Quote from: solarsplace on February 28, 2012, 01:40 PM
Hi SD

Was just thinking about ordering this version too. I believe you have now had a chance to use it. Do you think it is the right tool for the job?

Did you have paint issues and have to implement the solution as kindly suggested by DalPuri?

Thanks

I have indeed used the beast, Solar. In fact I was a very naughty boy and brought it indoors while the missus was out, and have a vague, alcohol fuelled memory of posting a pic in Phil's curry powder as nucleus Madras thread.

As a hater of electric hobs I absolutely love it. It's actually not as fierce as I imagined (but obviously much hotter than my old one, which was around 4kw), but that said I don't think I'd want it any more powerful. On full heat you just daren't leave the pan unattended for more than a few seconds.

I'm using the remains of my old butane canister before switching to propane, and despite advice to the contrary I'm using a standard low pressure regulator (37mb), which the literature says it's designed for, and it works perfectly well with this setup.   

The pan sits a fair distance from the burner, so although the full area of my 26cm pan gets properly heated, the flames don't lick over the edges of the pan. This would no doubt happen with smaller pans.

Did I have paint issues?

Yes, as described by DalPuri.

Did I implement the solution as kindly suggested by DalPuri?

Did I buggery! Being an inherently impatient sod I couldn't wait to get going, so, employing my characteristically optimistic "F**k it. It'll be all right", I got stuck in.

Okay, yes, the paint does come off a bit. (Well, okay, a lot), but it only comes off once, and it doesn't take too much work with a scourer to denude your pan's base of the stuff.

Is it the right tool for the job?

In so much as it produces a decent intensity and spread of heat and gets all of your pan hot, then yes.

However, it is a basic, cheap and cheerful number (how they make them in Italy, get them over here and still manage to sell them for that price is beyond me), and if I had the money I'd have gone for the more expensive cast iron (9.2kw) model. The pan is closer to the flame, and the three valves offer a greater degree of control:

http://www.gasproducts.co.uk/acatalog/Foker_Triple_Burner_Cast_Iron_Gas_Boiling_Ring.html

Or, as I love cooking with woks, maybe this:

http://www.gasproducts.co.uk/acatalog/copy_of_Foker_Cast_Iron_Gas_Wok_Burner.html

In fact, as soon as finances allow, I think I'll be doing that very thing.

In the meantime this one will do nicely...

Superb.

Pans with handles?

Pah! They're for amateurs... 

Quote from: haldi on February 28, 2012, 08:11 AM

Ok so chef heated a chef spoon of oil from the chip pan. He added half a teaspoon of garlic ginger puree and fried until just turning brown. He whisked the pan away from the heat, and added half a chef spoon of spice mix and a chef?s spoon of tomato puree (white tower and straight from the can) Then he added half a cup full of cold water. Back on the heat and he reduced this down until you could see the oil coming through. In goes the precooked chicken, with a quick stir. Then in goes a couple of ladles, of curry gravy Bring to the boil and simmer for five minutes. Serve
Ridiculously simple & ridiculously tasty. I think a demo such as this highlights the different methods used by different places. There is no right or wrong
But if it tastes good??.buy some more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for taking the time to do that and post it, Haldi.

I must admit that I've never seen a BIR chef adding cold water to the curry pan without frying the spices over a high heat first, but if he then reduces down, Taz style, I can see how it could work. As you say, there's no right and no wrong, and the proof of any method is in the taste.

It's alchemy, I tell you. ALCHEMY!!!   

Quote from: Phil (Chaa006) on February 17, 2012, 10:02 AM

Quote from: PaulP on February 17, 2012, 09:44 AM
I'm guilty of cooking curries with fresh raw chicken and it does come out tough and dry sometimes.

I find that pre-cooked chicken (especially when it has been gently fried, not just poached) is usually more juicy and tender in the finished dish and the flavours from the cooked chicken add to the layers of flavour

All of those observations resonate.  With SWMBO safely away on a study weekend, I set out last night to burn my spices and g/g paste in a manner of which even Az would have approved.  But I was desperately short of time, had no pre-cooked chicken, and so decided to pre-cook it as a part of the overall preparation of the dish.  Hot oil, turmeric, chicken, good toss around, wait until it is sealed then in with the curry powder, Kashmiri & Degghi mirch, cumin, fenugreek and tomato puree, finally (when I dare wait not a moment longer) a ladle of base, then another, and so on until ready.  Oh, and salt : left that a bit late, and found it tasted awful without.  But it was no great success.  Edible, definitely; moreish, even (I ate up the remaining sauce with chappati -- always a good sign), but definitely not la creme de la creme.  And the chicken was tough and (relatively) tasteless, despite being free-range breast.  Ah well, back to the tried and tested methods next time !

** Phil.

Some of the toughest chicken breast I've had has been from expensive organic free range birds, Phil. My local butcher explained that the more room the birds have to run around in, the more excercise they get, so they develop more dense (bigger fibre) musculature that requires longer to cook for tenderness.

He could of course be bulling me, but he's built like a brick sh*thouse so I wasn't going to argue...

Anyway, in an attempt to get on topic, here's a Chewy Madras sauce I knocked up after the pub last night (or the remnants, anyway).

Despite (or perhaps because of) being four pints up, it was one of the best I've ever made...

