Quote from: livo on June 26, 2020, 12:56 AM
Back in 2014 I did a conversion of a traditional style Madras recipe from a book

No such thing as a traditional style Madras as it is a BIR invention. Unless you mean a curry form Madras which formed the basis for the BIR Madras?

Quote from: britishcurries on June 25, 2020, 08:21 PMCorrect me if I'm mistaken, but it is my understanding that fenugreek leaves/seeds (unsure which is preferable) and kashmiri chilli powder (I've also seen MDH Deggi Mirch Masala mentioned) are pretty important for chicken madras.

It depends what you're local is using as they don't all make them the same. Personally I don't like kashmiri chilli because it has a slightly bitter taste (some brands much worse than others ) that I haven't detected in any curry from a restaurant or takeaway. But I love deggi mirch for its flavour and colour.

Equally I can't abide the addition of lemon juice ... it was the eating of a sour madras in a restaurant that was the straw that broke the camel's back for me and I never ate takeaway or restaurant curries since. Others will say lemon juice is an absolute essential ... no accounting for taste.

Some may use kasoori methi and some may not but you have to try that if you haven't already. Fenugreek seeds or powder have no discernable effect on the flavour for me but Phil and others swear by them. Go figure!

Quote from: romain on June 26, 2020, 03:29 AMI don't understand why anyone would want their emulsification to break like this and spoon the oil off (unless calories were more important than flavour). You aren't just lifting calories. All the flavour from the spice infused oil is lost as well.

There's nothing inherently wrong with adding an excess of oil. Indeed I would argue that an excess is required to achieve a BIR result. I do spoon off all excess when the curry has cooked though (oil separation a must as an indicator of doneness) and use this as my spiced oil rather than creating a batch from fresh. So the spice infused oil is not "lost" it is reused.

Quote from: Peripatetic Phil on June 26, 2020, 03:19 PM(The scientist in me keeps repeating "change only one parameter at a time").

Amen to that!

As regards the oil on the base why don't you either:

a) spoon it off before using the base (it can of course be reused so no waste) and/or
b) give the base a good stir each time before use to distribute what oil there is uniformly throughout the base?

Of those two pictures, which one is representative of the true colour of the curry? Oh, and for goodness sake Phil, spoon some of that oil off before serving it!

On a broader note, has anyone tried using the dry-fry mix powder technique on their usual mix powder rather than Syed's and using that to make what was your previous best (non Syed) curry? If that doesn't make your previous best curry noticeably better then it would suggest the dry-fry method is a red herring.

Or indeed a non dry-fried Syed mix powder could be tried in one of his curries and compared to the same curry with the dry-fry Mix powder.

I have a feeling that any differences that may be noticeable when using the dry-fried Syed mix powder will be down to the actual contents of it, rather than the dry-fry, lacking curry powder as an ingredient as it does compared to nearly all other mix powders.

I personally don't use ghee at all in curries as I can't tell any difference from plain veg oil and it is relatively expensive compared to, say, rapeseed oil. Seasoned oil on the other hand is absolutely essential as one component of the BIR flavour and aroma (IMO) so I always use that.

I can't say that I've ever seen a BIR curry with whole garlic cloves in it. Do they break down during cooking or stay whole?

Andy 1211, did you sort it? Genuinely intrigued as to what went wrong.

Quote from: livo on June 22, 2020, 11:42 AMPS. Santa, the Syed Chicken Rogon may not be how you make Rogon Josh and it certainly isn't Authentic Kashmiri Lamb RJ, but you really do need to give this dish a go. It is great.

Yes, I don't doubt it's a good curry and I'll eventually get around to making it. Probably with your micro version of the base. It was the idea that a RJ is a bhuna with a topping ... nahh!