Describe "The Taste"

[Blondie]

Hi All,

I am going through a stage of frustration at not getting "THE TASTE" again and wondered if it would help everybody if we all tried to describe "THE TASTE".

Of course the taste will be different for different people, but if wine boffins can describe tastes why can't we?

To me the taste is a mixture of oniony (raw) aniseedy, Mustardy and almost vinegary (but this vinegary taste could be something like lemon and another ingredient mixed). The Sort of smokey taste that sometimes gets a mention is only present from one of my locals.

I do hope someone else can describe the taste better than I have been able to but we need to start somewhere.

Cheers all,

Blondie

[dc]

The other day I decided to save a small amount of my takeaway bought vindaloo sauce and gave it a taste test in the cold light of day to see if I could identify any particular flavours.

It’s very strange stuff indeed!  Even though the curry is very tasty and full of flavour, it is at the same time very subtly flavoured.  It tastes sort of tomatoey without tasting of tomatoes, hot without tasting of chilli powder, sort of curry like but without tasting of curry powder. In fact it’s almost as if they use a completely different set of ingredients – I’m absolutely sure they don’t, but that’s how it tastes.  It also had what I would describe as a slightly smoky, aniseedy, liquoricey underlying taste. 

In fact I recently had a curry from the same takeaway and that definitely had aniseed in it.  I could tell because it was as if the aniseed spice hadn’t all been finely ground and a larger than usual piece found it way into the dish. The trouble is I couldn’t tell if came from the curry or the pilau rice.

Liquorice and aniseed powders are available, so I wonder if maybe they could be a ingredient in the gravy?

[Curry King]

In fact I recently had a curry from the same takeaway and that definitely had aniseed in it. I could tell because it was as if the aniseed spice hadn?t all been finely ground and a larger than usual piece found it way into the dish. The trouble is I couldn?t tell if came from the curry or the pilau rice.

That could be fennel seeds in the pilau rice?

[stephen west]

Definitely smoky taste from all the local takeways around Oxford.

[George]

Definitely smoky taste from all the local takeways around Oxford.

Has anyone tried black salt? I read that this spice has a smokey flavour. It might be worth a try at only 95p a jar. Please see:

http://www.natco-online.com/acatalog/Spices_N_to_Z.html
"Kala Namak (Black Salt) It is a purplish brown colored rock salt, with a DISTINCTIVE FLAVOUR. A special type of Indian mineral salt and has a very special SMOKEY FLAVOUR."

I added the capitals for emphasis.

Regards
George

[Ian S.]

Hi everyone

I've had meals from three takeaways in my area - let's call them A. B and C.

'A' tastes little different from a well-cooked Kris Dillon.  I've only had it a couple of times.

'B' is better than 'A', with some kind of X-factor, similar to the taste (from what I can tell) described by Blondie. But it's nowhere near as good as 'C', which all my friends agree is the benchmark by which all local takeaways are measured!

The nearest I can get to describing C's special factor (and I've tried many times, talking to the spice man at my local market) is:

A combination of smell and taste somewhere between smoke and toffee.

This factor seems to be present in all their dishes including Sag Bhaji and even Onion Bhaji, as well as all the classic meat and veg curries.  When I open the front door of my flat  and the guy is standing there with the bags, the smell hits me straight away.  When  I stagger into the kitchen at the end of the evening to get another beer, the smell is still there from the empty containers even though I've eaten and smelled the curry all evening.

This has lead me up two garden paths in the past.  I've tried substituting pimenton for paprika in the base sauce, on the basis that it's smoked.

It was 'orrible, and went straight down the sink!

To me, butter ghee smells of toffee.  I tried that, but it seemed to make little difference in the finished dish.  I abandoned it on the basis that the next mornig the ghee in the leftovers had become opaque, which is not the case with leftovers from the takeaway - it still looks like transparent red oil.

At the moment I'm experimenting with saving the oil from my curries in a jar, so when i get enough I can use it in my next base sauce.  Given that my most recent curries are 'tweaked' Dillon ones, I'm surprised to find that when I open the jar to have a sniff it does have a hint of 'that smell' - just not as strongly.

Ian
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[curryqueen]

Hi Ian,

I am glad at last that someone is listening and trying out what I suggested weeks ago.  You will find that the more oil you take from curries you have made, the more that smell/aroma will appear apparent when put back into a jar or bottle to use next time.  It gets more definate each time.  Well, done and don't forget to post your findings!

[Yellow Fingers]

The nearest I can get to describing C's special factor (and I've tried many times, talking to the spice man at my local market) is:

A combination of smell and taste somewhere between smoke and toffee.

You will get a smokey kind of flavour if you brown some finely chopped garlic at the start. I use two cloves per serving. It mustn't be too finely chopped and you have to be careful not to burn the garlic as it will just give a bitter taste. It's a fine line between the very well browned garlic I'm talking about and being burnt, so it takes a bit of care. This doesn't work with puree. You should try this if you haven't already.

[merrybaker]

You will find that the more oil you take from curries you have made, the more that smell/aroma will appear apparent when put back into a jar or bottle to use next time

Hi, curryqueen, I've been saving oil and reusing it for the next curry.? Done that three times now, and it gives a definite boost to the curry.? But restaurants have the advantage of cooking an assortment of dishes every night.? When I made Curry King's Rest. Style Khalia, the oil took on a fennel flavor.? Last night I made grimmo's Sag Baji, and the oil really took on a turmeric flavor.? It seems to overreact to the dish of the night, and I suppose that affects the next curry.

-Mary?

[Ian S.]

Hi Yellow Fingers

Yes, I have tried browning garlic several times, thanks to the advice on this site .  Despite me being pretty sure I've browned it just right according to Pete's descriptions (Dark caramel colour, not golden, and not quite Nescafe brown) I'm pretty sure it's not the factor I'm looking for.  Though it does add a nice taste and smell of its own, I agree!