Topic: Hi all - urgent help needed!

[stralan]

Thanks SD - yes, definitely no burnt taste, if anything it seems to have cooked most of the flavour out of the base leaving only the taste of chili which is strange as I didn't add a lot of chili to the base. No mango chutney here sadly, I usually make my own but with three curries, nearly 100 bhaji and 60 naan to make, I'm not going there today I  might try some palm sugar or jaggery in it but then it is going to taste like nothing anybody will have tasted before!
Wondering whether to go with a Pathia now in the hope that the jaggery and tamarind paste will mask most of the bitterness - though I did that last time and wanted to go with something different, decisions decisions. Going to play around with single portions of different dishes and will try the lemon or some tamarind in a masala and see how it goes. Have given myself until 2pm as the cut of point whereby I'll have to either run with it or head to the shops...

Thanks again everybody.

[Salvador Dhali]

Thanks SD - yes, definitely no burnt taste, if anything it seems to have cooked most of the flavour out of the base leaving only the taste of chili which is strange as I didn't add a lot of chili to the base. No mango chutney here sadly, I usually make my own but with three curries, nearly 100 bhaji and 60 naan to make, I'm not going there today I  might try some palm sugar or jaggery in it but then it is going to taste like nothing anybody will have tasted before!
Wondering whether to go with a Pathia now in the hope that the jaggery and tamarind paste will mask most of the bitterness - though I did that last time and wanted to go with something different, decisions decisions. Going to play around with single portions of different dishes and will try the lemon or some tamarind in a masala and see how it goes. Have given myself until 2pm as the cut of point whereby I'll have to either run with it or head to the shops...

Thanks again everybody.

Not sure if you have any guinea pigs to hand, but it would be good to be able to get someone else to test a trial dish for you before you make the final call. (As has oft been documented here, after lengthy periods of cooking our taste buds tend to become a little jaded.)

If your tester grimaces and complains about the bitterness, you know what you have to do.

On the other hand, if they give it the thumbs-up...   

[Peripatetic Phil]

Not sure if you have any guinea pigs to hand, ...

I'm really glad I read this message to the end.  When I got the the part quoted, I had this awful feeling you were going to recommend guinea-pig curry as a good way of disguising any taint in the base !

** Phil.

[Salvador Dhali]

Not sure if you have any guinea pigs to hand, ...

I'm really glad I read this message to the end.  When I got the the part quoted, I had this awful feeling you were going to recommend guinea-pig curry as a good way of disguising any taint in the base !

** Phil.

Well, if you happened to be in Peru, or Bolivia, where guinea pigs are a major part of the diet, or even in parts of Ecuador or Columbia, then I would have no hesitation recommending it!

Apparently, Peruvians consume around 65 million of the wee things every year, and the meat is said to be similar in taste to rabbit and the dark meat of chicken.

It's something I'd be happy to try if I was in Peru, but reckon I'll give it a miss for the moment...

[stralan]

Well thankfully, I only have two rabbits, no guinea pigs and they are not the eating sort!

Samples made of madras, pathia and vindaloo have passed the volunteer taste test - even though they aren't 100% so I'm going to go with it. Could be a silver lining here, if they don't like them, they won't ask me to do another curry night 

Thanks again for all the help :-)

[Secret Santa]

If only it were that easy - two of the guests have peanut allergy.

Oh, fair enough. I thought the Korma would have nuts in it, so it seemed like a reasonable suggestion.  ;D

[stralan]

No problem all suggestions were more than welcome. I only use coconut in the korma, which confusingly, is actually a drupe, not a nut and as such, it doesn't contain the allergy causing protein. Even almond would be okay for most nut allergy sufferers, peanut is the one to worry about - my son is one of those with the allergy 

Thankfully all three curries have now been made and are safely in the fridge. Bhaji, naans and sides tomorrow!

[tonybatty]

Surprisingly, salt is much better at masking bitterness than sugar or other sweet things.