Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Shifting gears (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifting-gears/)

-   -   Recipes / Discussions on cooking from Team-BHP Master Chefs (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifting-gears/5631-recipes-discussions-cooking-team-bhp-master-chefs-139.html)

If you're in Bangalore you can get it in the shops or big basket for far less than what Amazon is trying to charge for it. They'll do stuff like raise the price 100% and then give you what looks like a 40% discount.

Unfortunately, that's not an option.

I searched Big Basket also, but SSP hing is not even listed there! So can't source from them online either.


What's the current cost in Bangalore/ Chennai ?
.

Attached. Quite reasonable for the quality - this is pure hing not compounded.

The company SS Pandian ships them - no shipping charge either. You can order from their website: https://sspandian.com/home-use/ - prices are same as given above on bigbasket.

Anyways, there is one point re: using pure vs compounded hing- that of proportions. Back in the 90s and early 00s we used to use Laljee Godhoo almost exclusively and it was compounded (someone has mentioned them in a previous post).

Then at some point in time, we got pure crystals (afghan) and all our proportions for the recipes went haywire. Many dishes turned bitter.

Since then we have stuck with compounded - we just run through it quite fast. Few brands that I found good over the years are -

Shiv Om from Hathras
Shyam from Jaipur
and Ramdev from Ahmedabad

Almost all are available online as well on various platforms.

I have one from SSP, which is like dark brown small stone pebble. I need to use mortar and pestle to try break this into small pieces. Is there any elegant way to use this form of hing?

I should have gone for the compounded ones, which one can easily sprinkle.

I usually grind the Hing in a mixer. To make compounded Hing, just add flour - maida, besan or corn flour. To make 30% mix just add three times flour, or if that is still too concentrated add four times.

The resulting powder can now be used in quantities similar to compounded Hing.

Note that most recipe state "a pinch" but that is vague, still you can try and adjust the quantity of pure Hing if you do not want to use diluted compounded Hing.

Your attached image (from Big Basket?) actually quotes higher prices than Amazon for the same products! I am well aware of Amazon's devious tricks. but it does not apply in this case, -- they infact are offering a small discount on the SSP MRPs! SSP themselves sell through Amazon.

Another point: All three products in the attached image are in fact compounded hing, NOT pure hing. Only the PURAW variant sold by SSP is pure hing (sold at an appropriately higher price: Rs. 750/10g)).

The apparent major difference between SSP and other brands selling compounded hing is that while SSP adds flour/ Quinoa/ Oil, they do not also add Gum Arabic. I think that's what makes their hing more potent.

As an example, Amazon's own Vedaka brand of compounded hing contains just 8% Hing (plus 40% Corn Starch, 16% Flour and 36% Gum Arabic)! At least they are honest about it (haven't yet become completely Indian, I guess)! No other Indian brand (including SSP) lists contents details (except perhaps for the flour percentage sometimes).

Perhaps Tata Sampann takes the cake by taking a shot at honesty by proudly proclaiming "Compounded Asafoetida (100%)"! (Reminds me of Godrej's 'Ganga' brand soap made with "100% pure Ganga water"!) :-)


Thanks for the information.

As for the Laljee Godhoo (L.G.) brand compounded hing (priced at Rs.92/50g), I was fooled by only 30% flour content (as opposed to 45% to 65% for most other brands). I did not yet know about the dilution through Gum Arabic (% not mentioned). It turned out to be by far the worst hing I have ever used, -- maybe the actual hing content was 1%, if that, the potency was so abysmally low! As a consequence that particular brand will never enter my household ever again!
.

For some reasons it says "This page is not available".
Methinks, it could be better for the forum if you upload the document here on this thread.

One good way to avoid the splitting of curd is using the same while marination of meat before cooking.

While I am no fan of using curd during the making of biryanis, many people I know do like to use it to give richness to the gravy. I make the usual Calcutta style biryani which is easier on the stomach without the richness of the usual biryani speciality restaurants. The main thing is the timing of layering the rice which is cooked at different stages and layered accordingly. Since I am no expert, I try to keep the rice at 3/4th stage of being boiled and layer accordingly along with the mutton. The ‘dum’ takes care of the rest 1/4th part and usually it comes out good. The mutton is obviously cooked separately and layered along with the rice with the mutton at the base. And I don’t use curd at all !!

I just tried the link and it worked. So it may be a Facebook quirk.

As most of my images have watermark, TBP does not allow it, hence I cannot post it here. Any way if you want the Images, you can mail me and I will mail the images back you. PPT file and Images saved from it. Choose what you like.

The best way to use block Hing is to extract it using hot water. Put a block into a vessel and add hot water in limited quantities. You can do this at least 5 to 6 times with pure hing. This will give you different grades of Hing and combine all of them together and then you can use them

If you need to powder them, I would suggest to fry it in a little bit of oil first and then powder it.

As far as pure hing is concerned, we use PC Hing. This is from Madurai and is available in most retailers and commerce stores. This is not cheap, but not as expensive as SSP or the likes as well. I think it goes for about 170 to 180 per 10 gms and we have found it to be very strong. We typically buy the solid ones rather than powder

Hello everyone, I am here again. I need your help in understanding the sequence below when we make any curry.

The sequence in which the onion, ginger garlic, powdered spices, tomatoes, yogurt and should go in for chicken curries and for vegetarian curries.

