Quote from: Razor on December 11, 2011, 09:24 PM
Hi emin-j,

I agree with Chewy, kashmiri mirch and Kashmiri chilli powder are the same thing, at least that's what I believe? However, the brand really is the difference. MDH kashmiri mirch (not to be confused with MDH deggi mirch, which to me, seems hotter..!) is just about the best that I have come across.  Really red in colour and warm but not 'mad' hot that's why I get away with 3 tsp's in my madras.

I did try another brand not long ago, can't even remember the name but it was utter junk, and went sraight in the bin after 1 outing.

Again,

QuoteI only use 1 tsp of spice mix in my madras.

Any more than that would, I should imagine, darken the sauce somewhat?

Ray

Hi Razor,
I would think you are using quite a highly Spiced Base to be able to use only 1 tsp of mix ?

atb.

Quote from: chewytikka on December 11, 2011, 07:54 PM
Hi emin-j,
The next time you make a base garabi, only add Salt and Tumeric and a Chef's spoon of Tomato Puree
after you've blended it and put it on the second boil/simmer.

Thinned right down with water this will give you a bright yellow base garabi, even if you leave it on
simmer for ages. (M&S do a very light Italian Tomato Puree. Excellent).

Any mixed powder will colour and darken any garabi, especially if its got garam masala in it.

Kashmiri Mirch is Kashmiri Chilli powder, one in the same and Its my preferred chilli powder (MDH)

Cheers Chewy

Thanks' Chewy,
I don't have a problem with any of the Base Gravy's I have made they all turn out a yellowy colour but the final curry ends up quite brown in colour compared to my local t/a (well 2 t/a's ) and the Gravy in their curry's is light in texture,orange and very savoury.

Quote from: Razor on December 11, 2011, 01:46 PM
Hi emin-j,

The IG bhajis wre great at the time Axe posted them and really showed the perfect technique however, Chriswg developed it further using a combination of the Dipuraja bhaji and the IG bhaji and came up with this https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=5057.0

Now I've made these a thousand times and each batch has been perfect and bettered a good 95% of the TA bhajis around these parts.

Chris does mention further down in the thread that he thinks the addition of the lemon juice is a mistake based on a coversation he had with a TA chef, so leave that out.  I don't bother to add any asafoteda either but maybe you would like to?

As for the actual curry, my base is a light orange colour to start with but when I make a madras, I only add 1 tsp of gg paste, 1 tsp of spice mix, a good chefspoon of diluted tom puree (1:3 ratio of water), and 2-3 tsp of

QuoteKashmiri mirch

. This gives my curry a very orange colour and the oil is almost red!  I've also started to add 1 star anise as soon as the oil goes in the pan but fishing it out before I plate up.  It's a little twist that really does add something to my Madras and almost replicates my local TA's Madras

FYI,

The base gravy I'm using is Chewys 3 hr base; https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=5635.0

The spice mix is my own https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4706.0

Hope that helps mate?

Ray

Hi Ray,
Yes it is the Bhaji recipe I use that you have linked to and although they are probably the best flavoured Bhaji's I have made they are still nowhere near as good as our local t/a but the owner did tell me they fry their Bhaji's in Veg Ghee and not Oil but I'm not keen on that  I also noticed you say you use 2-3 spoons of Kashmiri Mirch and this is something I have never used and I can see how adding this should give an Orange colour so I'll be looking out for some,thanks' for the link to your spice mix will be giving this a go soon 

I do have this Ray ?

Quote from: martinvic on December 11, 2011, 01:32 PM
What spice mix are you using and what colour is it?

Only asking because the spice mixes I have used have all been quite light in colour, from yellow to light orange.
So that, with the yellowish base, doesn't turn the curry brown.
Then adding Kashmiri + ordinary chilli powder, in itself gives a nice colour without using food colouring.

Plus haven't heard of anyone colouring their base, I thought any colouring is only added to the curry you are cooking?

Martin

Hi Martin,
I am currently using CA's spice mix plus I have added  2tbs of Rajah curry powder and 1/2 tbs of Garam Masala ,the spice mix is Orange in colour.Reading this post plus Razors it seems you both use Kashmiri Mirch whereas I have been using Kashmiri Chili which I believe is something different.

