Well done PC!

Which Rajah curry powder?

They make big bags of masalla, which JUST contains the other ingredients listed above: corriander, cumin, paprika & turmeric!  No point in adding that 'cos thery're all included above!

I heard mention of 'Rajah Gold' on Cr0, but cannot find it anywhere.

I've been using Rajah mild madras curry powder to mix with the other ingredients, it does contain things other than just the 'big $' listed above, so presumably it adds something.

I must admit that I tend to agree with SnS:  Every time a curry dish is prepared from pre-made base, spices are fried in oil, thus producing  freshly flavoured oil within that particualr dish on each occassion.  And also why take out oil produced in the base only to add it back again to final dish if it's reused?  And as SnS says, if its all lft in the base, provided the base is well stirred (to off-set the effects of any localized separation), there will be equal amounts of the origanal flavoured oil in each portion of base!

It was interesting to note that JerryM felt that a long simmer didn't adversely effect flavour.

I'm not a fan of Pataks either.

Did a back to back trail of Pataks and Ferns Tandoori paste when I was feeling lazy recently, Ferns easily better!

Hi Vivienne!

I can only add my gratitude to that of everyone else here.  I only found this site as a result of typing 'Bruce Edwards' into Google!

I really, REALLY hope Bruce find a publisher and gets the recognition he deserves.

Call me a cynic, but I wonder WHY Bruce didn't receive any communication from his many fans through Pat Chapman's Curry Club? On page one of this thread someone coined the term 'Charleton', I wonder who he meant?  Not the Best-selling author of many crap books purporting to hold the secret of BIR cookery perchance??  I always thought his recipies were crap anyway, nothing like Bruce's recipies which are the 'real thing'!  And just in case my comments are libelous, I must point out that my comments do not necessarily reflect the official view of Cr0!!!

There is something that's been bothering me for some time....

Much is spoken about on Cr0 about 'oil reclaim' when making a curry base.  It seems that quite a few people reclaim the oil from their base either for use in preparation of the final curry, or simply to produce a less greasy product.

This oil reclaim seems to be achieved by one of two methods, or a combination of them:-

   -Making sure the base is quite runny, so the oil rises.

   -Simmering for several hours after the pureeing stage, the point in the process
    where the mixture is often skimmed.

It seems to me, that the majority of the bases popular here (with at least one notable exception), have a 'tarka' stage in which some material is fried in oil (often tomarto, tomarto puree and spices, and sometimes the garlic and ginger also), and then added to the boiling onion (pepper, carrot, celery, salad, spud, cabbage, whatever).

At least some of the received wisdom, Bruce Edwards would be a good example, states the the skimming and simmering after the addition of tarka should not be too protracted or there is a negative imapact on flavour.  Indeed he goes as far as saying that the whole cooking pot should be cooled in cold water as soon as the final stage is complete, to make sure that the base cools as fast as possible.

My point is this: surely if over cooking damages flavour, why boil the hell out of it for 3 hours just to get back some oil??

I'd be interested to know what everyone thinks about this?

I used to make a 'bog standard' KD base, the oil always came up toward the end,  These days I make a modified one using some extra spice, and also capsicum, celery and carrot.  However now the oil does not rise, EVEN THOUGH THE BASE IS JUST AS RUNNY AS BEFORE!  I've never worked out why?

I mentioned here before that many years ago I was lucky enough to see a demo.  The chef started by swirling small amount of oil round a hot pan, and tipping it all out, leaving just a thin film on the pan.  Yet when the curry was finished, there was the usual large quantity of oil floating on top!  Now this could only have come from the base, so presumably they did not reclaim their oil in that establishment, I still go that that place, The Zari, Ifield, Crawley; and I would place it above average!

I'd be grateful for your thoughts!

Old thread this, but I'll try ....

I only read this today, I've make a lot of madras/vindaloo BIR style cuury.

I'd been racking my brains for ages trying to get the correct sour taste.. I'd tried lemon juice, lime juice, cider vinigar, tamaring puree; non gave the correct flavour.

Before reading this (honest) I tried a few tbs of the juice from tinned plum tomartos, and found it gave pretty much exactly the flavour I was trying to achieve!!

So you can immagine how happy I was to have this coroborated by an independant curry fiend!

In my opinion your 3 or tbs of pureed tinned toms is spot on!!!

Many years ago I watched a curry-house chef knock-up a Madras for me (it may have been a Vindaloo though, I can't quite remember).  This was in the Gatwick Tandoori, Ifield Crawley, now called the 'Zari'.

He did not use any chopped onion, garlic, ginger or tomarto puree.  I would think that chopped onion would be essential in something like a Bhuna, and probably also the garlic, ginger and tomarto puree, if there is not enough in the oringinal base.  I would not have thought it necessary in a madras, but then I haven't tried it so who knows!

I do remember he included a 'shake' (and no more) of Lee & Perrins Worchester sauce.  Before he started cooking, he selected a frying pan and swirled it round with just a little oil.  I remember being suprised at this because the finished dish was quite oily.  This leads me to suspect that in that esatablishment at least, they never bothered to reclaim oil from the finished base, the extra oil present at the end having come from the base itself.

My method is based on his, plus certain additions I've learnt from else where (including this site!).  This feeds 2 hungery adults:

I heat 3tbs oil, fry a chopped chillie, and sometimes a small pinch dried curry leaves (not typically used in BIR as far as I can see), when the seeds from the chillie start to darken I add one ladle of base (my bases fall into the thin soup type catagory) and immediately add spices: 4 lev tps Bruce Edwards 'type 2 ' spice mix (his later type containing some commerical 'curry-powder'); 1/4 lev tps pre ground dried methi leaf (I grind a whole box full after I buy it in a spice grinder); 1/2 lev tps salt; 1 lev tps brown sugar; and chillie podwer to taste.

The intial ladle of base acts like making up a paste with the spices and water, it keeps the temperature from climbing TOO fast and burniung the spices.  This is something the chef did when I watched him.  I cook on high heat for about a minute 'till I get the 'toffee' smell, then add the chicken (I don't bother to pre-cook this as it only takes 10 mins to cook from fresh), I cook for a minute or to, then add the rest of the base (I use 400ml in total), I also add 1/4 tps Worchester Sauce and 3 or 4 tbs of the juice from a tin of plum tomartos, or  the tomartos blended with their juice.  I find this gives a curry-house style sourness, much more BIR-like than lemon juice / lime juice / tamarind puree or vinegar, all of which I've tried at some stage!  I cook for ten mins or so 'till the oil floats, and the pan contents have reduced to the correct consistancy, then add chopped corriander and serve!

Gona have it tonight actually!

In most base sauces, onions make up the BULK of the ingredients, with smaller quantities of: oil; garlic; ginger; some form of tomarto (tinned, puree or the 'real thing'); spice.  Some contain capsicum; celery; carrot; cabbage; potato.  But typically one per 10 to 20 onions!

I tried the pakistani curry gravy mentioned above, years ago when pat Chapmans first book came out.  It's Ok, but gives results nothing like a BIR curry.

Perhaps you're alergic to onions?  In which case you probably would not eat BIR food so you wouldn't miss it....

Smokenspices, I SO beg your pardon!  Really sorry, I'll read more carefully in future

A