Liver Tikka was in a Chapman book too, nothing new

QuoteWell, these are my thoughts on why curries today taste and smell different from those of yesteryear.  Has anyone any other possible reasons they would like to suggest?

It's your imagination

Asda are doing a nice deep sided hard-anodised aluminium skillet at the moment, for around 13 quid. About 10-11" diameter I'd say, thick aluminium, with a riveted on stainless handle.

Chefs' spoons are a fairly standard item that you should be able to pick up anywhere that sells kitchen/house wares.

Gary

Accy lad here, and Claret thru and thru

These look good: http://www.catering-suppliers.com/cgi-bin/2008productView.cgi?prodID=97 though they do seem expensive, and also personally I prefer a more rounded pan.

I have similar, of 'MasterCook' brand - Alu with a wooden handle that cost me about ?5.00 for a 9" - I also use a carbon steel job - 11" good for two portions at a time, cost about ?8.00.

The MasterCook ones are the same as those on this vid

Gary

This is a really nice sauce

I'm not going to make any claims for it being the closest to, or 99% 'there' BIR sauce. It's just really nice...

I've tried a lot of sauces, from this forum, and also from books - Pat Chapman, 100 Best Balti Curries etc.

I've always found that these sauces are looking and smelling great UNTIL the step where you add tomatoes...this always seems to kill the smell and the taste to me - I dunno, I just don't like boiled tomatoes I guess!

To get around this I've simply been ommitting tomatoes from my sauces, with great results - howver, this has left a bit of a gap in my curry r'epertoire for rich tomatoey curries...

The sauce recipe below is my attempt at a rich tomatoey sauce, but without the boiled tomato taste.

Here Tomatoes are replaced with tomatoe puree, which is fried until really sweet.

The smell is wonderful, it's quite richly flavoured - without being 'too much', and works great for anything from a Medium Curry, to a vindaloo.

I'd love for other forum members to give it a go and tell me what they think.

>>>>>>> Gaz's Curry Sauce!<<<<<<<

------ Spice infusion -------

1 stick of Cinammon (could use Cassia Bark, but I used Cinammon here as that's what I had in the cupboard)
6 Brown Cardamons
6 Green Cardamons
6 cloves
3-4 Dried Bay Leaves

------Main ingredients-------

Half a cup of vegetable oil
2 teaspoons chopped ginger
3 teaspoons chopped garlic
200 ml double concentrate tomato puree
5 medium size onions
1 stick of celery
1 medium carrot
1 green pepper
1 medium potato: whole ('floury' type: Maris Piper, King Edward etc.)

------Spices & seasoning-------

2 teaspoons Ground Turmeric
2 teaspoons Ground Cumin
3 teaspoons Ground Coriander
1 teaspoons Ground Paprika
1.5 teaspoons 'Green Cuisine' Balti Spice mix http://greencuisine.co.uk (this isn't a recomendation or endorsement, you could use any curry powder I guess, but this is all I could get hold of on the day)
1 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
1.5 teaspoon Table-Salt


------Method-------

1. Infuse the ingredients under 'Spice infusion':

Cover with water, bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and leave to gently simmer.

2. Prepare main ingredients:

Finely chop the Ginger - keep seperate.
Finely chop the Garlic - keep seperate.
Coarsely chop the Onions - keep seperate.

Peel and slice the carrot.
Slice the celery.
Coarsely chop the Green Pepper.

3. Heat the oil in a large pan or pot.

! important !:
4. Add the chopped Ginger and fry until the ginger begins to turn brown and emits a sweet 'gingerbread man' type smell! Careful not to burn it.

5. Add the chopped Garlic an fry for about 30 seconds.

6. Add the Tomato Puree (A full normal sized tube!) and fry, and fry, then fry for a bit longer...keep stirring, and scrape any that looks like it may be beginning to stick to the bottom of the pan.

! important !:
Use your nose as a guide for how long to fry this mixture - the tomato puree should be starting to smell really really sweet, and completely lose that raw tomato smell, and the oil will seperate from the tomato/ginger/garlic mix. This should be smelling really sweet and savoury by now, even before adding any spices).

7. Add the Onions and stir in - no need to fry, just stir in.

8. Add the Green Pepper and stir in - no need to fry, just stir in.

9. Add enough water to cover the the lot by about 1-2 inches, and throw the whole potato in.

10. Add the Spices.

11. Strain the Spice infusion, removing the whole spices, and add the liquid to the pot.

12. Bring to the boil, then leave to boil (not too vigorously, just what I call a 'rolling boil' (more than a simmer, but less than a full on boil.)
Boils until all the veg has turned 'mushy'. During the boil, add more water as necessary. Leave to cool, remove the potato and discard (or eat it!) then blend to a smooth consistency.


Best regards, and good luck,

Gary

Interesting, but I'm not terribly convinced.

I've been having the caremalised Vs boiled debate with myself for a good few years now - I always thought that caremalisation was a must.

However, moved by the weight of evidence, I've now started using the boiling method, and I must say I feel my currys have taken a huge step towards a more authentic restaurant taste and texture.

I'm not a food scientist, but I reckon a good long boil is enough to release the sugars in most vegetables - including onions. Think back to the overcooked carrots and sprouts of yesteryear - before the trend fr everything al-dente, how sweet were they

I really can't see this being a financial viable way for retaurants to prep their base sauce for the masses.

Gary

Actually, our local and most popular ( a bit like an asian McD's) has Brandy - &/or- wine curries on the menu! I'll see what I can glean......

Just bumping this thread to remind everyone about Masterchef tonight:

BBC2 7.30pm

Lol,thanks for the replies.

I've been promised a recipie from the same place.

They knew exactly what I meant, but there was much shaking of heads.

'Chef just comes in and makes it, we dunno what he puts in it'.

And - 'we dunno, but you can't make it at home'!

Anyway, the deal is, I take a portion of my (modified muttley's base) in and chef gives me some tips, a recipie, and hopefully a sample

One comment stuck in my mind though, and I cant say whether it applies to the base or the finished dish:

'He has been cooking for 'Gori' for 20+ years, he just has the knack.

Gary