Topic: Why we cannot produce that missing taste ?

[stephen west]

After eating a takeaway or restaurant curry, my hands always have a BBQ smokey smell. When reproducing curries at home, they never seem to have this smell.

Has anyone else managed to reproduce this smokey smell and taste in the curry? Any ideas what could be causing it, or whether it could be linked to the missing taste? I don't think it can be from the meat being cooked in the tandoor, as from what I can gather in the forum, the meat isn't usually cooked this way except for Tandoori chicken, etc. Could it be a missing ingredient such as BBQ sauce, which seems to have a smokey smell and taste?

[Blondie]

To Stephen West,

I have noticed this taste from one takeaway near me and I wasn't sure if it was a flavour somehow transfered from the Tandoor or from Black or Brown Cardamoms which have a very smokey smell and taste to them.

Cheers Stephen,

Blondie

[stephen west]

I have noticed this taste from one takeaway near me and I wasn't sure if it was a flavour somehow transfered from the Tandoor or from Black or Brown Cardamoms which have a very smokey smell and taste to them.

Thanks Blondie. I'll have a try with cardamom seeds to see if I can get that smokey taste.

[Domi]

I've found that adding some smoked paprika to my mix gives a smokier tasting result in my curries....also I happened to spy a tin of it on a shelf in one of my fave BIRs ;D

I use La Chinata Smoked Paprika (hot)

[ebing]

Hi,

A pakistani friend of mine gave me a great tip: just before serving the curry she adds some chopped fresh coriander and sprinkle a nice amount of garam massala to the dish. I tried it and it does give a bit of that missing taste. The smell is there anyway and there is definitely something different to the curry with the garam massala. Have a go and let me know what you think.
Also about the fact that restaurators would not have the curry that they seve that doesn't surprised. I love any curry from restaurants and take away but gosh it's go nothing comparable to an home made curry made by an indian cook. My friend's mom cooked us some lamb curry that what so amazing. The take away taste was not there and it was a different expeience all togheter. She cooked the lamb on the bone and the curry was dry, no gravy whatsoever, it was simply delicious. The best curry I ever tasted. I told my pakistani friend about it and she told me that home made curry should not be tasting the take away as it is a different way of cooking.

Good luck with experiencing the garam massala!!!

[rozzi]

just thought i would give you my dollars worth. when were back in england i once copied pat chapmans version of curries from the new curry bible to the letter. not only did it have that authentic indian takeaway smell, i was banned by my wife from ever doing it again. the house had that smell for 3 or 4 days, it was even outside. thinking i might give it a go on the barbie wonder what all my scottish neighbours will think, cheers rozzi

[HOTRING]

With this talk about a red sauce I thought I would add my two penith.
Around my way we have a translucent red sauce served with pompadams its called tamarind sauce & has a sweet/soure, tangy taste I once had the recipe for this written in pigeon English by a Indian chef but unfortunately I dumped it (about 10y ago) I can remember there being about 20/30 ingredients in this stuff so with is being so intense to make it makes you wonder if such an effort would go into what is simply a dip or douse it have other uses?
The main thing my curry's seem to miss is that smokey toffee taste as Cory Ander explains here http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1851.0
I have not got the gear to try this & to be honest at the moment I am happy with the way my dishes turn out but if I was gunning for a replica of my local BIR I think this would be the direction I would take

[Domi]

Hi all

I had an interesting conversation whilst out buying some spices this morning...The store owner and my hubby got talking about my renewed efforts in curry making (lately it's bordering on obsession ) and he told me that he and his brother used to work in a take-away in the late 70's early 80's. He said that there is no secret ingredient, the bases they made were based on a typical English stew, just spiced up to give it that Indian taste...

It got me thinking, I'm a lover of Darth's base, which does use typical stew ingredients (excepting turnip/swede/parsnip) and now I'm wondering if that's the missing sweetness I could be searching for :-X.

I know we all may have different perceptions of what the "taste" is, it could be that some of us are hankering after an older flavour of curry to some who have only been used to the newer stlye of BIR cooking which seems to be moving ever closer to authentic Indian food by using more exotic ingredients in their bases? This would explain better why some people feel that they have acquired "the taste" whilst some are left less well impressed using the exact same recipe.

P.S. Is curry-making becoming one of the bastions of masculinity or something? The shop owner assumed my hubby would be doing the cooking for some reason lol

Mind you, when I come to think of it, most men would only don an apron for curry making or barbecues....Is it some primal urge? ;D LOL

[Domi]

Another thing about the taste is that when we cook curries at home, we cook a "clean" curry, whereas in a BIR thre's bound to be some kind of cross-contamination of foods or aromas (look what happens when you leave bread near onions) I don't think we'd get bang on results every single time unless we made curries 8 hours a day like a take-away . I've been cooking side dishes and curries most days this week and everyone that comes near the house says it smells just like a take-away, but then the aromas haven't had chance to go completely away ;D

Thanks to this forum my curries are 99.5% there flavourwise compared to the BIR's we like and I'm chuffed as hell with that ;D It's just that slight sweetness I'm missing (although my hubby thinks I'm mad : MEN! :)

[spiceman]

Re the "taste"....I have been serialy obsessed with curry for about the last 15 years. I have to say that my cooking has improved no end...generally ...due to seeking out the methods for making an authentic curry. Curry being a generic term i'm using . I've had successes and disastrous failures but  learnt a lot along the wayt. To date I have been very happy with Pat Chapmans book the new cuury bible though camilia panjabi taught me a lot about authentic home cooked curries. To date these two food writers see me through. I have lived in east lodon for long periods and have had many a curry.

The "taste" is something very personal. It's a bit like art or beauty...in the eye or this case the mouth of the beholder. I did notice one post that said to ignore Pat Chapman but i disagree i think he has a lot to tell us about restaurant style food and the methods. I have a curry on the stove at the moment and the whole house smells good enough to eat...It's Xacutti tonite...I only haerd of it yesterday....