Quote from: PaulP on February 27, 2012, 02:16 PM
A daft question maybe but I've never knowingly eaten mutton. Does it taste pretty much the same as lamb?

Cheers,

Paul

The taste is stronger than lamb, Paul (some liken it to goat, but it's more subtle than that IMHO). For me I'd have mutton over lamb every day of the week.

As it's from an older animal, mutton also needs to be cooked longer to get it meltingly tender....

Quote from: Unclefrank on February 27, 2012, 01:59 PM
Got myself a stock pot from here for 20 GBP bargain.

Sandhars. 69, Wellington Rd, Dudley, West Midlands DY1 1UH

Tel: 01384 256672

Sheesh! That's a bargain and no mistake.

My largest stockpot is my much cherished Fissler Pro 8L (stainless), and I've been looking for something largerbut the 14L version is an eye-watering 249 quid!

So, not only could I save myself 229 British pounds, but I could also gain an extra 5 litres... 

Quote from: PaulP on February 27, 2012, 01:00 PM

Next time I won't cook the garlic for as long. Do others brown the garlic or stop short?

Cheers,

Paul

I guess everyone has their own take on this, but from my observation of BIR chefs I let the garlic get to the stage where it's just starting to take on colour (i.e. a very light golden brown), then it's pan off the heat and in with the spices and/or tomato paste (depending on what I'm making), then back on a high heat for the fusing/singeing/quenching (FSQ) process.

Hope that makes sense!

Cheers

Gary

Great video, Solarsplace. Many thanks for taking the time to do it. Nice control of heat and great singeing going on there. (Love the coughing, too!) It's a source of constant delight to me to discover upon the first quench just how hot that pan is when you're singeing the spices. Lovely stuff.

I never tire of watching people cooking curries, and over the last 30-odd years, this relatively recent development has had a massively positive influence in my journey towards BIR nirvana. I've watched many a BIR chef in action, but unlike video you're unable to rewind and answer those nagging "What the hell did he do there" questions.

Quote from: solarsplace on February 27, 2012, 11:53 AM
Hi Everyone

Glad you liked the video, I agree Chewy's madras is for me the definitive madras recipe - I just don't feel the need to ever look elsewhere.

Have to agree here. While I absolutely love trying different recipes, this is the Madras recipe I keep coming back to time and time again. Why? Because it never fails to deliver. It just works! (In fact I made one last night...)

Quote from: solarsplace on February 27, 2012, 11:53 AM

I must admit to a certain amount of reluctance in declaring whether this was this % or that % of the perfect BIR - because no matter what disclaimers one puts around it, that statement will be quoted and you will be made accountable for it for eternity.

Bravo, sir! It is for this reason that I hate it when I'm asked if a curry I've made is 100% BIR. Apart from the fact that it never can be (simply because I am not, and never will be, a BIR chef), my quest is ultimately to produce something better. I may never attain that goal, but I sure as hell plan to enjoy the journey.

Quote from: solarsplace on February 27, 2012, 11:53 AM

There are flavours in there that you would swear could not come from just chilli & mix powder alone - The only thing I am doing different now is cooking techniques.

This is the 'alchemy' to which I often refer when trying to explain BIR to my non-cooking mates. I don't pretend to understand it, but it has consumed much of my culinary life and it fascinates the hell out of me to this day. And always will, I believe.

Keep up the great work guys. It's inspired me to borrow a video camera and post one of my efforts for critique, too...

Quote from: madrasandy on February 26, 2012, 02:59 PM
Cheers Salvador, im actually tempted to defrost some base and experiment with a couple of different styles using all the same ingredients, maybe fry spices first on one and just add them to the base and reduce down on the other, see what different flavour you get. Just need to get shut of wife and kids lol.

Have you tried , when your curry is a little off,bland,over cooked etc, adding teaspoon of sugar, it really improves the flavour, seems to balance them out if you know what i mean, actually does when youve made a good curry actually but with less sugar

I don't like sweet things so tend not to use sugar, but I can see how it will act as a flavour enhancer, Andy. The ladies of the house like it sweet though, bless 'em, so for that extra hint of sweetness I'll use a little mango chutney (or even a dash of tomato ketchup Heston Blumenthal style).

As you say, experimentation is where it's at, though I know what you mean about getting shot of the wife and kids. Mind you, if the wife saw what I get up to as soon as she's out of the door I think it would be me getting shot...



I just hope she never discovers this forum!

Quote from: madrasandy on February 26, 2012, 02:34 PM
Nice idea Salvador, but only have a small amount left so dont think it will be worth trying. I shall warm the sauce and see how it tastes and try to fathom what went wrong the previous hungover night, it prob tastes so much better now ive recovered anyway!!!!!!!!

You sound like a man after my own heart, Andy. What is it about curry lovers and alcohol, eh? ;-)

As you may have noticed earlier in this thread I enjoyed great success with this recipe, but despite banging away at this lark for 30-odd years my results, like so many here, aren't as consistent as I'd like, and I've produce plenty of unspectacular curries in my time. (But then none of the BIRs I frequent are 100% consistent, either. to err is human, etc).

Anyway, hope it tastes better post hangover. And if not, no worries. Just put it down to experience and crack on with the next one.

Cheers

Gary