I like to know what's in my Curry (Patak's Original Madras Curry Paste)

Member Name: cswann

Product:	Patak's Original Madras Curry Paste
Date:	23/05/02 (2362 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Keeps for weeks in the fridge, Tastes great

Disadvantages: Contains a lot of salt

I’ve tried several of the Pataks pastes, and I can well believe the various claims regarding the authenticity of Patak’s curry products.
In the mid 50’s LG Patakh came to Britain, from Kenya in fact, not from India, and opened up a samosa shop. He even used to supply Buckingham Palace with them.
He later dropped the ‘h’ from his name, and based his company in Wigan. It’s still very much a family business - Krit Patak (LGs’ son) is now in charge and his wife Meena is responsible for the recipe side of things.

Patak’s pastes comes in a jar. Using it is really the mid-way between pouring a jar of ready-made sauce (which Patak’s also produce) onto some chicken, or whatever, and the more elaborate act of concocting a ‘proper’ curry with fresh coriander, cumin and the like.

The sauces I’ve made using the paste have always tasted great, and really you could almost pretend you’d done it the hard way, it tastes so authentic.
Best of all, as far as I am concerned, though, is the fact that a jar keeps for up to six months in the fridge. So you can have a few different pastes on the go at once, use a tablespoon or so for each curry-for-two you produce, and put the jar back in the fridge without worrying how long it’ll be before it goes mouldy (can you tell I learnt my cooking skills when I was student?).
A look at the ingredients will explain why the paste keeps so long. The primary ingredient is vegetable oil, and second comes salt, then (usually) tomato puree. On the basis that ingredients are listed in order of their proportion, that means a lot of oil and a lot of salt.
So, I wouldn’t add any more salt if I were you.
The rest of the ingredients are usually a range of between 15 to 30 herbs and spices, according to the recipe. There are no E numbers, something which I always like to see.
Ominously, though, there’s a warning on
the label that the paste should not be eaten uncooked. (Well, just don’t eat it without cooking it first, then!)

The following pastes are available:
Jalfrezi
Korma
Garam masala
Kashmir masala
Tikka masala
Balti
Madras
Byriani
Tandoori
Bhuna
Vindaloo
Rogan Josh
And for those who prefer their description in ‘English’, there’s also
Mild
Extra Hot

A recipe appears on the label of each jar, and there are more culinary ideas on the website:
www.pataks.co.uk

Ideal if you like making your own curries, but don't want all the hard work.
And great if you're ever a little suspicious of what goes into the curries at your takeaway!

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