Topic: madras

[ranat22]

hi
can anyone tell me what makes a madras redish in colour as i cant seem to get the right colour,i know it should be all in the taste,but imo if it looks like a restaurant/takeaway dish then it will taste more like one,mine come out a more brownish vindaloo,or bhuna colour,is it paprika or red food colouring....cheers

[SnS]

Kashmiri Mirch imparts a very red colour and is used for this reason.

[ranat22]

cheers

[adriandavidb]

Try a spice mix that contains some paprika (a la Bruce Edwards'), and a three or four tablespoons of pasatta or blended tinned plum tomatos, the latter helps with the sour taste, without being too obvious like lemon/lime/vinigar or tamarind.


Or as suggested above, use Deggi Mirch, if you can't find that, some extra hot chillie powder used WITH some paprika works equally well in my opinion, I've tried both.

[JerryM]

i only like madras red. i put it down to tom puree, paprika & passata.

i use 2 tbsp tom puree, LB spice mix and 4 tbsp passata per 200ml portion.

[adriandavidb]

Ditto Jerry, very happy with my Madras' now, it's the other dishes I want to perfect now.  Trouble is we like the Madras so much, I rarely get arround to cooking anything else, except maybe CKs Bhuna and CTM (the latter using CAs Tikka), there are pretty good too, although I have had preety much no input in 'improving' these!

As for Madras I use:

-450ml base
-3 tbs oil

-4 lev tps Bruce Edwards' spice mix (the version WITH paprika)*
-2 lev tps Rajah extra hot chilie (or 1 plus 1 deggi merch)
-1/4 tps ground methi leaf
-pinch brown sugar (about 1/2 tps)
-1/2 tps salt

-3 tbs (big old ones proably more than 15ml each) blitzed tinned toms or passata
-1/4 tps Worchester sauce (& NO more than that!)

-chix breast (not pre-cooked, done in 10 mins so no need)

-Loadsof chopped fresh corry, mainly the fine stalks (better flavour than leaves)

*NOTE I sometimes use 3 tps basaar mix instead of BE spice mix, and reduce the chilie by 1 tps, different but also very good!


 

[Secret Santa]

...the latter helps with the sour taste...

It's this sort of statement that makes me realise just how different our goals are. I've never (until very recently) had a madras with any hint of sourness to it and that takes it in a totally different direction to what I am used to, and to what I want to emulate.

[Secret Santa]

i only like madras red. i put it down to tom puree, paprika & passata.

Hi Jerry

I must admit I have trouble with this. No matter what ingredients I use to make the red type madras I find that the longer it cooks the browner it turns, until it's like a normal brown curry. I'm a bit perplexed! Any ideas?

[JerryM]

No matter what ingredients I use to make the red type madras I find that the longer it cooks the browner it turns, until it's like a normal brown curry. I'm a bit perplexed! Any ideas?

Secret Santa,

i think the "brownness" comes from over cooking  the spice at the spice frying stage (emulsification)(or at least cooking longer than it needs). i'm not 100% sure though.

why i think this is that i've been trying to get consistency on this "smokiness" and been pushing the cooking technique as far to burning as a can (still edible). the longer i fry the spices the darker the curry turns out. the reason why i'm not 100% is that bhuna always turn out brown - i don't know if this is down to ingredient or simply that there's very little tomato (c/w madras).

i also think methi might be a contender but as i don't like it's taste in madras for sure - i no longer use it.

i'm also sure that paprika has a part to play ie the mix powder needs to include it and probably in a higher proportion than for other dishes.

[adriandavidb]

Secret Santa, I think we've read each others posts over the last year or so, so I think I know where you're coming from.

Perhaps sourness is the wrong word, but the tomatos certainly add something, perhaps 'tang' would be a better description, certainly not sour in the way that lemon juice -for example- is sour.  I'd be surprised if you have not tried it, since reading your posts it's obvious that you've tried pretty much everything, but if you havn't, please do, just once!

The Madras I make, at the risk of blowing my own trumpet, is easily better than any BIR near me.  What it isn't better than however, is the cheap but amazing savory hot curries I had in Leeds between 1982-1985.  I just can't get anywhere near that flavour!  Reading between the lines, I suspect it's these savory curries you're trying to replicate.  The ones that you can't find anywhere anymore!  If you find the answer PLEASE me know.  I can still remember the amazing smell of these dishes like it was yesterday!!

When I first came across dried methi leaf, I hoped that would be the answer, but it wasn't!