Any curry experts out there??
Discussion
in an authentic curry , there would be an element of red. not glowing red by any means.
i have cooked and observed curries being cooked on an open fire in india, you do not get any more authentic than that. BUT who cares if its authentic or not. as long as it tastes good to you why worry. please do not use tins and pastes. it is not too hard to get good results without them
i have cooked and observed curries being cooked on an open fire in india, you do not get any more authentic than that. BUT who cares if its authentic or not. as long as it tastes good to you why worry. please do not use tins and pastes. it is not too hard to get good results without them
Food colouring isn't the original
because restaurants use it instead of the deep red Kashmiri chilli
powder used in authentic recipes.
If you wanted to stay with natural products then you could go back to
the authentic ingredients and increase the chilli powder or add extra
paprika. Another possibility is to grill slices of sweet red pepper,
skin them and puree them in a blender. The latter only really works for
"wet" curries but not marinades as they become too runny.
Another option for wet curries is to buy boiled ( but NOT pickled)
baby beets from the supermarket and puree them in a blender. Of
course this gives the intended colour and also thickens the curry
BUT will obviously add a beetroot flavour.
I tend to use a little food colouring and extra paprika if I want a
deep red colour in a curry.
So you pays your money and you takes your choice.
because restaurants use it instead of the deep red Kashmiri chilli
powder used in authentic recipes.
If you wanted to stay with natural products then you could go back to
the authentic ingredients and increase the chilli powder or add extra
paprika. Another possibility is to grill slices of sweet red pepper,
skin them and puree them in a blender. The latter only really works for
"wet" curries but not marinades as they become too runny.
Another option for wet curries is to buy boiled ( but NOT pickled)
baby beets from the supermarket and puree them in a blender. Of
course this gives the intended colour and also thickens the curry
BUT will obviously add a beetroot flavour.
I tend to use a little food colouring and extra paprika if I want a
deep red colour in a curry.
So you pays your money and you takes your choice.
Artifical colouring. Totally pointless and unnecessary, but if you must...
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A genuine Tikka/Masala dish should be yelowish/orange in colour NOT the technicolour red you get in british curry houses if in doubt get "The Curry Secret" by Khris Dhillon as authentic a curry as you can get, I have cooked vitually every dish in the book & can thoroughly recommend it.
A cautionary tale for Silverback;
My mum, who is Indian by birth, is an excellent cook of both Indian and English meals.
However, about 20 years ago she was making a large batch of chicken tikka for an evening party we were having for about 20 people.
40-50 drumsticks marinaded over night in a sauce made from ready made powder for convenience and then adjusted for personal preference. so far so good. In the morning, she decided that the chicken/sauce wasn't red enough, so added some more powder and mixed it in. This happened 4-5 times before she gave in and cooked the chicken in the oven later that morning.
The chicken came out of the oven, allowed to cool a little and then tasted.
...and then thrown in the bin because the tasting revealed she'd used chilli powder instead of masala powder....
We had to buy and make the entire batch again.
My mum, who is Indian by birth, is an excellent cook of both Indian and English meals.
However, about 20 years ago she was making a large batch of chicken tikka for an evening party we were having for about 20 people.
40-50 drumsticks marinaded over night in a sauce made from ready made powder for convenience and then adjusted for personal preference. so far so good. In the morning, she decided that the chicken/sauce wasn't red enough, so added some more powder and mixed it in. This happened 4-5 times before she gave in and cooked the chicken in the oven later that morning.
The chicken came out of the oven, allowed to cool a little and then tasted.
...and then thrown in the bin because the tasting revealed she'd used chilli powder instead of masala powder....
We had to buy and make the entire batch again.
Can also recommend http://www.cr0.co.uk/ forums.
I have used a couple of their recipes and they were delicious. I am hooked!
I have used a couple of their recipes and they were delicious. I am hooked!
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