I always thought we allow one ad and it always helps if the poster joins in the forum.  Somehow though I think this ad may well be a waste of time on a forum that is dedicated to making what he is trying to sell 

I have tried both and not noticed a massive difference but would side with adding them towards the end.  Not so sure about putting it in a Madras myself but essential for dhansak's and bhuna's.

I have been told by one chef that they only use plain veg oil but no that they are probably in a minority, this guy happened to be quite young and was very up on H&S.

Welcome to cr0 judimac

Welcome to the forum 

It could be that the onion paste emulates something that naturally occurs during the curry making process in a BIR, I'm sure if it was a standard practice it would have come up somewhere else by now.  This is why a get together would be invaluable, we could all see where we are and what we are looking at achieving, I'm sure ten of us would have ten differnent ideas of the perfect madras.  The bottom line is if respected curry nuts like you and Jerry say it works then I am not going to argue with that. 

Curry on 

Hi Panpot,

It might not be regional differences more different chefs than anything else, I guess they take the recipes when they move rather than adapt to the restaurants norm.

Quote from: Panpot on November 14, 2008, 11:35 AM
I am fully expecting to get into a Glasgow BIR kitchen soon so should be able to give decent report of all that goes on.

That would be good, out of all the reports and insider information we have on the site this paste has never come up, now that might be because it really is a secret ingredient or the majority of BIR's just don't use it.

Great pic's Del your curry looks spot on, let us know how you get on with the next one, they can only get better 

Quote from: JerryM on November 13, 2008, 07:07 PM
thanks for the thoughts - appreciated. i will try the "extra pureed tinned plum tomato" - i've not seen it before but feel it's something along those lines that i'm after. it's certainly not tomato sauce. it's not fresh tomato as i know how this works in a rogan josh for example.

I also use this method Jerry as I like my curry's with that extra tomato taste you can't get from puree.

Quote from: JerryM on November 13, 2008, 07:07 PM
not as amazed as me. i feel we all have different pieces of the jigsaw left to find. it just seems to be that this paste is the last piece for me (other than getting the tomato taste right). I think it most probably also depends on what type of BIR curry u like. i've been brought up on "red" curry ie plenty of garlic/onion/tomato. i don't for example like the "brown" curry (found in some restaurants in rusholme or Bradford for example).

This is the point, it is something you are trying to find rather it actually being the key to the "taste".  Great that you have found what you are looking for Jerry but my opinion of the paste hasn't changed, I certainly don't feel the need to make it for a third time  ;D

As SS has suggested, there was someone a while ago that proclaimed pre-fried onions were added to every dish towards the end, finely chopped and fried they should disappear into the sauce.  Again they made a slight change but not enough for me to use this method on a regular basis. 

Funny enough I have just finished a dopiaza where I use pre-fried onions, I will post some pic's later.

Great stuff Jerry it's amazing how you find all the time to do all this experimenting.

Quote from: JerryM on November 12, 2008, 08:25 AM
i put the missing 5% down to asking the question if u put my kitchen onto the back of a BIR TA and i cook would anyone complain of the standard or detect that it was "essentially" fake (ie not in the trade).

This is the thing for me, chances are no one would complain if you omit the onion paste.  I have tried it a couple of times and it didn't really do a lot, certainly not the answer I have been looking for anyway.  Maybe it is regional differences again?

Quote from: JerryM on November 12, 2008, 08:25 AM
for sure it does not taste exactly the same as the madras from my local TA or my fav curryhouse back home in the midlands.

It is probably because they don't use onion paste