http://www.indiandinner.com/book.htm

Yes, it?s something ive been thinking long and hard about
but i can tell you a story that you might be interested in

This year i was taken out by my work friends to celebrate
my birthday, they took me to an indian restaurant (in Stockholm)
there were 14 ppl there, so they decided to order
everything on the menu. (well, tasters)
Well... what they actually ordered was a kind of taster for
every dish (more or less). So there were several dishes in
small bowls, everyone (apart from the vegetarian) took a
spoonful of what was on offer..

This gave  us a great chance to taste of what was on offer.
One "dishe" stood out and this is the great mystery!!
Ive been cooking curry dishes for 15 years but have never
managed to create this taste. This taste i believe is "The Taste".
The secret and missing ingredient in all our dishes.

Now to confuse the issue more the dishe in quesion was
what they called "do-piaza", now as you would expect this
was going to be an onion dish with lots of onions.
what I was presented with was a bowl filled with fried onions.
This wasn?t any old fried onions though.
The dish was infact colourless!
It tasted of onion (no surprises) but it was cooked as if
it was finely chopped onion fried at a very high heat.
The onions were colourless but tasted very spicey

How did they do it? I have no idea.
The only possible explanation is (I can think of) is
they somehow managed to create a dishe by
using some kind of barger (ie; spices fried in oil which are usually
added to lentil dishes to create more flavour)
Some kind of boquet garni of spices which they
fried the onions in.. there was definately no colour
but it tasted delicious and had "the flavour".

the only explation I can think of is
there was some kind of oil/ghee combined with high heat
+ maybe MSG
or some kind of ingredient that is trade only

The ingredient is probably some kind of oil/ghee that
is sold in bulk to restaurants only.

I don?t believe there is a "secret ingredient" the secret is
probably only a product of the trade. I can?t believe that
every chef who has been through thier training has spent time
in England. As ive said, Im english living in Sweden,
the "secret Ingredient" is here too.

Not so long ago Ii was at a bangladeshi restaurant and got
talking to the chef.. I ordered a balti (yes balti has arrived here,
although only within the last few years) and he had no idea
about the origins on the "balti" also no idea about the
secret ingredient (judging by the meal, although it was nice).

Now i draw a couple of conclusions here
1. The secret ingredient isnt just english
2. Not all bangladeshi chefs know about it,
3. The secret isnt old oil as the do-piaza would
have been coloured by the culmination of  mixed
curry oil.

Does this help? Maybe but I suspect it only deepens the
mystery.

The answer is probably some kind of oil/ghee that is
sold to the trade which combined with frying at high
heat creates some kind of extra element.

I still think some indian chefs must suspect or even know
what it is but their best option is to create the myth that it is
a secret ingredient, its their living they need to make the
profit margins.

Type in a search query and get searchin... the truth is out there somewhere.. ehem.. can?t belive i just said that 
http://vivisimo.com/

there seems to be search options on the left..
try indian curry secret ingredient..
hey its worth a try  :

BTW, has anyone asked an indian chef what they think the secret ingredient might be?
ie: Why some curries taste that extra bit nicer than others?
The alternative is to find a recip? from a chef who hasn?t got that something extra
and therefore deduct what hes "doing wrong"

Thanks Pete. It tasted very good, even better than my Kris Dhillion bases
The recip? (base and masalas) was one of my own, I havent put it up in recip?s
yet (still a shy newbie) but i will do soon.

Here is a prawn version, pretty much like the chicken
The thing with the tomatoes is to put them in at the very end, tastes great!!

Onion tarka is used as a kind of topping for curries
I wonder if its ever used in the final dish and mixed in?


To make an onion tarka you just need to thinly slice the onions
place them on an oven tray and roast in the oven on a low temp
(around 100 degrees) will do, leave them for around 40 -50 mins
then fry them off in hot oil. The onions get quite crispy and you
should be able to store these in a jar for a few weeks.

Just sprinkle ontop of your curry or maybe try to mix it in

I really admire the dedication you guys put down to the quest for the perfect curry,
with people trying different things out it cuts the experimention time in half

BTW has anyone tried putting an onion tarka into their curry?
An onion tark is like caramelised onions, same principle
slow warming & extracting the starch and sugars to create a sweeter taste.

I put the recip? in the recip? forum

Balti chicken with plenty of fresh coriander

Hi Mark
Dl is short for a deci-litre
or 1/10th of a litre or 100 ml

of course depends on which coriander seeds you are using
as some seeds are larger than others.
The ones the Hari Kristnas use are the larger variety

I forgot to say that you should roast and grind them the
usual way, you will end up with a very nice smelling
masala which works much better than Kris Dhillions own
garam masala recipe, IMO.

The tip here is to be very careful with the fenugreek seeds
as they become bitter if they burn, they recommend only
4-5 minutes roasting, i use preground fenugreek
as it works in most dishes. As spices become most
aromatic at different times i like to roast them individually
in a khari on a medium heat and check for colour and
smell to get the optimum flavour. Its worth the effort i think.

Curry Masala is the name of a masala used by Hari Kristnas
it works wonderfully in traditional and restaurant style curries
as a replacement for garam masala.

This works well for any recipe calling for garam masala
and even works better with Kris Dhillions base sauce.

The woman in the Hari Kristna shop told me this is the
same masala she makes in the shop, give it a try, it
transforms the taste of indian food quite alot.

I translated the recipe from the Swedish so I?m
not sure what "Urad beans?" are!

dsp = dessert-spoon


3/4 dl  coriander seeds

2   dsp cummin seeds

2   dsp black mustard seeds

1/2 dsp fenugreek seeds

3/4 dsp urad beans (not sure about this one)

2   dsp curry leaves

1   tsp black pepper corns

2,1/4  dsp turmeric

This is a link to a restaurant in Stockholm, I haven?t been there but the wife
says it isn?t much cop (or the swedish equivalent of "not much cop"  )

Whats interesting is the video film in the top right hand corner
check it out, youll clearly see them adding curry paste to the dish
So its all true about pataks then? http://www.motherindia.se/

I?m not sure if you?ve seen this site, apologies if its already been posted
I haven?t made any dishes and the ingrediences?s seem a little thin on
the ground compared with Restaurant stylies
http://www.angelfire.com/country/fauziaspakistan

The link works with IE not Firefox

The Link is more accurately http://www.angelfire.com/country/fauziaspakistan/recipes