Quote from: fried on October 09, 2012, 07:50 PM

Quote from: 976bar on October 09, 2012, 07:18 PM

Quote from: fried on October 09, 2012, 07:07 PM
I live in Paris and my local Indian area is around Gare de Nord which is a Tamil community. Every time I go to one of the supermarket this curry powder is stacked to the sky in large jars.

I assume it's being used in the local restaurants too, which although not BIR do good dosai and other south Indian stuff well.

Hi Fried,

Go get some, maybe it is or maybe it is not used in BIR and who is to say that they have visited every BIR restaurant's kitchen's in the country to know any different??.....

I think we sometimes get a little fixed on this forum as to what should be/what shouldn't be used to make a BIR curry...... but to be honest, no one can say for sure 100% what is used in every restaurant.... otherwise every single curry would taste the same from Penzance to John O'Groats, which we know is not true...

Just like every other cuisine in this world, culinary exploratory will be a never ending story

I think you might be reading a little more into my post than I intended.

I've seen this stuff for a long time and I have nothing against using it except it's sold in 1kg jars (and I generally prefer to grind and mix my own spices).

I have absolutely no BIR to grind and since I haven't lived in the U.K for the best part of 15 years, have no idea what it actually tastes like. I'll add what I like to whatever dish I like.

I was more interested in the fact that your chef was Sri Lanki and if there was some connection with the use of this curry powder in the Tamil community. A good Dosa is hard to beat.

I'll have to ask him and come back to you

Quote from: Phil [Chaa006] on October 09, 2012, 07:28 PM

Quote from: 976bar on October 09, 2012, 07:09 PM
4 Parts Suryaa Curry powder as the recipe reads above for the spice mix.

The Garlic Chili Chicken recipe calls for 1 tsp curry masala (spice mix) and 1 tsp curry powder (in this case I used TRS Madras Hot Curry powder.

Ah, in that case it can't be UB's recipe, so I must be looking in the wrong place : which Garlic Chili Chicken recipe are you using, Bob ?

QuoteCurry night again on Thursday Phil if you are interested/around.....

Sadly still can't make it, as car died on Sunday in Camberley (clutch bearing failure, new clutch and slave cylinder needed).  Possibly next week, if car repaired or loan car supplied, but Khanh may be coming home from Abu Dhabi for a week, in which case it might not be diplomatic to absent myself for a day !

** Phil.

No Phil,

Not UB's wonderful recipe but just my take on it...

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=8362.0

If you can make it at some stage just give me a few day's notice

Quote from: fried on October 09, 2012, 07:07 PM
I live in Paris and my local Indian area is around Gare de Nord which is a Tamil community. Every time I go to one of the supermarket this curry powder is stacked to the sky in large jars.

I assume it's being used in the local restaurants too, which although not BIR do good dosai and other south Indian stuff well.

Hi Fried,

Go get some, maybe it is or maybe it is not used in BIR and who is to say that they have visited every BIR restaurant's kitchen's in the country to know any different??.....

I think we sometimes get a little fixed on this forum as to what should be/what shouldn't be used to make a BIR curry...... but to be honest, no one can say for sure 100% what is used in every restaurant.... otherwise every single curry would taste the same from Penzance to John O'Groats, which we know is not true...

Just like every other cuisine in this world, culinary exploratory will be a never ending story

Quote from: Phil [Chaa006] on October 09, 2012, 07:03 PM
I shall look for that the next time I am in Ashford (trip to Shanghai cancelled : cat unwell), but can you clarify one thing ?

Quote from: 976bar on October 09, 2012, 06:49 PM
The spice mix is as follows

8 parts coriander
7 parts turmeric
5 parts cumin
4 parts (Suryaa Curry powder)
...
I did use the TRS (Madras Hot Curry Powder) for the curry powder input, but what a wonderful flavour this curry powder gives

So did you use 4 parts Suryaa Curry powder or 4 parts TRS (Madras Hot Curry Powder), and if the latter, how did you experience the wonderful flavour that the Suryaa Curry powder gives ?

** Phil.

4 Parts Suryaa Curry powder as the recipe reads above for the spice mix.

The Garlic Chili Chicken recipe calls for 1 tsp curry masala (spice mix) and 1 tsp curry powder (in this case I used TRS Madras Hot Curry powder.

Curry night again on Thursday Phil if you are interested/around.....

This week I am putting on..

Garlic Chili Chicken
Chicken Tikka Chasni
Keema Stuffed Peppers (with Quorn/Soya mince) for the vegetarians
Tarka Dhal
And the usual other stuff, rice, onion bhajis, poppadoms, naan breads, Roti's, Coriander Chutney and all the other raita's/chutney's etc etc..

Has anyone come across this before?

The Sri Lankan Chef who works at the Uni bought this in over the weekend, it's what they use to make their curries. I made a spice mix today with it and then we made a Garlic Chili Chicken Masala with it. It's a roasted Curry Powder and is wonderful.

The spice mix is as follows

8 parts coriander
7 parts turmeric
5 parts cumin
4 parts (Suryaa Curry powder)
2 tsp Methi Leaves
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Ginger Powder

The Garlic Chili Chicken did not contain Chicken Tikka (As I did not have any prepared today as not needed) so we just used diced chicken breast using the normal recipe I use on here.

