Topic: Viceroy Brasseries "naga" sauce

[curryhell]

As promised comments on the "naga" sauce as demonstrated by chef Imran and narated by Ali of the Viceroy Brasserie Abbots Langley

Here is the first video of three on the recipe
How to make naga chilli sauce-scotch bonnet-indian restaurant cooking-viceroy abbots langley part 1

Well i'm just about to give my new ali pan its second out and see how it fares with the South Indian Garlic Chicken    Then have to make the Viceroy Brasseries "naga" sauce and pre-cooked saag.  A feast when i get back from the pub tonight  : ;D

Do let us know how you get on with the Viceroy Brasserie's "naga" sauce, CH.

I made a batch last week, which, tastes fab on its own, but thanks to cooking mainly traditional Indian fare of late I haven't tried it in a BIR style dish yet.

I made this the other weekend but due to workload and the arrival of the festive season I 've not had time until now to post the results.
For those that have followed the VB videos since they started to appear, there sometimes seems to be a difference between quantities described and those acutally used.  Just like Salavador Dhali I have had to look at the video and interpret the quantities.
I basically halved the receipe to 1kg of scotch bonnets as i could not possibly store 2kg of "naga" pickle (sauce)  .
I used one heaped dessertspoon of panch phoran and one and a half chefs spoon of oil.  I reduced the vinegar down to just over half a pint and used one and a half large bulbs of garlic.
On medium heat poured oil in saucepan and heated.  Then added the panch phoran and fried until the mustard seeds started to pop.  Then added the sliced fresh galic and fried until it just started to brown at the edges.  Added my 1kg of scotch bonnets, mixed everything well  and continued to fry for 10 minutes, stirring regularly to avoid any burning.

In go the bonnets



After ten minutes of cooking



Then in went the vinegar, brought the pan back to a simmer, put the lid on (as the fumes were a  little pungent  ) and continued to cook for a further 10 minutes, stiring occasionally (holding my breath whilst doing so).

The mix now cooked



And yes, the bonnets had softened  :  I allowed this to cool for a while and then blended it all



Then placed it all in a jar and covered the surface with oil for later use 



BOTTLED DYNAMITE would be the only way to describe the finished product, tasty on its own but with the kick of several mules ;D

I have used this twice so far.  I made a vindaloo the other week and replaced the chill powder with a heaped dessertspoon of this.  Result was a nice tasty curry with good heat but on the milder side of vindaloo for my taste buds (what tast buds i hear some cry  : ).   From this i concurred that more was needed to get the heat up.  Its addition had added a nice little twist to the finished dish without being overpowering in taste. If i added more i'd risk the curry taking on more of the flavour of the sauce. 
Next I decided to use it in conjunction with chilli powder reducing the quantity of the latter in my North Indian Special.  Level dessertspoon of "naga" sauce and a tsp of chilli.  This worked very well.  Curry had a good heat with an extra layer of flavour.
This jar should keep me going for a little while.  I would recommend this for anybody that likes to add pickle to any curry.  It adds flavour as well as having the advantage of adding a good kick as well.  A good substitute for chilli powder but doesn't seem as hot.  Although the advantage may be no "ring sting" the next morning as there's no powder to undercook  ;D ;D

[loveitspicy]

Well well well CH what a coincidence this is - This pickle and many jars is a quest for 2013 - I and the wife have just been on a quest to track down scotch bonnet seeds (Capsicum chinense) out here - and have a few to sow in the new year.
We eventually ended up at a research station for a better word. They test all the plants that are grown. It was a brilliant day with the scientists/ doctors and we have a few packets of various seeds (FREE) - chillies and tomatoes some with just their original number on - not been named yet.
I even have a packet of seeds that will be grown in India of all places this year - they look a lot like long kashmiri chillies.
I think the problem with growing these, to get the same again we would have to grow some covered so they couldn't get pollinated by anything - no cross pollination. That will be hard to do i reckon!
What i did learn the Capsicum chinense has a heat 5 times hotter than the Thai hot chillies ( bloody hell the Thai chillies are hot)

best, Rich

[Tommy Timebomb]

Does this mean to say that after all this time of me believing that Naga chili was a new find to me and one that I have been educating (boring) my mates down the pub with, is actually a Scotch Bonnet at the end of the day!

