Topic: Madras Sauce Video Recipe

[gary]

Yes, a level teaspoon of ready-ground black pepper.

The Worcestershire sauce works rally well for me, I've seen it in a few kitchens and wondered what it could be used for.

Thanks again for sharing your efforts,

Gary

[chewytikka]

Hi Gary
Magic  ;D
Good to know, there's still restaurant's making old school Madras  ;D

Curious, but what region, as I only have North East knowledge.
cheers Chewy

[gary]

Hi Chewy,

North-west England, North East Lancs to be precise - betwixt Blackburn and Bradford (roughly)

Eating curries since mid eighties, making since early nineties

Gary

[bmouthboyo]

Could anyone advice on how easiest to add chicken or uncooked prawns with this? I usually do CA's recipes as you cook the chicken as part of the recipe which I find convenient.  I know some people boil the chicken etc to pre cook but could I do as CA usually does and seal the chicken at the start and then add the garlic, ginger etc and continue as normal?

If not what method do you recommend chewy?

Also chewwy how much weight wise would you recommend for this recipe?
Can you substitute lemon dressing with say 2 tsp of lemon juice?
How much is a portion of curry base? 300ml?

Thanks

[chewytikka]

Could anyone advice on how easiest to add chicken or uncooked prawns with this? I usually do CA's recipes as you cook the chicken as part of the recipe which I find convenient.  I know some people boil the chicken etc to pre cook but could I do as CA usually does and seal the chicken at the start and then add the garlic, ginger etc and continue as normal?

If not what method do you recommend chewy?

Also chewwy how much weight wise would you recommend for this recipe?
Can you substitute lemon dressing with say 2 tsp of lemon juice?
How much is a portion of curry base? 300ml?

Thanks

Hi Boyo
Restaurants use precooked Chicken for speed, you can use fresh, but this style
of fast cooking can make the Chicken a bit tough and processed tasting.
Just precook you Chicken anyway you usually do then add it too the sauce and heat through.

Lemon juice is good and 300ml is ok for one portion. One Chicken breast is a good portion.

I simply precook my chicken by Fry/Poaching it with onion, Salt, Tumeric and Bengali wholes spices.
Medium to Low heat for 20mins.
It stays moist and succulent which ever curry I make with it.

My Chicken Madras recipe is here
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=7563.msg65610#msg65610
cheers Chewy

[bmouthboyo]

Could anyone advice on how easiest to add chicken or uncooked prawns with this? I usually do CA's recipes as you cook the chicken as part of the recipe which I find convenient.  I know some people boil the chicken etc to pre cook but could I do as CA usually does and seal the chicken at the start and then add the garlic, ginger etc and continue as normal?

If not what method do you recommend chewy?

Also chewwy how much weight wise would you recommend for this recipe?
Can you substitute lemon dressing with say 2 tsp of lemon juice?
How much is a portion of curry base? 300ml?

Thanks

Hi Boyo
Restaurants use precooked Chicken for speed, you can use fresh, but this style
of fast cooking can make the Chicken a bit tough and processed tasting.
Just precook you Chicken anyway you usually do then add it too the sauce and heat through.

Lemon juice is good and 300ml is ok for one portion. One Chicken breast is a good portion.

I simply precook my chicken by Fry/Poaching it with onion, Salt, Tumeric and Bengali wholes spices.
Medium to Low heat for 20mins.
It stays moist and succulent which ever curry I make with it.

My Chicken Madras recipe is here
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=7563.msg65610#msg65610
cheers Chewy

So how many would you say this recipe serves? Also do you have a link to your method for pre cooking your chicken? I understand the principle but not really boiled it before so a guide would be great for first time.

Thanks

[PaulP]

Hi BMB,

Here is a link to a pre-cooked chicken recipe:

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=7611.0

I'm guilty of cooking curries with fresh raw chicken and it does come out tough and dry sometimes.

I find that pre-cooked chicken (especially when it has been gently fried, not just poached) is usually more juicy and tender in the finished dish and the flavours from the cooked chicken add to the layers of flavour.

