Topic: How to test curries

[moonster]

I am with CA on this one, although i appreciate the practicalitys of making 6 curry bases is time consuming it would most definatly benefit the whole forum if people where willing to contribute the time and effort to make each curry to spec. The feedback alone would make very interesting reading.
 I have only been on this forum a fortnight and have learnt so much in replicating both your curry razor and ca's doing them both exactly to spec.
 just a suggestion but would it be possible to only make half portions of curry base and increase the testing period over two months instead of one.

personally i think the amount of contribution to the board that you both make, it is only right that people make your currys to spec, especially when posters like yourselves go to the trouble of posting these excellent recipes on the forum for us all to enjoy. In my opinion the feedback from each recipe should represent the whole process from base to plate. 

regards moonster

[solarsplace]

Hi

Granted, it will be a lot of work, but if you were to do 2 bases and 2 matched currys a month, then that seems reasonably doable?

If I were invited to be involved, I would do each to spec with the original authors base, plus do the curry recipe side by side with the generic base and spice mix just out of interest to see what the results were like.

I think to be fair, although it is a lot of work, for the test to be (as others have already just stated) of any actual benefit over just fun then the recipe does need to be paired with its specified base if it has one.

As always just a humble opinion.

Cheers

Russell

[Razor]

Hi SP/Moonster.

would it be possible to only make half portions of curry base

It would be possible but, would it taste the same as the full spec recipe?  Halving the ingredients does not necessarily mean halving the cooking time!

And I also agree, if we are to test certain members dishes, we should make them exactly to spec, including method but, how practical is that, really?  6 full blown bases @ 2 ltrs each.  Have you got room for 12 litres of base in your freezer because I know I haven't, lol. 

5 or 6 portions of precooked chicken, cooked exactly to spec?  Most of which are asking for between 600g and 1 kg of chicken  That would cost at least 30 quid just for the chicken alone!  Just to do the test, by spec recipe would cost in the region of 30 - 40 quid.

But this wouldn't be a recipe comparison test, it would be an experiment using a base that some of the more long standing members developed quite a while back along with an accompanying curry masala.  All that we would be doing, is looking at which method best suits the base and masala, that's all.  As far as I'm aware, this base got developed but never really got explored much after that, except for Jerrym, who has tweaked it to suit his taste but the tweaks no longer mean that it is the cr02 base!

If my method came out last, it wouldn't bare any reflection on what my spec recipe would turn out like, it would just show that my method doesn't suit this combination. It wouldn't worry me in the slightest.

If the majority of the members really want us to do a proper "Curry test" then fair enough, but it would take far longer than 2 months to complete, and in reality it would probably take about 6 months minimum.

Lastly, we all debate where the "taste" comes from.  I think most of us have ruled out that it's some closely guarded secret, known only in BIR circles.  I also think that a good many of us have ruled out some secret ingredient too.  So what does that leave us with?  Ok, experienced chefs will no doubt cook something better than a novice, but I don't believe that any of the testers are what you would describe as novices, just not professionals that's all.  So for me, that leaves the method to explore.  This experiment would at least tell us which method works well with this base.

Ray

[Secret Santa]

It's really like, taking my head, putting on it your nose, Chris's mouth, Jerry's eyes, Domi's hair, George's ears and seeing what we end up with.  It may end up a proper minger, or a real stunner?

Something like this?

[Curry Barking Mad]

That's what too many years down under does to you

[Razor]

Hey SS,

you been rooting through my facebook profile pics  ;D ;D ;D

Ray ;D

[Cory Ander]

That's what too many years down under does to you

Nahhhh, that does THIS:



 

[chriswg]

Okay I had a thought on this, it would be good to get some feedback from others.

How about each judge makes a different base to test the 5 curries. This would mean each dish would be cooked once with the intended base, and 4 times with 4 different bases. It means each judge only has to make one batch to create all 5 curries and the results will help either confirm or discredit the theory that a curry needs to have it's matching base.

[Malc.]

The only problem with that, is that there will be no real comparison of results between each judge, as each would have tested a different finished dish.

I know this is going to be hard to resolve but we need to make sure we are all testing the same recipes.

Of course, we can discuss the virtues of trying to the resolve this for ages. The only way to produce accurate results is to follow each recipe as, but we no that is not practical.

Given the number of variables that are presented, we must choose to go with a generic base and a minimal spice mix like the IG, adding in any missing components for individual recipes where possible.

Unless a particular dish uses a radical base recipe, I doubt there will be enough discernible difference in the finished dish itself. All we need to do is decide which of the base recipes is suitable to be used as a generic base.

The same for the Spice Mix too, though adding additional spice will be alot easier to do and none of us should have any problems there.

As long as we clearly explain this in the test results, it shouldn't be a problem. Afterall, these tests are a guide to our experiences. The fact we are testing them in this fashion is just a speedier way of getting to results that members would try over the years of home testing.

[moonster]

hi, all

why not use a subtle generic base or one that is close to all the selected recipes curry base, but make the rest of each author recipe to spec including there own spice mix.
 I believe that would be the best way to test each method of cooking and also getting as close as you can to the authors intended dish. At least then you would have a proper fair comparison test between recipes. only difference being the base.

regards

moonster ;D