Yes, I did answer the testicle technical points too....but at the end of the day people will decide for themselves whether or not to roast ground spices, use water or oil bases, air-dried, sundried or heat-dried spices, which is where the personal preference reference (try saying that with a gobfull of peanuts!) came into it.

BTW I don't intentionally have a tone, I just like using the name Rai, Rai.

Saw this and thought some may find it useful, more experienced members may not find it of much interest though.

http://www.sonic.net/~alden/SpiceInd.html

Dry roasting spices may get them to a higher temperature, however they are cooked for a very short time, spices in a water base are usually cooked for far longer, which is the same process taken over a longer time period to produce whatever change. All other ingredients in a curry contain water which will affect temperature too yet I have never read or heard of anyone specifying that to roast spices, it must be done at well over 100/200/300/400 degrees, on the contrary a low heat is most usually specified (if indeed a heat is specified at all). Please don't ask me to provide evidence, it's generally well documented.

Many people prefer sun-dried spices and vegetables, because they have a better depth of flavour for having the longer, lower temperature drying than oven or heat-based methods which can damage the taste-inhibitors in the spice itself. This also leans more towards my point than yours, however, we may also have to agree to disagree. You can't argue with personal taste, after all's said and done. lol

Then why do most authentic dishes require a far longer cooking time, Rai?

As far as I'm concerned the Indians have a far better understanding of the spices than I do and most available information suggests that roasting ground spices over a low heat for a minute or so to get the best flavour out of them which kinda pours scorn on the heat theory, doesn't it Rai?

Far better to know when you've gotten the best out of your spices than to have an exact temperature for cooking them IMO and that knowledge comes with experimentation, cooking skill and palate.

Isn't cooking spices the same as cooking anything? I don't feel heat is as large a factor in curry making as some people make out, surely if you can't get extreme high heat -which could burn the spices- then simply cook the spices out at a lower temperature for a longer time.

In my opinion, how you cook the spices doesn't really matter, what matters is whether or not you are able to tell when a spice is cooked sufficiently, either by sight or by smell, which involves technique, palate and to some degree cooking experience

As I have said before, in the early 80's there were an awful lot of small takeaways opened and they didn't use great big burners or huge ranges to cook on, just a bog standard kitchen cooker, yet they all had the taste and smell :

If it's bitter, add salt.....I've never had a bitter base either, maybe that's because I always add a little salt to my onion? I have had sour results when using passata which salting won't help as sugar is needed to counter sourness.


This article is about the effect of salt on bitterness....

http://shopping.guardian.co.uk/food/story/0,,1044951,00.html

Most chilli powders are a mixture of things


http://www.tarladalal.com/glossarydisc.asp?id=566&typ=ingr

Hey BB, Heera sounds like cumin seeds right? Maybe you have cumin chilli powder eh?

I used Schwartz Spanish Ground Paprika - sweet and smoky but not overly one or the other and gives a nice warmth to the base without overpowering the other spices

The curry I made yesterday was delicious! I don't have any pics 'cos we ate it all....I made a big batch (for 4) and split it into two, one hotter the other for the kids and it was fantastic......All this base needs for me is beefing up with extra spices/garlic, which I suppose takes it closer to Stew's base really. The base as posted is a little too bland for me, it tasted watered down (Hubby's words).

The strange thing was, when I warmed up the base, then added garlic, and a half teaspoon each of cumin, coriander and turmeric, which did make it thicker (although not a great deal) but it did result in more oil being released when I gave it a brisk boil...I'd have thought the inclusion of more spice would have made it less likely to give up the oil.

Quote from: Cory Ander on March 18, 2008, 08:31 AM
The base was darker and redder upon cooling, freezing and defrosting (though it still nowhere near as red and oily as Bobby's)

I think the pic Bobby posted is with the oil still on top, which makes it look dark and red...mine looked that way yesterday but the base underneath was still the same burnished orange. (unless I've been looking at the wrong pic - in which case, ignore me lol

Quote from: smokenspices on March 17, 2008, 03:06 PM
Hi Domi

I guess if you use them both together that's gonna create one hell of an onion taste. ;D

No it doesn't SnS, if anything it makes the fried onion taste more mellow, deeper, or more rounded....I only ever use a quarter teaspoon (or thereabouts) not enough to overpower it in any way, it just enhances the flavour. By the way, asafoetida does stink, but once it hits the onion the farty smell disappears instantly and can't be smelt during the cooking process either. Asafoetida (the plant, not the dried spice) is used as a substitute for onion and garlic, which is why I think it really enhances the flavour....it's a natural marriage for me.

More info on asafoetida:

http://www.macasafoetida.com/infozone.asp