food Supper tonight: Madras Indian curry

Super Hots Canada

Super Hots Canada

20130914_madras_curry.jpg

 
(photo taken using Instagram.. thus the poor quality, fancy filter job)
 
Beef Madras curry made with Bhut Jolokia, a few drops of Blair's Sudden Death sauce, chopped onions and tomato paste with Jasmine rice on the side. Far from the hottest I've ever made, but still quite nice.
 
pataks_madras.jpg
< this is the curry I used.
 
This isn't the hottest I've ever made. Hottest was a homemade curry blend composed of Sriracha hot sauce, hot curry powder, and hot chili powder. -That- was potent.
 
I've been into Indian curries since around 2005 - thanks to my brother. But I didn't really start getting into hot peppers until last summer when I got to try my first Habanero pepper. First curry I ever had was the very hottest they had at an Indian restaurant in Halifax, NS. Brother thought I was made for getting the same thing as him since he had worked his way up the ladder. I instantly loved it, but figured it wasn't hot enough. By the end of the meal I had convinced the staff to give me the hottest add-ons they had (a couple different hot sauces and pits of chili peppers).
 
Curry is certainly a different kind of heat, but I think it has probably helped with my capsaicin tolerance, nonetheless. lol
 
First Bhut Jolokia I tried, I just took it out in one bite - standing. The bite wasn't the trouble, the standing part was - didn't clue in how hard it would hit. For the first 30 seconds to a minute I was fine, then it sneaked up on me and hit me with a rush that damn near knocked me on my feet. To say the least, -that- was awesome. My friend thought I was dying, though lol
 
The best Curry I ever had was in 1995 at an Indian/Italian joint called Marco Polo's. We were there with my in-laws, and my father in law and I both love heat. The waiter asked us how hot we wanted it on a scale from 1-5. We asked him how hot he eats it, and he said 11. "We'll take it that way!" we both said. He tried to talk us out of it, but he finally got it. We scarfed it down, and were burning pretty good. He had the Curry Lamb, and I had the Curry Chicken. Awesome dinner with rice, served with hot fresh Naan, and a Yogurt/Jalapeño chimichurri. After the meal, I had to walk around the parking lot for awhile, I had no alcohol that night, but was definitely feeling impaired. lol
 
We had a Throw Down awhile back (monthly here on THP) and it was Curry. No pastes, or pre-made powders. We had to research the ingredients/spices, and go find them. all from scratch. I went with Jamaican Curry, and ended up calling a guy on the phone down in Negril Jamaica who had a restaurant there since the 60's. Very nice man, and once he realized what I was after, and where I was calling from, he was very helpful, and gave lots of pointers. I didn't win that TD but boy, what an experience. I had never made Curry before, from scratch, and it was actually very simple, and damm tasty. Jamaican Curry is obviously different from Indian or Asian Curries, but fantastic all the same.
 
Yours looks damm good, and very similar to what we had at Marco Polo's.

Here is the link to the Curry Throw Down, if you are interested. Some very VERY good dishes in here!...
 
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/37842-begin-curry-throwdown/
 
;)
 
That's pretty awesome. I've looked up the ingredients for making Vindaloo and Madras from scratch, in the past, but I've never put in the effort to buy up the various spices. From scratch would certainly give the opportunity to make a dish vastly hotter than the store-bought blends - that's for sure.
 
And wow.. making a call to Jamaica for an assist. That sounds like dedication. :)
 
Turns out, that first curry I ever had was mild compared to another place called "Curry Village" in Halifax. My brother was such a devoted regular to that place, and impressed the owner with how much heat he could handle for someone not from India, that he tried to marry off one of the waitresses to my brother in the hopes that he would never stop being a customer. lol
 
I got to try curry from there one time and even though the owner made my dish "mild" (he apparently won't give you anywhere near his hottest until you prove you can handle it - according to my brother) I'd say the heat was comparable to someone dumping a bunch of Ghosts into the mix. Would have -loved- to see what it was he was typically feeding to my brother.
 
Think the only thing Jamaican I can think of that I've had is Jerk seasoning. I bought it and just slabbed it onto a steak I was cooking up, without looking up how to use it properly. That proved bloody hot. lol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top