No, I'veactually got two on the go. A nice Italian pros eco, and a very nice Portuguese Douro Reserva. Don't usually have two separate glasses, but its Saturday!  ;D

Going to see if they have any at the Indian shop next time I go. They usually have lots of east end stuff, so hopefully they will.

Gonna try heating the base for my next curry to see if it does make any difference. Not holding my breath though,.....

Quote from: Phil [Chaa006] on March 09, 2013, 06:26 PM
Eating them raw is an interesting experience; they contain a complex mixture of flavours, none of which is particularly cumin-like, but the most interesting one of all I can only describe as "horse-like".  This is nothing to do with the current equine DNA d

Quote from: DalPuri on March 09, 2013, 05:58 PM
And back on track... 


https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,8687.msg77246.html#msg77246

Interesting Dalpuri - I've just read through that topic, and now I will have to get some deggi mirch - never used it, but it sounds like something that might add something different. My normal chilli seems to be quite hot, so when I make a curry that says medium, it is usually quite hot, so this may add some variation.

Cheers!

Naga balls! That just sounds right somehow! 

Yes, I do luv my Mr naga - made my beans on toast amazing!, but I am talking about variation of standard recipes.

 My curries, I feel are good, and I am happy with the taste I get. However, standard curries, eg bhuna, jalfrezi, rogon josh, while having very good flavours, tend to have a background similarity. I suppose this is to be expected to some point, because of using the same ginger/garlic paste, base, spice mix, pre-cooked meat, etc. Sometimes though, I would like a different tasting bhuna or jalfrezi. I do like the special dishes, eg butter chicken, bahar, jaflong, because they come out different because of different ingredients. It makes a nice change.

There are obviously massive variations on the same dish from restaurant to restaurant. So, my question is, what is the best way to get taste variation? 

1. Try different spice mixes? - not sure this would make a great difference.
2. Maybe use freshly chopped ginger and garlic?
3. Different base recipe - think many seem to say bases don't change the taste that much?
4. How about adding some curry pastes? Is that sacreligious? 

Any suggestions how to get good taste variations?

In pilau, I usually add half tsp of normal cumin seeds, when using the black ones I added a little less, maybe quarter to one third - so obviously too much. But I think it certainly seems to be something I don't like the taste of. I don't like the smell of them either. Think I'll stick to normal seeds in future!

Anyone want a pack of black cumin seeds, fresh out of the waste bin? 

Tried black cumin seeds today for the first time, after a few had said how much better they are than normal cumin seeds. All I can say is....

YEEUUUGGGHHHH!   

Really don't like the taste of them. Bought a whole bag of them, but have now thrown them away. Put just a small amount in the pilau rice. To me, they taste very similar to black cardomon, which I also dislike.

Isn't taste a strange thing?