Topic: Secrets of the Indian Restaurant Curry

[George]

I made my first attemt at creating 'the smell' this evening, using the remainder of my MarkJ base sauce. I don't think I created the restaurant smell but it is so difficult to tell, isn't it, after standing over the stove for quite a while. I even tried going outside to clear my lungs. My objective was to create the smell , if not the taste. To this end, I used plenty of ground, dried fenugreek leaves, and some ground dried curry leaves, too. And plenty of curry powder, based on the restaurant masala mix. But it didn't seem to produce the desired smell, so I'm out of ideas. I am not presuaded that the addition of caramelised onions would produce the intense resturant smell, either. That smell is nothing subtle.

[DARTHPHALL]

Yes the smell is too distinct it might just be an ingredient !!!

[Mark J]

I really think the smell is down to garlic,ginger and onions.

When I get frying the above it just smells indian restaurant

[Mark J]

Sorry, we've wandered off topic onto the supject of the taste again  ;D

Back on topic, I bought the SOTIRCR book and had quite good results with it, it was the best base I had encountered at that point. However after seeing Bruce Edwards curry house cookery it seems clear to me this guy ripped of Bruce's findings to make the book

[DARTHPHALL]

When i fry Onions,Garlic & ginger it bears no resemblance to the smell I'm trying to recreate

[George]

When i fry Onions,Garlic & ginger it bears no resemblance to the smell I'm trying to recreate

For me, neither. The first stage of my 'finished dish' curry concoction last night was to fry onions, garlic and ginger. This didn't produce the smell, as far as I can tell (and it's very difficult to tell) and neither did subsequent stages including the addition of 'restaurant masala', ground fenugreek leaves and even garlic powder.

But the house stinks of curry this morning! If you asked anyone: "What's that smell?", they'd say: "Curry." What I seek is a smell which would have them saying "Curry, just like from an Indian restaurant."

Now I'm starting to think the restaurant smell could be an amalgam, like at least one chef is reported as saying. Any bread cooking smells good and distinctive. Tandoori chicken/lamb cooking has its own smell. So if there are nans and various dishes cooking in the tandoor, plus preparations not unlike I made last night on the top of various hobs, them maybe it produces the smell we all know and love.

[thomashenry]

Have we sometimes got the right result with and not got the right result with THE SAME BASE.

Yes, I *always* use the same base - Dhillon. Each batch lasts me 6 curries. I've made perfect BIR curries with the taste (PBIRCWTT) one night, then not the next, using base from the same batch. The base is frozen in serving sized portions on the day of making it, so the amount of time the base has been 'standing' has nothing to do with it.

Seriously blondie - use a Dhillon base, and follow and refine the MarkJ dish method. You WILL hit upon the jackpot at some point.

[DARTHPHALL]

Which of Marks dishes ?

[DARTHPHALL]

& do you mean KD`s recipe base mix below?

" The Curry Secret".

900g cooking Onions.
50g Ginger.
50g Garlic.
1 litre 570ml water.
1 Teaspoon Salt.
225g tin Tomtoes.
8 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil.
1 Teaspoon Tomato puree.
1 Teaspoon Turmeric.
1 Teaspoon Paprika.
                                         

[thomashenry]

Yeap, thats the one. Measure it all out properly. Once I was 100g short on the onions, and it totally screwed it all up. The only place I differ slightly from Kris is that I tend to simmer the final stage for perhaps 10 minutes longer than she does; she suggests 20 mins, I normally do 30, as it takes that long for the scum to stop rising. I spose it will also make the sauce ever so slightly thicker.

One further thing I did last time which worked well, was to add sugar and salt to the base, rather than to the dishes. Since all my curry dishes contain about 1/2 a teaspoon each of both, and I get 6 dishes from each batch, I add 3 teaspoons of sugar and 3 of salt, during the final simmer. I figured that this would reduce margin for error.

The MarkJ recipies I followed were his ones for Balit and Patia.

The pre-cooked (and thus sweet) finely chopped onions are crucial. The fresh tomato is crucial. If adding chunks of onions and pepper, make sure these are pre cooked. Do a batch, and put them in the fridge.

I've stopped using Patacks for the Balit, and switched to curry masala (1/2 teaspoon), and called it a Bhuna

A lot of the time on this board, when people say they've tried to follow recipies and not had success, I suspect that in fact they've not quite followed the recipie, and ommited one or more ingredient, or swapped it for another. Then they wonder why its not working.