Cheers,

Paul

[Peripatetic Phil]

I'm guilty of cooking curries with fresh raw chicken and it does come out tough and dry sometimes.

I find that pre-cooked chicken (especially when it has been gently fried, not just poached) is usually more juicy and tender in the finished dish and the flavours from the cooked chicken add to the layers of flavour

All of those observations resonate.  With SWMBO safely away on a study weekend, I set out last night to burn my spices and g/g paste in a manner of which even Az would have approved.  But I was desperately short of time, had no pre-cooked chicken, and so decided to pre-cook it as a part of the overall preparation of the dish.  Hot oil, turmeric, chicken, good toss around, wait until it is sealed then in with the curry powder, Kashmiri & Degghi mirch, cumin, fenugreek and tomato puree, finally (when I dare wait not a moment longer) a ladle of base, then another, and so on until ready.  Oh, and salt : left that a bit late, and found it tasted awful without.  But it was no great success.  Edible, definitely; moreish, even (I ate up the remaining sauce with chappati -- always a good sign), but definitely not la creme de la creme.  And the chicken was tough and (relatively) tasteless, despite being free-range breast.  Ah well, back to the tried and tested methods next time !

A(n) (after)thought : is it possible that pre-cooking in BIR cuisine serves the same role as "resting" when roasting meats ?  In otherwords, does pre-cooking allow the flesh to relax and the juices to re-suffuse the outer layers from which they have been driven by virtue of being heated from the outside (by contact with the hot sauce and with the base of the pan) ?

** Phil.

[Salvador Dhali]

I'm guilty of cooking curries with fresh raw chicken and it does come out tough and dry sometimes.

I find that pre-cooked chicken (especially when it has been gently fried, not just poached) is usually more juicy and tender in the finished dish and the flavours from the cooked chicken add to the layers of flavour

All of those observations resonate.  With SWMBO safely away on a study weekend, I set out last night to burn my spices and g/g paste in a manner of which even Az would have approved.  But I was desperately short of time, had no pre-cooked chicken, and so decided to pre-cook it as a part of the overall preparation of the dish.  Hot oil, turmeric, chicken, good toss around, wait until it is sealed then in with the curry powder, Kashmiri & Degghi mirch, cumin, fenugreek and tomato puree, finally (when I dare wait not a moment longer) a ladle of base, then another, and so on until ready.  Oh, and salt : left that a bit late, and found it tasted awful without.  But it was no great success.  Edible, definitely; moreish, even (I ate up the remaining sauce with chappati -- always a good sign), but definitely not la creme de la creme.  And the chicken was tough and (relatively) tasteless, despite being free-range breast.  Ah well, back to the tried and tested methods next time !

** Phil.

Some of the toughest chicken breast I've had has been from expensive organic free range birds, Phil. My local butcher explained that the more room the birds have to run around in, the more excercise they get, so they develop more dense (bigger fibre) musculature that requires longer to cook for tenderness.

He could of course be bulling me, but he's built like a brick sh*thouse so I wasn't going to argue...

Anyway, in an attempt to get on topic, here's a Chewy Madras sauce I knocked up after the pub last night (or the remnants, anyway).

Despite (or perhaps because of) being four pints up, it was one of the best I've ever made...


 

[alarmist10]

Hi Chewy

An excellent video, bonnie lad, with clear ingredients and timings making it easy to follow.  Thanks for the guide to preparing a real tasty dish!

Last night my wife decided to barbecue some chicken tikka wings she had left to marinade since Saturday afternoon.  Now, delicious as they are, I always find that if I eat them just with rice, the dish is very dry.  The solution?  Make up a batch of your madras sauce - and also add into it a few pieces of roast chicken I had left in the fridge!  It's the first time I've tried the sauce, and like everyone else I have to say it's a real winner. 

The net result was a superb dinner........and since I only used half of it, there's enough for a repeat performance tonight!

Great stuff, Chewy.

al.