Topic: Base and Madras Face-off - Bruce Edwards vs SnS

[joshallen2k]

Hi All,

I finally got around to putting my two favorite Base recipes head to head by making a Madras curry with each.

Comments to follow the pics.

1 - The two base sauces simmering away. The SnS was noticeably more orange/red than the BE, which was decidedly yellower/greener.

2 & 3 - Ingredients Ready to go. I cooked both curries more or less simultaneously. Both Madras recipes were exactly as written by Bruce and SnS.

[joshallen2k]

4 - The finished SnS Madras (just missing coriander at this point)

5 - The finished Bruce Edwards Madras

6 - In Serving dishes - The BE is on the left, the SnS on the right.

[joshallen2k]

OK, so observations...

- the consistency of the SnS was a little better (I put this down to the specific technique that SnS prescribes in the Madras recipe)

- they were both the same "hotness", which I wasn't expecting. I found the SnS base noticeably hotter than the BE, coupled with the added half teaspoon of Kashmiri Mirch in the recipe, meant I expected SnS' Madras to be hotter. That wasn't the case. Weird.

- the SnS yielded more oil in the finished curry than the BE, again unexpected as the BE starts with a full 4 tablespoons of oil.

- in terms of flavour, I could not pick between the two which one had decidedly better taste. I was equally happy with both.

So, to try and break the deadlock I had two other people (not particularly Madras fans) each try a forkful of chicken and sauce. Both gave me immediately the same reply as to which they preferred... which I put down to the....

Colour!! - the SnS yielded a redder curry, while the BE was noticeably browner. I too preferred the look of the SnS.

Now on to try CK's Madras...

-- Josh

[parker21]

hi josh great work mate and 2 outstanding curries! what would they have said if you had blind tested them? as we are all fooled by our eyes. :
regards
gary

[joshallen2k]

Hi Gary - it really was a pick'em. The blind taste could have gone either way. There was a greater depth of flavour in the SnS. Could be down to the pinch of garam and MSG, not sure. One thing I DID miss out, was the 2 tsp of lemon juice in the BE. It got down to curry time, and I noticed I was out of lemon juice. To me that is a MUST in a Madras. That alone could have swayed my vote. That said, I've never tried lemon juice in the SnS Madras, which I will do next time.

-- Josh

[Bobby Bhuna]

Awesome post! I knocked up some SnS base yesterday. It's good stuff!

[adriandavidb]

Well done Sir!  It's a lot of work doing tests like this, but I think it's the only way to go.

[Unclebuck]

Great post Josh, Thats dedication for you! both of those dishes look up to high restaurant standards i would go far as to say Ive seen and ordered worse.

Thanks UB.

[rallim]

Excellent post.
Both dishes look fantastic.

[JerryM]

Josh,

real good stuff as always.

it would have been interesting to have blind folded the 2 testers - before reading the observations i'd already decided i liked the SnS version as opposed to the BE. i wonder if that preconceived judgement does make a difference. i've made both of these myself at different times. i've checked back my photo's and the SnS for me was slightly redder too. i did however make a BE version with deggie making the colours equal.

really looking fwd to the CK madras result.