I did use the TRS (Madras Hot Curry Powder) for the curry powder input, but what a wonderful flavour this curry powder gives

Funnily enough we only made a pan full of this dish as I was showing the other staff how BIR is done on a one to one scale rather than a 30kg pan full, and even the vegetarian chef's amongst us were taking a ladle of the sauce to pour over their vegetables at lunch time. I'll never trust another vegetarian again!!  ;D ;D

If you can get your hands on this stuff give it a go

Funnily enough, one of the Chef's I work with is from Sri Lanka (Ceylon), and has actually been learning BIR curries from me and he loves them. We have been getting to know each other and he has said that his mum has taught him how to make Sri Lankan Curries like she makes back home. He tells me that when they cook a curry it is in 2 stages, a bit like a (Proper) Rogan Josh, in that they boil/simmer the the first mixture, like onions/garlic/ginger/seeds etc etc, then they make a 2nd curry which is fried onions amongst other stuff, I cannot remember much of it as his English is limited, but he has promised to show me how a traditional Sri Lankan Curry is made which I cannot wait to learn

I am going to try and get this done this week, then will report back

He bought in some curry powder which smells amazing which he get's in Southall, I'll find out the name of this tomorrow and post a picture

Quote from: Phil [Chaa006] on October 05, 2012, 11:32 PM

Quote from: 976bar on October 05, 2012, 08:21 PM
The rawness you are getting is (I believe) not cooking the spices thoroughly before adding other ingredients. There is a difference of opinion on this forum of whether to add the diluted tomato puree/paste before adding the spices or after.

I definitely choose the latter, so oil, G&G (unless you are cooking onions/peppers etc, which you would soften through first) then the spice mix and chili powder, (if you want you can add any further spices/leaves later on, but I feel that the spice mix and chili powder needs to be cooked through prior to adding the tomato puree/paste.

You'll know when you have it right, because when you add the tomato paste, and stir it in the spice mix, the aroma of the spice mix & chili will hit the back of your throat and make you cough and your eyes will water, if you don't get this then I don't think you have cooked the spices quite long enough. They should just be on the point of singeing and to get this right you will need to cook quite a few curries in order to achieve the rightness (if that is the right word to use) prior to adding the tomato paste/puree.

The mixture should then produce quite a lot of steam/smoke as the tomato paste/puree briefly cools the spice mixture and then starts to heat rapidly and will then burn the spices as it gathers heat, so have a good ladle of base ready to add about 30 seconds after adding the tomato paste/puree.

Although my technique is the same as yours, Bob, I don't get "spice mix & chili hitting the back of my throat and making me cough and my eyes water".  I suspect that this is because (in deference in SWMBO) I try, as far as possible, to avoid splashing while cooking curries, and I therefore tend to cook at a fairly moderate heat.  But as I also don't get the taste of raw (or even slightly raw) spices in my curries, I do believe that the "spice mix & chili hitting the back of your throat and making you cough and your eyes water" is not essential -- cooking the spices properly is, but the side effects are not.  IMVHO, of course.

** Phil.

No, Indeed, you do not need to cook the spices to the point of getting hit in the back of the throat, but the point I was trying to get over is that you do need to cook the spices through thoroughly so as to avoid a rawness in the final dish.

Quote from: chillihothot on October 05, 2012, 08:59 PM
Interesting, thankyou. Spices are most certainly cooked (fried, but not burned) before adding any puree.
The base recipe I got from a Taz mod (the rick stein one I believe). Having tried other bases this one was the one I enjoy the most.

What I 'm experiencing isnt a "rawness" as such, but like Phil says, that lack of maturity/smoothness.

Don't get me wrong I'm very happy with where I'm at by and large, its more about the finer tuning now that gets really tricky.

Ok, but I am failing to understand here, how Rick Stein has inspired you to a BIR base somehow.... maybe I have missed something from the cooker of Fish.....

I also have to say that my eldest daughter, a Korma Eater!! will not order a Korma anymore from where she lives as she can now produce a better one herself....

We can only thank this forum for that

Quote from: Aussie Mick on April 26, 2012, 04:59 PM
Thanks for sharing that SD.

I was never a HUGE fan of really hot curries, but Chewy's Madras is among my favourites that I cook up. It's always a challenge for me, but so addictive, i keep going back for more. ( I must be toughening up.HA!)

We had an Anzac DayBBQ at a friends place yesterday. he asked me to bring a couple of curries down for yet more people to try.....and guess what? Chewys Madras was the most popular. The intersting thing was that there were a few Aussies there too. This is the first time that an Australian (born and bred) has tried my curries, and they were seriously impressed.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. THANK YOU people for sharing this knowledge.

Hi Mick,

I have to admit that in the past 5 or so years my chili tolerance has depleted somewhat and I now opt for a milder curry. However, (for me personally) I believe that it's the taste in the curry and not necessarily the heat that needs to "define" a dish.

Nowadays, as opposed to years gone by, when you ordered a Madras, it came out from the Kitchen as a standard, and you had that dish, no matter how hot it was and you ate it.

In today's Indian restaurants, when ordering, a lot of waiters ask you, "How hot would you like that?"

So, I believe that a Madras and other dishes can be produced for their individual taste and adjust the heat level to suit the individual...

Whereas, anything above a Madras, i.e. a Vindaloo/Phal/Berkshire Fire Eater clearly has a label stamped on it and is for the asbestos stomach's amongst us in this forum and elsewhere!!  ;D ;D