I have been trying for more years than I can remember to replicate the delicious Mushroom Bhajis I used to get from both BIRs and T/As in the early 1980s.......with very little success!  However, due to the excellent comments, tips, recipes and techniques on this site, I have finally made something that reminds me of the taste and flavour I have been looking for!!

A lot of credit for this must go to (a) Haldi for his recipe in this 'Side Dishes' section (page 2 as it currently is) which finally got me to experiment again, (b) Abdul for his curry base gravy, and (c) Cory Ander for reminding me of the 'full heat' cooking technique that I first observed in my local T/A many years ago.

So, for anyone else who might savour the delights of a BIR-style Mushroom Bhaji, here's the result of my latest endeavour......

Ingredients:

3 tbsp oil
1 heaped tbsp onion
0.25  large green capsicum cut into quarter inch strips
1 tbsp base curry sauce (I used Abdul's, but with a different spice mix - see below)
1 heaped tsp tomato paste diluted with 4 tsp water
1 tbsp garlic/ginger finely chopped (in a 60:40 ratio of garlic to ginger)
1 heaped desert spoon (dsp?) spice mix (see below)
1 tsp chilli powder
0.5 tsp salt
Half pint of base curry sauce
Small can mushrooms (drained and washed to remove the salt water/brine)
1 tsp sugar (optional)

Method:  (a B I G 'thank you' to Cory Ander for this)

1.  In a separate pan, heat the base curry sauce to a gentle simmer
2.  Heat oil in a suitable pan (I prefer to use my 'Ken Hom' wok from the 1980s if anyone still remembers him!) on high heat until almost smoking
3.  Add onion, green capsicum, and salt and fry for a couple of minutes or so, stirring continuously
4.  Add garlic/ginger and fry for about a minute, stirring all the time.
5.  Remove from the heat & add chilli powder and spice mix.  Stir and return to heat.  Fry for 30 seconds or so.
6.  Add tomato paste & fry for 30 seconds or so, stirring continuously
7.  Add 1 tbsp base curry sauce and stir for 1 minute
8.  Add the rest of the base curry sauce a couple of tbsp at a time, stirring as it is absorbed
9.  Add a small can mushrooms + 1 tsp sugar (optional).
10.  Continue to cook on high heat for 3 - 4 minutes.  Add water if it starts to dry out
11.  Reduce the heat and simmer for a further 3 minutes.  Then turn off the gas and let it "rest"
12.  SERVE AND ENJOY!!

Just a few points to note.......
Using a high heat until Step 11 makes a huge difference to the final success of the dish...just don't burn anything!!
Another key to success is to make sure that the first few tbsps of curry sauce that you add are 'accepted and absorbed' into the main body of the dish.....then you can simply pour the rest in!!
About 1 hour before starting to cook, drain the tinned mushrooms, empty into a bowl and over the next 45 minutes soak/rinse them 4 times with cold water to get rid of the salt.brine that comes in the tin.  Leave them to dry out for the final 15 minutes before cooking.
Fresh mushrooms (especially the 'button mushrooms' commonly used in the UK, for example) are not readily available here in the Philippines, hence I use the tinned ones.  As Haldi commented, a lot of T/As do anyway!  I'd be interested to hear results from anyone who uses 'real' fresh mushrooms.  How does it affect flavour/cooking time etc

SPICE MIX

As I mentioned above, I use an amended version of Abdul's '8 Spice Mix'........

2 tsp ground cumin
1.5 tsp ground ginger
4 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp garam masala
4 tsp chilli powder
4 tsp paprika powder
4 tsp curry powder
8 tsp turmeric
2 tsp garlic powder
0.5 tsp ground fenugreek

Is the end result a perfect BIR Mushroom Bhaji?  No, I don't think so.  It is without doubt the most tasty I have produced so far, but I feel I'm still missing that depth of spice taste that so characterised the dishes of the late 60s, 70s and early 80s for me.  I'm more than happy with the base sauce, ingredients and cooking method.  I'll be experimenting some more with the quantities of spices in future to see if there's any improvement to be had

Meanwhile, I hope other members of this forum will take the recipe, try it, and be inspired as I was by Haldi's original post to try to make further progress towards the taste that eludes us all!!!!

