Topic: Fried chilli powder v boiled chilli powder

[Madrasandy]

Does anybody else think you lose heat from frying chilli powder?
Ive noticed lately that curries arent as hot as I think they should be, so as an experiment tonight I went Kris Dhillon madras and cooked a madras.
Heated oil, added base gravy, brought to boil, added chilli powder, cooked on high 5 mins, added other spices and reduced heat etc.
I normally use 1Tb mixed chilli powder for a madras, but this time I used only 2ts, the curry was a lot hotter than my usual madras and had the lip tingling sweat inducing heat of a madras, but used less chilli. Also had more of a peppery background note.

[Invisible Mike]

I've noticed the longer you cook chillies/powder the more heat you lose but not noticed if frying or boiling makes a difference.

[loveitspicy]

Many theories on this one Andy

Personally - I think if the chilli is boiled as it were the retained oil in the Chilli powder comes out into the liquid making it hotter....

Frying can take the oils out too quickly

but its open for debate as usual

best, Rich

[gazman1976]

Imo, less is more when it comes to spices, 1tbs is way too much chilli powder for a curry, I use a quarter of a teaspoon of Naga chilli powder and that gives me perfect heat for a Madras. If I added 1 tablespoon it would take away other flavours in my curry. Try less and see how u get on mate

[Garp]

An interesting point, Andy. I wonder whether frying other spices would also reduce their potency.

I use several recipes gleaned from this site which add the base first, then the spices, and they are great. But it does go against some of the perceived wisdom on here. Many say that the spices should, and must, be fried first to achieve BIR flavour.

I'd be interested in your opinion on the flavour of the rest of the spices in the dish. Did it make any difference to the final flavour after 'boiling' them?

[fried]

Are you technically boiling the chili, or frying it in oil in the liquid? Unless the base is oil free.

[Madrasandy]

I have made a madras a few times this week and I can confirm that frying the chilli powder in oil before adding the base reduces the heat of the chilli opposed to adding the base to the pan before adding the chilli.

As to the mix powder and methi I didnt detect much difference tbh with either method.

Anyway adding the chilli powder to the base produces a lip tingling madras, absolutely lovely.

[spook8519]

That looks great, gonna try the boil it first method next time on my path to Madras enlightenment