Topic: Result

[chinois]

Well done emin-j, good work! It's a different order of ingredients than i've seen before but the simplicity seems in keeping with what others have seen.
My favourite TA puts the methi in near the beginning too. I find you need to fry dry herbs (in any cuisine) to make their flavour come out. Much like spices. Adding them at the end like you do with fresh herbs doesn't give the full flavour and can make it musky.
Glad they use lemon in their madras.

JoshAllen, i dont understand what you mean by the difference between curry powder and spice mix. Isn't curry powder a mix of spices and isn't a chef's spice mix his powder to make curry? Obviously mixes like garam masala or panch phoran use specific ingredients but aren't these two just generic terms? I'm interested to know as i have always thought it was just a term that became popular by repetition on these forums, like 'base'.
I have made my own in the past but find it hard to beat shop bought brands.

[joshallen2k]

JoshAllen, i dont understand what you mean by the difference between curry powder and spice mix

Hi Chinois,

What I was trying to figure out is if he was using a "curry powder", like an Rajah Madras Gold, East End, etc - a commercial mix, or what we create as a "spice mix" - like the Bruce Edwards, or DD's - which is curry powder (above) plus usually turmeric, cumin, coriander, paprika etc.

The reason I asked is that there aren't many (in fact any I can think of) actual curry recipes on the site that use curry powder as a standalone ingredient. They all use the spice "mix" type.

-- Josh

[emin-j]

Well done emin-j, good work! It's a different order of ingredients than i've seen before but the simplicity seems in keeping with what others have seen.
My favourite TA puts the methi in near the beginning too. I find you need to fry dry herbs (in any cuisine) to make their flavour come out. Much like spices. Adding them at the end like you do with fresh herbs doesn't give the full flavour and can make it musky.
Glad they use lemon in their madras.

JoshAllen, i dont understand what you mean by the difference between curry powder and spice mix. Isn't curry powder a mix of spices and isn't a chef's spice mix his powder to make curry? Obviously mixes like garam masala or panch phoran use specific ingredients but aren't these two just generic terms? I'm interested to know as i have always thought it was just a term that became popular by repetition on these forums, like 'base'.
I have made my own in the past but find it hard to beat shop bought brands.

Hi chinois ,the 'Spice Mix ' is considered as separate from ' Curry Powder ' spice mix is usually a mixture of Coriander,Cumin,Turmeric,and sometimes Curry Powder  : all mixed in different amounts ,if you do a search for ' Spice Mix ' there are some interesting threads to read .

[chinois]

Ok cool both of you seem to have answered what i expected. I just call that curry powder and i imagine that's probably the same thing as the manufacturers do.
I find it easier to describe it to non-curryholics like that as mix powder doesnt mean anything to them. No probs, just thought i'd check.
I've tried quite a few versions and generally find the ones that include shop-bought curry powder better. Also using tandoori or chat powder.
One part coriander, one turmeric, one cumin and two curry powder seems quite good and is what i use at the moment. Hard to say if it's better than just the curry powder on it's own IMO as side-by-side comparisons dont provide much of a different result.

[chriswg]

Hi Emin,

Did you notice just how similar this recipe and method is to the one I witnessed yesterday? They are almost identical apart from mine had the garlic and spices in the base, yours added them into the individual curry. This is exactly the type of curry I love, very simple, very tasty and incredibly moorish!

[emin-j]

Hi Emin,

Did you notice just how similar this recipe and method is to the one I witnessed yesterday? They are almost identical apart from mine had the garlic and spices in the base, yours added them into the individual curry. This is exactly the type of curry I love, very simple, very tasty and incredibly moorish!

I think we have hit the ' nail on the head ' Keep it simple and make it fresh   ;D

[Cory Ander]

I think we have hit the ' nail on the head ' Keep it simple and make it fresh   ;D

Nonsense!  :

[chriswg]

Cory

How can it be nonsense when we have both had amazing curries cooked for us this way in the last week by separate head chefs?

I'm sure certain curries benefit from a clever blend of spices and hours of preparation, but a good old Madras or CTM can be knocked up fresh in 30 mins with devastating results.

Why don't you give either this CTM or my Madras recipe a go and let us know your thoughts. You have probably made more curries then almost anyone on this site so your input would be interesting to hear. Just don't dismiss it as nonsense without trying it first. You might be pleasantly surprised.

[Cory Ander]

Cory

How can it be nonsense when we have both had amazing curries cooked for us this way in the last week by separate head chefs?

It's nonesense as far as typical BIR cooking is concerned Chris...it's as simple as that!

[George]

a good old Madras or CTM can be knocked up fresh in 30 mins with devastating results.

I'm sure the results could justify 30 mins or longer being spent at home but very few commerical restaurants would want to spend that long when they can produce a similar (even if inferior) dish in 5 minutes by using base sauce.