Hey Guys

Only a minor detail, but don't forget the poll ....

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,823.0.html

;D

Quote from: Jethro on January 23, 2008, 06:28 PM

Quote from: Secret Santa on January 23, 2008, 04:37 AM

Quote from: ast on January 22, 2008, 11:13 PM
Still, I've never personally noticed much of a sour taste in my vindaloo.

Me either. It seriously winds me up when ppl put lemon or vinegar etc. into a vindaloo. I have never ever ever had a sour vindaloo. What part of the country is this normal in for god's sake?

Ohh..I take this curry lark far too seriously

Vindaloo traditionally uses pork and comes from Goa, Goa is a an ex Portuguese colony, Portuguese pork recipes include a lot of dishes with a vinegar base.
http://www.portuguese-recipes.com/Pork%20Recipes.htm
An authentic Goan vindaloo recipe will use vinegar instead of water, some Birs (very few) try and keep the close to original taste rather than just upping the heat content of a madras style curry.
Thats why

....... didn't a hotter version of Madras, without the vinegar, used to be called a TINDALOO?

Quote from: curryqueen on January 23, 2008, 06:57 PM
You add lemon juice and sugar to make a pathia/patia.  I usually use 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice to 2 tablespoons of sugar, it all depends on you personal taste as to how much of each ingredient you use.  CQ

Hi CQ

I believe this is your husband's favourite. Do you have a Pathia recipe using the Saffron base gravy (or a similar base) please?

Thanks

Regards

SnS  ;D

ps The stuff sprinkled on top of the Saag Aloo in Barry, Cardiff was Anardana (I've just had a takeaway and sprinkled some on top (which I got from Tescos on way home) - same sweet/sour fruity taste - mmmm loverrly).

Quote from: Secret Santa on January 23, 2008, 04:40 AM
smokenspices amchur is sour. Sour ya hear! When you get your pack of it dab your finger in and taste it...it's lovely but it's sour not sweet.

Yeh you're right SS, amchoor is used as a souring agent (instead of lemon juice). I was confusing amchoor with anardana which imparts a both sweet and sour taste and is often used by chefs in preference to amchoor.

Regards

SnS ;D

ps: Now I'm wondering whether it was anardana that they sprinkled over the Saag Aloo that gave it that special taste ?

Quote from: ast on January 22, 2008, 11:13 PM
I bought the amchoor (I've seen at least 7 different spellings of this, btw) for another recipe, but it doesn't use that much.  The only pack they had was large enough that I'm trying to work out what else I can do with it so I can use it before the BBE date.  From reading about it and its taste characteristics, I thought it might be an interesting taste with the prawns.  On its own, it isn't bad, but only in small-ish quantities.  I haven't actually used it yet, though.

I went to a newly opened restaurant (Mughal Empire, Broad Street)) last week in Barry, near Cardiff. Amongst other dishes, we had a side dish of Saag Aloo. Now I don't know what the chef sprinkled on the top of the spinach but the taste was something else (a sort of mild fruity taste, not sweet but not bitter). I asked the waiter to find out what it was, but no luck. I did wonder at the time whether this may have been Amchur (another spelling).

Does anyone here have experience using ambchoor (amchoor, amchur or MANGO POWDER) regularly in curries? How is it used, how long does it keep, what is it normally used with and how does it affect taste?

Regards

SnS  ;D

Quote
Have you tried a small bit of either ambchoor or tamarind?

I used tamerind concentrate when I cooked a Pathia a few weeks back but I'm sure most BIR's use lemon juice. Amchoor (green mango powder) is on my shopping list, as I gather it has both a sweet and sour taste, maybe suitable for Pathia.

Quote
Apparently from what I've read, it's the membrane inside that has all the "power of the pepper" rather than the seeds.  Still, I like the seeds...

Yup it's the fleshy vein that holds the seeds (placenta) that is the hottest part, not the actual seeds as many think. I do prefer the seeds taken out though. Makes the curry a bit crunchy - particularly if the chilli pod contains many seeds.

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Any preferences for what you want to see?

Personally, just the finished article - but I suppose others would be interested in seeing pictures at the various stages.

Quote
From all of the observed reports as well as from some of the videos, the chefs generally dip the chefs spoon into the spice container and come out with an arc that doesn't seem to go past 1/3 to 1/2 of the whole spoon.  Who knows what amount this is.

