Topic: Update from the kushi balti book

[Mark J]

Just got this official email from the Kushi balti book peeps, hope they dont mind me posting this here:

Update on the forthcoming book "Authentic Balti Curry : Restaurant Recipes Revealed" by Mohammed Ali Haydor and Andy Holmes
 
 
30th August 2005:
 
Many thanks for registering your interest in the book.  We hope you're looking forward to it as much as we are!  Soon, you'll be able to re-create Restaurant style curries at home with this simple-to-follow cookery course.  The purpose of this email is to bring you up to date on our progress.
 
The book is now complete, and was sent to our publishers (Trafford Publishing UK) about a week and a half ago.  Their estimated turnaround time is approximately 4-8 weeks, so we're still on course for publication in Autumn.  Unfortunately, we can't be more precise about that - as it's down to the publishers from here.
 
We've updated the book's website, which is now available at www.baltibook.co.uk . Please note that it's still under construction, so apologies for any missing links or errors.  These are being corrected on a daily basis.  Please feel free to browse in the meantime - it contains details about the book itself, including the index and contents page, to show which dishes are included.  The website also provides updates on the recipes in the book, as well as help, support and lists of suppliers.  (Terms and conditions apply).  We'll also be adding more recipes to the website to complement the book.
 
You'll also be able to buy "Authentic Balti Curry : Restaurant Recipes Revealed" from the website, where we hope to offer a discount, not only on the book price but also the P&P charge of other major online retailers.  The book will also be on sale at Mr. Haydor's restaurant.  More details on this will follow.
 
We'll be in touch again when we have a definite launch date and the ability to buy copies.  (We're not taking pre-orders, as we'd rather YOU kept hold of YOUR money until the book's ready!)
 
Many thanks again for your interest, and we'll be in touch again soon.
 
Kind regards,
 
Mohammed Ali Haydor and Andy Holmes.
 

[Mark J]

New info from the Kushi site (hope you dont mind me posting this pete  )

Curry aroma:  Pete Sheldon, undisclosed location, UK
Peter Sheldon has asked a question about curry aroma.

It?s not strictly about the book, but as we?re still waiting for it to published, we thought we?d post some thoughts about his question as a one-off.

He says whenever he goes past a takeaway or a restaurant, there is sometimes a very strong smell - spicy and very strong.  The smell seems to get into all the curries ? but doesn?t appear to be of anything in particular.  It?s not the curry base sauce, garlic or ginger paste - or spicy dishes cooking in the tandoor.  What is it?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It?s an interesting question, and one which will continue to provoke much discussion as we reckon it doesn?t have a definitive answer ? but a rather mundane one.  As far as we can work out, it really is nothing more complicated that a combination, (over a very long time) of various curry dishes cooked and served in the restaurant.  Simple as that.  This aroma seems to permeate everything, and because it?s pungent, appears to linger for a long time.  This is especially evident if you go into an Indian or Balti restaurant which has, say, been closed for a couple of weeks holiday.  Even though no food has been cooked there for a while, the aroma which has permeated everything inside (including furniture, walls etc.) is still very much there.  All it takes is more heat and cooking to really bring it back to life.  Conversely, it can take some time for that aroma to fully ?make its presence felt? in a brand new restaurant where such food has never been cooked before.

Trying to recreate this characteristic smell at home proves almost impossible, unless you?re cooking a wide variety and huge quantity of dishes on a more or less daily basis.  (Note from co-author Andy:  I?ve visited Mr. Haydor?s house on many occasions, and even though many curries are cooked there, the volume is nowhere near what you?d find made in a curry house ? and therefore it doesn?t smell like his restaurant!).

Another more ?scientific? theory (from an aromatherapy expert, who?s asked not to be identified) is that when you cook the dishes at home, the resultant smell may be very similar to that of a restaurant.  But, because you?ve been cooking all the individual ingredients together, your mind ?knows ? what the smell is a combination of, and concentrates on that rather than the resulting mix.  When people arrive for your Balti dinner parties, many will comment that your house smells exactly like a restaurant, as they get the same instant ?hit? of aroma that you get when you walk into a curry house ? whereas your senses are filled with all the constituent stages of cooking.  It?s only a thought, and if we come across any other theories about how you can instantly create this at home, we?ll post it here.  We?d like to thank Pete for his comments, and hope that?s been of some help.

