Topic: me cooking madras video

[h4ppy-chris]

i have put this here so it's not lost.

BIR madras curry how to make one at home Indian Restaurant take away

[JerryM]

h4ppy-chris,

love the video. i used to use newspaper even on the floor (obviously flames have to be kept well away even for the foil).

if of help a few things that jumped out. i would pre cook the onion (either par boil or hot fry depending on dish), add methi with onion, add spice & puree together.

i can see from the pan that the technique will produce a very good curry.

interesting thought on the oil. i think it was curryqueen who caught my eye on the subject. i've also seen the chef at my local TA do same. i've never been able to find out what happens next. i'm convinced fresh oil, veg ghee, dish oil and base/reclaimed oil all come back together probably in a way that can't be too far out from what you describe.

[Peripatetic Phil]

i have put this here so it's not lost : BIR madras curry how to make one at home Indian Restaurant take away.

Fascinating video, Chris : a few comments and questions, if I may ?

1) As one who cooks with non-stick pans, and wooden & nylon utensils, I found the steel-on-aluminium technique something of an eye-opener : not only does it make for a very noisy cooking experience, but there must surely be some minute particles of aluminium rubbed off and into the dish.

2) What goes in to the "magic sauce" ?

3) I really like the film of oil on a finished curry, and I find that if I spoon it all off, I don't enjoy the curry half as much.  If I am running out of seasoned oil, I therefore add extra oil to the dish, so I can remove some at the end and still end up with a very obvious oily layer covering about 2/3 of the dish.

** Phil.

[976bar]

Great Demonstration Chris

[Tommy Timebomb]

Another nice vid Chris,
I threw in some extra oil in the curry tonight hoping to filter of the spice.
I was a bit disappointed to find that it won't work with a Dhansak... The lentils just gobbled it all up.

[h4ppy-chris]

i have put this here so it's not lost : BIR madras curry how to make one at home Indian Restaurant take away.

Fascinating video, Chris : a few comments and questions, if I may ?

1) As one who cooks with non-stick pans, and wooden & Teflon utensils, I found the steel-on-aluminium technique something of an eye-opener : not only does it make for a very noisy cooking experience, but there must surely be some minute particles of aluminium rubbed off and into the dish.

I hear what you are saying. Does "any Teflon?" go into your food. "Any oils from your wooden spoon?".
As for noise, when i cook it is relatively quiet from when i speak.

2) What goes in to the "magic sauce" ?

1 tsp Tikka Paste (Patak's)
1 tbsp plain yoghurt

3) I really like the film of oil on a finished curry, and I find that if I spoon it all off, I don't enjoy the curry half as much.  If I am running out of seasoned oil, I therefore add extra oil to the dish, so I can remove some at the end and still end up with a very obvious oily layer covering about 2/3 of the dish.

 As to the vid, the oil spooned off is like a concentrated oil, it has all the flavours of the curry incorporated.
Do me a favour, next time you make a curry, spoon 1 tsp of oil off it. Then, put it in a pan and put, 1 & 1/2 tbsp oil in the pan as well, now, hold your nose and taste the oil. There will be no taste at all. Now do the same thing without holding your nose. 
** Phil.

[PaulP]

I think the debate about cooking food in bare aluminium and ingesting aluminium in your food has been dismissed in terms of being a health hazzard. It's probably not a good idea storing acid rich food in bare aluminium containers but who does that anyway?

Thanks for posting the video Chris.

Paul

[Peripatetic Phil]

I hear what you are saying. Does "any Teflon?" go into your food.

I would not expect so, because by using wooden and nylon utensils I am deliberately avoiding any significant risk of scratching the teflon surface. 

"Any oils from your wooden spoon?".

Quite possibly, and maybe even tiny fragments of wood, but my point was that when you cook with a stainless steel spoon and scrape it on the bottom and sides of an aluminium pan, it is hard to imagine that no aluminium gets scraped off in the process.  Not being paranoid, I am not the least concerned with the alleged link between aluminium and Alzheimer's syndrome : I just don't like the idea of bits of metal in my curry !

As for noise, when i cook it is relatively quiet from when i speak.

Maybe the video recording exagerates the sound, but I certainly found it intrusive and a definite contrast to the virtually soundless sound of nylon or wood on teflon ...

2) What goes in to the "magic sauce" ?

1 tsp Tikka Paste (Patak's)
1 tbsp plain yoghurt

Thank you !

As to the vid, the oil spooned off is like a concentrated oil, it has all the flavours of the curry incorporated.

Do me a favour, next time you make a curry, spoon 1 tsp of oil off it. Then, put it in a pan and put, 1 & 1/2 tbsp oil in the pan as well, now, hold your nose and taste the oil. There will be no taste at all. Now do the same thing without holding your nose. 

It's a well-known scientific fact that smell and taste are inextricably interlinked ("if you can't smell it, you almost certainly can't taste it"), so I'm not really clear what the object of this exercise is, Chris.

** Phil.

[h4ppy-chris]

h4ppy-chris,

love the video. i used to use newspaper even on the floor (obviously flames have to be kept well away even for the foil).

if of help a few things that jumped out. i would pre cook the onion (either par boil or hot fry depending on dish), add methi with onion, add spice & puree together.

i can see from the pan that the technique will produce a very good curry.

interesting thought on the oil. i think it was curryqueen who caught my eye on the subject. i've also seen the chef at my local TA do same. i've never been able to find out what happens next. i'm convinced fresh oil, veg ghee, dish oil and base/reclaimed oil all come back together probably in a way that can't be too far out from what you describe.

thanks jerry i like to cook the onions in the oil at the start to add that bit more flavor to the oil 

[chewytikka]

Good clear Vid h4ppy-Chris

Strange that you call your curry a Madras
First time in 40 years I've seen a Madras cooked without Chilli Powder.

Anyway probably suits you and the family, but not a BIR style Madras by any stretch of the imagination.
In fact it looks more like something curry2go would pass off as a BIR recipe.

Cooking with too much oil and too watery a base gravy often splits the finished sauce and it continues to separate and leak.
Nothing worse than a curry leaking oil and water on the plate.

You may want to try get your cooking time down to around 10 mins or less for a dish like this, which will bring it closer to a BIR style.

Also a good idea to post your recipes for Garabi, Mixed pdr, Magic sauce etc..etc... as people may still want to try your dish.

I think you said you were going behind the scenes in a take-away recently.
If you did, you will probably know how they make a Madras now.

cheers Chewy