Topic: The Madras 100% Clone (of my local BIR)

[Spencerman]

The onions that I used are asda large onions, about 90mm diameter (they do them in size not weight).  I also used smaller ones, but kind of guessed how many to make about 15 of the larger sized ones, so probably used about 25 onions in total, but they would have been the equivalent of 15 90mm diameter ones, if that helps.  I have nothing to hand at the moment to weigh one I am afraid.  I find that you can get really large onions that are sold in packs of two, but the ones that I refer to are sold in bags of three.  And please feel free to bombard away.  I really just tried to follow the recipe to the letter as much as possible, allowing for them all to cook, before blending them all up into a really fine mix, I made sure that they were well and truely blended!  Then I recooked and allowed to cool.  I have made two loads of this base now, and the second time turned out just the same as the first (although I added the chilli powder the second time but not the first, but I like my curries hot).  I didnt chop everything up really tiny, as you can see from the pictures, as I figured that as long as everything is cooked, you are going to blend it up anyway, but I kept the carrots and the celery, and even the peppers about the size that you might chop them for other more usual cooking dishes, sunday roast etc.  The onions I just chopped in half, and then sliced into about five or six slices.  The corriander I chopped up quite finely.  I am not sure if I mentioned already, but where it said 600-700ml of oil, I used around 600ml of oil to start with, not 700, but that is down to personal preference I guess.  I hope that helps, but please feel free as I said to ask away any questions that I may be able to answer for you.

[kaled0070]

Hi folks,
 Just wanna say thanks to Darth (and to you spencerman for suggesting I try it) for the madras recipe, thats one of the tastiest things I've made. Since this was my first attempt I thought i'd play safe and made a 10 onion base which was originally posted by blade1212 back in may 2005, with the addition of a leek. I followed Darths path for the  chicken and main recipe and was well made up with the result, following is fotos of the finished base (maybe too much pasata?) and the finished madrasses. Next thing for me will be the full Darth base if my eyes can stand the peeling and chopping of so many onions.
Thanks again
Mike

[Spencerman]

That does look great, makes me hungry just to look at those pics.  I am really glad that it all went well for you, and that you were well pleased with the result, it certainly is a pretty tasty curry!

[Curry King]

Great pics thanks for sharing 

Let us know if you try anything else.

cK

[bigdel90]

Just made this base with the intention of making a CTM on saturday night. I omitted the green peppers (because i don't like them) and the chilli powder but other than that I followed the recipe exactly.

The sauce looks like the same golden yellow as the photos but when I taste it there is a very slight bitter after taste. Mum tried it and knew what I meant but dad couldn't taste the bitterness at all.

Anyway, my questions are: Is this normal and if it isn't do you think that when the CTM spices are added, this slight bitterness will disappear. Also, If this bitterness isn't normal, where do you think I've gone wrong?

Do I go for it or start the whole thing again?

Please help as I'm really eager to impress on Saturday night.

Many thanks

[Cory Ander]

....there is a very slight bitter after taste....is this normal and if it isn't do you think that when the CTM spices are added, this slight bitterness will disappear. Also, If this bitterness isn't normal, where do you think I've gone wrong?

Hi BD90 (sounds like a water repellant!  ;D)

The bitterness you describe is very common, but undesirable.  There has been quite a lot of debate on the sources of bitterness (try searching "bitterness") and they are many and varied.  In my opinion, some common sources of bitterness are as follows:

• onions that have not been cooked slowly enough or for long enough (i.e. to remove the "rawness" and develop "sweetness")
• onions that have been fried rather than boiled
• onions that have been pureed (rather than coarsely chopped) before cooking
• spices that have not been cooked adequately (to remove the "rawness")
• burning the spices
• burning anything else!
• using too much of a particular spice (e.g. tumeric, fenugreek seeds/powder, etc)
• using tinned tomatoes, which I find can be quite acidic (consider using puree, paste or fresh)

Some people disagree with the last point, but it is certainly what I have found. 

There has also been some mention of aluminium pans also causing bitterness.

Of course, some curries are intended to be sour (e.g. Vindaloo) and the desired sourness is achieved by adding things like tamarind, lemon juice, vinegar, yoghurt, etc

Personally, I would try cooking the onions for longer than Darth suggests (e.g. several hours).  This should remove the bitterness (if its the onions that are causing it).  Otherwise, it may be that you burnt the garlic and ginger or the spices?  Nevertheless, try cooking for longer. 

Anyway, unless the bitterness is severe (in which case you may be better off ditching it), the rich, sweet, ingredients of a CTM will undoubtedly mask it successfully. 

Hope this helps!  ;D

[bigdel90]

Thanks a lot Cory,

My Mum (who's a better cook than myself) did suggest that she thought it was due to the onions being undercooked and advised to leave cooking for a bit longer. I did that though and it seemed as if the bitterness was getting worse although this could have just been in my head.

From your points mentioned it could have been that I didn't fry the spices for long enough (as I was paranoid of burning them) or that I was using aluminium pans. Anyway I think I'll try it Saturday night (using your CTM recipe) and if it's no good then I'll do a fresh batch, next time keeping your points in mind.

Many thanks.

[rickking]

What is passata? is it a powder (because it mentions it in grams)? I have searched on this site and google and people say it is sieved tomatoes? So can I just take canned tomatoes and sieve it (the tomatoes only that is)? Just wandering what technique is most common.

Thanks!

[Domi]

Hi rickking

Passata is tomatoes which have been pureed then sieved....You can find it in any supermarket, either near the pasta/Italian foods or sometimes near the tinned tomatoes or you could make it yourself ;D (sometimes bottled passata can be quite sour or bitter for me and can ruin a good curry)

[Cory Ander]

Hi RK,

Yes, you can use canned tomatoes (or fresh) instead.

As Domi says, passata is readily available in the supermarkets.  Just make sure you buy the plain tomato passata and not the stuff with herbs (i.e. basil, oregano, etc) added to it.  Otherwise, you'll end up with curried bolognaise sauce.....now there's a thought.....