Topic: Takeaway/Restaurant Madras - That special something

[Vindaloo-crazy]

Lots of oil, all purpose seasoning and not eating the curry straight after you've cooked it (your tastebuds are blasted) really helps. If you leave the curry for a few hours before you eat it you'll get that morish taste. Or get someone else to cook it for you!

[JerryM]

I had wondered if it has anything to do with the price of vegetable oil going up so much in recent years. Either that or curry is going upmarket lol

Domi,

i noticed a start of the change at this restaurant about 5 yrs ago. it's progressively gone as you say up market. unlike other upmarket they've kept the price low and the portion decent. how they made this change is difficult to work out - gut feeling is that every constituent part of the curry must be just right every time. i think it's what emin-j has touched on in the past but having had no direct experience could not relate to this type of food.

as for daveeb, '"still lacks that moorishness.." the only other thought given my recent CTM experience is that it's down to the base not being good enough.

[976bar]

Why do people crave a McDonalds? A Burger King? A nice juicy Donna Kebab? Fish and Chips?..........

It's because they are all full of fat. Fat is the most wonderful tasting/addictive ingredient in all the above and Indian takeaways too.....

The trouble is, when we make it at home, we try to be health conscious, only a tablespoon or 2 of oil here and there.

The Indian restaurants don't care how much oil you eat, it's good for their business.... you come back for more and more and more......

Possibly and just possibly if we were to use the amount of oil or fat that any of the above use, we would be producing food that would keep us at the table all night.......

Albeit, we wouldn't be at the table for too long........

[Derek Dansak]

its a myth that more oil = stronger bir flavour. I spent months working out the optimal oil level and concluded that if the oil to base and spice ratio is to high, the curry soon starts to taste far less moorish. Too much oil begins to dominate the flavour of the curry, so dont over do it.
    The amount of oil you use in the base, has a big impact on the amount of oil  you need when doing the curry.  If your base is loaded with oil , then perhaps only 4 tbs of oil are necasary when making the curry.
     Dont make the mistake i once made, of thinking adding lots more oil improves the flavour. Its simply not the case. If you want to improve your curries ,concentrate on making sensible changes to your base, and then concentrate on the recipies for the curry. If your curry lacks morrishness, its usually because the overall recipe is just not that good. The moorish taste comes from a good balance of spice, a nicely prepared base, good technique , and a certain amount of experience at playing around with different spice mixes. The oil soaks up the flavours of the recipe. But dont use to much oil or it turns into a greasy spoon curry! 

[Peripatetic Phil]

The trouble is, when we make it at home, we try to be health conscious, only a tablespoon or 2 of oil here and there.

Not in this home, I am afraid.  We still cook in roasts in dripping, use butter in pastry, cook pancakes in lard and when I eat a hot-cross bun, the butter is a bun-sized slice about 1/4" thick!  So when it comes to curries, there seems no point in stinting on the oil.  For about 5 pints of base, I would use 8 tablespoons of oil (usually 50% recycled, 50% rice bran), then for each pint of base in the finished dish I would also use about 8 tablespoons of oil. 

The amount of oil you use in the base, has a big impact on the amount of oil  you need when doing the curry.  If your base is loaded with oil , then perhaps only 4 tbs of oil are necasary when making the curry.

Derek, from your perspective, would you say I am overdoing it with the oil ?  I invariably pour most of it back into the recycled oil jar before serving the dish, but in my experience, too little oil spells ruination for a curry, and the amounts I am now using seem just about right to me.  And I certainly don't have a problem with achieving  "moreishness" : tonight, long after all the chicken was gone, my wife and I were still eating the curry sauce by the spoonful !

** Phil.

[peterandjen]

As the chef's say "Fat means flavour"
It's difficult not top be frugal with oil, for years now we have been told that oil and fat is bad for the arteries and health in general. But when it comes to certain meals, curries and frying spices, i don't think you can reduce the amount without reducing the flavour or burning things.
I know this, but still, when i start frying the spices for a curry, i still get that little voice in the back of my mind saying" don't do it, use less oil!".
The only way over the hurdle is to just bite the bullet and do it. The curry always tastes better for it.
Olive oil is an alternative, but for me its a no-no, T.V. chef's that use olive oil in curries are not making, or trying to make BIR replicas as we are, so they can get away with the healthier option. Add to that the flavour of Olive oil and, well, its alien in a curry for me.
Yes, using more oil is actually quite a difficult mental hurdle to get over.
But well worth it.
Another thing is  chef's rarely use the measurements they tell you to use. Take Jamie Oliver as a case in point, watch one of his excellent Meals in 30 minutes shows and you'll see what i mean. When he adds 2 serving spoons of Olive oil to a frying pan he actually tells you, as he's doing it, to add a couple of tsp's or a tbsp of oil to the pan.
What he is really doing is cooking a meal the correct way, with the correct amount of oil for the process in real time, yet trying to tell us to be healthy at the same time, and not get bashed by the healthy eating critics. You see, he's doing it himself but telling YOU not to.
Watch Dipuraja's vids and he does the exact same thing. These are two examples of either the mental block saying "Don't" or the bending of the rules for the healthy eating campaign. There's nothing wrong with this, its healthy, yet tells us to watch carefully and never take a recipe's measurements for granted.

[Derek Dansak]

phil i would try a little more oil in the base, and a few tbs more in the curry . for example i use 300 ml of base with between 6 - 9 tbs of oil, per curry. i make base with 3 kg of onion and 3/4 pints of oil at least. 

[Peripatetic Phil]

phil i would try a little more oil in the base, and a few tbs more in the curry . for example i use 300 ml of base with between 6 - 9 tbs of oil, per curry. i make base with 3 kg of onion and 3/4 pints of oil at least.

OK, interesting : in view of your earlier message, I had thought that you would advise me to use less; as you say "use more", I am greatly relieved 

** Phil.

[mickdabass]

no. it really tasted every bit as good as it's always tasted (the place is the Dilshad).

Was that the place on Highbridge road?

[Domi]

Fat is the most wonderful tasting/addictive ingredient

I must have an incredibly tasty backside at the mo, 976bar I've made myself a very low oiled 5L base in an attempt to take some of my "flavour" away ;D ....It'll be interesting to see what difference it makes to my curries which I'll also be trying to get as near zero oil as possible...at least for a few months No Naans, bhajis or sides....however will I cope?