Topic: 'Currytester's' Visit to a Takeaway

[chowie]

Chowie,

your madras is interesting and going to have to give it a go next week. i would normally swap the onion slithers for pre fried slithers of garlic (personal preference only). i'd go for DD's spice mix and add 1 tsp rajah curry powder. i'd use 1 tbsp tom puree. i've also just returned to using garlic/ginger 2:1 paste in a little base oil (used finely chopped garlic for a long time) - still not sure which is best. i also add a splash of worcester sauce now and again. i also add chopped coriander after adding the base.

i like the idea of the ground almonds and will try this out along with the lemon juice which i haven?t used in a madras before (only pathia).


mines based on parkers madras http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,1454.msg12717.html#msg12717


for recipes i'd go for admins jalfrezi http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,2664.0.html
or CK's CTM http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,539.0.html
. these are what we make all the time.

Thanks, I will be adding Garlic & Ginger pastes with this base, did not above because of the strange base mix I used. The almonds and lemon are from the old PC books and something I've kept with as personal preference.

I would like to try a Korma too, and try to use the recipe I've posted from the Maliks recorded videos thread, would be good to get some feedback from members on what to try there.

[JerryM]

Chowie,

i'm not an expert on Korma - in fact only eaten 1 in my life - i made it using ronnoc's recipe which got me into the almond powder. the Korma was spot on and i should really put my prejudices a side (madras etc) and make it more often - the family were quite sold on it too.

the base was pretty good but something slight was just not right and never got chance to work on it with Ronnoc.

link http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=2332.0

[chowie]

Chowie,

i'm not an expert on Korma - in fact only eaten 1 in my life - i made it using ronnoc's recipe which got me into the almond powder. the Korma was spot on and i should really put my prejudices a side (madras etc) and make it more often - the family were quite sold on it too.

the base was pretty good but something slight was just not right and never got chance to work on it with Ronnoc.

link http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=2332.0

Hey Jerry, I don't think I've ever had a BIR korma either, but have deffinatly wiped a nan around others before 

That Korma recipe is very interesting to what the recent videos are showing, was thinking Sugar & Coconut but is one maybe almond powder! and when he turns around maybe adds coconut milk! would love to know.

[JerryM]

yeah, the "white liquid" added from the carton is interesting - it does not look like evaporated milk and coconut milk would fit the bill. going to look along the carton shelves next time in my local Asian store.

[chowie]

Anyway back to this base, I cooked some Madras last night, could not wait any longer.. I used recipe as above but with 1tsp of Garlic Paste and 1tsp of Ginger Paste and no lemon juice.

First up I made some Bombay Aloo, thats was ok but also used that to season up the pan.

So being inspired by the recent videos I got to the Madras using a Chefs spoon of oil from the top, adding a little onion (frying for seconds here) then all the purees and spices. A big shake a swirl around with the spoon again not cooking for long, removed from the heat just to add the chicken, again big mix together (mainly scraping around the edges) now it's like a big chicken paste, what it also looked like on the videos. Then 2.5 ladles of base and simmer for a minute whilst adding some ground Almond, did not clean the pans between curries and woke up this morning to find orange splash dots around the cooker area so some spiting was going on.

I eat the curry very quickly, it was moorish, I was also hungry and a few beers were on board, but for me to much Ginger it was overpowering so will reduce/eliminate that when making some more curries sat night maybe then I'd be able to taste it better.

[haldi]

Taste again and it should taste like the most basic curry sauce you get from a BIR

I made this base and it is one of the best
But, I am sorry, it still misses that extra taste
I have two frozen sample bases and I compared

Thanks for the recipe though, I enjoyed making it
There were lovely aromas as I was cooking it!!

Lets face it folks, there really are no other ways we can rejig these base recipes
We've boiled onions, fried them,fried them then boiled them
We got onions on their own, onions with peppers,onions with carrots,onions with chillies.
And to tell the truth (unless you overspice the base) most bases turn out pretty similar.

Twenty years ago, when a chef told me "this can't be done at home" I didn't believe him
But you know, he might have had a point
All the same I would love to know what is the difference!

I don't think any recipe will deliver unless it is using a new ingredient or a new technique.

[JerryM]

Haldi,

appreciate u trying this one - it was bugging me as i can't get approval for a bigger stock pot at the mo (boss is not happy with the new TV station).

i am now convinced that we?re barking up the wrong tree. having tasted the real BIR base i felt it was not significantly different to bases i've made before. having chatted further with the chef the bottom line was in his opinion that it is simply a method of adding water to the curry. having seen the new TV station i can see much that i need to try out - it's the technique for me along with getting the spice balance right with the various ingredients.

[George]

i'm not an expert on Korma - in fact only eaten 1 in my life - i made it using ronnoc's recipe which got me into the almond powder. the Korma was spot on

Please clarify. Don't you mean you simply liked it for what it was in absolute terms? I don't see how you'd know if it was 'spot on' in BIR terms (which is priimarily what this forum is all about) if you've only ever had one korma before in your life!!!

[JerryM]

sorry George,

i simply liked it for what it was - i haven't a clue what a real korma tastes like.

[chowie]

I had to throw out the rest of this base, so did not get to give it another try. But I like this one and will be using again, I agree that many bases on this site are very good but the quantities and some practices still may need tweaking a bit. I think this is the one I'm going to be using until I see something that is very different.