I came out of wartime Britain, where the food was just @*:-X*@ and had my first real curry in London (Chittagong Restaurant, West Brompton) in 1960 and became an instant addict.
Since that time I must have eaten thousands of curries: in Britain, India, France
, Germany, USA, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, HK, Japan, Korea and even in Romania (the very worst).
The best Indian curry ever was in Muthus Singapore ( http://muthuscurry.com/flash ) and all this time I have been trying, as people do here, to reproduce the 'authentic restaurant taste'. I have followed Madhoor Jaffrey and produced pleasant-tasting dishes that quite remind me of curry, but they do not have 'the taste' I crave. I thought I was onto something when I got Chris Dhillon's "Curry Secret" but his curries don't make it in my hands - and I notice he doesn't fry his spices - adding raw cumin, garam marsalla and mehti leaves almost at the very end.
What I always noticed was the slightly BURNED taste that good curries often have. And, when you walk into a restaurant that has poor ventilation, the air smells of deliciously singed spices!
I am a newcomer here so I shall show deference and I come here hoping to be educated.
I make one observation: any good dish must have both taste and aroma just right. We talk a lot about taste (what the tongue does: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, hot) but far less about aroma. Many chefs get the taste balance right but they murder the aroma by destroying the spices and herbs with heat (Italian chefs are the worst: and they compensate by loudly [and threateningly] praising their food just before you eat it!).
Chinese chefs get a special taste and aroma on food by their 'flambe' technique wherein they literally set their wok on fire!
My question is: how do Indian chefs get that slightly burned taste and aroma into the good curries?
Since that time I must have eaten thousands of curries: in Britain, India, France
, Germany, USA, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, HK, Japan, Korea and even in Romania (the very worst).The best Indian curry ever was in Muthus Singapore ( http://muthuscurry.com/flash ) and all this time I have been trying, as people do here, to reproduce the 'authentic restaurant taste'. I have followed Madhoor Jaffrey and produced pleasant-tasting dishes that quite remind me of curry, but they do not have 'the taste' I crave. I thought I was onto something when I got Chris Dhillon's "Curry Secret" but his curries don't make it in my hands - and I notice he doesn't fry his spices - adding raw cumin, garam marsalla and mehti leaves almost at the very end.
What I always noticed was the slightly BURNED taste that good curries often have. And, when you walk into a restaurant that has poor ventilation, the air smells of deliciously singed spices!
I am a newcomer here so I shall show deference and I come here hoping to be educated.
I make one observation: any good dish must have both taste and aroma just right. We talk a lot about taste (what the tongue does: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, hot) but far less about aroma. Many chefs get the taste balance right but they murder the aroma by destroying the spices and herbs with heat (Italian chefs are the worst: and they compensate by loudly [and threateningly] praising their food just before you eat it!).
Chinese chefs get a special taste and aroma on food by their 'flambe' technique wherein they literally set their wok on fire!
My question is: how do Indian chefs get that slightly burned taste and aroma into the good curries?