Topic: Healthy Curry

[JerryM]

Axe/Razor,

i totally agree now - the fried is not for going into the puree. i gave it a real go but it don't work. ps just try the fried like u see in the pic but add it late on - my TA actually add cold just before putting the cardboard lid on.

having no success with the fried garlic i thought i may as well put to bed another item i had at the back of my mind - ratio of garlic ginger. i normally use 60:40 and changed to 30:70. it don't work any better either in fact i found it much worse - it made the the dishes hotter, not chilli hot but ginger hot.

i'm going to have to try the roasting idea for the garlic.

[Malc.]

Ray, it's all good.

Jerry, I think the roasted garlic would do really well, but it really does depend on what taste you prefer from the garlic. I like the sweeter roasted flavour but it doesn't suit for everything, somtimes you need that bitter after bite.

30:70 in favour of Ginger is quite a swing, personally I don;t think I would go past 50:50. Perhaps 70:30 in favour of Garlic might be better suited?

I haven't as yet tried experimenting with it but I have often wondered if I omitted the ginger, whether I really would notice it.

[Razor]

Axe,

I often leave out ginger and to be honest, it's perfectly fine.  I'm with you on garlic to ginger ratio.  I tend to favour heavier on the garlic side.

Ray

[JerryM]

Axe,

i picked the high swing to make sure i got a hit one way or the other. i won't be trying ginger in high proportion again. i have used just garlic for quite a while (parker21 got me onto it). having wrestled with g/g or just plain garlic i settled on the g/g following the ashoka recipe. i think the ginger in small proportion adds that tad more towards BIR.

i will try the roasted garlic. ps the fried is not bitter - very moorish.

[JerryM]

i'm now sorted on the frying technique (exactly as i posted earlier). the splash guard for ?1.50 is a real find (not the waste of money having tried it to cook naan) - it works a treat for fast "frying" the healthy curry.

the following 4 off curries give u a feel for the output. they were made to go with Dipuraja's biryani using lasan tikka. one of the dishes is Secret Santa's chilli sauce plain curry the other 3 are Dipuraja's Balti (they were made to order so slight differences).

one i have noticed is that the cream coconut block does not work in this healthy curry - a flavour comes through which i don't normally get - best i can describe is an hydrogenated taste if there is such a thing.

going fwd i feel i need to work on the base - i still think there is some mileage but taking the oil out is wrecking the onion cooking. the salt is a defo must - the onion don't cook out at all otherwise (add 0.25 tsp per portion of curry).

just to be clear on this - this healthy curry is for week nights only - it don't replace the hot fried real McCoy - it gets close but it's easy to pick out the fake but the gap ain't huge and if it's the difference between eating more or less curry then it's a no brainer - currently 2 tsp oil and 0.5 tsp salt per portion.

[Razor]

Jerry,

You've really worked hard on this mate, and I'm glad that you seem to be seeing your efforts come good.

I was wondering, I have never used it personally, but do you think Asafoetida may have a part to play in this healthy style.  I believe that it has an oniony taste?  and that fact that your using very little oil, you would need something to enhance them I guess.  What do you think?

Ray

[JerryM]

Razor,

this i am 100% sure on - a big No. i've had to eat humble pie on methi which is now at the back of my mind in all i do - several have pointed out how close u can get but still miss out - so it's hard to be totally definitive.

i have tried asafoetida - it took me well of the BIR path. i bought the hard black block which u have to grate. it really does produce a flavour and i think u either love it or hate it. i hate it and threw it out.

what i'm i guess searching for now is a general observation from my regular TA. they seem to produce an after sensation that u've eaten garlic (i don't know if it is garlic related). not the smell on u're breath but more a sensation in u're breath. i was not sure if this was down to a lot more ginger - hence the recent test. i now know it's not that. even when i've used masses of raw fine chopped garlic at dish frying i can't replicate this sensation from the TA. i'm now hopeful that it may well be down to the roasted garlic - hence my interest. whatever it is - seems to add a richness to the TA dish which i don't feel i've got.

[Malc.]

Jerry, just an idea but it might be worth testing to see if a roasted onion can give you the required flavour as well. Again, leave the skin on.

As for the fried Garlic, I have burnt garlic in the past and hated both the smell and the taste, I guess it's like Marmite in that respect maybe.

[Razor]

Jerry,

That's fair enough mate, if you've tried it and ruled it out, then it's not worth going down that path again.

Axe,

I like the roasted onion idea.  Would you do it the same as garlic, give it a good glug of oil, or just roast it as it is?

Ray

[Malc.]

I think it would be a case of trial an error but I would lean towards whole onion with skin on and gently roast for an hour, depending on the size. Given that the idea is to try and avoid oil to make a healthier meal. It might also be worth trying Red Onion as well.

Perhaps a compromise would be to half the onion, skin on, and place on a lightly oiled tray, before roasting.