Topic: TOFFEE FLAVOUR AND KD`S NEW BOOK

[curryqueen]

Yes I agree with you Derek Dansak to a certain degree, but, there is always an element in the equation when it comes to may be learning possibly more, even though you feel very happy with the dishes you are producing anyway.  CQ

[barrie44]

thankyou cq.as i said earlier i have tried many differnet ways on this site and in other books and theonly reason i tried them was for wanting to improve and obtain hopefully perfection.i do feel i will always try improving though i would be ignorant to think otherwise.and incidently there are a few little changes in the book which in my humble opinion make those important differnces.i agree with another post on here where they say people on this site are a little bit better than the book.yes although if you combine all of the little bits of information then you can get to that goal."a little knowledge is dangerous"they say especially in the kitchen.

[barrie44]

reply to jerry m
yeah jerry i always up until now boiled them.frying however is a little bit better on the nose whilst cooking also i feel you will get a much sweeter taste by frying.a long time ago i tried frying onions until quite dark and blending that seperately and that gave pretty good results tastewise however that was trying a more traditional curry just saying that frying does taste different.the book does suggest both fresh or dried i have not tried fresh yet although i will.the order would be ginger garlic methi all within seconds of each other however kd`s way is then base then spices and meat.the new book seems to cook at a lower temperature as well which thankfully helps with any splattering or glooping also.i do not grind it no just rub it a little between your hands just to realease the flavours a little.back to the book first attempt from the new book made with only the base different and the methi in early gave me very good results everything else in the book is more or less the same and i agree with somebody earlier saying that we want differnt dishes in the book.kd has given us the clues i feel and it is just up to us to personalise them how we like them.
warm regards
barrie

[barrie44]

to cq i will put some of the book on here.i wonder if the moderators can tell me if the site is allowed to have stuff from the book on here copyright etc.
regards
barrie

[barrie44]

to adriandavidb
cheers for the reply i didn`t ever notice the methi in the first book and i have been using that for years doph!if you look in a lot of bir curries these days (although i know they can differ greatly)you can see bits of methi and coriander both aof which do not look small enough to have been ground so i would say to just rub with your hands.i do believe a little ginger garlic and sliced or finely chopped onions make a big differnce also in texture and flavour.as i have said in a recent post the kd base is the start all the clues are there just personalise it to your liking like i am sure each restaurant personalises their own curries just to be different.
regards
barrie
 

[Derek Dansak]

brought a huge pile of fresh fenugreek leaves yesterday. where do i start? shall i fry 1 tbs before adding garlic paste etc?

[Cory Ander]

brought a huge pile of fresh fenugreek leaves yesterday. where do i start?

Perhaps you could try reproducing Domi's results here: http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?PHPSESSID=ec5aae652f1be2b9033addedf11d47a9&topic=3470.msg31079#msg31079

Sounds interesting.  I'd be interested if you find that you can also produce "the taste" and "the smell" without using a base?

I would try it myself but I can't get fresh or frozen fenugreek.

Presumably you can freeze any surplus fresh fenugreek.

[JerryM]

the book says fresh methi in at the beginning for 5-10 minutes and dried methi for about 10 seconds.i would always fry a couple of tablespoons of diced onion and about a tablespoon of both chopped garlic and ginger in at the beginning making sure no smoke rises hence not burning them at this stage then i would put the methi in and then the base.

DD,

i'd start here. for me this says fry the fresh in oil before the g/g and fry the dry with the g/g. i too was thinking of buying the fresh. will await your thoughts though given your ahead of me.

[Derek Dansak]

good advice. need some base now ! this diy bir is a high maintainance occupation ! ;D. i brought a few bir takeaways last week (amazing ones). it occcured to me just how much work goes into doing it yourself at home !

[The Kris Dhillon]

I put  a qtr lev tps of ground-up dried methi leaf (KD recommends grinding dried methi leaf in her first book), into the hot oil along with a (BE) spice mix, chilie powder etc, when I do a madras.  As the oil is warming beforehand I chuck in a finely chopped chilie, and when it starts sizzling briskly, I know the oil is hot enough to fry the spices without burning them  (a Bruce Edward's technique). 

I also use a very heavy frying pan, this helps contol the heat also.  It's very easy to burn spices in a thin wok-type pan.

In goes the spices plus methi, followed by 30 seconds to a minute of frying, then in goes the base in stages.  It's not perfect by any means but the results are better than any of my local BIRs, but I would say not quite up to the best BIRs in the land!

I tried leaving-out the methi, and also adding it later, but neither is as good.

Interstingly I still rate KDs base, although my version has evolved, I include home made chicken stock, small  quantities of carrot & celery, and one or slight variations in technique.

Hi there,

in this recipe the methi is used as a vegetable rather than a herb so if you are using the dried version, don't grind it.  I must say though, that fresh methi is the best for this sish and dried is a barely adequate substitute although I used the dried for the dish in the photo as you can't get fresh methi in Australia and I didn't have any growing as it was winter.  it was still pretty good.  Kris