Topic: Freezing curry's

[missy]

Hi everyone,

My name's Phil and I'm currently in Thailand and am about to open a small indian and Thai takeaway and delivery.

At the moment I am suppyling an international restaurant with ready made Indian main course dishes and the owner of the restaurant is then freezing them, and when someone orders he defrosts it and re-heats it in the microwave. Things were going really well and he's been selling on average about 10 a day. Then, yesterday a Korean guy complained a little when he found out that it wasn't cooked fresh.
 Things were going so well with freezing the curries that when I open my shop in about 2 weeks me and my wife were also going to freeze them and re-heat them in the same way because our shop is very small and it will be a lot easier for my wife, as I'm not allowed by law to work in a kitchen. And, I think they actually taste better than eating them straight away after cooking. And can make a lot of them in one or two days so we have a lot of stock ready whenever someone orders.

What do you think?

Do you think it would be better if we separate the curry base in 500 ml bags and then when someone orders we cook individual curries fresh, or is freezing them ok?

I appreciate your comments

Kind regards

Philip

[Razor]

Hi Phil,

It's a tricky one this.  I guess it all depends on your turnover rate.  If you are busy, say for example, 5/6 curries an hour, then I don't see the need to freeze any curries and to be honest, you are giving yourself more work to do by freezing them, not to mention adding more expense!

The standard TA format would be;

Big 40 ltr pot of base, slowly simmering, all the supplementary ingredients set out in tubs such as , garlic and ginger paste, tom puree, mix powder, methi chili powder, veg oil/ghee, precooked onion/peppers, then in the fridge, precooked chicken and lamb, and marinating pieces of lamb and chicken for your tikka recipes and so on.

It seems that you have space constraints? so it's easy for me to suggest a layout but it may not be practical for you.

I guess your success will determine whether or not you need to freeze, I hope you don't have to. 

How about make big pots of each type of curry, then when an order comes in, you could just add a few ladles into a hot wok and reheat?

Ray

[peterandjen]

Well the restaurants, ta's here seem to manage with fresh curries for every customer, i would have thought thats the only way to go. Surely if freezing single portions worked then every body would be doing it.
I would say its all in the prep work.
Pre-cooked base, pre-cooked meat and or veg.
As  you or your chef become more and more used to the cooking process and timings then you'll be able to do as all chefs do, cook with 2 pans or more.
Has anyone looked into the health and safety part of serving frozen foods? its something you might not be able to do, i don't know myself.
Finally, you could always hire a sou-chef and bottle washer.

[missy]

Hi Phil,

It's a tricky one this.  I guess it all depends on your turnover rate.  If you are busy, say for example, 5/6 curries an hour, then I don't see the need to freeze any curries and to be honest, you are giving yourself more work to do by freezing them, not to mention adding more expense!

The standard TA format would be;

Big 40 ltr pot of base, slowly simmering, all the supplementary ingredients set out in tubs such as , garlic and ginger paste, tom puree, mix powder, methi chili powder, veg oil/ghee, precooked onion/peppers, then in the fridge, precooked chicken and lamb, and marinating pieces of lamb and chicken for your tikka recipes and so on.

It seems that you have space constraints? so it's easy for me to suggest a layout but it may not be practical for you.

I guess your success will determine whether or not you need to freeze, I hope you don't have to. 

How about make big pots of each type of curry, then when an order comes in, you could just add a few ladles into a hot wok and reheat?

Ray

Cheers for that Ray

Maybe making big pots of the curries could work, but then refrigerating them at the end of the day would completely fill my already usually full fridge, and we dont have much more money to invest in another.

I think freezing them is out of the question really, some people are picky about microwaving food and I don't want that reputation.

[chewytikka]

Cheers for that Ray

Maybe making big pots of the curries could work, but then refrigerating them at the end of the day would completely fill my already usually full fridge, and we dont have much more money to invest in another.

I think freezing them is out of the question really, some people are picky about microwaving food and I don't want that reputation.

Hi Phil
Just a thought, you may want to explore the Rice and 3 curries approach to this venture.
I remember years ago, in the midlands, there were corner shop Halal Cafes with very basic decor and a limited menu for that day.
They would only have 3 pots of curry, say Chicken, Lamb and Dhal and you would be served a big plate of boiled rice and your choice of curry, or all three plus a roti or Naan.
This was Incredibly cheap at the time and it was the first time I tasted the Balti flavour, mind you, I didn't know it was Balti till years later.

Reading the restrictions you face, I think this no frills approach, with a simple menu, would be the easiest and could probably work for you.
Anyway just an Idea, cheers Chewy

[missy]

Cheers for that Ray

Maybe making big pots of the curries could work, but then refrigerating them at the end of the day would completely fill my already usually full fridge, and we dont have much more money to invest in another.

I think freezing them is out of the question really, some people are picky about microwaving food and I don't want that reputation.

Hi Phil
Just a thought, you may want to explore the Rice and 3 curries approach to this venture.
I remember years ago, in the midlands, there were corner shop Halal Cafes with very basic decor and a limited menu for that day.
They would only have 3 pots of curry, say Chicken, Lamb and Dhal and you would be served a big plate of boiled rice and your choice of curry, or all three plus a roti or Naan.
This was Incredibly cheap at the time and it was the first time I tasted the Balti flavour, mind you, I didn't know it was Balti till years later.

Reading the restrictions you face, I think this no frills approach, with a simple menu, would be the easiest and could probably work for you.
Anyway just an Idea, cheers Chewy

Hi Chewy

Thanks for your message.

I think we will try making large batches and keeping them in lunchbox/ containers and when someone orders we'll add the chicken/ chicken tikka or tandoori prawn and re-heat it on the stove.