Chili - To fry or not to fry.

[emin-j]

Hi all ,
Just thinking ( as you do ) when I watched the Chef make my Madras at our favourite T/A I noticed he added the Chili sometime after the frying of the Spice Mix whereas I usually add the Chili Powder with the Spices and fry together , I tried putting the Chili Powder in later in the last Curry I made and it didn't seem to taste any different than when I fry it with the Spices  I think adding it later you are not ' frying ' the Chili Powder the same as you fried the Spices , what do the rest of you guys do .

[peterandjen]

If its fresh chilli i usually throw mine in with the onions right at the beginning of the frying stage, i think the longer they cook the better the taste.
If its chilli powder i put it in with the rest of my spices, just after the onions are properly cooked for my tastes.
If you use degi mirch which is a mix of red chillies it tells you to add it when the onions are cooked through, this also helps you get that red oil colour.

[JerryM]

emin-j,

for powder i always add with the spice mix - it was a tip from BE that it's best to cook it out the chilli. pretty much all BIR i've been to don't (the chilli smoke can get u a bit in the throat and eyes - i must admit i'm surprised on this being real for BIR's given their extracts). it's in the morning when u benefit.

[Stephen Lindsay]

I can't see any reason for not frying chillies with the spices unless they are being thrown in at the end to be used for visual purposes.

[jimmy2x]

i tend to throw garlic/ginger/onions/fresh chilli all into the hot oil together at start of recipe.

just seems easiest way and quickest.

for chilli powder i often add with the meat/base/ passata/vinegar/lemon all other spice mix/coriander together.


takes 5 mins tops in total.


then again maybe i gotta change doing this.

im starting to suspect making a curry at a run of the mill bir is more a case of making a ready meal from packets, cant see you average bir spending all day chopping garlic ect when you can get frozen crushed garlic in packets. and ive been in a bir kitchen many times, ive even delivered stuff for them from brake brothers wholesalers. And in the store room there is jar upon jar of pataks.

its funny but its just around the time pataks became popular that we all found the old fashioned style of curries just disapeared. coincidence? i think not.


so im thinking

pataks
pre-bought spice mixes
bhaji mix


i bet a monkey could make anything in your average bir within 6 months of being pot washer.

This also confirms with me the fact lots of the new cooks are british born, the old style cooks were taught in bangladesh. And such a large industry like any other will have lots of standardisation and companies selling goods to make life easier ie pataks and huds ect.

your average curry house cook will really be no more educated or skilled than a burger flipper at mcdonalds.

maybe we try to hard, perhaps we aint getting the taste because our cooking is more complicated, perhaps that ellusive taste sits at the bottom of a jar of pataks.

its like trying to replicate the old kfc recipe we will never do it. what we probably need is for one of them to admit whats jars and pre made mixes they are using.

The only thing they are scared of is us finding out how pathetically easy it is.


sorry for going off topic and rambling, im just a cynic and dont believe these 20 year old chefs i see cooking in these places have built up 30 years experience to obtain a high skill.

[Bobby Bhuna]

This is a point that I've been quite confused about. You're always told, cook the spices on a high heat for a short time to get the essential oils into the cooking oil. It's paramount to cook all spices including chilli IMHO. This opinion is shared by top class traditional Indian chefs (see the master chef in India episode).

Having watched these guys, I now cook my spices more slowly (on a lower heat and for longer). I feel this has improved the flavour of my curries (I'm talking several minutes, stirring regularly on a medium/low flame).

Raw spices are rubbish. Raw chilli is a real gut rotter! I suggest getting the chilli in with the spice mix (plenty oil to avoid dryness) and cooking them through. I think you get a deeper more mellow flavour. Please feel more than free to contest this point - I know many members are all about the 30 seconds hot fry.

[mickdabass]

Lately I have been adding the chilli powder 30 seconds or so before I add the spice mix and as per bobby bhuna I cook them at a lower temp for longer (electric hob No 6 for about 1 1/2 - 2 mins). Any longer and I find the curries to be a bit bland. Providing you use enough oil and keep stirring - its not a problem.

[JerryM]

both hot & low flame work. the hot flame method needs free water though (either water in the puree or via adding some base)

[Stephen Lindsay]

I agree with you Bobby, I think the 30 secs frying at a million degrees C is one of the myths that perpetuates the notion that there is a secret to making curries that is only shared amongst the great alchemists.

I usually mix my spices with a little water in a ramekin and fry at a medium temperature. This stops them burning and also ensures you don't have to go hell for leather with your next ingredients.

To me, reproducing BIR at home is about taking the essential elements of restaurant cookery and discarding those that are about producing food in commercial quantities and I think hot frying at incendiary temperatures falls into the latter category.

[Razor]

I agree with both Bobby and Stephen.

I actually start off by frying ginger/garlic paste and onion if using, on  the highest flame.  When the G/G pastes turns golden, I remove the pan form the heat then add the spice blend and chili powder.  I stir this quite vigorously with the back of my chef's spoon, until the pan has cooled right down.  I then return the pan to a low flame and cook out the spices for a further minute and a half.

This method has served me well for years and I never get burnt spices or raw for that matter!

If I'm using fresh chillies as well, such as in a Jal Frezi, I add them about 2 mins from the end.  I love the freshness of chilies and I like them to be al dente.  Just my take I guess?

Ray