Topic: Madhuban sauces?

[Gareth]

Well, my last post asking about the Curry Sauce Company didn't get much of a response - which may or may not say something about the sauces!

I see that Pat Chapman informally endorses the sauces made by the following company:

http://www.madhuban.co.uk/index.html

Has anyone tried sauces from this company?

I intend to order some on Monday so if anyone's interested, come Tuesday hopefully, I'll give some feedback.

Gareth.

[Graeme]

I look forward to reading you follow up on the sauce's

graeme

[Yousef]

Gareth,

I also look forward to your report.   ;D
The Sauces look good to me.

S

[PACMAN]

I've tried them and they were ok for sauces but they are nothing like the real thing probably all
the preservatives they have to add.

incidentally a friend of mine ate in the restaurant and said it was one of the best curries he'd ever had and then bought the jalfrezi sauce and said the two were totally different.

one to miss if you are trying to achieve a fresh restaurant taste

[Gareth]

one to miss if you are trying to achieve a fresh restaurant taste

Well, I emailed them with a question about retailers on Sunday and I still haven't got a reply so I've delayed putting in an order - I figured, a bit unfairly in hindsight, that if they can't answer emails then they I shouldn't throw very hard earned cash after their sauces.

Still, I'm off work on "holiday" this week so it's an ideal time to accept delivery. I will probably put in an order later tonight (after another beer or 3).

I'll prepare the sauce dish according to some of the recipes here (i.e. I'll treat it like a base sauce) and then I'll report back.

I also intend to visit the Madhuban restaurant in the near future - it's striking distance of Pompey (Portsmouth for the uninitiated) and it does have a good reputation. I'll report back about that also (probably in the next 3 weeks). Is there anything anyone would like me to ask/look out for?

Gareth.

[George]

one to miss if you are trying to achieve a fresh restaurant taste

If you say it's nothing like their fresh restaurant taste, or anyone else's, I believe you. And I'm not surprised. Trading Standards rules should be robust enough to get all the restaurant taste claims removed from their web site and the pots of sauce. It's as fraudulent as selling painted iron as gold. Claiming that taste is subjective should not be a good enough excuse, if any reasonable person can tell an immediate and significant difference. It's a shame these crooks will probably make quite lot of money with their scam.

[Curry King]

Trading Standards rules should be robust enough to get all the restaurant taste claims removed from their web site and the pots of sauce. It's as fraudulent as selling painted iron as gold. Claiming that taste is subjective should not be a good enough excuse, if any reasonable person can tell an immediate and significant difference. It's a shame these crooks will probably make quite lot of money with their scam.

What about Pat Chapman and Kris Dhillon, I wouldn't say ive made anything from their books that was "the" restaurant taste, close yes, but not right? ?

[Curry King]

I know everyone doesn't agree with this, but I reckon 90% of UK Indian restaurant curries taste more-or-less the same, i.e. all Rogan Kosh dishes taste almost the same, all Chicken Korma's taste almost the same, etc. Throw in a Tesco or M&S chilled version in a blind test and it would stand out a mile.

I agree to a certain extent they are all similar but take the two restaurants near me, I have the vindaloo from both and one is a very hot tomatoey flavor while the other is not as hot or tomatoey and I'm sure theres a hint of nut?? Both very nice but slightly different and I think this is down to each chef having their own particular recipe for the gravy and vindaloo.

[Gareth]

What about Pat Chapman and Kris Dhillon, I wouldn't say ive made anything from their books that was "the" restaurant taste, close yes, but not right

I agree. Pat Chapman is the worst. The observations reported at this forum of actual take-away kitchen 'how it's done' activity seem very credible to me, which is why I think this forum is so good - a worthwhile cause.

So how come Pat Chapman's account(s) of 'how it's done' are so different?

I don't know but it is one of my pet hates - how Pat Chapman has managed to get away with almost misleading advice. Kris Dhillon has at least given the basics and her sauce and other recipes are a very respectable starting point for the search for the restaurant taste. Her sauce isn't at all bad as a base and it is possible to produce a passable authentic restaurant curry following her instructions.

I hear what you say about the Madhuban probably being no different to anywhere else. But little things can make a difference. Up until the middle of last year I had the pleasure of visiting, by far, the best Indian restaurant I've ever experienced: it was in Staines (believe it or not!) They obviously changed the chef (or something just as fundamental) because overnight it went from absolute excellence (seriously) to something below average and completely unacceptable.

So little things - such as the tried and tested efficiency of a confident and experienced chef - can make a big difference. I don't know how easy it is to replicate that at home. I don't know how easy it is to bottle it either.

I'm procrastinating on whether or not to buy the Madhuban sauces (minimum order for delivery of about ?14 although that does consist of 4 tubs and delivery is included).

Gareth.

[Gareth]

So little things - such as the tried and tested efficiency of a confident and experienced chef - can make a big difference.

I'm prepared to have my opinion modified on whether the vast majority of UK Indian resturant curries taste more-or-less the same. I would guess they're sort of made to effectively the same recipe, but the skill of the chef and the quality of the fresh ingredients can make a difference to the final result in any one place, at any one time.

I think the differences are probably quite small in terms of basic technique and, yes, I agree that the similarities are probably more apparent than the differences. But I really do believe that small differences can make the difference between a below average curry and a superb curry.

One thing I've found is that using the freshest ingredients doesn't always produce the best results - a sauce base left to stew in the fridge for a few days certainly, imvho, produces a richer tasting curry for example.

Gareth.