When I make dhansak it is never as strongly lentil tasting as the curry house version, so I wondered if I was using the wrong type of lentil. I've tried masoor dhal and chana dhal but neither seem to work. If I taste them after they have been cooked on their own they don't have a very strong flavour. Anyone got any ideas?

No mate, you're getting confused, you were actually in Kentucky Fried Curry, it's the new Bangladeshi franchise run by Colonel Sikhander. Taking fusion food to the next level.? ??
You may have seen their recent advert for a family balti with six free pakora dippers, and who can forget their slogan 'it's ladies fingers lickin good'.? (It helps to know that Balti means bucket?and ladies fingers are okra )
P.S. If i see any Kentucky Fried Curry chains opening, I want royalties!

Now why would you use raw garlic to give an onion smell? Pureed raw onion surely. When I first read this I thought the cholesterol from all those vindaloos had finally got as far as your brain, but thinking a bit more, I use raw garlic when I make guacamole and it's lovely. However I still think it's unlikely. Raw garlic can give some people chronic heart burn, but I'm not one of them so I might just try a teaspoon or two next curry.

Quote from: pete on June 05, 2005, 08:45 AM
He said any extra chicken flavour came from this soup.

I can't imagine under what conditions 'extra' chicken flavour would be needed?

QuoteYou will clearly get a tandoor flavour in your chicken tikka masala, as the chicken was cooked in the tandoor, but I don't get why it's in even the veg and dhall curries?

The only other idea I can think of is that perhaps some tikka marinade is fiercely fried at the start of making the final curry. I can't imagine it giving a smoky flavour, but who knows? Kris Dhillon suggests putting a teaspoon of tikka marinade in her madras recipe.

Quote from: blade1212 on June 04, 2005, 01:57 PM
Sorry guys, but the constant exposure to spices has cooked your brains. I'll bite my k*ob if this has any bearing on BIRs

I'm tempted to do a tour of my local curry houses until I find one that cooks the onions this way just so I can video your contortions.? I should be able to sell the vid and get a tandoor.?

Anyhow I didn't say that this was what they did, I just proposed the most plausible possible method out of some of the weird ideas we've had recently to get this smoky flavour inrto the curry. Personally I can't even relate to this smoky smell/flavour that some people are talking about. I think it takes us back to the 'describe the taste' thread. It's almost impossible to do. One persons' smoky might be another persons bitter for example! A weak example but you get the idea.

Quote from: Dylan on June 03, 2005, 04:11 PM
I reckon you could get a smoky/charcoal type (like a tandoor) by shoving some halved onions on a skewer and cooking them on the barbecue. Then use these onions to make the curry base. Sounds a bit eccentric but might be worth a try. Next time ive got the barbie fired up...

I think this is the most plausible idea so far. If the curry houses pre-cook their onions on a skewer in the tandoor there would be a double effect. The onions would burn very slightly and the tandoor smoke would infuse into them, both giving a smokey flavour. If these are then used in the base, or are perhaps used for the very well fried onions added at later stages I'm sure this would have the desired effect. It certainly would be no real extra effort for the chefs. Perhaps those of you who have contacts could find out if this is normal practice?

Quote from: Blondie on June 03, 2005, 04:34 PM
I have experimented in a simillar way with different ingredients that have an aniseedy taste (ie fennel, star anise etc) because my favourite BIR definately has that taste but I can't reproduce it.

A book I had some years ago used celeriac in the base. At the time I thought it wasn't a good idea so never tried it, but celeriac has a very aniseedy flavour so perhaps this is what you need.

I just went and had a good sniff of my little tub of black cardamoms. It's a lovely smell but it's not anything like I've ever smelled in a finished curry. But the smell is coming from the husk of the cardamom, so if that's what you want I suggest you grind a few to a powder, probably without the seeds and sprinkle that into your curry at the very last moment. Or, try briefly frying the same powder in oil so as not to burn it and then mix it through your finished curry once it's off the heat. This is the tarka method, usually used in tarka dhall.

I use a hand blender and it does take a little longer than a liquidiser, but that's easily offset by not having to pour it into a jug then pour it out again and having to do this a couple of times because it doesn't all fit into the liquidiser.

Blimey, first Pete reckons it could be tandoori smell infusing into the base and now Ian S reckons they are using tandoori bones for the curry gravy!. You'll be telling us next that they re-use the bones from customers left over tandoori chicken?

I'm open minded but I think we're stretching the limits of possibility here.

Dylan, no the tandoors don't have drip trays.

Quote from: pete on February 27, 2005, 09:58 AM
I like the way that the pre-fried onions seem to disappear into the base sauce

So there are no noticable onion pieces in the finished curry?

Is this because the onions are so well cooked that they are very soft?