Topic: Adding depth to a korma recipe?

[PlainPopcorn]

I've been trying my hand at a malaya curry, which (according to some people here) is basically a korma with bananas and sometimes lychee added.

I've gotten to a great starting point and made a malaya korma that was so very very close to the malaya my local takeaway makes but it's lacking something.
The texture was spot on though.

Here is the recipe that I used;
Basewas made from Chewytikka's 1 hour base (made in pressure cooker)
Korma recipe was from a user here who pm'd me and tweaked to make it more malaya-ish

ingredients
-1 tbsp vegetable oil and 1 tbsp ghee (use oil if you don't have ghee)
-3 tbsp of coconut powder (used dessicated coconut since that is what my local IR uses)
-2 tbsp of almond powder
-300~400ml base sauce (I used 375 ml)
-half a pureed banana (mine wasn't ripe enough so it added some acidity as well, I can't get my hands on properly ripe bananas at the moment)
-3~5 tbsp single cream
-sugar to taste (I added 1/4 tsp, it was almost sweet enough with the fruit and the coconut)
-handful roasted split cashews

Method
-heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil and 1 tbsp ghee (use oil if you don't have ghee) in a pan with high sides.
-when the oil/ghee is hot add 3tbsp of coconut powder and 2 tbsp of almond powder and fry these for a minute or two to wake them up.
-add 300~400ml base sauce (this is heated before adding)
-add banana puree
-simmer for a few minutes
-add 3~5 tbsp single cream
-add sugar to taste
-add roasted split cashews


So I'm curious what is commonly added to BIR kormas or malayas to deepen the flavour without adding much hot/spiciness (the family doesn't like spiciness, that's why I'm asking).

I've done some reading on the korma subforum but usually nothing else is added.
I did come across one recipe that fried ginger garlic paste in the beginning of the recipe.
I suspect though, that what I'm looking for is somewhere in the spice department.

Any advice is appreciated.

[chewytikka]

My 1hr base is Neutral and easily flavoured.

Your coconut to almond ratio should be 2:1.
Don

[PlainPopcorn]

My 1hr base is Neutral and easily flavoured.

Your coconut to almond ratio should be 2:1.
Don

[leodis1970]

I find Ghee does have a vague cheesy smell to it when cold, but disappears during cooking. Personally, I find it does add an extra depth of flavour to the dish. Don't forget ... there are two types - vegetable ghee and a substantially more expensive butter ghee. I like both, but prefer the butter one if funds allow!

[PlainPopcorn]

I find Ghee does have a vague cheesy smell to it when cold, but disappears during cooking. Personally, I find it does add an extra depth of flavour to the dish. Don't forget ... there are two types - vegetable ghee and a substantially more expensive butter ghee. I like both, but prefer the butter one if funds allow!

It was butter ghee, and the smallest can (which was still pretty big to be honest) was around 6 euros.
I have an intern income, 6 euros is a lot of money
Now I'm glad I didn't throw it out. Now the top layer is gone it also smells less like cheese.

[leodis1970]

To be honest, I still reckon ghee of either type is better than just oil (personal taste, not everyone will agree), so if cash is tight, you'll probably find the cheaper vegetable one is still a good choice and not far off half the price.

[PlainPopcorn]

To be honest, I still reckon ghee of either type is better than just oil (personal taste, not everyone will agree), so if cash is tight, you'll probably find the cheaper vegetable one is still a good choice and not far off half the price.

I've got butter ghee, the cheesy smell becomes less over time the more I scrape the top layer off. I keep it in the fridge.
But I'm just going to use for this recipe as well, especially if the smell becomes less during cooking.

[Secret Santa]

My local indian takeaway malaya (which I'm trying to recreate) has banana flavour in the sauce (that's the reason for the banana puree), banana pieces (I didn't include since I was just trying to make the sauce, that's also the reason I'm leaving out the meat) and noticeable dessicated coconut. It has no pineapple. It does have lychees but those slimy canned lychees gross me out so I left those out as well.

Kashmiri was one of my favourites back in the day and I don't go much for mild curries, so it must have been good!

They were always mild, no banana flavour in the sauce, with sliced, ripe banana and definitely no desiccated coconut, which grosses me out frankly.

I'm only half joking when I say that I bet if you poked your head into the kitchen where you get yours you'd find a tub of banana milk shake powder on the shelf. Anything goes these days.

[PlainPopcorn]

Kashmiri was one of my favourites back in the day and I don't go much for mild curries, so it must have been good!

They were always mild, no banana flavour in the sauce, with sliced, ripe banana and definitely no desiccated coconut, which grosses me out frankly.

I'm only half joking when I say that I bet if you poked your head into the kitchen where you get yours you'd find a tub of banana milk shake powder on the shelf. Anything goes these days.
[/quote]

I wouldn't put it past them
Sure there's decent take-away places but there are also some where everything goes.

10 years ago there was this dutch tv-program where they filmed the kitchens of take-away places (burgers, doner kebab, chinese food, greek, pizza etc) unannounced.
Basically a film crew went with the branch of the government called something along the lines of "health and food inspection".
Difficult to translate it, it's a government division that makes sure products made in the netherlands or imported to the netherlands are safe, like food or children's toys, and they also inspect places where food is made and served to customers.
Like you'd expect some of these kitchens were really horrible, but surprisingly one or two were squeaky clean.
But you could also see strange ingredients, things you wouldn't associate with the end product especially if you know next to nothing about how people cook in fast food places.
I remember seeing stuff in buckets, like a bucket of creamer, a bucket of smoke flavour, bucket of duck? fat.
Sadly I don't remember it well, but the creamer bucket stayed with me. It was clear they didn't use it for coffee. What use does a chinese place have for a bucket of coffee creamer?
I can't imagine the dish they'd use it in.

Went grocery shopping today, and there were only greenish yellow bananas again. And they shine coloured light on them to make em look better as well. Basically you pick the ripest bananas, put them in your basket, walk over to the canned goods aisle just to find out that the bananas magically changed colour and you go "surely these are not the ones I picked".
I know that sounds totally mental, like something a conspiracy fan might say but it's true and so effing disappointing.
I bought 2 anyway and when I came home I put them in a bag with some apples, hopefully that myth is true that that helps ripen them up.

[Secret Santa]

Went grocery shopping today, and there were only greenish yellow bananas again. And they shine coloured light on them to make em look better as well. Basically you pick the ripest bananas, put them in your basket, walk over to the canned goods aisle just to find out that the bananas magically changed colour and you go "surely these are not the ones I picked".
I know that sounds totally mental, like something a conspiracy fan might say but it's true and so effing disappointing.

They tend to do that light trick with tomatoes here, not so much with bananas though. Definitely not a conspiracy...well, other than to con us into buying unripe fruits! 

I bought 2 anyway and when I came home I put them in a bag with some apples, hopefully that myth is true that that helps ripen them up.

No, not a myth. All fruits produce ethylene gas and that makes other fruit ripen. Usually though it's avocados you use as they produce a greater quantity per fruit. Personally I just leave the bananas in the fruit bowl for anything from 3 - 6 days and they ripen somewhere in that time. You definitely want the ripe fruit though because the sweetness makes all the difference and, of course, they have a better overall flavour. Just be careful not to overcook as they'll go to mush quite quickly. Add near the end depending on how ripe they are.