that smell

[ligs]

hi this is my first time talking on this or any other web site,however i am desperate i have been cooking curry for the best part of 20 years and i am very close to the real bir thing.but there is something missing, i have tried several base sauces and cooked many different currys, for some reason they all have the same distinctive smell and that smell can be picked up in the taste aswell.This is not that smell that you get from your takeaway it is something else. I cooked some base sauce and it is still there. I bought some base sauce from my takeaway and cooked a curry and it is still there what can it be?any help would be greatly apreciated as i dont know what to do next

[Malc.]

Ligs, did you identify if the 'smell' existed in the TA's base before you cooked your curry? If it wasn't then you'll need to look at the components you are using in your cooking methods, to identify it.


PS Welcome to CR0

[ligs]

Thanks for the reply and welcome axe. No that base only smelt strongly of chichen stock. I had some people smelling it one being a chief but not a curry chief,he said that it could be a commercial stock. was it sabotaged. It reminded me of when I was a kid and mum would cook sunday roast with chicken,you know that jelly that comes from under the skin that.my components for my usual bench mark dopiaza are: chiefs spoon hot oil,teaspoon g&g not my own dilpassand brand,tbsp tom puree 50.50 water tsp methi leaves,flat tbspmix powder(4 trs mild madras curry powder,3 turmeric,3 paprica,3coriander,3 cumin and1east end garam massala).half tsp chilli powder pinch salt cook to a paste. Add pre cooked green pepper and onion.Ladle of base sauce and reduce in alluminium pan.Add fresh corriander(this is frozen as i buy it from rusholm manchester half an hour away ),green chillies from frozen for the same reason ladel base sauce, pre cooked chicken,fresh tomato,base cause reduce fresh corriander.when I cook ctm the smell is not there because the coconut, almond and massala sauce take over mmm,this is really nice   

[Malc.]

So if the TA's base didn't have that smell then it has to be something your using in your cooking. Given that you say both your base and and curry as cooked with the TA base, both had this taste, I would look at what ingredients you are using in both your base and your cooking, such G&G Paste, Spices etc.

[976bar]

Hi Ligs,

I think the only way your going to identify this smell is by eliminating one component at a time and seeing if it disappears.

What oil do you use? Could this be a common denominator? What brand of spices do you use? Are there any spices you may have which may be past their sell or use by date?.... etc etc...

Oh, by the way welcome to the forum

[ligs]

thanks for the welcome 976bar. I use veg oil rapeseed i think, ive got TRS mild madras curry powder other spices are east end and natco just checked my garam massala out of date!it smells good but way out of date other spices in jars so not sure ihave fresh bags of everything so will have a clear out. just made fresh g&g and making a simple base sauce as we speak. common denominators are oil,g&g,mix powder,fresh corriander andsalt, it is low salt.do you know of julian @ curry2go i visited him last week and had a 2 hour conversation he is a realy nice guy, i bought his book and he is going to start master classes,he said if i cant get to the bottom of it he will watch me to try to find out what is wrong

[976bar]

thanks for the welcome 976bar. I use veg oil rapeseed i think, ive got TRS mild madras curry powder other spices are east end and natco just checked my garam massala out of date!it smells good but way out of date other spices in jars so not sure ihave fresh bags of everything so will have a clear out. just made fresh g&g and making a simple base sauce as we speak. common denominators are oil,g&g,mix powder,fresh corriander andsalt, it is low salt.do you know of julian @ curry2go i visited him last week and had a 2 hour conversation he is a realy nice guy, i bought his book and he is going to start master classes,he said if i cant get to the bottom of it he will watch me to try to find out what is wrong

Hi Ligs,

Yes I am well aware of Julian, but that is for another subject....

It seems you are on the right track and what you have said above, nothing seems to jump out and bite me, so I think it will be a question of having a clear out, making sure your spices are up to date and stored in a cool dark location and not subject to bright sunlight which can taint them, then choose a simple dish like a madras to make which has few spices really compared to a lot of more complex dishes and eliminating one thing at a time. You could make a small batch of madras's with probably around 2 lots of base so you won't be wasting too much, don't add any meat, just make the sauce one at a time and taste.

I also wouldn't do these all at once as we are all aware of our senses being marred while cooking a dish, so just spread it out over a few days and I am sure you will find the problem.

If you need any further help either contact myself or any member on the forum who will be only too happy to help for free

[ligs]

Good advice, just checked the base sauce recipies i have made,and the ingredients in the curry,this narrows down to:g&g,oil,mix powder,fresh corriander andsalt.looking at that i would say g&g and my mix powder most probable causes.thanks for the logical thinking   

[curryhell]

Hi Ligs and welcome to the forum.  Before i add my two penneth to what Axe and 976 have said can you just confirm that you ended up with this smell when you used your own base AND when you used the purchased TA base??

[ligs]

yes the end result was the same.since speaking to those guys i have cleared out my curry cupboard of all out of date and unsure spices. made a simple base sauce, my own g&g then a jalfrezi sauce and a madras sauce not BIR standard but that smell has gone.I feel that i can now go forwards and not backwards.I dont think that my wife and kids could take any more sniffing. this has been and still is a life long obsession and passion,will i ever get there.if you can help please do.thank you for the welcome curryhell! sometimes thats where im at