Topic: My New Curry Pan

[John]

I bought an 8" black iron pan from a chinese/asian cash n carry(Wing Yip) in birmingham for
?4.60, it's the long handle type used by the BIR's (infact maybe the souce).
I seasoned the pan following the instructions on the bag that it came in, but after testing
a few curries i think this is unnessacery because the BIR's use metal which i used too and
it scratch of the patiana that i created by seasoning the pan.

My first observations of using this pan and thinking about BIR's was they heat the dry pan
for 30 secs on high heat--- i placed my pan on the biggest of my four gas rings for 30 secs
too, then removed from the heat while i added the fresh oil and the spices(bruces mix) and
chilli and some freshly pureed tin tomatoes, what i seen was the spices and tomato simering
in the oil, i think that because it's an iron pan then as soon as you heat it up using the
flame then it retains the heat, and in case of the BIR's it retains enough heat to cook the
spices without burning them....just like how other recipes tell you how to create a spice paste.

I then placed the pan back on the high flame and added a ladle of curry gravy and simmered
for 1 min then added another ladle of sauce and left simering on high heat for 5mins, what i
noticed was that it was bubbling all the time just like BIR's that i've watched, it was
bubbling at the edges first then slowly made it inwards till the whole pan was bubbling at
which point i noticed that the oil was coming to the surface all over the pan, then i added
some fresh chopped coriander and stirred in then serverd(poored this sauce into a bowl).

This test was used on a basic madras recipe i.e curry powder and chilli and i must say that
it tasted pretty good and it had that special smell about it.
The gravy used was petes casserole dish method except that i left the oil in the sauce and i
think that was what was seperating from my madras sauce as it cooked. I also tried crating a phall sauce.
Phall on the left and Madras on the right.

Just for your info i used http://www.resize2mail.com to change my picture size as i've just only done a reinstall and am lacking editing software, but for any newbes i'd recomend using that site just to resize so you can paste a good size here.

[Yousef]

John,

That pan looks very professional, i just got to get one of those.  The curry looks spot on as well, excellent job.
Just out of interest have you got the link to petes casserole dish method

Stew

[CurryCanuck]

The Indian restaurants that I have frequented over the years basically use the same final prep for all their dishes , namely a moderately high heat in conjunction with a reasonably thick pan that will retain the heat . The method of cooking seems to be common to most restaurants - a stir -fry format .? The base sauce is at the ready ( to be added at various stages ) and onion , garlic , ginger etc are incorporated . This is followed by various vegetable components and pre-cooked meat . Additional butter , yogurt , coconut , or stock is then added depending on the recipe . Seasoning is then adjusted . The sauces? are usually composed of either tomato or an onion base so that the underlying flavor seems to be similar from dish to dish . ( personally I am not a big fan of base sauces for this reason ) . Trying to infuse a distinct flavor when using a common base is quite difficult to say the least . Adding spice or herb components to the base only succeeds in diffusing the flavor of the base . The quandary then is , how to maintain a balance between the base and ingredients added .With experimentation this balance can be achieved . I have found through double blind studies that base sauces such as Darths' seem to lend themselves to moderate spice adjustment - that is to say that the underlying base flavor is not disturbed and is carried throughout the recipe . Other bases seem to loose their delicate flavor even with minor additions . So what is the answer to this flavor balance dilemma ? Use a base sauce and add components or start from scratch and build ? I find myself somewhere in the middle ,employing both BIR and traditional cuisine in order to achieve " the taste " !!! The quest goes on

[raygraham]

Hi,

I tend to think the base sauce and add is the route to take although I wouldn't disregard an alternative method either. My assumption is based on the standard cooking process at most BIR's in which we see most dishes made with the base sauce being the start then components added from here. My suceesses seem to have been better this way than any other.

I must say that pan looks pretty ace and the finished dish even better! Well done John.

One of my colleagues has a Chinese wife and they visit Wing Yip for a lot of their groceries. It sounds a great place to visit and bet you could while away a few hours just looking.

Ray

[John]

That pan looks very professional, i just got to get one of those.  The curry looks spot on as well, excellent job.
Just out of interest have you got the link to petes casserole dish method
Stew

Here you go Stew, petes casserole dish method of cooking the curry gravy/base http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=723.msg7141#msg7141

[blade1212]

John, I bought an identical pan from Makro a few months ago and have had exactly the same cooking experience as you - spooky. The curry bubbles just like the BIRs do as you say. I don't have a big wok burner on my gas cooker so I think this pan and a normal gas ring are the perfect combo. I actually think is it because the pan is so thin that the heat carries through immediately. I've got more pans than Gordon Ramsay but this is my favoriite for BIRs (and one of the cheapest).

PS. Those curries look tremendous.