Anyone remember being told this back in the late 70's early 80's the night after having a curry? I certainly do. In fact, you could smell it yourself at times. Therefore I ask where has that "day after" aroma gone. Why do work mates no-longer tell you to "go away you stink of curry.

We all know that cooking garlic for even a short amount of time reduces this lingering after effect that so many people used to complain about. Even the Bradford base that calls for 15 cloves of garlic doesn't create this day after smell. Neither when I have used a full tube of garlic in a base does it occur, either, so therefore, where has it gone to. It has to have vanished for some reason. Either that or people have become more polite.

Now, I am wondering if they actually cooked the garlic in the 70's/80's the way we do today. Perhaps they just added it directly into the curry when they were cooking the final dish. By that I mean no frying it off prior to adding the base. Obviously I have no evidence of this, but it does make me think. This garlic/curry smell that seemed to leak out of your pores the day after has been lost, so I can only presume it's down to the cooking method.

Anyway, I intend to try and recreate this lingering after effect that was so prevalent in the early days of BIR curries. I'm going to try and keep things simple for my first attempt. Basically making an onion gravy/base, with minimum or nothing added until it comes to making up the final curry. It may well turn out to be disastrous, but an interesting disaster if nothing else. Anyone else have thoughts on this. Good, or bad, I don't mind. And who else remembers being told "go away, you stink of curry"     

I'll report back on my efforts.

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Hi everyone,

Thought some might like to hear the results of a little experiment that produced the best base and madras I've had in a while. I've been making BIR style curries for a good number of years...Chapman, Dhillon and from the 100 Best Balti Curries cookbook. All were reasonable but just not what I was looking for, that being 80's style.

Since viewing this excellent site I've tried the Bruce Edward's base and madras which I found too bland, and then CA's base and madras which I found to complex. By complex I don't mean in the making, but in the taste. There is no intended disrespect or criticism towards you in that statement CA and I hope you don't think there is.

Anyway. In looking for another base to try I went for the Bradford/Rick Stein recipe that many one here were impressed with. http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1894.0
  I liked the simplicity of the ingredients which I think would be close to those used in the late 70's 80's curries. After knocking up a batch I noticed, like others on here, how dark it was with quite a bit of heat from the amount of chilli used. To my mind this didn't leave much wiggle room for making the more mild, lighter curries, and although the madras I made from this base was pleasant, it still wasn't to my liking in terms of taste or colour.

Now, not wanting to discard this panful of base I set to thinking about how could I adapt it for further use. I wanted something that was lighter and less spiced to make it more versatile. I though that if I cooked up a simple onion, garlic and ginger base and combined this in a 50 50 ratio with the Bradford base it would be a good starting point. Once the onion base was made I combined a ladle of each and cooked it up. The resulting base was, well, perfect. Lighter in colour and much less spiced. What really struck me though was how sweet it was and the madras I made from it was first class and as good as any I've had from a restaurant, or TA.

When I next make the Bradford base I intend halving the spices, but increasing the garlic and ginger slightly. Hopefully this will produce the same result.

For anyone interested the onion base I made for the 50/50 ratio was. 3 medium onions. 1 tbsp garlic and one of ginger. This was sweated off in oil until soft then blended. For the madras I added 1 tbsp tomato puree. 2 tsp garlic. 2tsp ginger, 1tbsp BE spice mix. plus salt and green chilli to taste. A godsend I found yesterday was green chilli puree. For my use this is going to be the best thing since Gaviscon Liquid.

Sorry to ramble.
Steve.

Hi Phil,

I would agree with your guess of chilies, turmeric and cumin. They seem the obvious choice.

When it comes to the consistency of the sauce from back then, well, from a standard curry up to a phal the sauce remained the same....thin. Only the heat varied. The was no difference between the madras I ordered, or the phal my friend had (the one and only time he did). This seemed to be the norm throughout the eat in/take away curry houses in and around the town where I lived (Accrington)

But each establishment had it's own unique taste and everybody had their favourite one. Mine was a small TA, that, if you hadn't have known better you would have sworn it was an empty condemned shop. But boy, could that guy turn out a great madras, and it was the cheapest in town.

Steve.

Hi JM. Hi to all.

I'm new here, but have been making curries on and off for a number of years. My answer to your question and my opinion on the 70's and early 80's madras would have to be "simplicity". The establishments back then, were, from recollection, basic to say the least, as were the curries they produced. Some of the best curries came from scruffiest joints around.

Most were run by someone from the local community who was not necessarily a chef, just someone who could cook. Someone who was out just to  make a living so to speak. I wouldn't have thought they went overboard with too many ingredients. Probably just a simple straightforward onion base along with a minimum of spices added at the point of cooking the curry.

Compared to today's equivalents, the sauce back then was always on the thin side and as smooth as could be. Always reddish in colour and plenty of oil floating on top. Nothing else in there other than the chicken which was not always breast meat.

Sadly, nowadays, these places of homage no longer exist (I blame Health and Hygiene), and along with their demise so too has the simplicity of the 70's style madras. As a poor analogy. If the `Greasy Joe's Truck Stop`  went the same way, then we'd be hankering after the old time fry-ups. Because let's face it. If you wanted the best fry-up where would you go....the fancy restaurant up the road, or the Truck Stop next to it?

One thing back then. I remember the Asian stores sold large quantities of "tomato powder". Maybe this was used instead of tinned, or puree. Just a thought.

Steve.