Taste and flavor are two different things. There are only five tastes: sweet, sour, salty, savory and bitter. Flavor and aroma are closely related; there are thousands of these.
Most spices have very little taste (some, like cumin, are slightly bitter). You can test this by chewing on one whilst pinching your nose. There'll be little or no taste. Release your fingers and you'll be hit with aroma and flavor.

Now is "the taste"actually taste based or flavor based (or a combination of the two)? Next time I have takeaway I'll sample it with a peg on my nose.


The heat from chillies is neither taste or flavor based: it's an irritant that triggers pain messages from our nerves.

Why oil is required for fullsome flavor. (scientific bit)

1.Oil serves as a flavor enhancer - it makes taste molecules hang around taste receptors for longer (making food taste more tasty).
This is one of the reasons low-fat alternatives are often fairly tasteless and "unsatisfying".

2. Most flavor and odor molecules are actually closer to oils than they are to water (think of essential massage oils); They are dissolved/ extracted faster and more efficiently in an oil medium.

Cut the oil from a curry and you'll cut the flavor.

Using large quantities of oil acts as a preservative  - useful if a large vat of gravy is to be left out overnight unrefrigerated.

Jaggery (palm sugar) has an unrefined toffee like taste. It's not the missing taste, though - I've tried it lots of times.

Most takeaways in my area (norfolk) use plastic trays. I just wash them up and reuse them. They're both micro and freezer safe.
Failing that, I should think most catering suppliers would supply them. I suspect they're available on the net, too.

A thought:
if curry houses are reusing oil and, as a result, the base was getting steadily hotter and hotter, they would only need to reduce the amount of chili in the finished dishes to compensate.
Of course this would mean having a separate base sauce for the mild curries - this might explain why curries such as Korma, Passanda etc don't have much of that "missing taste" and are allot easier to recreate in the home.

Rinse the basmati rice until the liquid coming off it becomes clear. Then boil it in salted water along with a few pieces of cassia bark, a couple of bay leaves, a piece of star anise, a couple of cloves. Slightly undercook it then drain off the hot water. Return to pan with a knob of ghee. Cover with a tea towel (off the heat) for ten minutes.It will steam in the residual heat. Then add a tiny drop of red and green food coloring (just the cake baking stuff) and cover for a further ten minutes. Finally, fluff with a fork. It should be light and fluffy, with that restaurant "jeweled" effect from the colorings. This rice reheats excellently in a microwave. It also freezes well.

Try cooking naans on a preheated pizza stone.

Rinse the basmati rice until the liquid coming off it comes clear. Then boil it in salted water along with a few pieces of cassia bark, a couple of bay leaves, a piece of star anise, a couple of cloves. Slightly undercook it then drain off the hot water. Return to pan with a knob of ghee. Cover with a tea towel (off the heat) for ten minutes.It will steam in the residual heat. Then add a tiny drop of red and green food coloring (just the cake baking stuff) and cover for a further ten minutes. Finally, fluff with a fork. It should be light and fluffy, with that restaurant "jeweled" effect. This rice reheats excellently in a microwave. It also freezes well.

Name: Dylan

Age: 34

Location: Norwich

Cooking experience: 20 years, restaurant style curry 4 years