Topic: Whos happy with what they can reproduce?

[Curry King]

Are you happy with your current currys and are they restaurant enough or does that matter as long as there nice?

[DARTHPHALL]

I am so close to take-away curries but i`m also very happy with some that do not taste take-away style but are very tasty indeed mmmmmmmm!!
sometimes i cook with the intention of copying my local take-away ,but decide to do something different.In the first year of experimenting there were many complete bloody disasters   ,now 2 years down the road & everything is nice even if not a resteraunt clone & i think thats all part of the enjoyment & fulfilling experience of all cooking there is something very therapeutic about cooking a good meal  .I get great satisfaction when i take a curry to work for dinner a mate tries some & says" thats the best f****** curry Ive ever tasted ,got the recipe" ? isn't that more satisfying than copying some take-away(no matter how much we want to).If tomorrow you did it ,then what ? if money were no object would you just buy take-away curries instead of cooking your own,i don't think so .Its the challenge to cook the dish from all natural ingredients & knowing "i did that".Perhaps we are better of not getting it right.And there is also this forum wear people from all walks of life can talk,philosophies & enjoy others knowledge through experimentation of each others recipes.
      HURRAHHH FOR THIS FORUM & GOD BLESS ALL WHO EAT FROM HER !! ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Curry King]

Yep I agree with a lot of what you say, if you could buy packet restaurant sauce that was perfect would you stop making currys yourself?? I wouldnt, half the fun is in the making, that first time you test yet another curry experiment wondering how good its going to be, you can't beat that.

[merrybaker]

I get great satisfaction when i take a curry to work for dinner a mate tries some & says" thats the best f****** curry Ive ever tasted

Pride goeth before a phall.?

[ghanna]

hi ,Curryking
i am not yet 100 % happy with my curries .
mild curries like Chicken tikka masala, korma  yes  i am 100% happy , i.e curries that got evaporated milk in them and mildly spiced.
Madras ,vindallo, bhuna, balti..........etc....no. This  missing taste is driving me mad, i did every thing but i couldnot duplicate it
thanks
ghanna

[Mark J]

I agree with ghanna, the mild curries that are dominated by cream, evaporated milk, coconut etc are easy to reproduce, the ones that more rely on the base sauce are a lot more difficult

[George]

Mark, Ghanna - what are your favourite recipes for restaurant style Chicken Korma please?

[ghanna]

hi, George
when i go to the restaurant i never order korma, because i don't like their version, i make it my self at home and it is wonderfully creamy, mild , full of  very very nice flavors.
first of all make the ( boiled onion  gravy ) as follows :
2 small  onions   (200g)
2cloves of garlic
1 inch of fresh ginger
1 tea spoon of salt
2 green cardmom pods
2 cloves
0.5 inch of cinnamon ( no cassia park please )
a pinch of whole mace
small fresh bay leaf
1 cup of water (250 ml )

puree the onion ,garlic and ginger  until very fine .
add the rest of the ingredients  and boil until the onion and the rest of the ingredients are cooked.( half an hour ) you can add more water and cook a little bit more if the ingredients are still raw .remove and discard the bay leaf.
puree every thing including the whole spices as well  until it is really fine at least 2 minutes in a soup blender (really nothing make a fine puree than the blender ).you are not going to see the whole spices any more.

dissolve  0.5 tea spoon of saffron in about 1 table spoon of very warm milk and leave aside.
dissolve 50g of creamed coconut in very warm evaporated milk   nearly half a (170g) tin.if it is very thick just add some boiling water and leave aside.
grind 1 to 2 oz of raw cashewnut or  almond  in a nut grinder until it is powdery and leave aside

2 teaspoon of rose water (not essence )
2 tea spoon of kewra water (not essence)

cooked chicken breasts


0.5 cup real butter ghee...warm then add 1 tea spoon freshly ground coriander seeds and  1 tea spoon garam masala  (see the recipe below ) stir  add the cooked chicken breast but don't fry for more than 1 minute.
add the gravy ,saffron mixture,creamed coconut mixture,cashewnut or almond powder, if it looks thick add more boiling water to make like the restaurant consitsency, raise the heat and cook until the ghee rise to the top.
add the rose water and the kewra water.
stir and then add a big pinch of the gram masala and if you like you can add fresh coriander to your likings.

now this  is how i like my korma ( i add about less than0.5 tea spoon fresh fenugreek leaves or really a good pinch ) it transform the taste to a little bit savory.but it is up to you.

i hope that you are going to make it and enjoy it as well.
it is not written in stone you  can  make  any changes  in the ingredients or the spices ,just be careful not to use tomato products in the ingredients.
if saffron is expensive you can use turmeric instead but don't expect the same kind of taste.
they never use strong spices like cumin in KORMA.
you can add chillies to your liking but remember it is a mild dish
the colour of it is very nice yellow or orange(it depend upon the turmeric or saffron )


now her is the recipe for a very very nice  GARAM  MASALA

25g seeds from brown cardmom (very important seeds only )
25g cloves
25g cinnamon stick (no cassia park please ) 
25g fennel seeds
25g royal cumin seed( black cumin seeds .....not onion or kalonji seeds )
25g black peppercorn
12.5g  whole mace
12.5 whole nutmeg
12.5g dry bay leaf

don't roast ,just put in a coffee grinder and grind until fine
please don't leave at room temperate after you use , put in the fridge in a very tightly closed jam jar, it will stay for ever there without loosing its aroma.

please come back and tell me if you did like it .
thanks
ghanna

[pete]

I enjoy cooking, but must admit, that I am so frusrtrated at not duplicating "the taste".
If I could do it I would try other areas of indian cooking as well.
I am currently making CK's demonstrated curry gravy.
I intend to leave it a day before use.
Regardless of how it turns out, I am sure this is a genuine recipe, used by curry houses.

[George]

Ghanna

Your korma recipe looks VERY promising, judging by the list of ingredients. Thank you very much and I look forward to trying it.

I trust your judgement on the desirability of not letting a tomato go anywhere near this dish BUT don't the restaurants use the same base sauce as for anything else? The balance of opinion here seems to be that most restaurants probably use a base sauce containing tomatoes.

I also share the view put forward by another member, a few days back, that you'd really expect the base sauce only to contain ingredients which are common to virtually ALL curries.

Regards
George