I know this has been mentioned before but it drives me mad...

Just watching a programme about the worst cooks in Britain and the experts have been showing them how to make poached eggs, pan fried salmon etc...

Considering one of the proffesional chefs spent most of the time complaining about how most people in Britain can't make a proper Bolagnaise sauce (in fact I think she said everyone except her Grandmother who is Italian) and pulling other peoples dishes to bits...

They then showed the "worst cooks" how to make a dressing using olive oil, some fresh spices etc... but then added a spoon of "curry powder" to spice it up...

Curry powder?.. what a packet mix ?.. surely if you are complaining about people not making things correctly/authentically, you shouldn't be using packet mixes.

This really bothers me that everyone including top chefs dismiss all the involved nature of Indian cooking, the developing of flavours, the addition of freshly ground spices being added at the right time and think its prefectly acceptable to use a curry powder.. ! ?

What would the reaction have been if I'd have turned up doing a "Spag Boll" and started browning onions, adding freshly crushed garlic, some fresh young oregano leaves and then pulled out a packet labelled "bollagnaise powder/mix" ? I'm sure then they would start telling me about using the proper herbs and spices and not to use a packet mix...

puts soap box away

Steve

My current gripe about TV chefs is when they use metallic tools in what are clearly non-stick pans. Makes me wince. I know the pans are owned by the BBC but they should show the equipment more respect.

Well if we are going to list them... (I totally agree about scratching the pans and I might add where is anything that gets scratched off going?)

Sticking fingers into the food to taste it

using a spoon to taste but then using it again to taste later after its been in their mouth !

Having a teatowel stuck to their side which they keep wipping hands on, use raw chicken, swill hands in a little water(probably cold) then dry hands on towel, get something out of oven and use towel, make some pastry and wipe hands off with towel... and then wipe the edge of the plate clean with it!

Steve

Having worked as a chef myself I have seen some people do some unforgivable things LOL. I've watched head chefs taking things out of bins to garnish plates and all sorts of unpleasantness. I guess it's safe to say that if most people knew what went on behind the scenes in some kitchens -- even reputable kitchens/hotels-- they wouldn't eat out ever again.

"using a spoon to taste but then using it again to taste later after its been in their mouth !"

Thinking about this; if the stuff is still cooking, it's unlikely that any bug you might be carrying would survive very long in a pot of cooking food. I know it's a big no-no in the health and safety book, but I'm not sure it's that much of a genuine hazard.

Ganders, you are probably quite correct but when its a simple operation to use one spoon to drop to the one you are tasting from then why risk it?

Steve

Steve: I agree with most of what you say, though I admit to using Madras curry powder in two things: Singapore Noodles, and that Yellow Chinese Chicken 'Curry', which I feel slightly guilty about.

I also re-use a wooden spoon when tasting. But then, since having kids, I'm a lot less fussy about that kind of thing: I even pick stuff up off the floor and stick it back in the pan. Disgusting, I know!

Phil

Ah there you see Phil, you might have used a "curry powder" but you have the knowledge to at least distinguish which type ie Madras, where these TV chefs just dismiss the whole of Indian Cuisine and think everything is just a "curry powder" !

Steve

I'm not a fan of commercial curry powders and pastes, but I have used Patak madras curry paste before with quite good results. I always use fresh spices when coking anything that requires spices. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I like to have full control over everything in my cooking.

I believe the original 'curry powder' was made in Madras, not for Indians, but for export. Now, 'progress' dictates we invent new varieties of anything with commercial value. But Madras curry powder is the only true one, like Dijon mustard, champagne, Parma ham, Cornish pasties, all have their modern equivalents.

And French cuisine was using curry powder at the end of the 19th century, to make dishes such as chicken a l'Indienne. We know on this forum that it is important to use the right amount of spice, and when to add it to a cooking dish (except gm, that is ;?) and that using curry powder just means we end up with a 'curry powder flavoured sauce'. I confess to liking Chinese noodles with Chinese curry sauce, but I would never consider it a 'curry', whatever that is!

I was always told that Chinese people didn't have a recipe for making curry powder, and yet other people have told me that they do indeed have a recipe for making Chinese curry powder, but it's a closely guarded secret. Does anyone know if this is true, and even more importantly, does anyone have a recipe for making a Chinese curry powder? The only curry sauce I've ever used in Chinese cooking was a thick paste I used to buy from a spice shop, you just added water to it, made it into a sauce and added it to what you were cooking.

I don't much like the word 'curry', but I suppose I'm being snobbish.

I don't like pre-prepared spice mixes, or ground spices sold in shops.

Spices should, I think, be bought whole, and ground when required.

quite right Phil, on all counts, LOL

It makes me smile, I go into Indian shops and see all the packets of spice mixes (to make individual dishes) lined up on the shelves above the ordinary spices. The are twenty to thirty different kinds, but they only contain about 12 spices. Makes no sense.

Curry powder as such is not common in India. The powdered mixes of various sorts are becoming more popular now days. Some of the powders almost all Indians there (or I should say here really!), are

Chana Masala for chick peas

Chat masala

Sambar Masala

However, they are seldom used exclusively. They are added to give a little 'extra' something to your own pre-existing spice mix for a dish.

When you hear me talk about something, please bear in mind that it is generally, not always, based on my knowledge of North Indian cuisine.

I have called a lot of dishes curries on my website, because most of our users are non-Indians and they wouldn't know the Hindi/Urdu names of dishes. I do try to give the original names also.

I have picked a few old recipoes today from my SIL's 90 year old, I will share them with you when I get back.

Mamta

Andrew - I asked a Chinese friend who is a chef (although trained in French cooking!) who said there is no one 'secret' recipe for chinese curry powder. Also the Chinese themselves have never been great curry eaters and it tends to put on restaurant for the benefit of Westerners who have come to expect it.

However - we reckoned if you blitzed up, say, a teaspoon of each of the following you should not be far off the mark:

Coriander Seeds, Dried red chillies (or powder,) Cumin Seeds, ground Turmeric, Fennel Seeds, Yellow Mustard Seeds, Fenugreek with a little salt, ground white peppercorns and a good pinch of sugar.

I'll try it myself soon!

Winton

Winton if you want to recreate the Chinese restaurant/takeaway flavours you'll need to add a good few star anise to the mix !

Steve

Thanks Steve.

Personally I find the star anise too overpowering to grind as part of the mix. I would add a few whole while cooking and fish them out at the end!

I also asked about Sichuan/Szechuan pepper but was told apart from Sichuan dishes he would use grind white pepper into Chinese cooking.

Winton