hotness!  And I DO like them hot!    

The quantities specified are really for a "medium" strength chilli powder.  I have "extra hot" chilli powder where the quantities can be halved or quartered with the same resulting hotness.  But I'm sure people will be judicious in their approach! 

You're absolutely right about the addition of the final ingredients. Sugar, in particular, really seems to transform the dish and bring out the flavours!

[Domi]

Funny you should ask that Cory, I only had just over a tablespoon of schwarz hot chilli powder left,(I've been cooking all week and not been shopping yet) so made up the quantity (2 tbsp) using a mild one (still schwarz). I didn't need to add any water at the end though as I always add an extra ladle or so of base into each batch when I pot them up so I don't lose any flavours (or dilute them) using water, 'tis just one of my funny ways lol

I thought 2 tblsp of sugar would make it too sweet, but it's not at all, my hubby swears it's bang on to one of our local BIRs and better than alot he's bought and paid for (and believe me,that's high praise from him lol ) and he had no complaints about the heat, so I guess the two chilli powders must have evened each other out