Here's the sequence I usually use for making curries, and I do not understand the logic behind these steps. By the grace of God, 6 out of 10 times it comes out good, because I am following the recipe.

Heat oil, add onions and fry till golden in medium heat, add in ginger and garlic paste, fry in low heat until the oil seeps. Then I proceed to add in the powdered spices like red chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder. And then keep stirring until the raw smell goes away. I end up burning sometimes in this process and havent been able to produce consistent results yet. Then add in diced tomatoes and keep frying until the tomatoes melt into a gooey mess.

I would love to understand the science/logic behind the steps, and what happens when the sequence is altered, like fry onions, ginger garlic paste first, then add tomatoes and then add powdered spices.

Some questions that give me sleepless nights:
1. Why do you use certain spices like bay leaf, cardamom, star anise, mace when you temper oil in the beginning?
2. What flavors do they add or ruin when used together?
3. When you add coriander powder and cumin powder why is coriander powder is more in quantity than the cumin powder?
4. When I am making something like chicken curry, should I use chicken masala along with coriander powder and/or cumin powder, or just use the chicken masala.
5. Does it matter if you add marinated chicken before you add tomatoes to the frying masala or after you add when the tomato paste is ready.

I am so sorry if all this sounds stupid, but I am very disappointed with the Indian food that we get here and would like to be able to make it on my own with some understanding of the process. At least it will be healthy and wont burn a hole in my pocket.

I am more than happy if someone conducts paid classes or can guide me to some good cooking classes or books where I can understand these nuances.

I have been cooking for almost 5+ years now, and all is good when I am following a recipe. But I am not satisfied as I do not understand why I am doing something.

Welcome to the world of strange ways of cooking. There is a school of thought that adds salt to vegetables when it is kept for boiling to increase the speed of cooking and then there is another school which adds salt the last so as to not disturb the natural taste of vegetables and spices

1. When tempering with oil adding spices to it will give the oil a spicier taste, esp when you are working with pungent oils like mustard. Some people do not like the smell of mustard oil and the spices will reduce the pungency. Secondly, once oil is flavoured, this permeates other ingredients as well

2. Very tough question to answer since flavours are very personal. Some people love the bite of cinnamon while there are others who hate it. My family hates cinnamon, but I love it in any North Indian dishes and Apple cakes, but detest it in coffee (remember Starbucks)

3. Corriander powder has a citrus taste to it, while Cumin has a more earthy taste. Cumin seems to be a more heavier spice when it comes to taste and too much of it will kill the flavours of other spices

4. Typically any pre fabricated masalas will have corriander, cumin etc inbuilt. However, they are not proportionate as per individual tastes. For e.g. we grind our own garam masalas while you still get it in grocery stores. It is good to indulge in making your own masalas in small batches so that you can use it as fresh ingredient for maybe a month or two and not more.

5. Better to add any meat or vegetables after the tomato puree is cooked. This way the cooked puree will then permeate into the meat/vegetable along with all the spices. Else, when you cut the meat/vegetable you will end up with some bland portions.

Frying spices is an art. Typically, you will not fry powders in your food. You will fry raw spices such as star anise, jeera, mace, cinnamon, bayleaf etc. This gets the oil/ghee flavoured as well. Frying in ghee will really release the spice flavours. For making curries this is the first step and then you add chillis, garlic etc. Since they are small and need to be fried, this will be the first ingredients. I use chopped ginger, garlic and chilli and avoid readymade paste. It takes a few minutes more, but the flavours are different. Post this I add onions as they need to be fried, but not caramelised. And lastly the tomatoes since they are softer, need lesser time to cook.

This is my go to style. But I am sure the culinary masters have the right logic and explanations. Especially when it comes to meat as I dont cook meat at home

1. These are ingredients of garam masala. The one you get in powdered form has already been roasted on low heat. The raw ingredients need to be roasted with our without fat to release the aromatic compounds.

2. Cannot answer this - its subjective - do you like the complex heat this spice gives or not.

3. Coriander powder deteriorates fast and loses its flavor faster than coriander seeds. Cannot answer for cumin as rarely use powdered form (I use whole)

4. In any dish, if you use pre-packaged masala in addition to raw spices, you'd upset the balance of spices in large part due to salt being a part of the pre-packed masala. e.g. When I use amritsari chole masala for chole, I don't use any red chilli powder, dhania powder etc. That stuff is strong enough.

5. Yes - adding souring agents such as tomatoes will slow down the cooking process and in some cases the souring ingredient itself deteriorates quickly under high heat. You'd find in many recipes souring agents such as lime juice, tamarind, vinegar are all added later - often when the majority of the cooking is already done.

Regd the order in which you are adding the ingredients, the previous poster has already answered - do not add powdered spices directly to very hot oil to avoid burning of the spices. One difference - if you want a sweeter taste from the onions, add them before ginger and garlic otherwise add them after.

It will take a few attempts of getting it wrong to finally get it right! :)

There are many good youtube channels of Indian chefs, where they explain the steps and the reasoning behind the steps, while making any dish.

But the trick is that you should watch these videos before starting the cooking so that your focus is on learning the art rather than preparing the dish. If you watch the video while preparing the dish, you would be too occupied with following the recipe and will miss out the learning part.

Also, I prefer to follow the recipes of the chef who is from the same region as the dish. For example - for Tandoori Chicken recipe, follow the recipe of a Punjabi chef.