QuoteSinging spices and burning them, is a very fine line.  I take the, hot, quench, hot, quench approach for example; in goes the gg paste in hot oil, then quench with tom puree. Get the oil back to temp then in goes the spices.  Again, I then quench with a chefspoon of base and bring back to temp.  In goes the veg (if using) then quench again with more base and so on and so forth.

I use that method also Razor, to stop cooking anything further than i want. When starting out I deliberately over & undercooked spices & GG, to register taste..I can still taste them now even thinking about them..then i know when I've botched that part of the cooking.
Hi Curryhell
we're spoiled for choice in restaurants/takeaways here in Glasgow, the restaurants imo producing far better quality rather than the t/a's. Some of the ta's have a go at just about anything, with a large amount of them being possibly Turkish run, rather than Ind/Pak/Bangl. That said some are pretty good, & I would go as far as to say that there is is distinctive flavour in all of them, in varying degrees, pretty much right across the board. Some of the lower quality places suffer from all of their dishes tasting the same, no matter what you order, no matter what the ingredients, with the 'unusual flavour overpowering the rest of the ingredients.  It lies behind the flavour of the ingredients, whatever they may be, like layers. It reminds me very much of commercial stock, its like nothing in my cupboards & its what makes me finish every single bit of it & return for more  week in / out - I realise im preaching to the converted here 

We have recently changed our ta to a local one which was established around 25 yrs ago...mosaic tiles still on the exterior, a great find, I have tried around 15 different dishes, each one has its own unique flavour,due to the ingredients. The chefs has clearly got the balance right. They have just started to advertise home style (desi)cooking of Karahi & Bhoona - 45 min prep time along with another 30 or so other dishes..im goin to taste test one of these next week, maybe christmas day   ;D & try & find out if a base is used...failing I've got a bhoona on the waiting list for an mri scan!
Not completely out of ideas yet...but getting there

Regards
ELW

Quote from: Derek Dansak on December 15, 2011, 05:00 PM
hi CA, yes i do understand that. The thing is i dont feel completely happy with my repetiore of bir style dishes.     

I think alot of members & guestson here feel exactly the same. Seasoned/used oil aside, I've tried everything I can think of to pinpoint whats missing, which there is certainly is something missing in my efforts..my latest stab at it has been Ashoka base, although by no means the best, the restaurant chain has bir taste i am familiar with.

Ashoka  base simmered all day & used the next: thickened  & darkened - no difference in taste

1st ladle reduced in pan to almost bubbles: no improvement

Cooking spices/herbs in garlic /ginger / tomato paste as opposed to frying in oil: spices seem to cook either way

Texture / colour: mostly good

The predominant taste in my dishes is the base sauce, which is not right. My conclusions to date are~ The base is either overpowering the other flavours & isnt how the restaurant do theirs
or
the dish is missing another key addition (paste/gravy)at the cooking of the dish stage...in fairness to the original poster of the Ashoka stuff(Panpot, does he not come on any more?), he did say he never tasted the base on its own, when he was in their kitchen
I've recently had an Ashoka menu put through my door, which states paprika is used in their karahi bhuna, but is not in what seems to be a bona fide recipe on cr0, witnessed by a Panpot?
Tonight I ordered a bhuna & madras from one of my locals(good quality) the difference to my dishes is stark. The sauces  have a taste you would associate with maybe a soup with a good quality stock used. I now cant see how the bases i have been using & packet spices alone can ever produce a flavour anything like this..after all g&g paste is g&g paste.
Like DD, I am also interested in the additional gravy style & recipies from masala mark, def worth a go
Apologies in advance for longwindedness!
Regards
ELW

anyone bought anything from Curry2Go yet?

Hi MMark, how many other gravies do you know of being used where you are? I've heard of makhani gravy only once but disregarded it as non critical due to most of the bir reports on here stating that most dishes are knocked out from the base alone, patia, aside. The makhani gravy is more or less a basic gravy with butter & cream, but I was never sure how much it was used...do you have any recipies for these?

@emin-j - Ive had a few really bland curries, mostly too watery, with not enough reduction, taste was there but minimal.
bunjarra/banjarra paste has hints of it, but not enough from a chefs spoon
Regards
ELW

QuoteI know it's been said a thousand times on here over the years but, I'm going to say it again......WE ARE OUR OWN WORST CRITICS..!

Hi razor, agreed  i'm seldom 100% happy with my cooking, Im sure the hit on the senses while cooking is the cause... I've tried one of my dishes next to one of my local bir's, next day. The difference in flavour is stark, the source of the flavour, I can't quite pinpoint..it's there even in a korma which has minimal spicing. Im thinking the base cooking or base ingredients is  the key to this background & it may have the taste on its own....or maybe not 

Made lots of great stuff from this site, CA Ceylon was great with nann, but didn't have the right background flavour...sifted through this site from 06 stuff to present & found loads of conflicting information, from ali pans, to mix powders,  so just I try and narrow it down my own way.Never have i seen a subject tested to death like this one  ;D

P.s I think ill start an apprentice also so I can sit on my a*** & eat!

Regards
ELW

QuoteThe best thing to do is get into Takeaway kitchens, and see for yourself
I, for one, would love to know
I'm sure it's something they wouldn't tell you, it's something you would have to observe
And yes, it's true
I have been given used oil and got perfect results

Pretty much right on it Haldi, I've never been in a bir kitchen & until I have will rule out nothing. I know years ago vegetarian curries were cooked in chicken stock & worse. advertising the use of old oil would be a pr disaster.

I have seen large amounts of Heinz tomato soup in one of the leading bir's in my city though!

ELW

QuoteI have tried pretty much everything ever posted on this site, and various books (kris dyllon, ABC balti book) .  While base is important, a long simmer does not make that much difference.  For me the quest is finished. I gave it 110 percent of my energy for many years, and never really made enough new ground to justify wasting another 2 years on the futile quest.
    I will always be up for trying new things from time to time. And will always love knocking up a good curry.  But i dont for one minute expect to match my favourite local bir ta.
     In some ways i am glad they know how to cook alot better than  me, it makes going there exciting still. One of lifes pleasures, if you will.  Some things in life should remain a mystery

I'm doing 1 more base for the time being & plan to cook it all day & use it the next. If that doesn't produce the flavour, then personally i'm concluding that "everything you need is on this site" may not be the case. KD1 stuff seems to be frowned upon, but I found the base no better or worse than any other i have tried. CA's base & Ceylon was very tasty, especially next day, ashoka bunjarra has mild hints at the taste, all of which not quite there...its clear to me me are all looking for the same thing
ELW

Has anyone tried the food from here yet?
ELW

QuoteI have concluded that its only partly  to do with traditional indian cookery and those spices. I justify this because i have tried hundreds of traditional indian recipies , with base and without base ,by many chefs, and no matter what i do, it tastes nothing like a real TA. 

Same, have you tried the long simmering of the base? (all day). Forum member Whandsy reported back from a kitchen, recently about a raw & cooked base...raw being like the ones he makes &  their base which had been cooking for hours after blending, which tasted different..thats my next port of call

Regards
ELW

looking forward to hearing about the results JerryM, i'm not yet decided on how crucial mix powders are yet..I remember you were one of the first to try the Panpot stuff, which had no mix powder at all...how did you rate these?

Regards
ELW