Well if anything Mike, we have a new acronym BSC ?! British Supermarket ........ I'll let you fill in the last part

It looks quite brown to the more blonde looking Korma I have enjoyed since the 80's. What recipe did you follow?

Quote from: Graham1 on April 11, 2013, 07:34 PM
Sorry I don't know any span recipes, I always use local meat from local farms. ;-)

Sorry Graham, jumped on the bandwagon as I use to admin a previous site, whilst I still think it's wrong, this site obviously doesn't care. Fill your boots up.

Keep us posted Chris, about to follow your lead on this.

This does raise the question, why are supermarket curry sauces and ready made dishes, so far from what the UK has become used to in a BIR? Are they in a quandary as to what the British enjoy? Why is a typical jar of Tikka Masala hot when a restaurant tikka masala is not?

Generally speaking I only pre-cook potato and like you, tend to fry onion and peppers off at the start.

Quote from: spiceyokooko on April 11, 2013, 12:30 PM
Good question!

As CH mentioned earlier it's quite a distinct taste and as such somewhat acquired. I'd describe it as being somewhere between a green bean and a courgette. A lot of people get put off Okra by its somewhat slimey, mucus feel as a fresh vegetable and to get round that in cooking I believe it's best fried till slightly crisp. That's why the sauce is so dark, in frying the onions first then the Okra the onions caramelised producing a lovely rich intense sweet flavour with the crispy Okra. One benefit of Okra is that it's packed with nutrients.

Interesting. I have only ever tried it once before and that was recently. It was in my usual BIR/TA and they offered me some to try. I don't know if it was their bhindi bhaji or one of chef's staff curries but it was enjoyable. I was asked what I thought and replied that it was good but that I couldn't really taste any noticeable flavour from the okra. The texture was simply soft with very little bit.

Crispy okra sounds much more appealing though.

Quote from: George on April 11, 2013, 11:10 AM
I've tasted sauces from jars that were a lot better than the Patak's version, so there's really no  excuse.

That is a fair point to make as a comparison, but I struggle to understand your palate. I have never found a single jar of sauce that was truly enjoyable. Some have been so awful they were confined to the bin after the first mouthful others have been ok.

It has always been my understanding that Panch Phoran is used only as a whole seed mix and never ground with the ingredients always staying the same. Curious, I have just Googled this and came across several references suggesting the same, though the following mentions the mustard seed being replaced.

Here's an article on it: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-08-26/recipes/31312472_1_paanch-fenugreek-mustard

The madras looks very good indeed, i'm glad I reread the post this morning, I didn't spot the comment on the onions in the okra, I was curious as to how they got that colour!