Quote from: spiceyokooko on December 28, 2011, 04:46 PM
Interesting to compare against the other brands of Garam Masala such as Rajah and Natco that list Coriander as the largest proportional ingredient, which is uncoincidentally a much cheaper ingredient than any of the traditional Garam Masala ingredients of Black Peppercorns, Cinnamon, Cloves or Cardamons.

The only conclusion you can draw from this is that the Jalpur GM is a much higher quality one than either Rajah or Natco that basically just use large quantities of cheaper ingredients and lower quantities of the more expensive ones.

Yes, I'd agree, assuming that coffee has written the Jalpur GM ingredients in the exact order that they appear on the packaging...?

Ray

Quote from: Whandsy on December 28, 2011, 04:22 PM
it's the 1st time I've been to that one and was like a kid in a sweet shop, it's a big place and there'd probably be more in that warehouse at the back

Yeah, it's a good un.  I've never failed to get what I want from there with the exception of Asian bay leaf.  You should have popped into their cafe next door, Lily's.  It's supposed to be some of the best vegetarian Indian food in Tameside (not that I know of anywhere else )

Ray

Quote from: Whandsy on December 28, 2011, 02:23 PM
Maybe a load of cr0 members been stocking up haha

I think that it is just me and you Wayne from this neck of the woods.  Thanks for saving me a journey to ASM though, seeing as though you've got the last one

Ray

Hi CA,

Quote from: Cory Ander on December 28, 2011, 05:33 AM

Why do BIRs (and we) add oil to their (and our) curry bases?

I've always supposed that oil is added primarily as a medium to extract the flavours (i.e. the organic essential oils) from the spices and to maybe "fry" the onions (and other veggies) to make them sweet.

Perhaps this isn't the case and oil needn't be added to a curry base at all?

Any thoughts anyone?

PS:  It appears that Julian also adds either onion powder or garlic powder to his curry base (something that he doesn't otherwise disclose - one of his "secrets", perhaps?).  I suspect it's garlic powder (from it's appearance and wetting properties).

My thoughts would be the same as yours CA but Julians base is quite different, as his "1st cook stage", is done with oil as the main wet ingredient, water being added as little more more than a gesture..!  Yes, further water is going to be released from the onions and to a point, the other veg.  The other thing to note is, I should imagine that the water content will evaporate somewhat, especially as it appears that he doesn't cook his base with a lid.  Using oil instead of water should reduce the amount of evaporation and, retain pretty much all of the flavour of the veg?  Of course, this is speculative on my part as I don't know for sure if that would be the case but it seems feasible?

It's no coincidence that the two "professional" base gravy's that have been videoed on cr0 (c2g and Dipuraja) show a very large amount of veg to liquid ratio, both pots being massively overloaded.  Do any of you guys do this? I mean, do any of us over fill the pot so that as the last ingredients go in, you're having to balance them on the top?  I know I don't.  I have also seen this in my local TA, there must be some reason for this.

As for the the white powder, he does mention salt in the narration but it doesn't look like salt to me, it does look like garlic powder.  Garlic powder does take some time to disperse in water, and in the video, it is the only powder that still stays quite lumpy, so garlic powder would be my guess?

Ray

Hi Les

I take it that you have written the spices in the same order that they appeard on the packaging?

Ray

Hi Coffee,

Quote from: coffee on December 27, 2011, 06:34 PM
when opening the box the gm which is an a polythene bag smells quite strong with the emphasis on the cloves/star anise  side of things- smells more chinese than indian.

That is exactly how I would describe the smell of Rajah garam masala, I wonder if they are similar?

Ray

And now I'm going to add even more confusion with another conflicting viewpoint ;D

I would say that family and friends are IDEAL, when it comes to getting an honest opinion of one of our dishes, as Spiceyokooko shows with his dad.

I know that all my brothers and sisters are very blunt and straight talking and call a spade a spade.  Most of my friends are the same.  If my bro in law says to me that my bhuna is the best he's ever tasted, I know that that is what he believes.  This is the guy that told me on my wedding day (to my 1st wife) that she wasn't what you'd call a stunner is she?   and she wasn't (neither was I though :)

The other thing to remember about family and friends is, they are mostly local to you and therefor, there is a very good chance that their tastes are very similar to your own with regards to BIR/TA dishes.  When they make nice comments, they are infact measuring them (the curries) against the same/similar yardstick as yourself!

On the other hand, having your dishes judge by a fellow amateur chef, from a different area, with a different goal than your own, is fraught with problems.  "The Madras has got lemon juice in it but it doesn't have it in my fav TA", is just one example of how wrong it can go.  The regional differences will always be the hurdle to get over and that's never going to happen, IMO.  The only way a member will ever tick all the boxes for everyone is to make a dish that is the best that anyone has ever tasted, regardless of how it compares to the same dish from your region, somehow, I can't ever see that happening......can you?

Ray

Hi Phil,

Quote from: Phil (Chaa006) on December 26, 2011, 01:56 PM
Mind you, my present to Khanh is all set to keep us both happy and entertained over the holiday : the 8-DVD Harry Potter set !

My eldest son bought me a box set with a very similar name "Mary Potter and the philosophers Bone"

Should keep me busy over the holidays too  ;D

Ray

Hi Julian,

Many thanks for answering the questions mate.  So just to be clear, are you using Rajah in the videos then>

Quote from: curry2gochorley on December 26, 2011, 12:43 AM
I'm From Manchester so could never support Man U!   

Tut tut tut, I'm an Audenshaw lad and have been a Red all my life (even when we were sh**) I go to most games but not away, not anymore.  That said, think I'll pay a visit to the City of Manchester council tax payers stadium, in Jan.  See if we can overturn that shocking 1-6 wollopin you lot gaves us

Joking aside mate, I'm loving what you're doing with the videos, and have bookmarked your webpage too.  Next time I'm on the way to Blackpool or camping in Croston, I may drop in to c2go

Ray

Anyone know where I can get hold of the flat skewers (seekhs) that he uses?  I've trawled the net but nowt!  The best that I can come up with are Persian skewers, the like that you would use for making kubedeh?

Any thoughts anyone?

Ray