Quote from: Secret Santa on January 19, 2008, 04:00 PM
You get yourself 40 odd years of general cooking experience and knowledge along with nigh on 30 years of trying to get the BIR smell and taste (at which I have admittedly failed), mix it liberally with an energetic and enquiring mind and voila, you have someone who can turn the curry equivalent of a pig's ear into the proverbial silk purse. No secrets!

What a relief to hear that SS. I may be able to achieve your level in culinary skills and knowledge in just another 5 years then .. eh? 

Quote from: Secret Santa on January 19, 2008, 11:49 AM
I can make any one into a decent BIR style curry

Apparently not !!!!!

Regards

SnS  ;D

Quote from: crow on January 19, 2008, 04:06 PM
Hi, all the way from Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada.

Loud and clear Crow .. but the line's a bit crackly!

Welcome to the best curry forum.

SnS  ;D

Quote from: Secret Santa on January 19, 2008, 11:49 AM
One thing I will say is that along the way I've pretty much come to the conclusion that there is no right base because I can make any one into a decent BIR style curry.

Incredible !

Is this the "SECRET" .... as in "SECRET SANTA" then ?

Let me know how to do this please, and I too will use "any" gravy base.


Regards

SnS  ;D

Quote from: Admin on January 17, 2008, 04:46 PM
Haldi,

You are my hero, i love these reports.
It just sounds so simple, no panic no fuss, just lovely curry everytime.

I am trying this one tonight using the safron base.

S

Hi Stew

Just wondered how you got on with Haldi's Veg Rezala the other night ?

SnS  ;D

Quote from: ast on January 19, 2008, 12:14 AM
SnS, I'll be happy to post where I end up with what I'm doing now, but it isn't quite ready yet (going a bit backwards with the last try, unfortunately).  Like you, I took onboard Jeera's comments, but I haven't yet added any garam masala. It'll probably be next week before I get back to the laboratory.

Of course, I suppose the key word here is "accurate"... ;D

Look forward to seeing the results from the lab Ast (and some more sooperdoopa pics).

SnS  ;D

Quote from: extrahotchillie on January 18, 2008, 08:35 PM
Sorry if I sounded negative, trust me I didn't mean it to come across that way. I was definitely going to make another curry out the base and add more garlic, ginger and increase the spice quantity to the final dish but alas she's gone and launched it.

Hi EHC

Really no need to apologise, I know your post was constructive criticism - and that's what this site is about.

From Jeera's earlier post I'd already realised that the amount of spice in the final curry needed adjusting. My latest Madras curry (cooked last night for my better half) improved significantly by adjusting the spice mix. I would appreciate someone posting on this thread an accurate Madras recipe suitable for 200 ml of this particular gravy ... anyone up for it?

Regards

SnS  ;D

Quote from: haldi on January 18, 2008, 07:23 PM
But this Saffron recipe is very welcome, thanks
And I will be making it again
I would love other curry recipes to go with it
It definitely needs it's own recipes
Do you think you can get any more?

Hi Haldi

I'm sure I'll be able to do that soon (have to arrange it with Raj), but what I wanted to do first was iron out the creases in the existing gravy recipe so that it was bulletproof and not open to mistakes being made (eg: amount of water added to "cover" the veg, etc, etc). Many don't realise that this was a prototype and much of what I wrote down was from observation, and by no means accurate (as you know, they don't measure ingredients using tspns or tbspns). To do this I've got to make another batch (as shown by the saffron) but this time measuring/recording all the ingredients and times EXACTLY.

Best Regards

SnS  ;D

Quote from: nutty on January 18, 2008, 05:31 PM
Hi this is going to sound silly but what is sp?

and is the onions cookind in that marinade.  Thanks

Hi Nutty

I guess sp means spoon.

1 x tsp = teaspoon = 5 ml
1 x tbsp = table sp = tablespoon = 15 ml

SnS  ;D

What I can't understand is how there are now 2 very negative reports .. and yet there are 11 favourable reports (including Admin, Haldi, Ast, Bobby Bhuna and Jeera) - on the same gravy. What the hell is going on ... surely our individual BIR taste expectations can't be that different. I'm gobsmacked !

BTW, the Madras is not the main subject here, it is the gravy. So if the (simple) Madras recipe which I provided is not producing the results, using the gravy with other more refined recipies may produce the result you're looking for.

After all, I did go to the Saffron to learn the gravy recipe - not the Madras.

SnS ;D

Hi Chaps

Took some advice from Jeera's recent results.

For prawn & mushroom Madras (for the better half):-

0.75 tsp turmeric and coriander
0.5 tsp chilli powder
0.5 tsp cumin
0.25 tsp garam masala (added separately immediately before the gravy and tomato puree)

Also added 1 tsp dried methi and some coriander leaf + stems.

Results - much better, full of flavour, best curry she's had in years.

I had prawn & mushroom Vindaloo:-

Same as above except 1 heaped tbsp chilli and left out the garam masala. Added 1 tbsp wine vinegar and 2 tspn sugar. Cooked about 10 minutes but had to add a little water.

Results - bloody hot but really nice flavour. Less vinegar next time. (picture below)

Dried Methi made quite a noticeable difference. More coriander and turmeric, less cumin gave a slightly sweeter taste but less aroma. Might also increase cumin to 0.75 tsp next time.


Regards

SnS  ;D