Topic: Syed's Korma

[livo]

Moved here to unclutter Paratha Thread.

Come on livo you of all people here must have seen it before? The paste is the Australian nut paste, right? Nothing new here. And boiled chicken ... what?

I'm beginning to wonder why Noble Ox is bigging this up so much as there's nothing new that I've seen in these videos (again, haven't watched every one of them yet). If anything this is low-end takeaway style.

Secret Santa, I've made Masala Mark's Aussie IR 3 pastes before, a few times.  Syed's Korma paste is quite different. It may be similar to one of the Indian hotel style white mother gravies I've seen in my research recently.  I'll have to check. I do think it's going to be something I'll try. 

Some of what I've seen so far is new to me and I feel the least we can do is give these new recipes and videos a chance and the new member a welcome.

I've used boiled / poached chicken before, usually in a very diluted base gravy or a bit of Knorr Chicken booster. Mild dishes don't require fully spiced pre-cooked chicken.

Edit: Korma base already cooked, pre-cooked chicken done and lamb in the pot cooking slowly.  Chicken Korma and Balti Lamb Korma for dinner. Possibly a saag paneer as well if I have time to open the tin of spinach.  I'm also going to give Syed's rice a go tonight for a change.

I've just made a fresh batch of homemade Garam Masala so I'll be giving his mixed curry powder a try tomorrow.  I look forward to dry frying some spice powders.  Never done that before.

[livo]

3 Kormas tonight.  Chicken Korma, Balti Lamb Korma and Vegetable Navratan Korma.  Mostly it was Syed's Korma Base that made the dishes but I did take a few liberties. Even so, I ended up with 3 delicious dishes.

In all fairness I will say that I didn't use Syed's Base Gravy or Curry Powder, but BIR Chicken Korma is not to my liking.  Easily salvaged with a bit of commercial Korma Paste and a small amount of Chef Abdul's thick spicy Base Gravy to give it a bit of flavour.  Maybe I just don't like BIR Chicken Korma.  I don't recall which Base Gravy I had in the fridge but I'll be giving the recipe a fair chance by doing it again to Chef's specification using his gravy and curry powder.

The Balti Lamb Korma using my homemade Balti Paste was a winner although it could have benefited from a pressure cooker as the lamb wasn't as tender as I like but I did rush it all through.   

The Vegetable Navratan Korma was delicious.  Pre-fried spiced Okra, the usual vegies, 3 nuts (cashews, almond and pistachio) and fried paneer.

This Korma Base will definitely be made again in my kitchen.

As well as this, I will say that Syed's Pilau Rice method and spicing is really good.

I have some pics to post tomorrow.

[Secret Santa]

but BIR Chicken Korma is not to my liking.

Wait. What?

How can you love that Mango chicken thing and yet not like korma?

[livo]

So far my experience with BIR Chicken Korma has not been great. Other Chicken Korma is fine and I've enjoyed many.  If you've only tried BIR Korma I agree with you to this stage. As I said, I'll try the recipe using the chefs base gravy and spice mix to be fair.

I like korma, but I didn't like Ghaana's BIR Korma. I know I won't like the Curry Kid's BIR Korma and at this point the BIR Chicken Korma I tried tonight is in the same vein. I've cooked it but not to specification. I'll do it again but as it's meant to be cooked next time.  Until then, I'll reserve my judgement.  When I do comment on the dish it will be after I've cooked it.

[Secret Santa]

I will say that Syed's Pilau Rice method and spicing is really good.

As it's virtually identical to the way I cook my pilau I have to agree. What I've never done though is add butter or, in fact, margarine. Can't say I've ever detected a margarine hint on any pilau I've ever eaten.

[livo]

I used the blended spreadable Dairy Soft butter, but not as much as shown. It did add that nice buttery flavour and didn't have any negatives. I don't like margarine, or yellow grease as my late father in law called it.

[livo]

It can't hurt to try. I wasn't sure about blending the bark and leaves in Chef Abdul's gravy but it worked.  I'm quite confident this will be fine as well, but then I read information like this: (source below)

Can I roast powdered spices?

Powdered spices are generally not roasted. This is because in their powdered form, spices have a vastly increased surface area, which means that those volatile aromatics escape far more easily, and the spices are more prone to burning.

I have asked in the video comments if this reduces shelf life but no answer thus far.  While the process will intensify flavour, my guess is that it will be at the expense of longevity. Not a problem in a high turnover setting, but it could be for slower home use.

1. https://www.seriouseats.com/2014/05/indian-spices-101-how-to-work-with-dry-spices.html

[Peripatetic Phil]

Herbie says :

Both whole and ground spices may be dry-roasted. Many cooks like to roast them whole for the same reason they buy whole spices. But good-quality, freshly ground spices will roast perfectly well. To roast either whole or ground spices, heat a heavy-bottomed pan on the stove top until it is almost too hot to touch. (If it is too hot, the spices may burn, making them bitter.) Put your spices into the hot pan and shake the pan constantly so they don

[Secret Santa]

I used the blended spreadable Dairy Soft butter, but not as much as shown. It did add that nice buttery flavour and didn't have any negatives. I don't like margarine, or yellow grease as my late father in law called it.

I wouldn't let margarine near anything I cooked and definitely not pilau rice. The only time I've detected anything buttery on pilau was in one BIR where they had obviously used butter ghee. It was rank ... and I like ghee. Butter, marge, ghee, whatever ... not my cup of tea (or should that be ghee?).

I wasn't sure about blending the bark and leaves in Chef Abdul's gravy but it worked.

Standard practice in balti bases (I'm tempted to say "nothing new here" again, but the natives might get all uppity at me, so I won't!)