Happy cooking
al.

Oops........I meant to give the credit to Hotstuff09, not Hotspice!  Apologies, Hotstuff.
al.

Hi natterjack

Your experience with the base gravy mirrors mine exactly.....except that I did add some extra water to the base after blending it and it does produce a lot!!  I found, like you, that the base had the look and smell both while cooking and when blended of an excellent start.

Again, I had the same experience with the Madras recipe.  My finished article looked the same as your pics.  With one ladle + 1 pint, it was a dish heavy on gravy, but no matter because I like it that way!  Perhaps Abdul meant half a pint!!  I had the same trouble as you when adding the 8Spice mix etc.  There was no time to fry the spices, and as you did, I started putting in the gravy mix.  Even though I'd added water earlier I was panicked into adding yet more water simply because I was afraid the dish would burn!  This was done in such a slapdash way that I can't begin to estimate how much I used, as even when I started to add the pint I felt obliged to add even more water to stop things from sticking.

What was missing for me was not the heat - spot on for a Madras in my view - but the lack of that depth of distinctive 'spice'  flavour.  It was this that led me to conclude that I'd made a complete mess of proportions of spices as I mentioned on the main 'BIR Bandwagon' thread.  However, as both you and Hotspice pointed out, my proportions were in fact correct.  I'd have to add my suspicion to yours that the problem stems from the spices having no time to fry off in oil before base and water were added.  I'm sure Abdul will be able to set us straight on this.  Thanks for posting the photos.  We both got the same 'look'......but what's clear is that the picture alone doesn't tell the full story!  The proof of the pudding..........etc!!

That said, it was still enjoyable to eat.  I used the same base last night with Cory Ander's Bhoona recipe and got very good results (although with the same excess of gravy!).  I did add a tablespoon of 8 spice mix + an extra half tsp of chilli powder than is called for in his recipe and there was, not surprisingly, more of the spice flavour I was looking for.

Like you, I'm anxious to hear Abdul's tips and some idea of where I went wrong!!
Best
al.

 

Hi Abdul

Thanks for the reply to my question about the oil in the recipes!  Feeling reassured, I went ahead and made a batch of your base gravy 2 days ago and used your Madras recipe to create a main dish.  The results were disappointing.  While the gravy had a good smell to it and certainly looked 'the business', the finished Madras lacked strength of the spice flavour I'd alsways associated with a Madras. 

It was only last night as I reviewed my use of ingredients and the process I'd used - I refused to believe that your recipes were in any way deficient! - that I realised what had happened.  When I was making the gravy I managed to confuse myself over 2 sets of measurements that I had in front of me.....so I'd not used the correct quantity of spices given all the ingredients in the base.  For example, where your spice mix calls for 100g of Mild Madras curry powder, I had only used 4 tsp!  Instead of 100g of Ground Coriander I had used 4 tsp; instead of 50g Garam Masala I had used 2 tsp.....etc, etc!!

Little wonder the damn thing tasted a bit bland!!!!!  I am now suitably angry at my own stupidity.  My only excuse is that this was my first attempt at a base gravy of any sort.......but it does reinforce a message for newcomers such as me:  make sure you check all your ingredients/measurements before you start.

One final observation:  although the dish lacked 'strength' and 'depth', there was a sufficient taste there to convince me that, when I get things right, it will be a great base gravy!!

Again, thanks for the recipes.....and the lesson!
Best
al.

That really does look delicious.
Thanks for the pics......it gives me a standard to aim for as I'll be trying to reproduce Abdul's Base and Madras tomorrow!
Nice one Boss!