Topic: Using powdered food colouring

[natterjak]

I've only ever used liquid food colouring but I see spicesofindia.co.uk only the powdered variety.  Presumably you add a little water to make it up into a liquid prior to use?

[curryhell]

Hi Natterjak.  I'm the direct opposite. I've always used powder and never liquid.  As for making a liquid from the powder with water, i just simply add the powder direct, whether its for a tikka marinade or to colour pilau rice (with the minutest tiny drip of water ;D) so as to keep the colour concentrated and not have it invade the rest of the rice.

[natterjak]

Thanks CH.  So for Pilau you would add a tiny "pile" of colour in various places around the rice then drip water onto it?  How much powder is required?

[curryhell]

Thanks CH.  So for Pilau you would add a tiny "pile" of colour in various places around the rice then drip water onto it?  How much powder is required?

That's about it Natterjak.  "Pile", maybe not quite that much ;D ;D.  What i normally do is add two "piles" of yellow, one "pile" of orange and a smaller "pile" of red in different areas once I've removed the whole spices when the rice has finished cooking, placing the minutest drip of water on it. And i do mean the minutest .  Too much liquid and the effect of the colouring is lost and you have serious overkill and a lot of varying degrees of the food colourings invading much of the rice .  I then leave the rice to stand with the lid on for another 10 - 15 mins to allow the colouring to invade the grains.  Then simply fork the coloured grains gently through the rest of the beautifully white basmati.  Job done and very impressive .  The best way i can quantify our chosen unit of measurement - the "pile", is to say that the "pile" equates to a roughly the size of one or maybe two match heads and NO MORE!!!  Is that of any help?  Next time i make some I'll post a pic in this thread as it may be useful to others.

[curryhell]

Here's yesterdays effort for last night's tikka vindallo a la CA's method and gravy as per spec.

[Peripatetic Phil]

What i normally do is add two "piles" of yellow, one "pile" of orange and a smaller "pile" of red in different areas.

Wot, no green ?  I have to confess, the first time I saw green colouring used in pilau rice I was shaken, but since then I have become addicted to it and I now use red x 2, green x 2, and yellow x 1.

** Phil.

[curryhell]

What i normally do is add two "piles" of yellow, one "pile" of orange and a smaller "pile" of red in different areas.

Wot, no green ?  I have to confess, the first time I saw green colouring used in pilau rice I was shaken, but since then I have become addicted to it and I now use red x 2, green x 2, and yellow x 1.

** Phil.

Green in my rice?   NO!  That's just wrong ;D.  Have had it in restaurants but don't possess any and no intentions of buying any, not even for my yoghurt sauce.  I like mine yellow.  Again some BIR's use green.  All a matter of personal preference with no impact on the flavour

[natterjak]

Thanks CH.  So for Pilau you would add a tiny "pile" of colour in various places around the rice then drip water onto it?  How much powder is required?

That's about it Natterjak.  "Pile", maybe not quite that much ;D ;D.  What i normally do is add two "piles" of yellow, one "pile" of orange and a smaller "pile" of red in different areas once I've removed the whole spices when the rice has finished cooking, placing the minutest drip of water on it. And i do mean the minutest .  Too much liquid and the effect of the colouring is lost and you have serious overkill and a lot of varying degrees of the food colourings invading much of the rice .  I then leave the rice to stand with the lid on for another 10 - 15 mins to allow the colouring to invade the grains.  Then simply fork the coloured grains gently through the rest of the beautifully white basmati.  Job done and very impressive .  The best way i can quantify our chosen unit of measurement - the "pile", is to say that the "pile" equates to a roughly the size of one or maybe two match heads and NO MORE!!!  Is that of any help?  Next time i make some I'll post a pic in this thread as it may be useful to others.

Perfect description, thanks.  If Parcelforce ever deign to deliver my consignment from SpicesofIndia I'll give it a try.

[curryhell]

Glad to be of assistance.  The colouring is readily available at most asian grocer stores in small pill size bottle containers and also very large containers.  Probably a lot cheaper than Spicesofindia.  And it goes a very very long way ;D

[natterjak]

How do you manage to get such a tiny amount from the bottle onto the top of the rice?  A normal teaspoon would appear to be far too large for such a task.