Topic: Balbir Singh Goa Vindaloo spice blend

[Peripatetic Phil]

[deleted — posted in error]

[Peripatetic Phil]

[Composite reply]

My grandmother, mother and so consequently so do I (it was how I was taught) always used to flour mince when it came to adding it to the pan.

Now that is interesting; that suggests to me that it may be analogous to "velveting" chicken, something I learned from my (Oriental) wife.

I assume the onions are being fried in oil or butter. The flour will act as a thickener when added to the fat. The process, as you must know, is called roux. Then, depending on how dark you want the sauce, you brown the oil/butter and flour to the level required.

OK, but that's close to "name magic" — saying that it creates a roux doesn't explain why one might want/need to create a roux — is it for thickening, is it for colour, is it for flavour, etc. ?

I have a cookbook from renowned Cajun / Louisiana chef Paul Prudhomme.  (Bought for me 20 years ago by the woman who is now the current Mrs Robbo, before we were a thing, but that’s another story).  In this book, he has several pictures of roux in varying degrees of colour, from a fairly light mustardy to a dark brown, depending on the dish being cooked.  He explains in great detail why the roux is cooked to these different stages for various dishes such as jambalaya, gumbo etc.

Interesting — as I lack M. Prudhomme's book, I shall consult Practical Professional Cookery (Cracknell and Kaufmann) and see what it has to say about rouxs.  I shall also ask our (French) head chef if he has the book to which you refer.

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** Phil.

[Peripatetic Phil]

I think I may just be losing my mojo, Robbie — even last night's cottage pie was not in the same class as those that I used to make ...

But it has improved enormously on cooling, and now I cannot stop helping myself to a teaspoonful or two every time I enter the kitchen.  I think that it may simply have been too moist when first cooked.
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** Phil.

[George]

OK, but that's close to "name magic" — saying that it creates a roux doesn't explain why one might want/need to create a roux — is it for thickening, is it for colour, is it for flavour, etc. ?

But I did explain - it's to thicken the cottage pie mixture, mince 'casserole' or whatever you are making. My Mum used to do the same thing, with plain flour. She never made a roux based sauce as such, but it would have led to a similar result.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Fair enough, you did indeed — I am afraid I missed that.  Thank you !

Incidentally, PPC has the following to say, under "106 Liaisons – thickening and binding agents" —

Roux.  A roux is a combination of fat and flour cooked together to one of three stages: (1) white; (2) blond; (3) brown.  The are used mainly in the preparation of soups, sauces and stews.

Collins-Robert translate French roux as English "roux", while Robert defines a roux as Sauce à base de farine roussie dans du beurre, where roussie can perhaps best be translated as "roast" or "scorched".
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** Phil.

[Ghoulie]

How strange Phil - the differences to your use & mine - I used chicken, mustard oil, cider vinegar with honey (omitting her sugar since honey in cider vinegar) - agree its not BIR - I much prefer authentic Indian dishes. Unlike you, I thought it produces an excellent result. I also blitzed the green chillies - seeds and all.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Mustard oil, I confess I did not think of, and I substituted jaggery goor for the sugar specified in the recipe.  But when you came to add the masala, did you find that the oil had not come out, or did you wait for it to do so, or what ?
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** Phil.

[Secret Santa]

is it for thickening, is it for colour, is it for flavour, etc. ?

Always to thicken. Sometimes to colour and flavour, as in gumbo.

[Ghoulie]

Mustard oil, I confess I did not think of, and I substituted jaggery goor for the sugar specified in the recipe.  But when you came to add the masala, did you find that the oil had not come out, or did you wait for it to do so, or what ?
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** Phil.

The mustard oil did not come out.  When I blitzed the 2x green chillies in my blender I added about 20 ml of water to ensure all the chilli content could be extracted from the blender as a pourable paste

[Ghoulie]

Just treated the frozen remainder of my Balbir Singh Goan Vindaloo chicken  - sufficient for 2x people - to a half tin of chopped tomato & 2 tsp of cream to drop the heat level which Mrs Ghoulie found too hot in the original. She wolfed it !  I would say the heat level now at a good Madras & 50 ml of water would have had it at a BIR consistency. Well worth a go again at this variation to Mrs Balbir Singhs Goan Vindaloo recipe.