Topic: Product review : Patak's tinned (concentrated) Vindaloo sauce

[Peripatetic Phil]

Well, after the furore caused by a certain new member stating that "Patak's condensed curry sauces are all you need for a first-class curry", and having myself defended his right to hold and argue this position, I felt obliged to try the products myself.  Two local Asdas (who shew it on their web site) had none in stock, and Asda have no central stock management so are unable to tell customers where a listed product is to be found.  However, I yesterday found myself passing a Morrison's on my way to Screwfix.  After getting my Screwfix items I return to Morrison's and found three different Patak's (concentrated) tinned curry sauces : Balta, Madras & Vindaloo -- I bought two of each (price between 79p and 99p).  I read the instructions in bed last night, decided not to follow them, and today used the four pieces of chicken that were in the remains of my CA's Chicken Vindaloo (reviewed earlier).  I started by tasting the raw sauce, to get a feel for what treatment it might need, and then (based on the rather heterogeneous flavours that presented themselves) decided to basically treat it as a curry paste.  I heated some oil, added a very flat teaspoon of ginger and garlic (themselves from Morrison's : Nishaan), fried gently then added a little Patak's sauce.  I continued adding the sauce little by little until I had added about 3/4 of a tin, then realised that I would end up with a disproportionate amount of sauce.  It was also thicker than I would have wanted (it is described as "concentrated", so this was to be expected).  So, I poured 1/3 back into the tin, then added the four chicken pieces and a little CA base.  I continued to add base little by little until it was a little runnier than I would want, then allowed it to cook until the oil came out and the sauce was of about the right consistency.  Finally some chopped coriander stalks, let it rest for a couple of minutes, then served with pulao rice (MDH pulao mix : not recommended) and a ready-made chapatti.

Results : nowhere near as bad as Cory Ander and Secret Santa would have us believe.  By no means a top-notch BIR curry, but no worse than some I have cooked from scratch.  Real complaints : too sweet (I don't like sweetness unless it is accompanied by sour, as in dhansak), and definite evidence of artificial thickening (it kept causing my wooden spatula to grate on the bottom of my non-stick pan, something that /never/ happens with a home-made curry).  You could also detect the artificial thickening in the texture on the tongue.  But surprise surprise, it was edible on a chapatti : I had half a chapatti left after the meal, and I deliberately ate it with the curry sauce.  Not outstanding, but definitely edible.

Would I make one again ?  Well, I still have 5 1/2 tins left, but I may try to offload some of those at the local Harvest Festival (or I can post them at cost to anyone who wants to try one).   To address Cory Ander's and  Secret Santa's criticisms, let me repeat them here and then address them one by one :

Let us suppose, instead, that Patak take spices (let's give them the benefit of the doubt here) and reconstituted ingredients and then add antioxidants, stabilisers, preservatives, acidity regulators, salt, bulking agents, etc, (because that, in fact, is what Patak actually do).....

Two-thirds false : no anti-oxidants, stabilisers, preservatives or acidity regulators.  Salt (of course) and bulking agent (modified maize starch). [1]

Patak's pastes are to (authentic, glorious, tasty, aromatic) BIR curries what Pot Noodles are to fine Chinese dining.

  I would class this as over-statement.

They are, without a doubt, the most obnoxious, odious and rank fermentations to grace the name of BIR curries.

Way OTT.  They are none of those, but nor are they as authentic as one might hope : the artificial thickening, and high level of sugar, definitely let them down.

Plainly and simply, Patak's pastes are for home cooks and lazy BIR restaurants.

On the basis of one experiment, I would go along with that.

** Phil.
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[1] Water, concentrated tomato puree, vegetable oil, coriander, onion powder, cumin, sugar, spices (contains mustard), modified maize starcdh, salt, garlic, turmeric, ginger, cardomom, dried crushed chilli.  May contain traces of peanut or tree nuts.  Suitable for vegetarians.  Free from artificial colours, flavours and preservatives.

[curryhell]

Phil, a fair, unbiased and unemotional report.  You didn't knock it until you tried it.  I'd call that a fair hearing by anybody's standards.  Hat's off to you.  I'd also call it dedication to the cause mate  ;D  But some others may not agree : :-X

[Secret Santa]

Concentrated curry sauces aren't pastes phil...nuff said?

[Graeme]

Nooo !
you added stuff to the sauce and changed it.
You can't do that phil, follow the instructions on the tin phil
then get back :-(

Thats like reviewing baked beans on toast after you have added
Worcestershire sauce.

But i did enjoy you post :-)

[Peripatetic Phil]

Nooo !  you added stuff to the sauce and changed it.  You cant do that, follow the instructions on the tin phil  then get back :-(  But i did enjoy your post :-)

"Add 400gm of canned chopped tomatoes and stir" ?  No thank you, I'll stick to my recipe.  But if you'd like to experiment with their way, I'll happily post you a tin ... !

[PaulP]

You won't get a commercial product containing garlic that is not frozen without an acidity regulator.

This is a list from Pataks madras sauce (not paste) jar:

Ingredients
Water, Tomato (20%), Onion (18%), Vegetable Oil, Modified Maize Starch, Spices (contains Mustard), Sugar, Concentrated Tomato Pur

[Peripatetic Phil]

Concentrated curry sauces aren't pastes phil...nuff said?

No.  Obviously "a curry sauce is not a curry paste", but what are we intended to infer from that observation ?
** Phil.

[Peripatetic Phil]

They don't mention an acidity regulator but it is in fact the acetic acid.

But there is none in the tinned product, Paul.  The list of ingredients above is the /full/ list; I omitted nothing.
** Phil.

[Secret Santa]

Concentrated curry sauces aren't pastes phil...nuff said?

No.  Obviously "a curry sauce is not a curry paste", but what are we intended to infer from that observation ?
** Phil.

My complaints are about Patak's curry pastes that are now used in BIR restaurants.

Your little experiment is with concentrated curry sauces. Totally different.

Do your experiment with the pastes as used in the BIRs and then your experiment may have some validity.

[Graeme]

Phil,
I have a tin here in front of me and no where
does it say add garlic, ginger or a base sauce.
Onions yes.

Phil, my tin says "add 400g of toms" and also "400g of chicken"
not just toms, you cant  be so selective can you ?

You are reviewing a sauce in a tin, please follow the instructions on the tin.

sorry.