That's why it was impossible to get the recipe measurements exact at my initial visit!  :


Regards

SnS ;D

Nice one AST .. great report. I'll probably try this over the weekend (maybe with prawns though).

Quote
It seems that after freezing this base, the oil doesn't want to separate like it used too.  I know I'm cooking it the same way as before, but I've tended to end up with a tad drier curries trying to wait for the oil to separate.

I have also noticed this. Perhaps this is why Raj reckoned the gravy is not as good after freezing it. I wonder what would happen if the gravy was brought back to the boil before using in the curry ?

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60ml lamb stock

How did you make this stock ?

Quote
I've no idea what they're called, but they look like this

They look like green Thai Dragon chillies (about 2-3 inches long (?) and 6 times hotter than Jalepeno). Did you also use the seeds ?

What ... no sooperpics 

Regards

SnS  ;D

Hi All

Talking of new books.

I've just pre-ordered this book from Amazon (not available until February).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0761137874

Probably same as all the other Indian recipe books!

I will post review once I've got it!

Regards

SnS  ;D

Quote from: D123MUD on January 20, 2008, 05:20 PM
Hi all i am new to the site i like various different curries Dansak must be my favorite what would be a good base / sauce to use and would it lend itself to other curries any help would be good. Thank Chris

Hi Mud

Welcome to the best curry forum.

The Dhansak can be made using the same curry gravy that the majority of BIR curries are made from. Most of the base gravy recipes here should be fit for that purpose unless otherwise stated (eg: Korma). Using the gravy method, the red split lentils are cooked separately (turning yellow), and then added during the curry cooking stage.

If you use search at the top of the home page there is plenty of info on Dhansaks.

Regards

SnS  ;D

Quote from: haldi on January 19, 2008, 05:53 PM
I must admit I thought that the madras recipe was something the Saffron chefs showed you too
The fact it wasn't, actually encourages me

Hi Haldi

The Madrad was demonstrated to me by the Saffron chef Anam, but very quickly as the Madras was actually for a customer. There were no measurements (done by eye), but it appeared to me that equal quantities of the 4 main spices were used. I tried it again at home with the approx amount of gravy they appeared to use and achieved what I thought was a reasonable curry. As I'd measured the amount of spices and gravy used (at home), that is what I used in the recipe that I posted. Obviously a slight adjustment was needed, as my last Madras (which was better, thanks to Jeera .. see below) used 0.75 tsp of coriander and turmeric, 0.5 tspn cumin and chilli per 200 ml gravy ... I also added 0.25 tsp garam masala ... and this achieved (to me) to be a perfectly acceptable Madras.

I really would like someone to come up with a really good accurate (prawn) Madras recipe for use the Saffron base though (Ast is in his curry laboratory soon .. so maybe we'll just have to wait for the Prof to post his results).

Best Regards

SnS  ;D

Quote from: Jeera on January 14, 2008, 11:12 PM
As I mentioned above, I made this yesterday and made it to the letter all with brand new fresh spices.

The base was very reminiscent of a very good KD version which I've had great success with in the past but with loads more depth and sweetness. I think the amount of salt in the watered down base was perfect too and it set things up for a promising final dish with no additional salt needed. I'm sure the paprika (not smoked version) is absolutely critical as I've have good results with Jaspers Munich base to - which was tremendous.

Anyway to the real test. I made 3 final chicken dishes - all bhoona type consistency.

Dish #1 - exactly as posted by SnS but omitted the chilli powder but used the 0.5 tsp of coriander/cumin/turmeric as indicated.

Result #1 - very very wonderful with hints/undertones of *the* taste. Verdict 90/100

Dish #2 - same as posted but with 0.25 tsp chilli powder, 0.75 tsp cumin/coriander/turmeric, tsp methi & tsp fresh coriander.

Result #2 - awesome taste. I may have been lucky that I hit the cooking sweet spot but this was BIR class whatever made the difference. Lovely sweet, spiced and huge depth. Verdict 97/100

Dish 3. as #2 but with tsp chilli powder and 1 tsp cumin/coriander/turmeric.

Result #3 - OK, good but overspiced (not in the hot way)and ultimately much like may of my previous attempts. Verdict 80/100


So all in all this is a classy piece of work and I'm 100% convinced this would be an awesome base to get slight modifications on the final dish - Per CA's recent suggestion. Next I will try #2 but with 0.25 tsp garamasala.

Well done SnS, mega mate.

PS. Ast the base and final looked exactly like yours - nice shots btw.