Topic: Takeaway king prawn pasanda seen

[Mark J]

I was in my local friendly takeaway again last wednesday (I ordered a jalfrezi vindaloo and boy was it hot, he lobbed in half a heaped cooks spoon of chilli powder as well as the fresh chillies)

Anyway while I was there I also saw the following which I presume was pasanda, this isnt much of a recipe im afraid, just observations.


He started with a bit of oil and the king prawns in a pan and then lobbed in half a ladle of curry gravy to cook the prawns in, after a couple of minutes he then reached under the counter and came up with a good cooks spoon of golden goo and lobbed it in with the prawns. At this point I thought they were lentils and he was making a dhansak however he then followed it up with some uht cream.

I asked him abuot the goo and he said it was a different base sauce used for making the creamy dishes.

[pete]

I posted a curry base sauce from Bengal Cuisine which used condensed milk.
That turned out very golden.
Maybe it was like that.
Was it a thick or thin goo?
(I love this word, it could actually become one of our words like the "taste")

[Mark J]

It was very thick goo  ;D

He had a massively heaped cooks spoon of it which he carried from his preparation area behind him to the stove

[pete]

Maybe this will be covered by this new book
Quote from the book web site:-

"The book works on the traditional method used in restaurants where three base ingredients are combined together to make a delicious curry"

I know of two different types of base
Both are on this site
There's the really soupy one and the vegetable stew version too.
But three?
Maybe it just means onion  garlic and  ginger
I hope not!

[Blondie]

Maybe this will be covered by this new book
Quote from the book web site:-

"The book works on the traditional method used in restaurants where three base ingredients are combined together to make a delicious curry"

Hi Pete,

When the quote from the book website says three base ingredients,  it means the three basic components, which are balti base sauce, meat base sauce (which the main ingredient is cooked in) and the restaurant spice mix.  Having said that, the bases that the main ingredients are cooked in DO differ quite considerably,

hope this helps,

Blondie

[pete]

Thanks Blondie
I assume you have read the Pat Chapman books.
They were the beginning for me but this is really co -written with an Indian chef who actually wants us to get it right!
Amazing
Pat was guessing, for the most part, and when he got into kitchens he didn't seem to ask the questions we all wanted to know.
What really surprises me is that he never noticed, his curry recipes, didn't taste the same as a takeaway or restaurant.
What's going on there?
I think Pat can cook, I've got his Curry Magic Video, and he is obviously quite capable.
Maybe he has sworn, to keep certain cooking secrets, with the chefs that showed him!

[Blondie]

Hi Pete,

Yes I own Four of mr Chapman's books and he was my starting point many many years ago after I had tried Traditional Indian cooking without much success.? I don't know if this is a general trend with Pat's books, but, It seems that when he specialises on a particular type of cooking he gets much closer to the real deal. I find the best book that I have of his is the Tandoori Cookbook and I have heard good reports about the Balti book.? Do you have any experience of his more specialised books and what do you think of them?

cheers Pete,

Blondie

[Mark J]

I remember in one of Pats books (might have been the balti one actually) he says to reuse the sauce left over after pre cooking meat in the finished dish to make it tastier.

[pete]

? Do you have any experience of his more specialised books and what do you think of them?
Blondie

I do have the Balti Book but I thought the balti curry powder was a little odd
Pat described it as aromatic
From memory there was even nutmeg in it
I made the balti base too
I didn't think it was very good
It was probably the least successful of his books I had ( except for his American publication Quick Afterwork Curries, which is really nothing like anything you'd pay for!!)
I tried to sell that book on ebay and got no buyers
Obviously the word is out about that one
I've looked at the tandoori book and thought about getting it
"Favourite Restaurant Curries" is good
I think the base is close
It really goes off the lines where it gives recipes for the curry bases, though.
He gives mild, medium, madras,vindaloo and phall base recipes
They are nothing like a take away
The vindaloo even has vinegar in
The madras has black pepper and garam masala added
They are awful
I don't believe he could have tried these recipes himself
I tried these recipes many times thinking I had done something wrong
You live and learn