Topic: Bruce Edwards

[Mark J]

I came across this about Bruce, not sure if we've seen it before

http://www.b-j.org/documents/Stocking3A5gs.pdf

[Yellow Fingers]

Mark, I've taken the liberty of pasting the relevant bit of that pdf, I hope this is o.k.



The Curry Club Magazine was a periodical publication produced for
members of a dining club I attended in the late 1980s. The club met above
a boutique in the old Covent Garden vegetable market building. The area
was reinventing itself at that time, and it was possible to see the names of
greengrocery wholesale companies above shop-fronts in James Street, as
builders ravaged within. This extract from an article by Bruce Edwards
for the Winter 1990 issue blows the gaffe on a curry house secret many
aficionados will already have suspected.

The efficient restaurant kitchen has areas dedicated to specific
operations. In the curry making area you will find a catering style
cooker with a huge pot of golden coloured, slightly oily, thick,
soupy liquid simmering gently on it. As the average restaurant
worker will not even admit to its existence, I have no idea what they
call it, probably just the sauce, but curry base seems to describe it
adequately. It is the secret to the restaurant curry sauce from Korma
to Tindaloo, and may be added to some vegetable side dishes also.
The main ingredient is onion, with some garlic, and some spices
can be added too, but I use only turmeric. The flavour is rather like
a savoury oniony soup. When an order reaches the curry chef, he
will ladle some base into a frying pan containing hot oil, add other
ingredients as required, stir it all around, and almost instantly a
curry is made. The recipe that follows will make enough for
approximately eight curries.
Finely chopped onion – about 2? lbs (approx. 20 medium onions)
Garlic, crushed and chopped – 6 large or 12 medium cloves
Turneric – 1? teaspoons
Oil – 6 fluid ozs. (approx.)
Cover with water. Simmer briskly for 1? - 2 hours. Blend to a
smooth paste. Add water, a little at a time, until the mixture has the
consistency of THICK tomato soup.


My initial reaction is that this must have been in the early days of his investigations because it is not too good, is it? There's minimal and there's wrong and I think this is just plain wrong.

Did anyone actually manage to track Bruce down? I know someone has tried to contact him.

[Curry King]

Iv'e just been through some curry club magazines that I got of ebay and have 2 of the parts of the Bruce stuff that Pete has already posted plus 3 parts of the original Curry House Cookery which runs through mags 27 - 29. ?If this has not been posted I will try and get them scanned in and post. ?Failing that I will type them out when I get the time.

Heres a a few bits that jumped out:

Use English onions instead of the large Spanish ones!!
Regular curry powder is a no no which is strange as the update clearly states that it goes in the secret spice mix! ?These are the spice mixes that he uses here:

Hot Mix
Coriander 6 parts
Paprika 4
Ground fenugreek 1\2
Cumin 3/4
Chilli 6

Medium
Coriander 6
Paprika 4
Ground fenugreek 1/2
Cumin 1/2
Chilli 1
Turmeric 1/2
Allspice 1/4

Mild Mix
Coridander 6
Paprika 4
Ground fenugreek 1/2
Turmeric 1/2
Ginger 1
 
Theres a couple of curry bases included which are both minimal compared to the update version I will type this out when I get a bit more time.? One of the bases is included in that pdf.  The update was obviously to improve on this but its interesting reading.

[Yellow Fingers]

Iv'e just been through some curry club magazines that I got of ebay and have 2 of the parts of the Bruce stuff that Pete has already posted plus 3 parts of the original Curry House Cookery which runs through mags 27 - 29.? If this has not been posted I will try and get them scanned in and post.? Failing that I will type them out when I get the time.

You mean there is something in your life that is more important than the dissemination of information relating to Indian restaurant curries? Well not in mine, get 'em scanned man?

Seriously though I would like to see this info.

[Mark J]

Mark, I've taken the liberty of pasting the relevant bit of that pdf, I hope this is o.k.

Of course mate, I would have pasted it in but had to go out for a curry tonight so ran out of time  ;D (chicken chilli massala)

[raygraham]

Hi Yellow Fingers,

This complete information is already on the site. I typed out a copy of ALL the info from the magazine articles originally posted by Pete. It was scanned and pasted a few months and is still on this site somewhere. I will have a look through to see if I can find it. In the meantime I have attached my copy for you.
My offer of the Balti Kitchen D.V.Ds still stands if you want to P.M. me!!
Regards

Ray

[raygraham]

Hi again,

Have just found the full scan of the article. It is on the site under "Recipes Index". Click this link.

Regards

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=108.0

Ray

[Yellow Fingers]

Thanks for that Ray. Infact I've already got the stuff Pete posted but I think CK has some stuff that hasn't been posted and that's what I wanted to see.

[Curry King]

Hi Ray,

Yes YF is right, the stuff Pete has posted is a follow up to the original article which I think I have, both seem fairly different.  If I can find someone I know with a scanner I will get them in otherwise it might take me a while to type them out 

[pete]

I have these recipes but can't scan at the moment
They aren't as good as the article he wrote afterwards
It contains recipes he worked out for:-

Pre cook meat and veg
Frying onions
Vindaloo
Phall
Korma
Madras
Onion Bhajee
Pillau Rice
Naans
Tandoori Marinade
Sheekh Kebab
Bhoona/Rhaogan Josh
Methi Gosht
Bhaji Base (his version of curry gravy)
Bombay potato
Methi Aloo
Cauliflower Bhaji
Mixed Veg Bhaji
Mixed veg curry
Coconut chutney

Here is the Bhoona/Rhogan Josh

Ingredients
2 large de seeded tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped onions
2? tablespoons finely chopped green peppers
1 heaped tablespoon mild spice mixture
1 teaspoon coconut
4 tablespoons oil
One portion of cooked chicken or meat

Method

Fry tomatoes till they pulp
Add onions and peppers and continue to fry
When tomatoes have been reduced to a paste, add some water, a little at a time until you have a very thick sauce that is just boiling
Add the spice mixture coconut and salt, stirring over a medium heat for about a minute
Add more water until the sauce is medium thick and lastly the cooked meat or chicken
Warm through and drain excess oil.

All the recipes are not from restaurants but the results from his cooking experiments and a food analyst