Topic: Spiced oil from a BIR

[DARTHPHALL]

I have definitely noticed all my Curries are good as a result of cooking in BULK !!!  ;D

[Mark J]

OK Ive kicked this off now, on opening the jar of oil the smell is incredible, it has a unique smell that is identical to that of the food from the restaurant it came from, my hopes are high! Its way more powerful than any spiced oil Ive created myself.

Im going to cook a base and then chicken achar and chicken patia.

Ive got the base going, im using this one : http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=723.msg7141#msg7141 the only change I have made to this is that I browned the ginger/garlic puree before addint the rest of the ingredients.

This has taken all of the oil so I will have to reclaim some before pureeing to cook with, Ill let you know how I get on.

[Mark J]

Chicken Achar recipe from here: http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=602.msg5563#msg5563

Pathia recipe from here: http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=122.0

For the pre cooked onions Im going to try simmering them with a little salt and turmeric rather then pre frying

[Mark J]

Hmm mixed results, I think the bottom line is it wasnt the same as my local although it had a taste that was similar and yes I think it was the taste, trouble is Ive been cooking all afternoon and evening and I just cant tell 

I made a mistake with the patia in that I added too much chilli (my wife couldnt eat it), although the achar was very good. Also I didnt water the base down enough so it was very thick

I saved some of the pathia and will heat it up this morning to try it in the cold light of day.

I have plenty of base left and some of the oil so my next experiment will be to get my wife to cook the curry!

[pete]

Never mind Mark
It drives you mad, doesn't it?
If any restaurant chefs, read these pages, they surely must be very amused.
The lengths we go to, and such determination
I hope, with Heidi's help, we will be able to move on again

[Mark J]

Ive just eaten whats left of the pathia and apart from being too hot it was fantastic, it had the taste (the unique taste that is pretty much in everything in my local restaurant) but also it had a home cooked quality.

Ive got plenty of base left so I will be trying this again definately next weekend, Ill try and cook in the morning though (I think yesterday I just got too spiced/cooked out to appreciate the final dishes, I also didnt leave the base overnight). If I can I will cook just chicken pathia and I will also get a chicken pathia from my local and do a side by side comparison (my pathia will be using their oil and their recipe so I guess thats about as good a comparison as you can do  ;D)

On another note the precooked onions in water not oil seemed to work very well, its amazing how much onion you need, 1 medium onion precooked is only good for 1 portion of final dish.

[DARTHPHALL]

So now we need to know how to make the right Spiced Oil aaaa !!! Another quest for us me thinks  ;D.

[Mark J]

I think I need to do some more experiments but I guess my feeling at this stage is the taste is due to the spiced oil and the chefs ability.

If it is the spiced oil then its a bit depressing because its essentially impossible to recreate at home (assuming that volume of dishes cooked comes into the equation)

[DARTHPHALL]

Mark what about cooking the Oil on its own for a while with Spices (which ones I'll have to determing with some experimentation).
I have done this in the past with some good results when it comes to making the Curry sweeter & giving a good flavor...but not the elusive smell/taste i crave,although i have found various spices in my Curries & perhaps these are left whole in the Oil then each individual portion is re-cooked in the said Oil mmmmm gives one many new ideas, don't you think people ?

[Mark J]

I think that would be a good substitute, I remember when Ghanna was on this board she gave a recipe for spiced oil.

CQ, I know you've been the biggest exponent of spiced oil on the forum, how do you find doing this at home? Do you find it strong enough, how often do you reclaim it, off the top of the gravy or final dishes?