Quote from: Domi on May 16, 2010, 10:26 PM
pmsl that must be a side-effect of the spinach then 'cos there's been no use for corks in our house this week lol

I take it you'll not be giving the sprout bhajis a try out then, BB? ;D

Domi, if it'll get you to pop a cork up my offending orifice, I'll get the oil heated! Hahaha! ;D

Quote from: Dirk on May 16, 2010, 10:12 PM
Thanks for the advice. My spice mix is an orangey colour and quite heavy on the turmeric. The consistency is fine too as I only cook for a few minutes after the last ingredients are in. The darkening definetely happens when I add the tomato paste (which i dilute down to a consistency a bit thinner than ketchup).

Maybe I will try the tomato paste first method to see if it helps.

Hey Dirk, well worth a shot. Pop your puree in, take it off the heat and add your spice mix and stir well. Put it back on a medium / high heat, and continue to stir vigorously.

As the water evaporates from your diluted puree and the mix thickens to a firmish paste, take the pan off the heat and be straight in their with the first ladle / chefs spoon of base and stir like mad. Then put it back on the heat and continue as you otherwise would. If you don't stir that first ladle full into the spices, they keep on cooking beneath. (see Bruce Edwards - Curry House Cookery)

Once familiar with this technique, try to get things happening more quickly and get a feeling for when you need to employ some serious curry cooking speed - the spices, puree then base phase happens quickly and took me a great deal of practise before I was happy with! It can go very wrong, very quickly - hence why I suggest removing the pan from the heat at each of the crucial transitions, until you're happy with each stage.

Best of luck and please let us know how you get on (pictures would be great if possible!)

Thanks again

BB

Quote from: Razor on May 16, 2010, 10:00 PM
Here's a link to my attempt at CA's madras showing each stage.  I think you can see at the end, that the dish wasn't too dark, nor was it burnt.

Hey Ray, that looks very well cooked indeed. (you have my same rice problem though - we need to sort this). I will still say however, if you're new to the business, diluted tomato puree before spice leaves less room for error and yields perfect results. Jerry - step in at any point, I know you're passionate about this stage.

I still stand by my advice, I mean now, 1000,000 curries later, frying spices presents no problem but at the start I had some DARK curries! It was down to not enough oil, overcooking the spices, incorrect stirring and over evaporation of the base / not using enough base. This surely holds the answer to this topic.

I've started this thread because I've taken the Malik's takeaway topic on a bit of a tangent.

So, here's my rice.



Here's Malik's rice (which looks similar to the rice I want to reproduce, and receive from most takeaways)



My colouring is far to vivid, unlike their subtle and occasional lightly coloured grain. I am suggesting using a dropper and diluted powdered colouring but cannot imagine BIRs doing this.

Does anyone know the technique that BIRs are using for their rice colouring?

Thanks

BB

See discussion from other thread below:

Quote from: Bobby Bhuna on May 16, 2010, 09:42 PM

Quote from: Razor on May 16, 2010, 09:28 PM
To achieve what I think it is that your after, you would literally have to do just one drop of each colour, then lock in the colour in the oven, I guess.

Hey Ray, thanks for your input. Those are my thoughts exactly. I somehow doubt that BIRs are using droppers though... Seems a little clinical.

Can someone ask their local who does similar rice? All my locals round here are crap.

I'm wandering off topic here. I'll start a new thread. Let's get back on track before an angry moderator throws their weight around

Quote from: Razor on May 16, 2010, 09:49 PM
Hi BB,

My local TA does do a similar looking rice, maybe just a tad more colourful, but not too much.

You dont think that they would do 2 smaller portions of coloured rice then add a spoonfull into the main rice do you?  I can't see them using a dropper either, they probably use a massive chef's spoon and just let one drop drip off it into the rice lol ;D

Ray ;D

Quote from: Razor on May 16, 2010, 09:28 PM
To achieve what I think it is that your after, you would literally have to do just one drop of each colour, then lock in the colour in the oven, I guess.

Hey Ray, thanks for your input. Those are my thoughts exactly. I somehow doubt that BIRs are using droppers though... Seems a little clinical.

Can someone ask their local who does similar rice? All my locals round here are crap.

I'm wandering off topic here. I'll start a new thread. Let's get back on track before an angry moderator throws their weight around

Quote from: Dirk on May 16, 2010, 07:05 PM
The colour seems to change when I add the tomato puree after frying the spices, it immediatley goes very dark.

Firstly, I'd argue with CA's method of tomato paste before spices. I use diluted tomato paste (diluted with hot water in a cup to a runny consistency) that I add before adding the spices. This stops them darkening too much or burning. Evaporating the water of the tomato paste in the spices allows for greater margin of error, as they don't get immediately blasted. (Jerry M - you will have some useful input on this point re. emulsifying the spices in water, etc. so please comment)

Using CA's technique however, you are either cooking the spices too much (possibly for too long, not stirring properly, or not using enough oil). Otherwise you are not using enough base, or evaporating it off too hard. Does the consistency of your finished dish compare to that of the better images on here, or is yours too thick?

Your problem is without a doubt due to overcooking, either of the spices (perhaps you're braising them on the pan with too little oil), or evaporating off too much base / not using enough.

Hope this helps!

Cheers

BB

Quote from: Domi on May 16, 2010, 09:03 PM
Didn't know you were married to Olive Oyl, Axe

Axe neither did I, her low smoking point must be a nightmare!

Jesus wept, these Bhajis have got me farting like a b****rd!

I don't mean to be nasty but I never thought that Malik's was going to be all that. Watching what they were up to taking into mind the knowledge available here I remember thinking at the time that it looked like an average place.

I've had take aways that look amazing out of the box and Malik's attempt is just lackluster.

Would it be fair to suggest that if they were popular for their good cooking that they wouldn't need gimmicks like chef webcams? Surely that was just to drum up business.

On another note however, look at their rice. Notice the feint greens and reds in it. I can't achieve this, yet I get it from many takeaways. I've tried powder and liquid colourings. I've tried diluting them down with water. I can't get it right. My next port of call is to buy a dropper like from Chemistry classes at school and use it to place discrete droplets of diluted powder colour on the rice. Does anyone know how the BIRs do it? Probably one worth asking because I'm sure they'd give that away!

Quote from: Axe on May 16, 2010, 07:03 PM
Spinach eh? I'll mention it to the wife, I reckon she'll want to try that. Glad it worked for you Bobby.

Thanks Axe, I thought it worth mentioning, the spinach is what I think has mine look noticeable darker, albeit otherwise similar to the chefs results, so if you decide to use spinach too don't worry that you've over cooked them - it darkens them up a fair bit compared to onion alone.

Brilliant technique - they turned out fantastic. Given what others have been saying I added a lot more more spice mix - and also fresh chillies and spinach (I just like them). Really simple and spot on. Thanks very much for posting this recipe.

Cheers

BB