Topic: Curry made with curry powder !

[Peripatetic Phil]

Well, this evening I did it : made a "CA's Chicken Madras" using only curry powder -- no other spices.  For comparison, here is CA's original recipe and my substitutions --

Ingredients:

- 300g skinless chicken breast (chopped into approximately 1 inch cubes)
- 75 ml spiced oil (here: http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3295.msg34667#msg34667)
- 1 tsp fresh garlic (pureed)
- 0.5 tsp fresh ginger (pureed)
1 tablespoon g/g paste
- 1 tbsp tomato paste (diluted to a puree with 3 tbsp water)
- 300ml 200ml curry base (here: http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3772.0)
- 1 tsp curry masala (here: http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3765.0)
- 1 3 tsp Rajah Hot Madras curry powder (any decent mild or medium one, or paste, will do)
- 1 tsp chili powder (or more to taste)
- 0.25 tsp tandoori masala (here: http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1514.0) - optional
- 0.5 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
- 2 tsp sugar (or to taste)
- 1 tsp lemon juice (or to taste)
1 end of lime, cut into four.
- fresh chopped coriander (to taste)
- fresh chillies (optional)

Method:

- Heat curry base to a gentle simmer
- Heat oil in suitable pan (I use a cast iron wok) until almost smoking
- Add chicken and fry for a couple of minutes, on high heat, with continuous stirring, until sealed (i.e. just white on the outside)
- Add garlic and ginger (and fresh chillies, if using) and fry, for a minute or so, with continuous stirring (do not burn!)
- Remove from heat and add chilli powder, curry masala, curry powder (or paste) and tandoori masala (if using)
- Stir, to coat the chicken, and return to heat
- Immediately add tomato puree, stirring continuously
- Fry for 30 seconds or so, on high heat, with continuous stirring (do not burn!)
- Add a ladle of curry base and stir
- Continue to add the curry base, a ladle at a time, stirring occasionally as the water evaporates and the sauce thickens
- Add salt, sugar and lemon juice lime to taste and stir
- Continue to simmer, on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the oil begins to separate (5 to 10 minutes)
- Add fresh coriander to taste
- Serve

Strikesthrough indicate where I have omitted a CA ingredient, bold indicates what I have substituted,

And the results ?  Quite to my surprise, a very pleasant curry.  Brown in colour, not red; definitely not hot (even though I used Rajah Hot Madras Curry Powder), a little over-salty (because there was no chilli for the salt to combat) but all in all, perfectly edible.  You would not be ashamed to serve it to your friends, even if you knew in advance they wouldn't say it was far better than any curry they had eaten in their life.

So, in a sense, this goes to support Ray's hypothesis that BIR's in the 60s and early 70s may have used just curry powder and no individual spices.  It certainly works well, and I think my wife will appreciate it as it isn't over-hot.  Oh yes, and one last thing : despite the fact that it is made with curry powder, it is /nothing/ like the yellow, bilious, curries that we Britons ate in the 50s (laced with sultanas, to take the raw edge off the totally uncooked curry powder); it was a true BIR dish, differing mainly in colour, heat, and the lack of any individuality.

** Phil.

[chewytikka]

Hi Phil

Looks like you've made a medium/plain chicken curry
The first traditional dish on most BIR menus.

Not many recipes on cr0 for this one

Well done! Keep it up
cheers Chewy

[Peripatetic Phil]

Hi Phil -- Looks like you've made a medium/plain chicken curry.  The first traditional dish on most BIR menus. 
Not many recipes on cr0 for this one.  Well done!  Keep it up   cheers Chewy

"ROTFL", as I understand the younger generation might say
** Phil.

[Razor]

Hi Phil,

Thanks for giving this ago.  So, what would you do to develop this, perhaps the addition of chilli powder next time to give a 'redder' appearance maybe? Maybe a tbsp or 2 of chicken stock to replicate Chewy's early account of how whole chickens were being cooked in the base?

Interesting stuff and many thanks,

Ray

[Peripatetic Phil]

Thanks for giving this ago.  So, what would you do to develop this, perhaps the addition of chilli powder next time to give a 'redder' appearance maybe? Maybe a tbsp or 2 of chicken stock to replicate Chewy's early account of how whole chickens were being cooked in the base?

Actually, I am minded to go in exactly the opposite direction -- even simpler, rather than more complex.  Bear in mind that CA's base is fairly ingredient-rich :  onions, garlic, ginger, tomato paste, fresh tomato, carrot, green or red capsicum, coriander stalks/roots, curry powder, spice mix (which itself contains  turmeric powder, coriander powder, sweet paprika powder, cumin powder, garlic powder, fenugreek leaves, ginger powder, cardamon powder, and fenugreek powder), salt, vegetable oil and water.  So we are talking seriously complex here.  My idea is to simplify the base to its absolute limit : onions and water.  Then repeat the exercise and judge how inferior (if at all) the results are. Because unless and until we can identify what it is that makes a curry, all of the extras we add are just adding confusion (IMHO, of course !).  In the worst case, the result won't taste too good, but it won't be wasted because my aim is always to under- rather than over-cook the chicken, so I can always retrieve it from a not-very-nice sauce and transfer it to a better one ...

Oh, and a P.S.  Long before I discovered the secret of BIR (i.e., the base, and the basic technique), I tried adding various chicken-based flavourings to my experiments, in the hopes of achieving the then-unachievable, but although it made some of the really bad dishes slightly less bad, it didn't do anything to make them BIR-like. So although I am very happy to accept CT's report about whole chickens being (?pre?)cooked in the base, I am less certain that "essence of chicken" is the missing ingredient.  Indeed, I go along with those who have recently been contributing to the "Completely stumped" and "Best base ever" threads -- I don't believe there is a missing ingredient at all : we just have to perfect our technique !

** Phil.

[Cory Ander]

we just have to perfect our technique !

And what, precisely, do you mean by that?

[Peripatetic Phil]

And what, precisely, do you mean by ["we just have to perfect our technique !"] ?

That there is no secret ingredient waiting to be discovered, no one perfect base (or curry masala, or w-h-y) that will guarantee that every curry made with it is outstanding : in fact, no /physical/ obstacle to perfection at all.  Rather, if we are not achieving results comparable to the best BIRs, then we need to refine our technique, rather than keep searching for an ingredient or recipe that is "the holy grail of BIR".

** Phil.

[Les]

Good on you Phil, This can't be bad for a starting point for more simple bases, I believe, like a few members on here that less is more, We do try to over complicate things, Don't know about just onions and water though, think you may need a bit of garlic, But Hey, what the hell, nothing ventured, nothing gained
PS
And maybe a Tsp of mixed powder of your choice in the final dish, just as a personal touch ;D

HS

[Peripatetic Phil]

Good on you Phil, This can't be bad for a starting point for more simple bases, I believe, like a few members on here that less is more, We do try to over complicate things, Don't know about just onions and water though, think you may need a bit of garlic, But Hey, what the hell, nothing ventured, nothing gained

Well, my main reason for omitting the garlic, ginger and tomato from the base is that I know in advance that these will be added at the main-course stage (as g/g paste and tomato puree).  My theory is that the base is there for two reasons : firstly, for consistency (if it doesn't feel right in the mouth, it won't be perceived as BIR-like), and secondly, to provide the "bass part" to the main-course-spicing's "melody".  It may well be that there needs to be more than just onion and water, but I won't know that until I have tried it ! 

** Phil.

[peterandjen]

Excellent i'll  keep an eye on this one