CA's Chicken Madras

[madmatt]

We Cory, You've come up trumps again my friend.
Cant decide which is better, youre madras or your Jalfrezi!!!
Gonna have to do them both again many times me thinks

The madras had just the right amount of heat.I followed it to the letter, apart from adding cabbage in (your) the base recipe, and ghee instead of the spiced oil.I will make a batch of the oil soon.

Heres some pics.

Matt

[Cory Ander]

Looks great MM.  Thanks for trying it and reporting your findings with photos 

Which recipes did you use for your rice and (naan?) bread?

[Ramirez]

That looks fantastic - nice one! 

[madmatt]

Looks great MM.  Thanks for trying it and reporting your findings with photos 

Which recipes did you use for your rice and (naan?) bread?

The rice is Dipurajas mushroom rice, made with my pilau recipe( on the rice thread )
And the paratha I hate to admit is shop bought frozen one, dry fried. I find these so good and inexpensive I don't think it's worth the effort to make my own. I do my own naans though, and will post recipe shortly.

Matt

[Peripatetic Phil]

Over the course of the last week, I have been experimenting with CA's base and CA's Chicken Madras for the first time, inspired by the very positive reviews that these have both consistently and recently received.  On the first occasion, I followed the instructions to the letter (in fact, the base was unmodified for all of the experiments), on the second occasion I introduced a little mustard oil as I had less than 75ml of spiced oil remaining, and on the third occasion I made rather more substantive changes, which I will document below.  I found both CA's Chicken Madras and the variant with mustard oil to be "OK", but in both there was some flavour, difficult to identify with certainty, that was predominating and spoiling the harmony of the dish.

Acting on instinct, last night I made the following modifications :

Ingredients:

- 300g skinless chicken thigh and leg (cut into approximately 1 inch cubes : I had already used all the breast)
- 75 ml CA's spiced oil
- 2 tsp garlic/ginger pur

[Cory Ander]

The predominant flavour, which I now attribute to the curry powder (an ingredient that I never use in my day-to-day curries) was gone, and instead the dish had a gentle harmony with all of the flavours complementing themselves perfectly.  Almost certainly the key change was the replacement of CA's curry powder by MDH Kitchen King

Hi Phil,

Thanks for trying these recipes and for reporting back with your findings.  However, I'm a little confused by your report. 

Isn't "MDH Kitchen King Masala" just another "curry powder"?  And, presumably, in your opinion (I can't say because I have never tried it to know) a "decent curry powder"?

I don't "recommend" any specific "curry powder" in my recipe.  I state that "any decent mild or medium one, or paste, will do".  Presumably MDH Kitchen King Masala fits this bill?

Which "curry powder" did you use before that gave you an "OK" result but such a "predominating" flavour that was "spoiling" the "harmony of the dish" please?

[Peripatetic Phil]

Thanks for trying these recipes and for reporting back with your findings.

My pleasure, CA.  We had the fourth curry last night (left-over from the day before, with fresh pulao rice) and my wife agreed that it was probably the best curry I have ever made.

However, I'm a little confused by your report. 

OK, then let me try to clarify :

Isn't "MDH Kitchen King Masala" just another "curry powder"?  And, presumably, in your opinion (I can't say because I have never tried it to know) a "decent curry powder"?

I don't think so.  After all, it's not sold or labelled as a curry powder : it just describes itself as "a blend of spices".  And in your own recipe, you draw a clear distinction between a "curry masala" and a "curry powder", and you incorporate some of each, so you and I must surely agree that not all "blends of spices" are necessarily "curry powders" : some of them are, to use your own term, "curry masalas", others are "garam masalas", "pickle masalas" and so on.  Perhaps MDH Kitchen King would qualify as a "curry masala" -- I don't know -- but what we choose to call it surely doesn't matter : what matters (in my humble opinion) is that its use makes a very significant improvement to the results, and leads to the best curry I have ever made, so it must surely be worth recommending it to others to try.  Would you not agree ?

I don't "recommend" any specific "curry powder" in my recipe.  I state that "any decent mild or medium one, or paste, will do".  Presumably MDH Kitchen King Masala fits this bill?

It certainly fits the bill (in my opinion) in that if I replace my former curry powder (Rajah Hot Madras Curry Powder) with MDH Kitchen King and ground cumin, I get a dish that is far rounder, far better balanced, and which is (as I commented above) probably the best curry I have ever made :-)

Incidentally, on re-reading both your message and mine, I see that I refer to "CA's recommended curry powder" : what I meant by this (and I agree that it was very unclear) is that you recommend the incorporation of curry powder while I recommend the incorporation of (cumin and) MDH Kitchen King.  In the same way, I made recommendations as to the specific type of ground chillies to use : Deggi Mirch and Kashmiri Mirch.  And no, I don't have shares in MDH, before you ask !

** Phil.

[Cory Ander]

it's not sold or labelled as a curry powder : it just describes itself as "a blend of spices".  And in your own recipe, you draw a clear distinction between a "curry masala" and a "curry powder", and you incorporate some of each, so you and I must surely agree that not all "blends of spices" are necessarily "curry powders" : some of them are, to use your own term, "curry masalas", others are "garam masalas", "pickle masalas" and so on

To my mind, all mixes/blends of spices are "masalas" and "masala" is synonymous with "curry powder", "spice mix", "mix powder", "curry masala", and so on. 

What I would agree with is that all "curry powders" ("spice mixes", "mix powders", "curry masalas", etc) are "blends of spices" and that all "blends of spices" are "masalas".

The prefix ("garam", "pickle", etc) simply describes the type of "masala" (e.g. "garam masala" is a mixture of "hot" spices). 

I have said (elsewhere, I think) that the "curry powder" can be replaced with the "curry masala" (and vice versa) in my recipes.

To be honest, my instinct is to do away with using commercial "curry powder" (or variations thereof) altogether.  Even specifying the make and type leaves room for variability and uncertainty (though it appears that many BIRs add commercial "curry powder" to their "mix powder").

Nevertheless, you seem to feel that MDH Kitchen King (Masala) is a quality mix and that, I believe, is the important point that you make. 

what matters (in my humble opinion) is that its use makes a very significant improvement to the results, and leads to the best curry I have ever made, so it must surely be worth recommending it to others to try.  Would you not agree ?

Totally.  I will get some and give it a go accordingly.  And I am glad that you and your wife enjoyed it so much 

And no, I don't have shares in MDH, before you ask !

That thought never crossed my mind! 

[Wickerman]

   
Well it took a long time,but finally made it.
CA'S chicken madras...only we're vegetarians,so substituted with veg/Quorn.
Thursday made spicy oil.
Friday made Base.
Sunday made final curry.
And how was it?
No word of a lie,it was the best curry ive every made!
Everyone,including the kids enjoyed it.
Wasn't bland in the slightest.
A very full flavored curry.
It's hard for me to put into words,but the base sauce really did it for me.
The base sauce really came through the other flavours in this curry.
With some of the other curries i've cooked in the past,the base always seems over-powered .(does that make any sense?).
Defiantly a keeper this one.
Will be trying some other members base sauce/curry recipes soon.
Excellent work ,Cory Ander

[alarmist10]

I made this one last night, albeit with Abdul's curry sauce base (I still have another 6 Tupperware dishes in the freezer to get through before I try out a different base!).  It was fabulous.....a smooth and well-spiced sauce....and definitely the best Madras I have ever produced.  Yet another hit, CA.  I'll definitely be cooking this again, no mistake.