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Messages - stevepaul

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1
Lets Talk Curry / Chef Din's Madras.
« on: August 27, 2022, 08:23 PM »
Hi Guys. Cranked out Chef Din's madras this afternoon. Made it pretty much as he did but I had no red pepper and had to substitute curry leaves instead of bay leaves because I was out of those too.

Cooked it slightly different to him though in order to save time and energy (electrical energy, not mine). Started it off in the deep pan from my pressure cooker until the onions and tomatoes had released all their water, then put the lid on without the need for extra water and gave it 25mins. Used high pressure on the cooker and the lowest stetting on my induction hob.

After 25mins the meat was beautifully tender and the onions had more or less disintegrated. Next I reduced the remaining water until there was just oil visible then added the spices and cooked those through followed by adding water to make the sauce. The end result was a very nice madras, then I asked myself my usual questions..."If I'd paid for it would I have had any complaints"  no. "Would I revisit the same establishment"  yes. Can't say fairer than that.

2
I also got my brother cooking BIR curries using the base and spice mix from the book "100 Best Balti Curries". It got to the stage where he was cooking them so often that when his teenage kids asked "what's for tea dad" and he replied "curry" their reply was "oh no, not again dad". Funny,

3
My partner hails from Birmingham (UK, not Alabama) the curry centre of Britain and she had her favourite restaurants. Now, when I was getting to know her I said that I made a decent curry, and that's all I said leaving her thinking it would be a jar of Pataks or similar. So when I made her one for the first time, from a base I'd prepared days before, I wouldn't let her in the kitchen to see  what I was doing.

Anyway the inevitable "that smells good" could be heard as I carried on in the kitchen and when I served it up her first words were "it looks like it came from a restaurant". Then, after she'd finished mopping up her plate she swore it was as good as any restaurant/take away she'd visited in Birmingham. Now, in no way shape or form is she a fan of cooking, however, both she and one of her sons are cranking out BIR curries on a weekly basis.

Furthermore I got her to bring a curry from her favourite restaurant for a side by side taste test when she once came to stay, and to be honest guys, I couldn't say one was better than the other. Both had a slightly different taste, but there was no stand out winner.

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Lets Talk Curry / Re: Inflation costs and effects longterm
« on: August 24, 2022, 01:52 PM »
Nice one Phil. I'm definitely going route one though i.e.... dead, cold storage for a couple of days then re-heat oven gas mark 1500 deg's. And if the place burns down, well, that ain't going to worry me. Suppose they could claim I'd poured fuel on the fire though.

steve.

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Lets Talk Curry / Re: Inflation costs and effects longterm
« on: August 24, 2022, 10:12 AM »
 I knew this was coming so I stocked up on oil a few months back.  So if there's no oil on the shelves it's probably down to me. Farmfoods seems to be the cheapest. I bake my own bread so I stocked up with flour, too.

And things are only going to get worse if governments are hell bent on reducing the use of fertilisers for the production of crops. Crazy. Anyway if cooking oil gets too expensive I'll start using Shell V Power, or perhaps red diesel if I can get my hands on it. Then as a last resort used engine oil.

6
Personally I don't think there's a secret ingredient that we're missing. Most of us on here will make excellent curries and no doubt if we could try each others then some of us would say " That's it, that's the exact taste I've been looking for". But I must admit I loved those drunken nights out of the 70's/80's that always finished off in a curry house. Actually those nights out went on until the late 90's. But a two day hangover was more than I could cope with. Now I rarely drink at all.

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Hi Guys. Have been looking for the secret ingredient for that authentic 70's/80's curry taste for years. Tried many different bases, spices and other ingredients without any real success. I've racked my brain trying to think what it could possibly be but finally I think I've nailed it. It was pretty obvious really, and that missing ingredient is, wait for it...beer, lots of beer. About 10 pints actually, and a few glasses of wine from Yates Wine Lodge for good measure.


Well those are the only ingredients that are missing from my time spent eating 70's/80's curries. But aged 68 I'm just not brave enough or stupid  enough to include them any more to confirm my suspicions, but do let me know if you are. Have fun.   

8
Lets Talk Curry / Re: Must be doing something right.
« on: April 06, 2019, 11:55 PM »
I've made both of these bases in the past and I liked them as well. I do recall enjoying the Rolls Royce version quite a bit. I may need to revisit but I presently have quite a bit in the freezer (Latif's and Andy2295's). The trouble for me is that I keep finding a new one or one I haven't yet tried or don't remember. I have rarely made a single base more than a few times and some only once. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but it is difficult to say which I've really felt were at the top. I've not had any that I'd consider bad though.
I've used only the RR version, or the Everyday version for years now. However, like you, I  have swapped around from one base to the next in the past. Haven't really had a bad one, but I must admit I just didn't enjoy one that had cabbage as part of it's make up.

Tonight though I went in the reverse direction and made the KD base and it made a great madras. Amazing how minimal spice content and few ingredients can equal a more complex base. My maxim for any curry I make, is "If I'd paid for it in a restaurant would I complain and would I recommend the restaurant to others" and for tonight's curry it's no to the former and yes to the latter.

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Lets Talk Curry / Re: Must be doing something right.
« on: April 06, 2019, 11:17 PM »
Great post and well done.

From on Stephen to another....thanks.

10
You're right Phil, this does make a great base. Haven't made it in a fair while so did a half batch this afternoon using a pressure cooker. Don't know why I moved on to other bases, but I guess we like to try other recommendations.  However, the KD does stand up there alongside the others IMHP.

Only cooked the onion mix for 30mins but it came out just fine. When the base was completed I could have ate it as a very mild curry and I don't think I'd alter it much to take it up to a madras or vindaloo. Perhaps just stick to the book.

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