Topic: Making Abdul Mohed's Madras

[abdulmohed2002]

I used your base, your pre-cooked chicken and your Madras recipe.  The result - really very good indeed.  The only way I would fault it was I felt it was lacking a little sweetness.  It was quite a sour flavour, but spicy and hot as I like it.  I was wondering your opinion of including a little sugar in a recipe for a Madras?  Forum user Cory Ander uses 2 tsp of sugar in his Madras recipe here: http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3830.0

I haven't yet tried adding sugar to a Madras but may give it a go next time.  Meanwhile, thanks again for your recipes and your contribution to the forum.

Hi Natterjak,

Thank you for your question. Madras is a favourable dish as it is loved by many people. I would not add anything else because then it changes the Madras. But for personal taste of course you can add any kind of sweetness you prefer. 

Abdul

[natterjak]

Alarmist, I think the recipe with 1 pint of base sauce is to feed 2 people, hence 16 pieces of chicken. Disregard the weight measures for the chicken as I think they are a bit of a red herring. 

[alarmist10]

Abdul/Natterjak

Thanks for the clarification confirming the one pint of sauce.  I appreciate that the recipe is for 2 people, but the way I made it left a sea of gravy on completion even though it looked exactly like the photos on p.1 of this thread!  I'll certainly give your suggestion a go and allow more time for the sauce to reduce in future, Abdul.  Thanks
al.

[curryhell]

That's a fine plate of food there Natterjak  .  I got round to cooking this on Monday but have not had the time to post the results.  Fortunately, i was reading this thread and benefitted from your and everybody else's comments after your first attempt  .
The madras was made using Abdul's base and spice mix (both containing not chilli) and his precooked chicken.  The only addition i made was some fresh green chilli to the dish with half a fresh tomato.  This is only the second time i've cooked madras for myself, the first being CA's and i've only once eaten the dish when i first tried BIR.  I decided then that i needed more heat  .  So impossible for me to do  a like for like comparison other than make some general comments and observations.

[curryhell]

For some reason i can post any pics here as the system is telling me the  upload folder is full .  I'll try and post them in the pics section.

I increased the oil to begin with to 3 tbs as there was no way the spice was going to fry with the tarka  as 1 tbs was going to get sucked up by the onions.  Fried the tarka with fresh chillis till the onions started taking on colour then added the spices, tom puree and lemon juice and fried for 1 min, not allowing the puree to darken.  Then added a ladle full of base and cooked for the 3 mins by which time it had reduced down.  I repeated this with another ladle of gravy.  Finally added the meat and the rest of the gravy, tomato and a couple of whole chillis and left it to simmer, stirring occasionally to make sure nothing was catching in the pan till it reached the consistancy i like.

I've got to say it turned out a fantastic curry .  It had a very savoury taste with plenty of depth to it. It certainly was not bland.  The tomato taste was only just in the background with the lemon barely detectable.  Heat wise, i would say at the top end of the madras scale (as this varies from restaurant to restaurant) which suits my tastes.
Verdict - would i have paid money for this - most definitely.  How does it compare to other madras dishes?  I can only comment on the taste and quality of the finished dish which IMHO was great.  But from the positive comments made by others that eat madras regularly and have cooked it successfully I'd say it's got to rank highly.  The true test will be to compare it to one from a local BIR.  I may do this next week and provide some further feedback.  Thanks Abdul.  Another winner in my opinion

[curryhell]

Bit late in getting round to adding the pics having cooked the dish a week ago, but better late than never

Let's start with the ingredients. Forgot to include the chicken though


The dish was cooked with Abdul's base, his 8 spice - 1 (no chilli powder used) and his precooked chicken. Exactly as per recipe with the learning from the previous posts.



Fried the tarka in plenty of oil so when the spices were added it could work its magic   Added a couple of chef spoons of gravy and cooked it for 3 mins.



Added the remainder of the gravy having reduced down a further couple of chef's spoons..........



then  reduced it down to the consistency i like........



And to do it proper justice, now ready to be served and eaten.........



For what it's worth  IMO a very tasty savoury curry, tomato background with good heat and a hint of lemon and a good depth of flavour.  Would pay money for this happily if served to me in a BIR and will definitely make again in spite of the fact i'm a vindaloo/phall man ;D ;D

[Razor]

Hey CH,

That looks amazing fella.  You describe the taste exactly how I expect a Madras to taste.  It looks perfect in colour, and your method is exactly how I make my own. A proper BIR/TA style takeaway (in my very humble opinion of course)

Ray

[976bar]

Hi CH,

That looks absolutely amazing my friend if maybe just a little to thick on consistency for me, but nevertheless very scrummy indeed!!

[chewytikka]

Hi CH
Looks like you've done Abdul's Madras some justice there mate.

Not too sure about the random fresh tomato, but hey!

An honest TA recipe and an honest test, well done.

Just imagine what you could do, if you had some flame...Sparky

Only joking ;D
cheers Chewy

[alarmist10]

Hi CH

Looks absolutely delicious!!  One quick question......did you use the full one pint of base sauce, and if so, how long did it take you to reduce it down to what we can see on the pics?

I could eat that one for breakfast!
Cheers
al.