Topic: What Ingredients are we missing

[Mikka1]

Salt is an issue yes.
Now then how much salt do you serve yourself per dish please?
It's just that I've heard so much about how important salt is yet what I see put in the average base is more than minimal.

I beg to differ on technique and practice also Ermin. I've done it every way upside down and backwards. Heck if I were on the game I'd have earned a fortune.

So then.... You are saying your dishes are perfect? Exactly the same as a TA? Mine aren't but they are pretty damned close and I'm adding different things. I don't think it is about point A for most cooks who are proficient, its about point B. The Exit and an end to the doubt. 

It's a stew, made faster for the restaurant trade. It isn't rocket science and Chefs are inventive and secretive about what they put in their food. Ask KFC if you can have their special recipe yeah? Anyone can cook chicken, only KFC know what spices they use. there are plenty of other examples too.

There is nothing what so ever wrong in experimenting with food providing you know a little of the outcome.
Yes here we go again. No change, same result.
Best regards.

: here we go again !
I have found it's so important not to burn either the Garlic / Ginger or the Spices which is easily done , also the amount of Salt is critical to get the best flavour , we have all the recipes and ingredients it's just down to technique and practice . 

[Secret Santa]

I found that my madras was tasting strange when i added lemon.

That's because you added lemon!   ;D

[Secret Santa]

the question is for me - is there anything else. cashew paste sounds good. does anyone know of anything else.

The one thing I have noticed from watching the real BIR chefs on the takeaway streams is that, with korma, CTM, and pasanda, they use vastly more sugar, coconut, and almonds than any of the recipes on this forum do.

The East takeaway, for example, uses two heaped chef's spoons of almond powder in the pasanda. That's about 16 TBSP!

For the korma it's even worse. At least a heaped chef's spoon of sugar there, that's 8 TBSP!  I can't imagine how they can use so much sugar without making people puke. It makes me wonder whether the sugar isn't  JUST sugar, but maybe something extra added in with it? 

[JerryM]

emin-j,

all i need for u to say is that u know of no more ingredients than what i've listed. salt is in the list. i don't need this to be drawn out - it's a sort of 1%'er but would open up my range of dishes.

Secret Santa,

i have a few conclusions myself but i want to watch a few more of the video's before deciding - the knowledge on the extra unknown 8 off ingredients would have just helped fill the picture a little clearer.

on what u've seen - i totally agree - lot's of c.flour and sugar. the other key thing for me is they used 2 techniques to cook whereas i only currently use the same technique for all - i intend to experiment on the next base.

[Derek Dansak]

Hi secret Santa, i know not everyone adds lemon to madras, but i know 2 bir chefs that do. When you get the lemon and tomato puree right, its spot on. the lemon must be barely noticable. just enough to bring out the flavor of the tomato and give a slight sweet and sour effect. the sweet obviously comes from other ingredients. lemon and lime is an important bir ingredient, not to be discarded. in my humble opinion ! anyway enough of my preaching !

[Unclebuck]

Hi secret Santa, i know not everyone adds lemon to madras, but i know 2 bir chefs that do. When you get the lemon and tomato puree right, its spot on. the lemon must be barely noticable. just enough to bring out the flavor of the tomato and give a slight sweet and sour effect. the sweet obviously comes from other ingredients. lemon and lime is an important bir ingredient, not to be discarded. in my humble opinion ! anyway enough of my preaching !

Takeaway from up the road from me actually serves madras with a slice of lemon in it, and its lovely!!.

[emin-j]

Salt is an issue yes.
Now then how much salt do you serve yourself per dish please?
It's just that I've heard so much about how important salt is yet what I see put in the average base is more than minimal.

I beg to differ on technique and practice also Ermin. I've done it every way upside down and backwards. Heck if I were on the game I'd have earned a fortune.

So then.... You are saying your dishes are perfect? Exactly the same as a TA? Mine aren't but they are pretty damned close and I'm adding different things. I don't think it is about point A for most cooks who are proficient, its about point B. The Exit and an end to the doubt. 

It's a stew, made faster for the restaurant trade. It isn't rocket science and Chefs are inventive and secretive about what they put in their food. Ask KFC if you can have their special recipe yeah? Anyone can cook chicken, only KFC know what spices they use. there are plenty of other examples too.

There is nothing what so ever wrong in experimenting with food providing you know a little of the outcome.
Yes here we go again. No change, same result.
Best regards.

: here we go again !
I have found it's so important not to burn either the Garlic / Ginger or the Spices which is easily done , also the amount of Salt is critical to get the best flavour , we have all the recipes and ingredients it's just down to technique and practice . 

Hi Mikka , I use 1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons of Salt per portion ( final Curry ) I stir in 1 tsp then taste the Curry to See if any more Salt is needed , it really brings out the flavour.
I have concentrated on Madras for the past year as this is our favourite and have tried various Base Gravy's and I am using the Saffron Base at the moment.
I use the same amount of Spices every time I make our Madras but have noticed how the flavour changes from being a little ' bland ' to knocking spots off our local T/A and I am pretty sure this is down to the time spent cooking the Garlic / Ginger plus the Spices , it is a fine line between frying just right or frying for too long which will spoil the taste of your Curry , I have cooked so many Madras Curries now I can tell what the Curry is going to taste like now by the time I have taken to fry the G/G and Spices , my best Curries are the ones where I don't think I have fried it enough  if that makes sense  this is the technique I mentioned and this is where a good Chef will get it spot on ( most of the time ) Liked your Vid by the way Mikka just think you need more heat from your Gas .
Regards.

[joshallen2k]

1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons of Salt per portion

Wow. I've found that more than 0.5 tsp of salt kills a single portion curry.

How much do others use for salt?

[Cory Ander]

How much do others use for salt?

Farrrrrrr less; maybe 0.25tsp per person (plus what's in the base)

[JerryM]

i can really relate to what emin say's in his last post.

i've found the same as josh ie 0.5 tsp is the max. i've tried going upto i think 1 tsp. it's quite a surprise - the initial taste is real glum but with time it changes and improves (i reckon about 5 mins is needed).

i've settled on 0.25 tsp as a good balance.

ps, anymore ingredients to add to the list