Quote from: Whandsy on December 11, 2011, 12:37 PM
Hi Emin-j
Have you tried these Bhajis
https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4443.0

If you look further down the 1st page there is a scaled down version of it and it's the one I now use. I find that recipe leaves the Bhaji a tad try so I add 2 dessert spoons of natural yogurt to it. I also use three quarters of a tsp of star anise pounded in a pestle and mortar instead of aniseed powder or fennel seeds.
As for the cooking, I have one of those cheap deep fat fryers that allow temperature control and so for 5 mins I cook them at 150c rotating them all the time and then crank them up to about 175c until they're the right colour. This cooks them all the way through.
This thread shows my results
https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=6343.0
I think these are equal and better to a lot of takeaways

regards

Wayne

Hi Wayne, Yes it is the IG Bhaji's I am currently making and I do use the Aniseed seeds plus some Cumin seeds but nothing comes close to our local t/a's 
The owner did tell me they fry their Bhaji's in Veg Gee  not sure I'm keen on trying that though !

Hi all,
Made my usual Madras,Onion Bhaji's,Pilau Rice and Bombay Aloo last night but this time used fresh Garlic & Ginger  (lately been using frozen for convenience) plus added two tbs of Rajah Curry Powder and 1/2 tbs Garam Massala to CA's Spice Mix.
The Curry was good but not as good as our local t/a.
The Bhaji's were OK but not as good as our local t/a.
The Rice was good but not as good as our local t/a.
The Bombay Aloo was better than our local t/a  ;D
Have tried all methods,different Bases,different Spice Mixes etc etc  :
The odd occasion I have bettered our local t/a Curry but I just can't seem to match their Savoury flavour in such a light tasting Sauce,what I mean by light is the consistency plus the local t/a's seem more Orange coloured to my Brown  I have used Orange food colouring in the Base Sauce which did give the Base a nice Orange colour but once the Spice Mix is added to the final Curry it turns Brown !
This makes me think that the majority of the flavour comes from the Base and as most Base Sauces tend to be Yellow in Colour they only add minimal Spicing (Chili and ? ) to end up with the Orangey colour.
I seem to have tried most permutations of ingredients and methods but to match the depth of flavour I have to Spice the final Curry quite heavily (1tbs of Mix powder) but this results in a bit of a heavyish Brown Sauce.
Just seem to be running out of idea's   

Quote from: loveitspicy on December 07, 2011, 09:58 PM

Quote from: emin-j on December 07, 2011, 07:57 PM

Quote from: loveitspicy on December 06, 2011, 10:18 PM
Using Bhaji oil doesn't make a great deal of difference we use it all the time - however it is two fold - ie; it does add a little flavour to the oil which must impart into the cooking of the curry an secondly it helps use up the oil used to make the bahji's

Quoteinstead of throwing it away after one use

best, Rich

One use ? 

Ie; you cant use it for your egg and chips - and those who don't make curries all the time usually throw out oil that has a smell - sacrilege!!

I have my own Mini Fryer for Bhaji's only and have used the Oil in Base and final Curry's but if I'm honest it doesn't seem to make much of a difference to the flavour and the Aroma from the simmering base isn't all that great either 

Nice Post Whandsy  I had a similar experience to yourself some time ago with similar findings,keep up the good work 

Quote from: loveitspicy on December 06, 2011, 10:18 PM
Using Bhaji oil doesn't make a great deal of difference we use it all the time - however it is two fold - ie; it does add a little flavour to the oil which must impart into the cooking of the curry an secondly it helps use up the oil used to make the bahji's

Quoteinstead of throwing it away after one use

best, Rich

One use ? 

Quote from: solarsplace on December 05, 2011, 07:26 PM
Hi Everyone

Glad you like the picture and brief report - hopefully you will be tempted to try Curry2Go's Vindaloo for yourselves too! - The only thing I can offer as advice at this stage is to consider that less is probably more when in comes to the cardamom powder

Seriously though, no photo adjustment was used in the image. I always add tandoori masala in my tom-puree mix (I believe Curry2Go does too) - maybe extra colour saturation is from there  :-X

This batch was made without spiced bhaji oil. I tried that before with the Curry Secrets book and was undecided at the time.

QuotePersonally I felt that the finished curry takes on a sticky (for want of better words) old chip shop oily background when using the second hand bhaji oil

- but thats based on very loose experiments.

Hopefully one of you chaps will go the bhaji oil route again and report back

All the best

Agree totally with that solarsplace