I also have been getting confused with the Dorset chili that is supposed to be deadly! does this also come in another more familiar term.
Google searches come up with too much information as per usual. Has anyone a link to a url that explains things in an understandable manor re chili types etc?
TIA

[curryhell]

Does this mean to say that after all this time of me believing that Naga chili was a new find to me and one that I have been educating (boring) my mates down the pub with, is actually a Scotch Bonnet at the end of the day!

No TT.  Mr Naga is made from naga chillies.  The naga sauce used at the  Viceroy is called "Naga sauce" but is made with scotch bonnets.  To make this sauce using naga chillies would be prohibitively expensive given the average price of a naga chilli being about 50p each 
As for the Dorset naga, it was once the hottest chilli in the world but has been surpassed now by several others.  But my, has it got a kick to it  ;D

[Naga]

Don't know how I managed to miss your thread, CH! I transcribed the recipe from the original videos but I haven't got around to actually making it yet - probably 'cos I'm still wading through my home-made chilli jam!

Good recommendation, though, and useful comments on the scaling of ingredients. Thanks!

[Tommy Timebomb]

Thanks for making this clear CH! 

[Naga]

I've been meaning to do something with my frozen, home-grown chillies and I thought I would have a go at making a chilli pickle. Unfortunately, I had no Naga and only a few habaneros and Scotch Bonnets among the melange of other chilli types I grew last year.

However, undaunted, I followed CH's method above, scaling the other ingredients to match the 700g of chillis I was left with.

Frying:



Simmering in Vinegar:



After Blending:



The only difference to the recipe was the inclusion of 1 heaped tsp of smoked paprika to try and emulate Mr. Naga Chilli Pickle, and half-a-tsp of salt.

So what was it like? Well, it was hot alright, but Mr. Naga it definitely was not! Because of the mix of chillies, I didn't expect the fruitiness of a Naga or Scotch Bonnet pickle, but I'm definitely not too impressed with the taste. Entirely my fault for not using the right type of chilli, of course, and definitely not a comment on CH's and the Viceroy's excellent efforts.

I haven't put the pickle into jars yet, so its not too late to try and improve the taste. I'll need to put my thinking cap on - if I can find it!

[Naga]

Hmmmm... Now, hold the bus! I've just had another taste of the pickle now it's cooled down a bit and, believe it or not, it's starting to taste a bit better!

It's mighty hot - hotter than Mr. Naga, I would say, and I've just had a tsp of Mr. Naga to compare against the home-made stuff. Mr. Naga is still the superior pickle, no question, but there is a slight similarity in taste. Mine isn't so astringent as Mr. Naga, so maybe there's an imbalance in the vinegar content.

Still thinking about possible taste improvement though. One thing's for certain -  this chilli pickle lark is addictive!

[curryhell]

Hmmmm... Now, hold the bus! I've just had another taste of the pickle now it's cooled down a bit and, believe it or not, it's starting to taste a bit better!

;D ;D ;D  Now try adding a dessertspoon to a madras Naga.  Although it's cooked "pickling" style I prefer to refer to it as a sauce.  Not sure if the paprika has had  a positive or negative impact on it    I find it's an ideal condiment for adding to dishes.  It's a bit violent to have with poppadums but it absolutely knocks spots off any chilli sauce when added to a donner 
I just love it and it brings tears to my eyes and sets my mouth on fire  :
Try it again later and see if it's grown on you a bit more or go get yourself a nice greasy donner to slap it on 

[Naga]

Thanks for the good advice, CH. I will definitely add some to my next curry - looking forward to it, in fact!

Re the paprika - I only added it because it's in the ingredient list for Mr. Naga. I used pimento dulce vera as I thought it would add smokiness and colour to the pickle without increasing the heat levels. Seemed to work without detriment.

I've got 6 x 100g jars of the pickle to get through, but I had another 200g left over which is now under oil in the fridge. I tinkered a little with the extra by adding half-a-tsp of rose water and a squirt of lemon dressing to it. Bizarrely, such a little amount of flavour had a strong effect on the taste of the pickle - it tasted much rounder and smoother, but just for a few seconds! Then the chilli kick steamed in like a train and took my mouth over for about 10 minutes!

I think it would go great on a donner with tomato salad, BTW!