Quote from: TheDirector on January 12, 2012, 08:55 PMCan anyone clarify this for me??

Hi there TheDirector

I obviously cannot speak for the original author of the recipe, and for 100% clarification the original author would need to confirm what was meant. But having read the recipe and if I was cooking this myself, I would assume that the 'Haldi Takeway spice Mix and 2 tsp of Extra Hot Chilli Powder are added at the point within the 'Method' that states "...Add the dry spices and stir continuously, making sure not to burn them".

I think this is a fairly safe assumption to make given that 1/ Nearly all finished dishes will include a 'Spice Mix' containing the spices in the Haldi Mix and that 2/ the author makes a specific reference to the type of Madras Curry Powder used in the recipe note.

Give it a twirl and see how it works out for you, it looks like a good recipe.

Quote from: abdulmohed2002 on January 11, 2012, 10:25 PM
Yes, I would call this extra step a Bhagar.

Abdul

I find your contributions here to be extremely useful, but you've confused me with this term.

Out of curiosity, why would you term this additional process a Bhagar? Surely it's more akin to the 'Bhoona' process of heating up hot oil, frying the garlic/ginger mix, then adding the ground spices and further ingredients?

Quote from: Jackh on January 10, 2012, 07:53 PM
I am confused. CA / Spicey surely you both must be wrong with your definition of Tarka.

Hi Jack

The term and definition of 'Tarka' is and can be confusing, which is why I stated in my definition that I much prefer the term 'tempering' to Tarka. The Problem is, Bargar, Bagar or whatever spelling you want to use and Tadka, or Tarka are interchangeable in terms of what the process is - extracting flavours from spices or ingredients through frying in hot oil, but they differ in terms of what you actually do with it after the process is completed.

With Bargar, you continue cooking the dish, with Tarka, you can add it as a 'tempering' to another dish as flavour as in the case of Dhal. Either way, you still start with frying spices or flavourings in hot oil, but you may add it to the end of cooking of something else.

This is precisely the reason I prefer the term Tempering to Tarka.

Quote from: Curry Barking Mad on January 10, 2012, 06:39 PM
Thank you for that thinly veiled attack 976 bar, you surprise me but no matter......

I think you'll find that was aimed at me, not you.

But as stated, it's water off a duck's back, it doesn't make the slightest bit of difference to me whatsoever. I will continue to express my opinions regardless of whose ego's might get bruised in the process - the forum is about discussion and learning, not dogma and ego protection.

The fact that some forum members see fit to post this kind of attitude in a thread welcoming someone new shows their own personal immaturity and puerility.

Nagaking, welcome to the forum.

Please join in the thread discussions as new input and opinions are desperately needed.

Quote from: DalPuri on January 10, 2012, 05:58 PM
i Did mean the base sauce and not an individual dish.

Aha! Then I don't really have a definitive answer. At a guess, I'd say because 1/ Tomatoes/puree don't need cooking for as long as the other ingredients and 2/ They're there primarily for colour and not flavour and that colour might be lost if they're cooked as long as the other ingredients.

Quote from: Cory Ander on January 10, 2012, 04:30 PMFor me, I consider this forum to be about sharing, debating and understanding.

That's what I thought too, but others seem to have different agendas.

This site is no different to any other male dominated discussion forum found all over the internet. Where testosterone rules, ego's will too.

Quote from: Cory Ander on January 10, 2012, 05:44 PM
Who says that "tomato puree" isn't "added with the other ingredients"?  Which base are we referring to here (definitely not all of them)?

I assumed he was referring to adding tomato puree to a dish rather than to a base? Unless I've assumed incorrectly?

Quote from: DalPuri on January 10, 2012, 04:50 PM
Does anybody know why tomato paste isn't added at the beginning with the other ingredients?

I don't know with any real certainty why, but I'm happy to give you my opinion as to why.

Tomato paste doesn't really add very much flavour to a dish over and above the sweetness obtained from caramelisation and for the colour it imparts to a dish. So you can't really cook tomato paste for any great length of time due to the risk of over-caramelising and burning it and turning the colour from a vibrant red (which seems in vogue for modern BIR dishes) to a brownish colour.

For those two reasons it needs to be cooked for a minimum amount of time before additional ingredients (base sauce eg) are added to stop the cooking process.

That's why I think you would start with your onion/garlic/ginger puree and/or chopped onions, fry those then add your tomato paste, then your spices, then your base.

It's down to being able to control the amount of time the tomato puree cooks for in my opinion.

Quote from: ELW on January 09, 2012, 04:15 PM
The lack of the proper use of techniques such as this, in lower quality bir's, may go some way to explaining the dishes all tasting very similar. Bhoona/bhuna dishes all seem to be 'wet'  nowadays, the dry intense flavoured ones seem to have almost disappeared.

Bhaji comes from the Maharashtrian region of India and means 'fried vegetable'. Pakora is the Hindi word for the same thing and comes from Sanskrit.

Phall I think is an English made up word as it doesn't have any roots in any of the Indian languages. It's probably a contraction of the word 'phallus', intimating at the sensibility of the individuals who would eat a dish so hot.