I made three Madras's today, using this base.

From left to right, Admins, Curry Kings and SnS's Chicken Madras.

All dishes used Uncle Bucks pre cooked chicken.

Admins came out on top for that smokey flavour and is almost there. I say almost there because I felt it needed a little chili powder for the madras heat.
The recipe was followed to the letter. A slight difference could be found if using a different curry powder in the spice mix or a different mix to the one I used. I used BE's spice mix and the curry powder used was MDH Madras Curry Powder.

Next came SnS's, had the heat but just lacked that smokey flavour. Sorry SnS, yours has now been relegated to second spot for me.

Curry Kings is not bad at all, but is not quiet there. The chopped Coriander came through to much for my liking.

All had a pinch of MSG in them.

On my next experiment with the Madras, I will make the same three Madras's, but with little tweaks here and there.

All in all, three very good curries.

JerryM

I have measured the Dawn rice and each grain is 7mm. If you can find this product anywhere, I urge you to try it, as it meets all your criteria.

Bob

emin-j

Most curries that I cook, are cooked in less than 10 mins and that is a on a baulk standard gas hob.
I use a spun steele wok that I have seasoned over time with use. Mine is 270mm, just over 10 and half inches in old money. It is suitable for one person curries, possibly two at a push.

I've made this base today and it tastes very good indeed, looking forward to making a Madras with it tomorrow. I will try this base with SnS's, Curry kings and Admins Madras and see how they compare. I use SnS's base a lot as I'm happy with it and use it as a bench mark for my Madras's. Having said that, I have not tried them all, so I might be in with a surprise with this base, as many posters have said it to be the best that they have tried. Will post results and photos when tried and tested.

Storage period, temperature and moisture are the key traits, accountable for variation in chemical, cooking and sensory attributes of rice. The study of two promising varieties of fine Basmati rice stored at various temperatures revealed pronounced influence of storage on various quality traits i.e. volume expansion ratio, water absorption ratio, elongation ratio, alkali spreading value, amylose contents and sensory attributes. The cooking quality was affected significantly in the months following harvesting. Freshly harvested Basmati varieties (Basmati Super and Basmati-385) were aged for a period of sixteen weeks (4 months) at different temperatures (5, 25, 35, and 45?C). Aging of rice played imperative role in establishing the aforesaid quality traits. Storage condition resulted in increased moisture, water absorption ratio, volume expansion ratio and elongation ratio while amylose content and alkali spreading value of both rice varieties were decreased. The protein content showed insignificant differences. Storage of both varieties at 35?C gave best results for sensory attributes like taste and over all acceptability. Basmati Super showed better performance in cooking and eating quality than that of Basmati-385 during storage.
So from this I deduced that super Basmati  seems to be the one to go for. All vey confusing.

JerryM

I have to agree, it's a very grey area. Since reading that post from Chinois, I will be a lot more wary as to what I buy in the future. I can't answer your question on whether the rice was par boiled or not, I'm only going by what's on the packet. As said in a previous thread, I'm happy with what I have at the moment, but will try a more expensive aged rice next purchase to see if there is any difference.

Regards Bob

Robbo1997

Glad that you a result with the CTM using a milder version of SnS base.This is something I've been meaning to try and as I have to make a new batch of base this week,  I will reduce the spicing in the base. Hopefully this should work with a Passanda or Korma. I like the sound of the CTM Madras and will add this to my do list.

A1 SnS 2008 base and Madras

A2 As per the posted recipe

A3 Again no changes

A4 Tried Pat Chapmans and the Kris Dhillon base with SnS Madras. Both were nowhere near as good as the SnS Madras along with the SnS2008 base.

chinois

Thanks for the links, makes interesting reading.

The rice that I'm using at the moment is Dawn Super Basmati Rice.
Although it is maketed  and distributed by Red Sea UK Ltd, the rice has accreditation for Australia and New Zealand, wether this is just a company accreditation or specificaly for rice I don't know.

JerryM

Another thing you might want to look for in your quest for the perfect rice is that the Dawn variety is par boiled. I soak it for 2 hours as stated on the packedging and when you rinse it, there is very little starch, which makes for lovely seperate grains when cooked.

I live on the Isle of Wight and there are no Asian stores on the Island. When going back to my parents or when they come down here, that's when I get my supplies, but always manage to forget something. the Dawn rice was bought in an Asian store in Queensbury Middlesex. My parents live in Harrow and we are spoilt for Asian grocery stores, and each one differs due to the fact some are run by Bangladeshis or Pakistanis and Indians.