Advice on how to improve my technique..

[Derek Dansak]

Hi all, i am still a bit of a rookie with this technique business, maybe one of you pro's can help. Below are my steps.
1) heat plenty of oil to near max temp, then add chopped onion + ginger garlic paste and fry until brown. (2)Then, add spice mix, salt, tumeric, and chilly powder and a little base to stop burning, and fry for 2 mins. My question here is this: What smells should i be getting at what stage, and what signs should i be looking for before i add the remaining 4 ladles of base. Should i be adding extra spice mix and chilly powder at the initial frying stage to increase this toffee smell you guys talk off? The only smell i notice is an initial blast when i first add the spice mix and chilly powder for 10 seconds. once i start adding base this smell never returns. Is the key to an amazing curry, getting this toffee smell repeating during the whole cooking process? Hope this isn't too confusing! unfortunately its hard to describe on a web page! Cheers DD. look forward to your replies

[JerryM]

Derek,

this is quite key i feel to getting a good curry so worth practising - took me about 3 mths

link to the method i use https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=2444.msg22679#msg22679

i've also (for the 2nd time) tried the slow boat technique (see SnS June 08 Madras or Bruce Edwards - link below)

BE slow boat "frying" https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=2815.0

i've now decided it does not matter which way - only to avoid burning the spices (i've not managed to do it so i do feel most people with some cooking experience don't need to be overly cautious - just use their eyes and smell)

back to your No's
1) if it's chopped then don't use high only medium until their cooked through. paste is ok on high
2) max is 30 secs for the spice mix on high and 60 secs on medium - as soon as a spice smell is given off it's done or its become a darker colour and u feel times up. stir all the time
3) i then add 1/2 a ladle quickly into the spice (to stop any chance of burning) and i fry this off until the water has started to go - u can see the change - u get spitting. stir all the time.
4) then add rest of base. Good stir needed - make sure u get the base and the spice mix all mixed in and off the bottom of the pan. then simmer for ~5 mins. stir now and again

tips:
a) for a while i used 2 hobs - 1 to fry and 1 for the simmer. i can manage with 1 now through practice
b) take the pan off the heat to control the heat when u feel the need as opposed to adjusting the heat setting
c) when simmering push the pan backwards & forward on the hob and stir with he other hand - helps to stop spitting

[Bobby Bhuna]

Hi Derek!

1) heat plenty of oil to near max temp, then add chopped onion + ginger garlic paste and fry until brown.

You don't really want to brown your onion. Start off with less heat and just cook it until translucent and soft, your garlic and ginger paste will be fine.

(2)Then, add spice mix, salt, tumeric, and chilly powder and a little base to stop burning, and fry for 2 mins. My question here is this: What smells should i be getting at what stage, and what signs should i be looking for before i add the remaining 4 ladles of base. Should i be adding extra spice mix and chilly powder at the initial frying stage to increase this toffee smell you guys talk off?

Why isn't the turmeric part of your spice mix? Otherwise it's just another ingredient wasting good spice stirring time. At this point, your pan should be hot but not too hot (nowhere near smoking). Don't add the base yet. Add 1 tsp of your spice mix, salt and chilli and stir like hell for around 30 seconds. The chilli fumes will make you want to choke but will lessen. At around the 30 seconds mark, your spices will have darkened somewhat and that nice sweet spicy smell will be present. N.B. I find methi the easiest thing in my curry to burn. I add this near the end of my spice cooking stage (say 10 seconds to go)

Quickly add a little base and stir well, ensuring the spices are mixed in. Evaporate most of water off and add a little more base. Repeat this process until you have added around 250 - 300 mls of base sauce. You can use water now to get the right consistency. Then just whack in your meat and fresh coriander and heat through.

I would suggest reading the new Bruce Edwards article as it goes into technique and use of heat in some depth.

[Derek Dansak]

Thanks for the info Bobby and Jerry. Some interesting food for thought!! But seriously, its nice to have some feedback from cr0 members in addition to reading bruces article. BTW Bobby, the tumeric was added in the spice mix. However, from a recent BIR demo i noticed they add tumeric in the spice mix, and also add it separately, in varied amounts depending on the dish (madras, rogan josh bhuna etc). I think Bruce was right when he mentioned you can make a good curry with just tumeric. i sampled a great mushroom curry during my demo, which had maybe 2 tbs of tumeric in it (and spice mix, garlic ginger etc). I guess tumeric and lots of oil react together nicely during the cooking process.

[Bobby Bhuna]

i sampled a great mushroom curry during my demo, which had maybe 2 tbs of tumeric in it (and spice mix, garlic ginger etc)

Wow, that's a lot! Intresting stuff though!