Topic: local TA observations

[mr.mojorisin]

just went to my local TA for the usual..... Chicken Tikka Bhuna and a Beef Vindaloo
as I usually fone in, this was the 1st time I'd seen him at work
watched the chef cook 2 meals with the same base gravy
base gravy looked exactly like ones on here (comparable with Chewys 3hr base)
my vindaloo..
In an aluminium pan he added what looked like G/G paste and some tomato paste diluted
then he added some red spiced oil and a chefs spoon of fenugreek
then went in some kind of green mixed paste..unsure of what this was
then went in some base gravy which he continued to stir and reduce
then some spices..couldn't be sure of what they were
then more base gravy and yet more reduction
then some more red spiced oil???
then what looked like a quarter of a chefs spoon of white powder??? salt?? garlic powder?? onion powder?? I dunno
cooked this out for 5 mins...Job Done...lovely

I asked him about his base and he stated that his cooks in a large pot for 6 hours
he didn't put carrot or cabbage or oil in his, but he didn't go into much greater detail
I mentioned that I cook a base gravy for 3 hrs and put the aforementioned ingredients in mine to which he replied (in kinda broken english)...every chef has his/hers own variation but these mostly achieve the same end results
I'm gonna stop phoning for a TA now and try to go down every second week to pick his brains as he/they seem quite friendly

forgot to add..when my 2 curries were finished he scooped the excess oil from both and add this back to his base gravy, which he said he done every time he cooked a curry

[Peripatetic Phil]

then he added some red spiced oil and a chefs spoon of fenugreek

Leaves, powder or seeds, Mr MJRS ?
** Phil.

[mr.mojorisin]

fenugreek leaves....and it was approx 1 chefs spoon in both vindaloo and bhuna pans on the range
forgot to say when he added the pre cooked beef...just after the first base gravy had reduced
when i got home there was a lot of spiced oil separated on top of both dishes
I have subsequently spooned  this off and will make my next madras (chewys of course) using this oil
oil tastes really burny hot, looks exactly like chalice hot curry oil but with totally different taste
i dipped my pinky into this stuff and had a taste and it totally burned me off.lol
Cheers

[spiceyokooko]

MrM

Very interesting.

He added what looked like Garlic/Ginger paste and tomato paste to a hot pan? Then added the spiced oil? Did he fry the G/G Tomato paste mixture at all before adding the spiced oil? How long did he fry this for?

Three things spring out for me: 1/ The quantity of fenugreek leaves used, 2/ The use of spiced oil at the beginning and at the end and 3/ I'd guess the white powder at the end would be salt, it's unlikely to be onion, garlic or fenugreek I would think.

[curryhell]

Nice one Mr M.  Definitely worth going in regularly and seeing if you can gradually work your way into the kitchen.  Wouldn't that be a good start to the New Year  ;D .

[natterjak]

Very interesting Mr M and hopefully you can keep updating this thread on your subsequent visits as you learn more. One question, was there oil in the pan at the start of was the G+G added with dilute Tom pur

[haldi]

Beef Vindaloo

Never seen this on a menu before
I didn't know curry houses cooked beef

[Domi]

Beef Vindaloo

Never seen this on a menu before
I didn't know curry houses cooked beef

Hi Haldi,

Southern Indian restaurants do beef curries. Used to be a couple of brother from Kerala that had a restaurant near me and their beef dishes were superb though they didn't do beef madras/vindaloos, their dishes had exotic names. Not standard BIR fare by any stretch.

[noble ox]

Hi
Great observation there
Just wondering  about cross- contamination re chicken beef and prawns when the oil is put back in the base each time