Topic: Curry Powder or Mix Powder in Main's

[JerryM]

the utube jalfrezi recipe and the undercover book posts got me trying curry powder in place of mix powder.

in the utube jalfrezi the curry power worked well - a bit of a shock that it worked at all http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=5001.msg48094#msg48094

i have much scepticism on the use of curry powder in place of mix powder. Dipuraja's recipes are all based on mix powder. jb's lessons also came up with mix powder. Just to muddy the waters Ashoka uses garam.

i made 3 off plain curry sauces to test out the idea more of using curry powder in place of mix powder. link (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4518.msg48176#msg48176) Bottom left dish curry powder, top ctr Dipuraja mix powder, bottom right jb mix powder.

we found the curry powder to be very inferior in this dish (c/w jalfrezi) - sort of like wishy washy coffee. i'm sticking to using mix powder in main dishes going fwd.

i do agree that curry powder may work better in some dishes - bassar which is curry powder i know does exactly this in kashmiri i make regular. this i believe to be exception ie few dishes work with curry powder.

there is only one slight niggle in the results - i used 1/2 tsp of curry powder/mix powder in each of the 3 off dishes which is reduced from my norm of 1 tsp. the mix powder dishes taste was very good and i feel improved from reducing the qty. it could be that the reduction in curry powder invalidated the results ie it needs 1 tsp.

i don't feel on what i've tasted so far that it's worth investigating further - for me the best opportunity for making top notch curry lies in using mix powder.

[Vindaloo-crazy]

It could be that the jalfrezi chef just referred to mix powder as curry powder?

[PaulP]

I think the jalfrezi chef from youtube said curry powder because people might not understand if he said mix powder. Just a case of dumbing down for a wider audience.

I don't believe for a minute he uses olive oil, not with the giant tin of KTC oil in the background.

Paul

[Vindaloo-crazy]

My thoughts entirely.

[parker21]

hi jerry my mouchak mixed powder is listed below

6 parts curry powder (rajah)
4 parts turmeric
2 parts coriander
1 part cummin
1 part chilli powder
 if possible use rajah in all the spices but you can use trs or another brand if you don't have them.
regards
gary

[JerryM]

parker21,

i have the mouchak on my todo list - much appreciate u're prompt and will try it next. it's quite different to most i've tried down to the higher proportion of CP (which i now think would be helpful). i think there should be a 0.5 garam. i will also leave the chilli out as i got caught out using it with the jb recently when making biryani.

i'm no longer looking at adding ginger or garlic powder or any other "special" items to mix powder. i'm also sticking to mix powder as my norm - curry powder on it's own for me is not enough to produce BIR.

[emin-j]

JerryM , have you tried 1tsp of Curry Powder plus you usual Spice mix ? It seems to work quite well.

[Peripatetic Phil]

I use Bassar Curry Masala (Al Noor) instead of red chilli powder in about 2/3 of my main dishes (with no particular rationale as to which); Bassar Curry Masala is unlike any "curry powder" I have ever seen; fiery red, it seems almost like pure ground red chillis, but in fact contains chilli powder, ground  coriander, ground turmeric, mustard oil, ground fenugreek leaves, ground cumin, ground  bay leaves, mustard seeds, ground cardamom, ground cinnamon, ground  black pepper, ground cloves, ground fenugreek and ground nutmeg !

[JerryM]

parker21,

made the mouchak and used it tonight. very impressed - i think it's going to be my std. clearly only cooked 2 dishes but gut feeling was BIR mix powder pedigree.

funny on a wet finger taste i was unsure on amount of turmeric thinking it might be a tad too much. on cooking the balance i thought was very good.

many thanks for giving me that extra push.

emin-j,

funny u should say that. i did this for quite a while what feels a long time ago. i then got it in my mind that i had too much spice. i then got into low spicing and mix powders that include curry powder. the mouchak is sort of not far from this starting point being 8.5 to 6 in favour of mix ingredients.

Chaa006,

i don't feel i'd loose my chilli powder in the dish - i suppose i use it to get sort of "madras" hot in everything.

i do like the idea of using the bassar more though and will keep in mind. i have the king of spice which is not fiery red so we are perhaps not comparing like with like.

for info the king of spice ingredients being: paprika, turmeric, coriander, chilli, garlic, cloves, ginger, black cardamom, curry leaf, fennel, cumin, fenugreek, mustard, black pepper, cinnamom, oil.

it's funny as on a wet finger taste i'd say i would not like curry made from it - but as u clearly know too that would be bonkers.

[telecaster445]

I've been wondering the same. I think mosts BIRs will have their own take on the blending, but they all seem to include CP. I know it has been argued elsewhere that by having individual spices and CP (which already contains them) may be duplication. Nevertheless, I have seen inside a BIR kitchen and they were happy say that CP was part of their "mix". In fact, there were no cumin,turmeric, corriander spices on show. just the mix and chilli powder. How to get that balance is my question.

In the undercover curry, tandoori massala seems to be used in dishes, often as part of a tandoori marinade (added to dishes like Bhuna during the frying stage). I was wondering how widespread its use has been with members.