Quote from: JerryM on February 01, 2010, 08:45 PM
thanks all - really appreciate your thoughts. i'm trying to pin down what to try out this yr and it does help. i think i'm going to go for spice mix.

emin-j,

Quoteu could well be right - i may well have arrived so to speak and i now just need to gain experience. this is exactly what my wife says.

i still feel i'm short of what i can only describe as, "short of flavour". peter's missing ingredient ie mustard oil may well be it for me too. it could even be as simple as black salt or msg. the trouble is that i've tried certain things along the journey and discounted them at the time (i think these being black salt, methi, msg, cumin to an extent) - they may now be that final touch - i guess what George is getting at in the comments on my approach.

George,

i still believe the myths document holds good. the approach i've followed is the only one i know. i'm certainly up for a change though and will go along with whatever u suggest.

chriswg,

u know i'm not keen on travelling south. your offer is something i can't turn down though. how good is the chef's english - i feel i only need to talk to him for my needs. count me in. i ask on the english as this is the biggest difficulty in talking to the chef at my local TA (other than the boss on the counter).

;D

JerryM , for the time I have been on this forum I dont think there is any member who has looked in such depth as you to find ' the missing link ' I reckon if you havent found one by now there isn't one  I have been making just Madras and the odd Korma for the last year mostly at weekends , I have stood behind two BIR Chef's and watched them make a Madras , Ive watched no end of video footage and they have all used the same Spices / Process that we all seem to use on the Forum .
Only just lately have I been able to produce better tasting Curries consistently that my local T/A    Sometimes the T/A Curry is very good and sometimes it's just hot and flavourless , they only have one Chef which I would think would stick to the same Recipes all the time so how can they produce the good and not so good Curries ? Same Chef , Same Spices , Same Recipes .
For me I beleive it's all in the cooking technique , about a Month ago I did my usual Madras Curry and I just had the feeling I had overcooked the Spices the end result was just a hot but flavour less Curry , this is why I beleive our T/A is so inconsistent , being so busy it's easy to miss that ' perfect time ' to add that first ladle of Base Sauce so as not to overcook the Spices. For the last few weeks using the experience I have gained I have made sure the Garlic / Ginger and Spices are fried for a minimum time and are not left at rest in the frying pan where they can burn in seconds , I can now produce a Madras which is consistently better than our T/A . ;D 

Ive been using the Saffron Base for the past few weeks and find it a very versatile base I make Madras and Korma with excellent results , I would think this is just the sort of base a BIR would use.

Quote from: PaulP on January 23, 2010, 04:32 PM
Hi emin-j, I just measured out 1 teaspoon of Saxo table salt with my measuring spoons and poured the contents onto my digital kitchen scales - I got 6 grams!

I don't like over salty curries - above a certain threshold it starts to take over the taste for me. I guess we have different taste thresholds for salt.

I wasn't having a pop at you - I just think we should be aware of what we are putting in our curries and the likely effects it can have on health.

Hi PaulP , your teaspoon is 50% bigger than my teaspoon  ;D I have Digital Scales too   

Quote from: PaulP on January 23, 2010, 10:01 AM
I believe a teaspoon of salt is about 5 to 6 grams. Don't forget the medics advise only 6 grams of salt per adult per day.

I find half a teaspoon per portion is plenty and tastes about right to me.

Just weighed a teaspoon of Salt and it came out at 4 gms , I find anything less than about 1 tsp makes very little difference to the taste of the Curry it's only when I get to a tsp measure I can start to taste the flavour  change . I would add my portion size is more than my local T/A . ;D Have you seen how much Salt goes in on the East Indian or Malik Video's  that ain't no 1/4 or 1/2 tsp  And while on the subject of measures ( sorry to go a bit off topic JerryM ) when do you see a BIR Chef use a level tsp of this and a level tsp of that - you wont , if you want your food to taste like a BIR you need to cook like one but I do understand without the skill of a BIR Chef picking up 1/4 tsp of Salt accurately on a Chef's spoon ain't gonna be easy 

Quote from: Mikka on January 21, 2010, 08:34 PM
Salt is an issue yes.
Now then how much salt do you serve yourself per dish please?
It's just that I've heard so much about how important salt is yet what I see put in the average base is more than minimal.

I beg to differ on technique and practice also Ermin. I've done it every way upside down and backwards. Heck if I were on the game I'd have earned a fortune.

So then.... You are saying your dishes are perfect? Exactly the same as a TA? Mine aren't but they are pretty damned close and I'm adding different things. I don't think it is about point A for most cooks who are proficient, its about point B. The Exit and an end to the doubt. 

It's a stew, made faster for the restaurant trade. It isn't rocket science and Chefs are inventive and secretive about what they put in their food. Ask KFC if you can have their special recipe yeah? Anyone can cook chicken, only KFC know what spices they use. there are plenty of other examples too.

There is nothing what so ever wrong in experimenting with food providing you know a little of the outcome.
Yes here we go again. No change, same result.
Best regards.

Quote from: emin-j on January 21, 2010, 08:21 PM
: here we go again !
I have found it's so important not to burn either the Garlic / Ginger or the Spices which is easily done , also the amount of Salt is critical to get the best flavour , we have all the recipes and ingredients it's just down to technique and practice . 

Hi Mikka , I use 1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons of Salt per portion ( final Curry ) I stir in 1 tsp then taste the Curry to See if any more Salt is needed , it really brings out the flavour.
I have concentrated on Madras for the past year as this is our favourite and have tried various Base Gravy's and I am using the Saffron Base at the moment.
I use the same amount of Spices every time I make our Madras but have noticed how the flavour changes from being a little ' bland ' to knocking spots off our local T/A and I am pretty sure this is down to the time spent cooking the Garlic / Ginger plus the Spices , it is a fine line between frying just right or frying for too long which will spoil the taste of your Curry , I have cooked so many Madras Curries now I can tell what the Curry is going to taste like now by the time I have taken to fry the G/G and Spices , my best Curries are the ones where I don't think I have fried it enough  if that makes sense  this is the technique I mentioned and this is where a good Chef will get it spot on ( most of the time ) Liked your Vid by the way Mikka just think you need more heat from your Gas .
Regards.

 : here we go again !
I have found it's so important not to burn either the Garlic / Ginger or the Spices which is easily done , also the amount of Salt is critical to get the best flavour , we have all the recipes and ingredients it's just down to technique and practice . 

Hi jimmy2x ,

I'm still trying but not getting much luck , I can get the nice round shape and they look great but despite trying all the ideas they are still crap 
I have tried mixing a small amount of Rice flour with the Gram Flour as this is supposed to crisp them up but the Bhajis were heavy  I have also tried mixing some plain flour with Gram Flour but that wasn't much different .
The best results Ive had was by pouring the Flour mix dry over the chopped Onions mix it all together then add just enough water to be able to make the shape you want , these were quite good . It seems to me the less Flour you use the better 

Hi All ,
Although I don't normally use Spicy Oil I thought I would use the Oil from my Marinated Chicken , I usually only use a couple of table spoons of Oil when Marinating the Chicken pieces but this time I put enough oil in to cover the Marinated Chicken....



I then put in the oven 150 d for 15 Min's then drained the oil into a container to use in the final Curry ....



Whether this made much difference to the final Curry I dunno but it was lush  ;D
The Marinade was Garlic / Ginger / Turmeric / Chili Powder / Tom Paste / Salt.

Probably 8 - 10 chunks of Meat then the rest of a normal T/A container filled with Curry Sauce  ( Madras Hot  ;D ) I like the Sauce smooth without bits in it and about the consistency of Ketchup.