Topic: Had a restaurant chef round my house!

[Yellow Fingers]

A few more questions Curry King.

Is the ginger garlic paste a 50/50 mix?

What size can of tomatoes is used?

What do you mean by dessert spoon, what is it in mL?

[Curry King]

Is the ginger garlic paste a 50/50 mix?

Yes

What size can of tomatoes is used?

A regular sized tin, I cant tell you the exact quantity as ive not got one here

What do you mean by dessert spoon, what is it in mL?

Ive no idea, it does not need to be measured exact, about a leveled tablespoon i would guess is about the same maybe a bit more.

[Mark J]

A desert spoon is usually 10ml, however if it is a rounded desert spoon then I would say that is a TBSP = 15ml

[pete]

I made the base.
It's very similar to the one I posted on this thread.
It's bright and flavoursome.
It's quite nice on it's own.
It is not too spiced to dominate the curry you will make with it.
But, I am sorry, there is no trace of "the taste" in it.
The demo you had, was the almost the same as I had at home, too.
I am sure the recipe is correct.
But ,for reasons unknown, it doesn't work  at home.
I bet if you could use a commercial cooker it would be exact!

[Curry King]

He did say that to me though, that you can't reproduce it at home, he even tried himself and coudln't do it exactly the same.  The vindaloo ive been making with that base IMO does have an element of that taste, yes its not as good as some restaurant currys ive had but its better than others and I would put money on that. 

How did you make the curry Pete?

[George]

He did say that to me though, that you can't reproduce it at home, he even tried himself and coudln't do it exactly the same.

I respectfully suggest that he's having you on. A restaurant kitchen is walls, floor and ceiling with certain equipment, methods and ingredients. It must be perfectly possible to recreate it 100% at home.

Say that to produce a fantastic expresso you needed a bar top Gaggia, plumbed in like in coffee bars. These cost ?3000++ and take up huge amounts of space. You may decide it's not worth it. But it could be done. The chefs almost certainly know 'the curry secret' but they are not letting on. This is not rocket science. It's something simple like flambe, oil reuse or the spice mix. But we apparently haven't found it yet.

I agree 100% with Grimmo's recent posting - that it's amazing the full explanation is not all over the internet, given that thousands and thousands of UK cooks all know exactly how it's done.

Regards
George

[Curry King]

I respectfully suggest that he's having you on. A restaurant kitchen is walls, floor and ceiling with certain equipment, methods and ingredients. It must be perfectly possible to recreate it 100% at home.

Says who?? No disrespect intended but have you spoken to any restaurant chefs that have told you that you CAN replicate it exactly at home and if I was lied to how come what I was shown was almost identical to what Pete was shown a year or so ago??

The chefs almost certainly know 'the curry secret' but they are not letting on.

So your suggesting that every single restaurant chef in the country are sworn to some pact to take "the curry secret" to there graves??

[Mark J]

A restaurant kitchen is walls, floor and ceiling with certain equipment, methods and ingredients. It must be perfectly possible to recreate it 100% at home.

You are right it is possible, but it will involve having an industrial cooker and cooking curry for 50 people a night over the course of a week ;D

[pete]

How did you make the curry Pete?

I got creative and made it in the oven with a casserole dish.
I have recently found, cooking this way, gives better results.
Thanks for the recipe, it's? agood one.
Like everyone else, I am frustrated at not being able to reproduce, the missing flavour.
But I do believe that the recipe is exactly what they do in the restaurants.
I have had a couple of curries without "the taste".
Both were bought on a Sunday.
One was from Bengal Cuisine
One was from "Indian Cottage" in Cornwall.
I reckon that was because the base had was fresh and not had added the oil from other cooked curries.

[Curry King]

Pete try leaving the base in the fridge for a couple of days and then make the vindaloo exactly has specified in my recipe and see if thats any different.

cK