Quote from: haldi on April 05, 2009, 09:05 AM
I see curries cooked every month at a takeaway, and have done for about two years now.
Sometimes I'm there for a couple of hours.
Honestly, there are no clever techniques.
Anybody could do it, with a takeaway's circumstances
The "skill" is in the base and the reclaimed oil.
I've had decent curries where only frozen food has been added
So ,for flavour, precooking isn't that important either
With the base there are only two rules that must be kept
Firstly never let the base burn, so stir occasionally right to the bottom of the pan.
Secondly, blend the base really well. This ensures that when it is reheated nothing "catches" this time either.
The making of the curries are really simple and nothing burns because they are cooked in this reclaimed oil
You can cook tomato puree or garlic ginger, for five minutes and it only slightly darkens.
Nothing burns.
There is tremendous room for various cooking times to get an identical result.
Quite often the chef will start a curry then go and sit down for a chat with his colleagues.
There is no split second cooking timing
I don't know if all takeaways do this, but certainly I know three that do.
And all these places produce curries that are fantastic
I accept that people have seen curry cooking with fresh oil, but believe that the hidden magic is in their base.
That will have been made with old oil.
Because that's where the "taste" lies
Hi haldi,
I too am aware of the use of old oil in the gravy, I saw this a few days ago on the Maliks webcam, my only question would be :: 1/ is it oil that the poppadoms were cooked in? or 2/ is it oil from the fryers that the bhajis etc were fried in ?
Bob