Topic: Showing my local T/A how to do it !!

[emin-j]

Hi all, a week or so ago I was in my local T/A and whilst waiting I had a chat with the owner and asked how they get that lovely orange colour to their curry's and I mentioned orange food colouring  No ! he said we do not use food colouring only tamarind, so I mentioned I had a 'block' of tamarind and he said ' no only ground tamarind' so after a bit of research on tinternet I came to the conclusion that he was having me on  : so on my next visit I asked if he put plenty of that orange tamarind in my curry I had ordered  he said 'yes' so I asked if I could see this ' ground orange tamarind' and he agreed  off he went to the kitchen and returned with the usual 2 litre sized container of ............... Turmeric  : ' that's turmeric ' I said 'yes ' he said 'tamarind '  :
I went on to tell him how interested I was in making BIR style curry's and he said ' next time you come in I'll show you how to make a curry  ;D great I thought !
So tonight I wandered up and although the boss wasn't there the guy who takes the money remembered what was said and invited me into the kitchen !excellent!
The Chef and two helpers were in this tiny kitchen with a 25ltr pot of gravy on the hob plus all the usual spices and a large metal butter ghee container on the back of the hob containing veg oil.
The Chef shook my hand and started the curry making process ( I had ordered 1chicken madras and 1 lamb madras as if I had ordered 2 c/m he might have made both curry's in the same pan and I wanted to have a go  ;D) So this is how it went :-

Pan on hob Chef spoon of gravy added and quickly stirred (medium heat)
I asked 'you use no oil ?' No he said oil already in gravy 
Pan off heat,about 1/2 tbs of G/G added ,chef spoon of thinned tomato paste ,1/2 tbs chili powder, NO SPICE MIX 
I asked why no spice mix and he answered 'spice in gravy' 
A couple of stirrs then in with the pre cooked chicken followed by two ladles of gravy (heat turned up a bit)
'Salt' I asked, 'No he answered,salt in gravy'
Bit of fresh coriander added and pan moved to another ring to simmer (quite high) stirring occasionally - done.
Into the container and a sprinkle of fresh coriander for garnish. He dipped a teaspoon into the curry and offered me a taste,'very nice' I said (what else could I say with all them sharp knives about  ) but really it was just OK.
So I said ' my turn ' and he offered me the pan but he had already added the chef spoon of gravy so I dipped the chef spoon into the oil and took about 1/2 spoon and added to the pan.
Gave a little stir as you do  ;D with em all watching !off the heat dipped the chef spoon into the G/G tub and took about 1tbl spoon ' no he said too much ' but I said ' I like Garlic '  ;D then chef spoon of tom/paste ,about 1/2 tbs chili powder,and then dipped into the spice mix,'no mix powder' he said but I added about a tsp anyway  ;D back on the heat,a few stirs, he added the lamb and a ladle of gravy, a few more stirs and fresh coriander and more gravy, on to the other ring to simmer - done  ;D a sprinkle of coriander to garnish.
He then dipped the spoon into the curry and asked me to taste, ' my curry is better ' which got a laugh from the two helpers.
All in all a good experience (and a few surprises !)
I would say their curry's are a little under spiced as normal so in future I'll ask for extra spice 
I'll try to get some info on their gravy next time but I did mention what I put in my gravy and the chef said it was the same as his including a chef spoon of veg ghee, hope this might be of interest to you guys  ATB. 

ps- I did ask if they used whole spices and they said only in their Garam Masala which they make themselves.     

[curryhell]

 ;D ;D ;D Classic, i'd have loved to have seen the chef's face when you proceeded to cook your lamb madras.  Pupil becomes teacher or what???  I'd be surprised if he let's you back in the kitchen again.  You may have shown him up :.  But the question we all want to know the answer to is did your curry taste as good as or better than his??  And did they have the "BIR smell and taste"?  Excellent report, had me smiling throughout .  Hope he allows you back in to find out some more

[emin-j]

Hi CH,yeh defo BIR,and yes the extra G/G + tsp of spice mix made all the difference,the family taste tested and mine was the winner  ;D CRO 1 -  BIR 0  ;D

[curryhell]

Why am i not surprised ;D.  You could use the angle that you want to learn from a master to improve your technique and skills since you've demonstrated you know your way around a good curry.  You never know, this could be the beginning of a very useful relationship : and there could be quite a bit of mileage in it for us all .  Keep us posted on any more visits to the kitchen

[emin-j]

Will do CH  I did ask why they didn't add any spice mix to the curry and one of the helpers replied ' most customers don't like their curry's too spicy  :
This is a long established BIR and to see it put in the frying pan 'all in one go' was a bit of a shocker !
On the other hand if the base has everything in the right amounts I can see the logic.
I also mentioned I make Korma using creamed coconut block (George's recipe) and one of the helpers produced a box of creamed coconut block  Pride make.

[Tommy Timebomb]

That certainly was some magical/mystical spice gravy

[emin-j]

That certainly was some magical/mystical spice gravy

Hi TT, yes I was a bit shocked not using additional spice mix but on the other hand if the gravy has enough spice mix,salt etc I can see it could work.

[Graeme]

Funny, LOL made my night :-)

You could not make it up could you 
do you think they were winding you up ?

[loveitspicy]

Firstly well done!!! To take control in another chef's kitchen - proud of you!!!

We experimented a long while back with an all in one gravy - to be honest we have stayed away from it - the spice taste was washed out if you know what i mean.

To achieve the best tasting curries whether bir or cooking curry you have to add the spices - after all its the spices that make the individual dish, obviously along with peppers and chilies in a Jalfrezi for example.

best, Rich

[George]

emin-j - As with some other members here, your write up brought a smile to my face, also. It's a remarkable story. But given you called there in the first place, isn't it a BIR which you already rate quite highly for it to get your business? If so, they must be getting something right.