[Mark J]

And this update appeared on the 20th sept:

"Our publishers say they have everyhting in place to start printing the book. There's still a small amount of admin to do, and we should be ready soon."

[Yellow Fingers]

Interesting, but it doesn't answer the question of where the unique smell of the curry comes from, it only addresses the smell of the restaurant if I read it correctly. The restaurant smell is easy to produce. I am currently about three weeks away from putting my house on the market and I reckon it will take at least this amount of time with windows open and no more curry cooking to de-stink the place from my normal two or three curries made each week.

I suppose it addresses the question asked but I want to know where the strong unique aroma of the curries themselves comes from really.

On the bright side, if they continue to answer questions that could be very useful.

[Curry King]

An interesting explanation that makes some sense, I've had the same thing happen, people come round and say curry for tea again even when I haven't cooked one for a day or two!!  I can't usualy smell it anything unless im cooking it.

[Blondie]

He says whenever he goes past a takeaway or a restaurant, there is sometimes a very strong smell - spicy and very strong.? The smell seems to get into all the curries ? but doesn?t appear to be of anything in particular.? It?s not the curry base sauce, garlic or ginger paste - or spicy dishes cooking in the tandoor.? What is it?

Hi all,

Recently, walking through a large council estate near where I live, I smelt THAT smell. ?It was definately coming from one of the houses in a particular street, but I couldn't make up my mind which one. ?It was 10:00 a.m. and I was at least 2 miles from the nearest curry house and there was no wind, so I am totally convinced that it WAS from a private dwelling. ?I still couldn't define what the smell was, except that it was the curry house smell.

If they can do it we can do it and it isn't only produced by a restaurant IMHO.

Another spanner in the works eh!

I don't think this helps us, other than to encourage and inspire,

Cheers all,

Blondie

[raygraham]

Recently, walking through a large council estate near where I live, I smelt THAT smell.? It was definately coming from one of the houses in a particular street, but I couldn't make up my mind which one.

Hi all,
A lot of the Asian houses I go in through the course of my work smell like that too, yet some seem to have a more "home cooking" smell about them unlike the restaurant smell.
These smells drive me nuts and no matter if I have just eaten I could put away a steaming bowlful of whatever they are cooking anytime, it just gets your taste buds going mad doesn't it!!
It gets worse about 6:0pm when half of Bradford starts smelling like it when everyone gets tea started............murder!!.

I do think it has something to do with the continual cooking with spices and the way the smells permeate just about everything they come into contact with. I am not convinced it is due to one particular spice so the search might not prove fruitful.
It is true an empty curry house still has that smell about it even when the cooking was finished hours before.

But I have just come to the conclusion I live in an area with hundreds of curry houses, and thousands of Asian homes all churning out tons of curry every day yet I am not doing any asking!
So, I will make a more concious effort whenever I come across the smell to ask what the answer is. I can imagine the funny looks I will get but what the heck, it's all in the interest of science!

Ray

[Curry King]

Yep you may as well Ray the worst your gonna get is, "no its chefs secret" which ive had a few times  :-[

[Nessa]

I've been reading a thread in the Indian food section of my favourite foodie site, Egullet, (which has recently been infiltrated by Wazza of the UKFDI newsgroup, yep he's still telling people there's no such thing as a madras etc!), anyway I digress.? I found these comments very interesting in regard to 'The aroma':

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=70259

Quote:
"This mixture was supposed to be roasted until it started smoking, but after nearly ten minutes and no smoke, I increased the heat to "high." (I use an electric stove, so I think the heat doesn't conduct as well as a gas stove.) I added the cracked fenugreek seeds just as the smoke started, and immediately took the wok off the heat.


This seems to have done the trick. The colors seem to be just about right, although the mustard seeds (I think) are fairly dark, so maybe I made a mistake in increasing the heat after all. It was hard to tell from the aroma, since I used a lot of chilis (in fact, once it started smoking, I put my head directly over the wok and took a deep sniff -- BAD mistake! Whoa, what a rush -- my nostrils felt like the smoke stacks at Chernobyl.)? "

Quote:
"those pungent fumes, called "ghaat" in indian kitchens,
is a sign that things are going correctly?

just a second or two after that the spices will start to burn.

like waaza said, you need the best hood available do deal
with those."

Could this be 'that' smell?

[pete]

I got an answer on the kushi balti book website, about the "aroma"
I can't believe that the question was so misunderstood
I really think we are never going to get the answer on this