How do I stop powder coming through in the curry

[Mikka1]

Hi Ermin/Jerry.
I've been using Tandoori Masala as an additive in (some) dishes for about 2.5 years now. To my thinking and although we watch like lemmings we are not told the whole story. The oil is crucial, we all know that, but I don't think its the whole story.

Last night I made Aloo sag/Palak aloo in the homestyle fashoin which is also how they serve it here in restaurants. Spice was minimal, oil was minimal. I still had 'too much spinach taste' right until the end when I added a pinch of Cinnamon but the dish met standards after I bit into a whole green cardamom.

Today I do the second portion but this time with fresh ground spices and see if I can marry the taste with them? Apart from the odd (roasted) whole cardamom I don't get any crunchies.  ;D Not the same with a local vindaloo however. There is a last minute sprinke of spice right before serving.

I think there are many paths to what we each want to taste in our food. It's just down to us talking and learning to find out our best course in each case. Frankly I'm learning a whole bundle from standard home cooking Indian videos. I suggest folks search them out sometime.

Hopefully when I'm more confident I'll post some videos of my own.

[Secret Santa]

i don't see how "Just" tom puree can get to the sauce taste - i've tried many ideas as i've said.

I have no basis in reality for suggesting this but, I wouldn't be at all surprised if some BIRs water their tomato puree down with standard ketchup. It would certainly make it a looser mix and would add to the flavour.

[Bobby Bhuna]

this powdery taste seems to only occur with some spices ie paprika & chilli (maybe others i don't know). it does not happen with say curry powder.

I totally agree on this point, especially with chili powder. I find it differs greatly from brand to brand. Have you tried putting it in your spice grinder? Worth a shot.

For this reason I always try to get the hottest chili powder I can find. Incidentally, TRS extra hot is not all that hot. If my memory serves, I think Rajah is hotter.

I've also noticed this powdery thing gets worse the older you chili is. Maybe it's just loosing potency so I'm using more...

Cheers

BB

[JerryM]

Secret Santa,

ketchup is my fallback option. i can't remember the make but it's in pretty much every asian store i've been in. i did use it with KD1 base until joining the site and it worked well (recipe 200ml finished: 1/2 tsp chilli sauce, 3/4 tsp tom puree, 1/2 tsp salt, dash worcester sauce, fresh coriander in with base, 2 to 3 pinch of garam - yes i know - before u'd educated me).

the attempts using paprika etc did seem to be worth trying again assuming i can get rid of the sand effect using more oil as u suggested. i will also try along the lines of 976bar's idea of dissolving the powders.

if this fails then it can only be something like ketchup. i know the taste of the base and the sauce does not really give any clues on what's been added at cooking/frying other than chilli and coriander. it's very red but tin toms, extra puree, passata take the taste away. i can only describe it as a low spice madras. it's got to be something very simple and cheep.

it's important to me as i think it will do nicely as the starting point for working on a sylheti recipe.

Bobby,

it's a real good idea of re grinding it. i must admit not thought of it. as it's the paprika that i think is the main problem "sand" then it should grind up ok without the dangers with chilli. for info my chilli powder is NATCO and it seems good on the sand front. ps glad to cu back posting.

[PaulP]

I've noticed the sand effect myself. I made myself a curry using 2 teaspoons (heaped) of red Kashmiri chilli powder. Rather than making the curry twice as hot as one teaspoon, it made it sandy and rough tasting. I often use a desertspoon of spice mix for one person and haven't noticed the same effect with the spice mix, as with the chilli.

I think an important lesson is if you want it hotter, get a hotter chilli powder rather than piling in loads of a milder chilli powder.

It may not be true BIR but I like the effect and taste of finely sliced and fried hot fresh chillis - no trace of the sand effect with those.

[Secret Santa]

I think an important lesson is if you want it hotter, get a hotter chilli powder rather than piling in loads of a milder chilli powder.

Yes, absolutely right, that's why I always use the hottest chilli powder I can find. As I said before though, I just don't get this 'sandy' gritty texture even when using large amounts of chilli powder, and I put this down to using plenty of oil.

And I just had another thought. I never make a paste of my spices, they go straight into the oil as they are. I think making a paste of them may be a possible reason for 'sandy' curries.

[Razor]

Hi guys,

Like I have mentioned before, take the pan off the heat before adding your spice blend and chilli powder. My rule of thumb is 1 tsp of chilli powder for Madras, 2 for vindaloo and three for a Phall.  Even when I've done a Phall using 2 tsp of my spice blend and 3 tsp of Chilli powder, thats 5 tsp's of powder in all, I never get this gritty/sandiness with my final dish. 

If you take the pan off the heat, you should remove the risk of burning your spices.  Usually, chilli powder and paprika has a slighlty more corse texture than other ground spices.  If you burn these whilst frying, the grains, for the want of a better term, they will go hard and therefor making it impossible to lose the grainyness.

I think a lot of the problem could be overspicing.  Two desertspoons of spice blend seems excessive to me.  I use 2 tsp's at the very most, and whatever extra chilli/paprika that I need!

Hope this helps,

Ray

[Mikka1]

I use the hottest too. (Chilli Powder). Actually my last meal wasn't bad at all although I mucked up when adding the powders. In Shaans spice mix powders you are told to add the whole packet in most cases with water and pur?ed tomatoes & sometimes blended onions as opposed to base sauce. Not so far from a base sauce at all really is it?

I'm almost certain now this is how they do it here because they add either flour or another agent to thicken the sauce. When cold you can spoon it and it will stick to the spoon.

On that note I read somewhere that over here in some unscrupulous restaurants they add Baking powder as a thickening agent. You cannot digest baking powder but more importantly it leaves a horrid dry mouth effect.  : Will try to look those out sometime.

For me anyway its finding a way to enhance the RIGHT spices and use less.

I know there is a current argument on dry roasting spices but it seems to be the only way to get the flavours out in numbers for less content. It also helps in grinding it to a fine powder.

Takers, leavers?

[JerryM]

take the pan off the heat before adding your spice blend and chilli powder.

crucial for me too - so u can give the mix a good stir before hitting the heat again.

my interest is solely in paprika. i'm also convinced on your advice on the burn/going hard during frying. i thought i done this on the 1st go as when i put the 1 tbsp of paprika and 1 tsp of chilli in the pan i realised immediately it was a real mountain. on the 2nd go i watered the tom puree (i've recently started adding puree straight out the tin) but it made no difference. that's why i think Secret Santa is right as i was only using 3 tbsp of oil (i'd of used 6 tbsp in the past with 1/4 tsp paprika & 1/4 to 1 tsp chilli). i'm not using any spice mix in the madras as per CK's spec.

Mikka,

my gut feeling is that roasting does not hold the answer. i'm not 100% yet. i've recently used tgad2007's method of roasting whole spice (which works spot on). i'm not convinced that the roasting is needed so intend to just grind on my next go. the trouble is i don't feel just a side by side comparison of the powder will be valid enough. but at the same time making 2 off batches of base is something i've not got the inclination for.

[CurryOnRegardless]

my interest is solely in paprika....

JerryM,

FYI, in some Indian cookbooks degghi mirch is referred to as paprika or Indian paprika. When talking to Asian chefs in BIRs if they mention paprika very often they will mean degghi mirch. Maybe worth bearing in mind.

Regards
CoR