Heya Phil

Thanks again for giving your opinions, particularly if you're finding it difficult to type due to your shoulder injury - hope that improves for you.

Quote from: Phil (Chaa006) on November 04, 2011, 11:11 PM
Why no g.m. : simply because it tasted better without;
Why double sauce : I found we ran out of sauce while eating the dish before we ran out of chicken;
Why double the spice : because I found it too lacking in body and flavour with Khris's recommended quantities.

Khris's Garam Masala contains quite a high proportion of Coriander and Cumin as an overall percentage of the total ingredients, I'd estimate somewhere in the region of 40% or even higher which is quite high for a Garam Masala. Traditionally, Garam Masala's only contained the 4 body heat inducing ingredients - Cinnamon, Cloves, Black Peppercorns and Cardamons and was added right at the end of cooking to help improve aroma.

Khris is using her Garam Masala as a 'Spice Mix' in conjunction and alongside her other spicing and as part of the overall spicing of the dish. She's not using her Garam Masala in the conventional way - at the end of cooking.

In my opinion this is why you've not found the dish to your liking and have had to modify it. You're not cooking it, or using the ingredients in the way Khris described and intended.

Incidentally, I'm not defending Khris here - I'm defending a methodology. Cooking is about technique, methods AND ingredients, it's not just about one or the other. You've got to cook dishes out in precisely the way they were intended before you can start modifying them.

Cheers and good Karma!

Quote from: Phil (Chaa006) on November 04, 2011, 06:07 PMI don't   My comment is based solely on Khris's Madras as I made it (i.e., with commercial g.m.) and it may well be that it tastes five times better with her g.m. -- I just don't know.

Hey Phil

Thanks for following up on this.

Okay, so let me get this right. Firstly, you prefer Khris's Madras without her Garam Masala, based on your use of a commercially made Garam Masala and you modify her dish by a) doubling the volume of base sauce per unit weight of meat and b) double her quantity of spices per unit volume of base.

So for the same weight of meat Khris uses you double the amount of sauce base and double the amount of spices and feel that the use of Garam Masala at the end of cooking is not beneficial to the overall flavour and taste?

Can I ask why you I feel these modifications to her recipe were necessary to bring it in line with your own preferences?

Cheers and good Karma!

Quote from: Phil (Chaa006) on November 04, 2011, 04:50 PMEr, 34 to 40 degrees F perhaps ?!

Um, whoops yes!

Thanks for the correction!

Cheers and good Karma!

Hey Phil

Thanks for giving your opinion on this.

Quote from: Phil (Chaa006) on November 04, 2011, 04:30 PM
4) And no, I have not tried it with /her/ Garam Masala

This now prompts my question - How do you know what Khris's Madras tastes like when you haven't actually cooked it out using all the ingredients in her recipe?

If it's your assumption that ALL garam masalas taste the same or influence the taste of a dish in the same way - you'd be wrong in my opinion, as in the quantities we're dealing with in our dishes, even small changes in quantity or proportion of ingredients and even the technique of cooking them and the sequence of adding them can have quite a significant impact on the overall flavour and taste of a dish.

Personally I wouldn't put a bought garam masala anywhere near any of my dishes for two specific reasons - 1) The spices aren't freshly ground and 2) I have no idea what's actually in it and in what proportions.

This is only my opinion of course and I'm not trying to be contrary - I genuinely am interested in how and what the posters here base their opinions on.

Quote from: natterjak on October 18, 2011, 10:30 AMThe immediate question is - why not?  I've always thawed frozen meat in this way!

Hey Natterjak

You should thaw frozen meat in the fridge, so it's constantly kept at a temperature (34 to 40 degrees C) that doesn't allow bacteria to become active. Freezing meat merely makes bacteria dormant, once the temperature rises, they can become active again.

Cheers and good Karma!

Quote from: Razor on April 24, 2011, 10:46 AMPersonally, I would move away from using Garam Masala in such quantities.  It is very pungent and has a tendency to over power dishes.  If I do use it, I use only a little pinch at the very end of the cooking, and stir it through.

Hey Razor

I'm not sure I agree with you on the 'toning down' of the use of Garam Masala at the end of cooking, but I'd like to hold fire on my reasons for why until I've understood your reasoning for wanting it toned down.

This question also forms the basis of something else I'm grappling with when reading through many of the posts here.

So here's my question - what garam masala mix do you actually use? Your own? A bought one? or Khris's? Have you actually made Khris's base, her recipe for Madras, her own Garam Masala Mix recipe in the exact quantities she describes and on that basis feel that 1tsp of her Garam Masala added at the end of cooking overpowers the dish?

I'm really curious about this.

Cheers and good Karma!

Heya Matt

I'm not familiar with her DVD, but I have her book 'Real Fast Indian Food' and all the recipes in it are excellent, some of the nicest I've ever had whether cooked at home or in a BIR.

As you say her style isn't really BIR, but more authentic home cooked Indian food as the Indians themselves would cook for their family.

Her recipes are highly recommended in my opinion, so I'm not surprised you've had good results yourself.

Cheers and good Karma!

Quote from: loveitspicy on November 03, 2011, 10:37 PMALSO it could have been an over zealous chef at the T/A using a big spoonful of MSG - the amount of powdered garlic in a curry should only be half to 1 tsp - that ain't gonna make anyone thirsty - only if you eat it off the spoon

Heya Rich

Could be! Although I've never heard of MSG producing a thirst side affect, merely headaches and nausea in some people.

Do we really know how much dried garlic was used in BIR curries of yesteryear? Come to think of it, reconstituted dried onions, dried garlic powder and plenty of salt were used extensively in BIR curries of yesteryear, the combination of which even in smallish quantities would certainly make you thirsty and more likely to make you buy more bottles of their over-priced Cobra and Kingfisher beer!

I know I'm a cynic, forgive me,

Cheers and good Karma!

Quote from: natterjak on November 04, 2011, 11:13 AMIn the recipe I followed the yoghurt curdled and the dairy flavour in the finished dish wasn't really what I was looking for in a curry. No matter though, the technique itself and the texture of the brisket were fabulous so I'll do it again in future but maybe using one of the recipes from this site.

Heya natterjack

Yoghurt can be tricky to cook with and if you let it boil it will curdle, best to keep it just below boiling point and add at the end of cooking if possible.

I've posted that lamb madras recipe and a pic of the finished dish, give it a whirl if and when you get a chance.

I've had a good look round the forum now and I'm going into information overload I think! A couple of initial observations from the myriad of posts I've read so far would be that I think people over-complicate things unnecessarily and that there seems a huge differential in contributors underlying cooking abilities - which is what causes quite a large difference in peoples cooking results even when based on identical recipes.

I am enjoying reading and browsing the forum posts though.

Cheers and good Karma!

Quote from: Cory Ander on October 25, 2011, 05:13 PMIf the "secret is "gor" (or "gur", or "palm sugar") in the base, to sweeten it, then fair enough.

Heya Cory

Jaggery! Concentrated sugar cane juice or palm sugar as you say, very prolific in Asian cuisine, I use it in my Thai Green Curry.

I've never thought to swop that in for plain old white granulated sugar in Indian dishes, I'm going to try that, thanks for the tip!

Cheers and good Karma.