Topic: Had a restaurant chef round my house!

[Curry King]

Yeah its worth it im just about to whip up a couple of currys with my fresh base, il take some pics of the base and final dish etc..   

[Curry King]

As promised heres a few pics, ive just made the vindaloo and its lovely!!  Please post any comments if you make it.

Cheers
cK

[pete]

Nice pics
Has it got the flavour?
And how much tom puree in the base?
I can almost smell the curry from your photos
Well done

[ghanna]

hi,curryking
very nice pictures,it look exactly like the restaurant curry.
well done
you made me very hungry
thanks
ghanna

[Curry King]

Yep ive just eaten it and it was lovely, to me it tasted great but I had the whole just cooked it didnt enjoy it as much thing.  My GF and mate both had some and said it had the restaurant curry taste.

A few other tips I was given:

Instead of adding plain boiled water to the blended sauce you can add some whole spices, green pod, stick and bay leaves to it first, seive them out and add that as well.
He said when cooking the spice keep the heat low as it can burn, this I thought was strange as ive always asumed that everything is cooked on high??
Always reheat the gravy before using it
The garlic and ginger wasnt browned in the gravy or the curry, I asked him about this and he said it wasnt needed
One big thing was that he said scooping the oil of and reusing it was a no no for one its against health and safety regs, anyone know anything about this??

[pete]

One big thing was that he said scooping the oil of and reusing it was a no no for one its against health and safety regs, anyone know anything about this??

It could be about the free radical ideas.
That is a feature the oil takes on which makes it a potential cancer giver.
Chip shops use the same oil on for days, don't they?
I don't really understand.
But..........
I know that this is going on in curryhouses.
I have seen it.
Curryqueen said the oil at Bengal Cuisine fill their oil can (situated on the cooker) with oil salvaged from the curry gravy.
She was told if you want more spicy oil, then you add more at the start of making the gravy.
I have seen them do it at two places.
They dip their spoon in slightly to lift only the oil from the gravy pot.
Here is part of the recipe I emailed to people? back in October.


The Onion GravyOnions

Garlic ginger mixture
Green peppers
Tomatoes
Salt
Oil
Water

Cook the above for two hours

Spice Mix 1:-
Coriander 2
Cummin 1
Curry Powder ?
Turmeric 2
Paprika 2
Spice Mix 2:-
Cummin ?
Coriander 1


Add some of both spice mixture (2:1) and cook for another hour
Grind while the mixture is hot
This mixture is used for the following day

Bearing in mind that the quantities the restaurants cook in, you must allow for more time.
But it's really very similar to what you've been shown.
I reckon that alone concludes the theory that whatever reason we can't get the taste we're after,
is NOT because there is a hidden ingredient.
The chefs HAVE been honest
I think it is because the domestic cooker cannot reproduce the heat we want.
The best results I have got have been using the curry base with precooked ingredients with a Microwave Cooker.
Now that does get very hot!!

[Yellow Fingers]

One big thing was that he said scooping the oil of and reusing it was a no no for one its against health and safety regs, anyone know anything about this??

Yeah, like they're going to worry about that!

It's against health and safety regs to leave any food uncovered or where necessary unrefrigerated overnight. But that doesn't stop them leaving the base sauce out. They are well aware that as long as it is boiled for ten minutes the next day it will not have any ill effect.

Unless there's an environmental health inspector standing over their shoulder they will do whatever is most convenient for their business. What they say they do is one thing, what they actually do is entirely another.

[DARTHPHALL]

CURRY KING !!  i just tried to put spoon through my monitor to taste the curry thats how good the pix look !!! ;D

[Yellow Fingers]

Hi curry King

I have made a recipe list of your method for base sauce and vindaloo. I want to try to replicate it as closely as possible so can you fill in the missing quantities please. Also can you be more specific about what you mean by a tablespoon measure. I notice that only 3TBSP of oil is used in the vindaloo, that's 45mL, a tiny amount compared to what restaurants use.


Base Sauce

garlic ginger paste   is this 50/50 mix? how much?
oil         500mL
spiced water      ?
onion         8 (how big)? ? ? ? ?any particular type?
tinned toms      1 (how big)
carrot         1
green pepper      1
tom puree      ?? ? ? ? ? ? ?which brand?
spices
   coriander   ?
   cumin   ?
   turmeric   ?
   garam massala   ?? ? ? ? ? ? ?which brand?
salt         ?





Vindaloo

veg oil         3TBSP
garlic ginger paste   ?
tom puree      ?? ? ? ? ? ? ?which brand
chilli powder      ?

spice mix (from Bruce Edwards Curry House Cooking, I think this is the one you mean)
mixed in these proportions
   coriander   8
   turmeric   7
   cumin      5
   curry powder   4? ? ? which brand?
   paprika      4

how much of this mix goes in the vindaloo   ?

curry sauce
pre cooked meat
coriander      ?? (in sauce or just sprinkled on top?)

did you use the oil from the base sauce for the vindaloo?

Please add anything you may have previously forgotten, either recipe wise or technique.

Also if you get the chance can you ask your chef why he thinks the oil is used in the base sauce, i.e. what does it do, and why so much?

[Curry King]

Right for anyone who's intrested Ive just posted recipes for the gravy and vindaloo here http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=179.0?

Thats the best I can do for measurements etc..?

As for the oil, not much is used in the final curry as the gravy contains a lot blended with it, its not scooped of the top.? I asked about this he said if you have enough oil to scoop of you've used to much, I think this is personal preference though as we know it goes on but he doesn't do it.? The brands also don't matter too much, basically what ever is the cheapest!? Ive used regular supermarket puree and the big tinned stuff and theres not a great difference I could tell.? He said they use the cheapest stuff they can, which makes sense.

Happy currying
cK