My apologies. i posed this twice becase I forget to add a title.

I have tried many of your recipes and they have always turned out well. I don't know if the recipes you have on this site are exactly the way you make things in your own home or if they are just here as a guideline for us only.

i would like to know how to make a curry paste like pataks madras paste. although i do enjoy authentic indian cooking, from time to time i also enjoy a curry in a hurry using pataks madras paste. if you know of any way to make a paste like this could you point me in the right direction?

in the past i have tried many recipes to make curry pastes and the results have been very poor. while it smells good it never tastes right - in most cases there always seems to be something missing if you know what i mean.

Hi Nezzer welcome to the site ! (I've removed the other post so don't panic)

Glad you've enjoyed the recipes on here and in answer to your first question -

all recipes no matter where you see them are only a guideline ! - Let me explain that ! If I were to give you a recipe for something as simple as cheese toast I can only guide you as to how to make it and what to look for rather than giving you an exact precise this will work everytime list of instructions.

Example -

take 1 slice of white bread and toast on one side

turn the bread over and place 50g of grated chedder cheese on it.

Place under hot grill for 2 minutes until the cheese melts.

That sounds ok and why wouldn't it work?...

Reasons -

1 You may not like white bread for a start so you want to use a nutty brown bread (no reason you can't do this).

2 You might like only a little cheese or a lot of cheese and this amount might be wrong for you.

3 Your bread might be bigger or smaller slices than mine so you may require more or less cheese.

4 Your grill might be hotter or cooler than mine which would mean the cooking time could vary

5 You might like your cheese just about melted or as I prefer starting to brown up so again the cooking times might not be quite right for you.

6 Some people prefer to toast both side of the bread before adding cheese (personally I find it dries the bread too much and unless you competely cover the whole of the surface with cheese you tend to find the edge burning before the cheese has fully melted).

Thats just the basics of why a recipe is only a guide line....

Then there is no reason (as we all do) why you can't adapt recipes, add things, take bits away etc... (you may find its best to do as the recipe says the first time but then if your pallete suggests its not salty enough or is a little to strong etc, next time adjust it to your tastes.)

I've not done it for a long time now but when I was younger I used to like to put spread cheese on quite thickly before added the grated cheese when making cheese toast. This gives it a creamy,gooey texture and is a slight variation from the cheese toast recipe above. I also make odd changes like adding basil into the cheese or slices of tomato, onions.. even a little left over bolagnaise sauce under the cheese etc.....

as you can see... follow the recipe as a guide line... try to watch out for any pointers given and then taste and test and in future make any slight tweaks to suite your needs.

(if it says use free range eggs and you simply can't get them or can't afford them etc... it doesn't mean you can't make the recipe with other eggs etc...)

Steve

As for the second part of your question -

Beef Madras Curry this a full recipe for making Madras Curry using spices and not a jar etc... which would be the best way to make it....

however .....

I know sometimes you are in a rush and need something quick without half the effort and washing up, grinding etc...

So lets work out why jars and your own attempts are different!

(presuming its not just down to old jars of spices that have long since lost their flavours)

When you make a curry from scratch there are usually a few stages of cooking different things to get the right flavours from them.

Some of the harder spices are often roasted in a dry frying pan (cumin seeds, corriander seeds, mustard seeds etc)

Onions are browned to add the sweetness and caramalised flavour

Chillies are fried off

etc etc

So a jar has to keep all this sort of flavour store and make up for bits that are missing etc.....

You could make a basic powdered mix of dry spices that you would then need to add fresh garlic, ginger, chilies to when you are cooking with it (but spices are always better used fresh and at once, rather than months later)

So you really need to make something that will last and try to keep the fresh flavours....

Mix something like -

ground cumin seeds

ground corriander seeds

ground fennel seeds

ground cinnamon

ground black pepper

ground black cardamon

mustard seeds

turmeric powder

salt

finely sliced chillies (or chilli flakes/powder)

pur?ed fresh garlic

pur?ed fresh ginger

tomato pur?e

finely chopped corriander leaves

oil (I'd use olive oil but you can use vegetable oil)

vinegar (I'd use something like white wine/red wine vinegar)

a little sugar !

Into a thick paste and put in a jar in the fridge... should last a week or two..

When you come to use it, put onions in pan and fry until soft

add meat and brown

then add some paste, fry off for a minute or two

add some stock/water and cook until soften..

add a little extra fresh corriander

It would be something like that you would be looking for I'd think (its not a recipe I've used but I have done similar in the past when I've made too much spice mix for a curry, so saved it by mixing oil in)

Steve

Vow Steve, that is a very detailed reply and thank you for it.

Nezzar, I have no idea how Patak's pastes are put together. I bet they are a closely guarded family secret. What you can do, and what I do sometimes, is this;

1. Fry a lot of onions one day when you have time, and keep them in a jar in the fridge. They will last for a week or two. Frying onions is the most time consuming part of making a curry and if that is already done, it saves you time.

2. Or make the whole curry paste in bulk, including frying onion, spices, tomatoes etc. and keep that in the fridge. Use as and when needed, adjusting to suit the dish you are making and add salt..

3. Some friends I know buy bags of pre-fried onions and this makes cooking very fast. Buy from Indian grocers, because the small ones in normal supermarket work out rather expensive. India shops sell large bags at a reasonable price.

Hope this helps.

mamta

Hi

Prefried onions..... have not come across that here in Australia ..... yet.

cheers

June

Are you sure? Look at Indian grocers.

http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2espicesofindia%2eco%2euk%2facatalog%2fIndian%2dFood%2ehtml&WD=onions%20fried&SHOP=%20&PN=Indian%2dFood%2dPrime%2dFried%2dOnions%2ehtml%23aGRO031_2dp#aGRO031_2dp

http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2espicesofindia%2eco%2euk%2facatalog%2fIndian%2dFood%2ehtml&WD=onions%20fried&SHOP=%20&PN=KTC%2dCrispy%2dFried%2dOnions%2ehtml%23aGRO116_2d1#aGRO116_2d1

The link doesn't appear here, but if you copy and paste, it works. This is just to give an idea.

Mamta

yes I understand about the recipes but I was merely asking if the recipes on this site are the ones mamta uses in her own home.

Maybe pataks does keep the paste a closely regarded secret, but does anyone have a recipe for making a good curry paste? One that can be bottled and kept in the fridge for a week or two?

Thanks for the replies.

Hi Mamta

Thanks for the links. I stand corrected, I have seen a similar product, it is called Fried Shallots from Thailand. So I assume this is what you mean. I usually sprinkle them onto Nasi Goreng.

cheers

June

Nezzar, If you look at the recipes on the site they all have the persons name who submitted them. The majority are Mamtas own recipes, some are from her family and friends and then several other people have submitted them as well ! :-)

Steve

Hello Nezzar

Here is what you are looking for;

http://www.mamtaskitchen.com/recipe_display.php?id=10139

Mamta

Yes, the recipes mum posts (the ones with her name) are what she cooks herself at home... if you look at the About page, you'll see that this site came about when my sister and I asked mum to provide us recipes for all our favourite Indian dishes that we ate growing up!

In addition there are recipes from many other people - family, friends and our readers too, such as AskCy!

And of course mum continues to experiment and learn and comes up with new recipes that also get added to the site.