The elusive home made “Restaurant style” curry

[jenevers]

 Anyone ever found a recipe on YouTube that, genuinely, tastes like a restaurant curry? I’ve tried loads that claim to taste the same but they all fall short of that authentic flavor.

[Slim]

26 minutes ago, jenevers said:

 Anyone ever found a recipe on YouTube that, genuinely, tastes like a restaurant curry? I’ve tried loads that claim to taste the same but they all fall short of that authentic flavor.

That's because they all lack the essential ingredient?

[Ianws]

I used to have a book by Pat Chapman from the curry club. It was aiming to produce restaurant style curries at home. It involved preparing some base sauce that you then adapted for different recipes. I had some decent results.

[jenevers]

1 hour ago, Slim said:

That's because they all lack the essential ingredient?

Piss off!

[BWM]

Aside of ingredients i suspect it is the style of cooking that affects flavour, these chefs use a much higher heat, ironware pans, etc. Similar story with Chinese. A few ingredients not commonly available also make a difference, methi (fenugreek leaves) being one, this can give an earthy, smoky flavour. 

[jenevers]

I think you're right, it's down to technique. I have all the spices (even asafoetida which smells awful?). I just haven't found a recipe that replicates the restaurant flavour?

[TheBiscuits]

We find the Hairy Bikers curries book to be very good.  There are probably some of those recipes online.

[Casey]

I've tried for years to make a curry similar to the Chinese and the nearest I got was using "Maysan Curry Paste".

It had that certain ingredient missing with other sauces. 

I used the "Original"  but they also make -  Mild / Hot / Very Hot.

The way I made my curry was to buy a tin of chinese beef curry sauce ( available in any supermarket ) then add some Maysan to it.

It's made in Newcastle on Tyne.

 

[Nightwatch]

You can buy very authentic sauces in white tubs, about a half a litre. They are very good. Butchers have been known to stock them. Deli’s and farm shops. I know this doesn’t answer your question but we find then yummy. 

[tree monkey]

Try a Chinese or Indian supermarket,  they stock the concentrates used In the restaurants.

 

[Ianws]

From memory it involves making a big batch of base sauce. When you come to do your curry of choice add the spices, main ingredients and extras. The base sauce fries really quickly in oil, which may need draining off after. Spices should never be used raw either put them in when frying or use roasted and ground spices. Curry houses usually have a couple of big batches of base sauce that they use to create most things. You can also prepare meat with some base sauce and extras and then freeze for later use to knock up a really quick meal. 

[bagginz]

For authenic Indian curry, using ghee rather than substituting it with oil may be a factor. 

 

FWIW having travelled extensively in India I've found Indian cuisine from a decent curry house in Britain is at least as good and often better than the Indian food I've eaten in India.  With the notable exception of Pakhora for some reason. 

Edited March 23, 2020 by bagginz

[Ianws]

I’ve never tried this guy’s recipes but he seems to be using the approach I mentioned earlier https://greatcurryrecipes.net/2013/12/31/make-indian-restaurant-style-curry-sauce-large-batch/

 

Check  out out the rest of his site, hopefully he tells you what to do after making the sauce.

[wergie]

If you look on youtube for Al's Kitchen he shows you how to make the base gravy as used in British Indian restaurants. He makes it in bulk and uses it as required. He also has lots of recipes for different styles of curry as well. 

Have fun peeling those onions...

 

 

[jenevers]

19 hours ago, wergie said:

If you look on youtube for Al's Kitchen he shows you how to make the base gravy as used in British Indian restaurants. He makes it in bulk and uses it as required. He also has lots of recipes for different styles of curry as well. 

Have fun peeling those onions...

 

 

Tried that already......still didn’t get the authentic flavour?

[Casey]

And the other Curry mix which just about all fish and chip shop use is "Dinaclass".

Very easy to make -

Fill your pan to the about of Curry required and spoon in until it thickens and simmer for 15 minutes. 

 

[blackrose]

I'm not sure what the OP means by "authentic restaurant curry"? I haven't been to many Indian (Bangladeshi) restaurants in this country that make authentic Indian food. The vast majority produce a poor imitation. You can find the genuine taste of course in places like Southall, Hounslow, Sparkhill and areas of British cities where there are large communities from the Indian subcontinent and their diaspora who are eating out, but not the crap from your average high street Indian restaurant. My basic rule of thumb is if there are no effnics eating there forget it.

 

Edited March 25, 2020 by blackrose

[Ianws]

I took it to m mean curries as seved in British Indian restaurants rather than homestyle traditional cooking.

[blackrose]

As I live on my own I rarely make proper curries from scratch with all the spices these days. But I have tried these a few times and they're actually not bad for a pre-made sauce. I just add a bit of extra fresh chilli.

 

From Tescos in stand up pouches.

[blackrose]

9 minutes ago, Ianws said:

I took it to m mean curries as seved in British Indian restaurants rather than homestyle traditional cooking.

 

Ok so the authentic flavour of inauthentic Indian food? ?

[restlessnomad]

there is no such thing as 'authentic' food named after a subcontinent with such huge diversity.

Most british curry houses make northern indian / pakistani food ... and a lot of them are as good as any in subcontinent...

if you want to diverse your range a bit, may be you should try regional food if available ( you can find south Indian, bengali, nepalese restaurants in uk)

 

Interestingly I never liked authentic burrito in mexico, the british/american take on it is so good.

Edited March 25, 2020 by restlessnomad

[Ianws]

54 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

Ok so the authentic flavour of inauthentic Indian food? ?

Exactly.  That describes it perfectly but it’s what a lot of people  people have experienced before and want to replicate.

[blackrose]

41 minutes ago, restlessnomad said:

there is such thing as 'authentic' food named after a subcontinent with such huge diversity.

 

 

Yes, Indian food isn't named after a subcontinent. It's called Indian, Pakistani, Nepalese, Bangladeshi, etc, because its origins come from within the subcontinent, from whichever region of those countries.

[restlessnomad]

20 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

Yes, Indian food isn't named after a subcontinent. It's called Indian, Pakistani, Nepalese, Bangladeshi, etc, because its origins come from within the subcontinent, from whichever region of those countries.

sorry I meant to say, there is no such thing as 'authentic' Indian curry...

in most areas of UK, 'Indian' means north Indian / pakistani food cooked by bangladeshi crew, only some pakistani and bangladeshi curry houses have named themselves such.

The nomenclature predates partition(presumably referring to british India) although I think nepalese have always been different named.

A lot of big name 'Indian curry houses' are established by people of pakistani origin.

Edited March 25, 2020 by restlessnomad

[Naughty Cal]

You need to use ghee rather than cooking oil to get that thin oily layer on the top of the curry.

 

We do eat a lot of curries but I have never managed to make the home made ones like a good restaurant curry despite plenty of practice. They are generally quite nice though.