Topic: MARTIN'S ASHOKA MADRAS

[Martinwhynot]

Hi everyone,

Despite the paucity of posts on this site I have been cooking restaurant style curries for around 20 years - always searching for the classic Scottish style curries, I was immensely impressed with Panposts offerings. I gather there has been a shout for a madras for this style - here's mine. It replicates the Scottish curry experience (Punjabi, not Bangladeshi) very well indeed.

3 TBS oil
1 TBS Ashoka garlic/ginger paste
3 TBS Ashoka Bunjara paste
1 TBS Tomato Puree
1 heaped tsp chili
base sauce (I use the Taz base but any decent one will not overpower the bunjara, which is a key flavour).
lge pinch methi
lge pinch garam masala
about 1/2 tsp lemon juice
lge pinch coriander

Heat the oil.
Add the above in order, when cooking nicely add base sauce a little at a time until you've added around 240 mls (that's 6 chef's spoons!)
about half way through add the methi and the pre-cooked meat/chicken to heat it through.
Stir in coriander
Serve. 

(as a guide you're aiming to have a total of approx 280-300ml of bunjara/base mixed together and cooked through).

This gives you what you'd get in a Central Scotland Indian restaurant - if you adapt it to suit what 'you think it needs' you'll alter the results you get.  Would like to hear of adaptations from those who understand the difference between this style and the style that dominates England and Wales (which is excellent but different).

Happy cooking.

Martin

[Stephen Lindsay]

cheers for that Martin - I have my pal coming through from Edinburgh next month for a curry night and as he is a Madras-head I will give this a go.

[gazman1976]

Hi Martin would you say this curry is the same as an ashoka meal in glasgow or is it still missing that missing taste ?

Garry

[Martinwhynot]

Garry,

This is the real deal my man - if you know what a Ashoka curry is like, get the garlic/ginger paste and the bunjara paste made NOW!!!!!

That's an order!!!!!

 ;D

[Unclefrank]

Hi Martin have you tried this recipe with the Ashoka base ?
And if so what is the difference in taste.
I used the Ashoka base for a CTM ( http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1823.0) the actual recipe not the base and omitting the coconut , for my other half and well it wasnt all that good she said it didnt taste anything like a CTM.
Could be my cooking though  ;D

[joshallen2k]

Can someone who has experienced a range of both Scottish and English BIR restaurants perhaps summarize the differences between the two?

There seem to be a number on this forum that swear by the "Ashoka" style curries. I've made some very good mashups of my own in the past using the Ashoka base and bits of the technique. But then when I read through some of the recipes, a number of them simply do not resemble their English counterparts. If I recall correctly, there wasn't even a Madras on offer at the Ashoka.

Can anyone comment?

Thx,
Josh

[Stephen Lindsay]

josh - I posted this on 8th August on my thread "3rd Anniversary" in reply to a similar question by Razor

This is the link

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4860.msg46633#msg46633

This is what I posted

Thanks JivyJ and Razor, good to hear from you both.

re the difference between Scottish and English curries my own take on it is I think it's fairly complicated cause although there are differences I expect they are  more and varied than simply the difference between one country and the other. I think the Ashoka chain probably represents their style of cooking more than it does your average Scottish takeaway which is pretty dire. There is a big cultural difference between the West and East coasts of Scotland which I am sure gazman will agree with. It would therefore be logical to expect that this would be borne out by differences in curries too. One thing which is noticeable in Scotland is that the Chicken Chasni is a hugely popular dish, possibly more so than CTM, and especially so in Glasgow. My best stab at describing what it is would be to take, say a Pathia sauce, to get the sweet and sour flavour, and finish it off with cream, so it is kind of a cross between Pathia and CTM and along with Irn Bru and Mars Bars deep fried in batter it could be regarded as a Scottish national dish! Finished off with loads of beer of course.

My main experience of eating curries in England has been in Yorkshire - Huddersfield, Bradford and Halifax, though this was some time ago. I didn't find that there was a huge difference but the main thing was perhaps stronger use of spicing in Scotland, so a Scottish Madras in Scotland would be like a Vindaloo in Yorkshire. My pal also lived in Dorset for a few years and he said pretty much the same.

However there are posts on here that refer to a South-East English curry and a London Dhansak and so on which suggests to me that the variations are maybe more about region than one country as a whole. As I said I've a bit of experience to go on but I wouldn't hold much faith by it.

If you are interested in the Ashoka posts I'd encourage you to give them a go and see what you think. Panpot did a huge amount of work on them (last year I think it was) and it sounds like there's a few folk who have been pretty impressed by the results, myself included.

I've taken to working with BE base more recently, as it's much simpler than Ashoka which requires 3 separate recipes to be prepared in advance. However I've been thinking about taking the best elements of both and seeing where it leads so I will report on that if and when I get moving on that.
 

[gazman1976]

Thanks Martin thats all i needed to know - and yes the ashoka does a lovely Madras curry

Garry

[Martinwhynot]

Hi Martin have you tried this recipe with the Ashoka base ?
And if so what is the difference in taste.
I used the Ashoka base for a CTM ( http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1823.0) the actual recipe not the base and omitting the coconut , for my other half and well it wasnt all that good she said it didnt taste anything like a CTM.
Could be my cooking though  ;D

Hi, in Scotland they do make some of their dishes almost completely differently. Panpot's recipes do replicate the Scottish taste (for the want of a better expression!) CYM in many Scottish restaurants is something that many chefs have used to go 'off piste' with. My old local Omar Kayam in Denny, Stirlingshire, even has a section for curries with alcohol in it. I'd say that if your not looking for the taste you'd get in the Glasgow area don't use the Ashoka recipes - they're not likely to give you what you're after (I've lived on England for over 25 years and never tasted anything close to this style). I'm not saying it's better just different, and due to a lack of awareness of the sheer diversity of curry styles UK wide is the only reason for the 'iffy' results people were saying on the Ashoka recipes. All that said, I do use a third of the salt when making up the Ashoka base (which I don't feel is crucial to the results).
Hope this gives more clarity than confusion!

Martin

[Unclefrank]

That is the only "bad" one i have made with the Ashoka base all the other recipes have been quite nice.I too have been eating curries for around 30 odd years and have tried a varied amount to date from nearly everywhere in England and a few abroad but never have i tried one from Scotland (well one from Dunfries) so i just need to know "what is the difference?".And what is "that taste".
What makes the Ashoka recipes different from various recipes around this great isle we live on.
Thanks.