Smokey flavour

[spiceyokooko]

Hi Spicy,
   I too love that smokey flavour and believe it IS smoke!!
and NOT from burning spices or caramelising, but from the flames licking up the side of the pan and igniting splattering oil.

Hi Dalpuri

I don't 'buy into' that theory I'm afraid - the flames are merely a by-product of the high flame and heat used and is not the cause within itself. If it was coming from igniting oil droplets I could produce that at will very easily and the corresponding smoky flavour. Given that I can't get that smoky flavor so easily, says to me that isn't the reason in my opinion.

Trust me, I've been trying to achieve this for a very long time.

[DalPuri]

Spicy,
Did you Really go for it, or did you hold back from fear of the mess?
the one thing that a professional chef never considers is getting the cooker dirty or starting a fire.
Because like  tradesmen, they clean down at the end of the day and have kitchens built to cope with BIG flames.
Domestic cooks dont want to scrub the walls and floor and take the cooker apart each night. I know i dont ! Hence a gentler flame and splatter guards, lids etc.
Until i get my gas burner hooked up under the back porch,(electric past 15 years  )    i cant tell you for fact that this is the case, so its pointless me disputing.  i just know the flavour is from a flame. and not from inside the pan.

How about blackening fresh tomatoes on a flame, peeling and pulping? using them instead of watered down puree.                                                                     
or the same with peppers for that spoon of pre-cooked onion/pepper mix.

i wont prepare fresh peppers any other way and have done so for over 20 years now.  blackening the skin transforms them to something special. and also adds a touch of smoke to the dish.
I've never tried the tomatoes myself, but its a thought.

Frank 

[jockomalay]

I have finished off balti style curries both with a megga burner and a normal domestic gas cooker.
I have used steel karahi's both times and I have achieved the smokey flavour.. that I want.. doing it both ways.
I use about 1 tablespoon of oil and heat up till smoking and then add the finished curry. Turn off the heat and swirl around, finally adding fresh coriander before serving.
I have also repeated the dish without "sizzling" and the differences are clear, both to me and to my curryholic family.
Where the flavour comes from??...I don't really care.. I just know it is there when I heat the oil.

The real issue is the mess around the cooker, the walls and the smoke indoors, it will literally take your breathe away. So that's why, as DalPuri says.." best to do it outside"

Cheers Jocko

[DalPuri]

Walking back into my kitchen the next morning after a big curry cook off is something akin to walking into the roughest pub in town with a beer soaked carpet or moon walking with anti-gravity boots on  ;D
As regards to the smoke, many a time i've had to adorn the cowboy bank robbers preffered accessory 

Frank.