We all know that slow cooked food such as stew and curry is truly epic. However, what is the scientific reason that the aforementioned slow cooked food tastes even better when it’s been frozen and then reheated?

(Beef madras, made with shin. Geeta’s Lime and Chilli Chutney and a garlic and coriander naan, in case you were wondering)

Science.

Ice crystals causing it to break down, thus releasing inner yumminess?

Science.
🙂

Cooked once = great.

Great x 2 = better.

QED.

Now, world peace…

Cooked longer = Older = mature. Mature things taste better.
Yesterdays pizza, 3 day old take away, wine…..lots of wine…more wine.

Did you know that every time you reheat pasta it’s GI falls?

GI Falls?

How many times before it becomes negative?

Two main reasons.. Meat becomes more tender.
And spices settle down.. A bit like when you splash on some expensive cologne and you smell like a whore for an hour, but after a couple of hours the edge calms down and the fragrance and taste become more subtle.

I make curry from scratch quite often in large batches, and it tastes much lovelier after a day or two.

MFR has it, above. It’s something similar to the manufacture of perfume where the perfume has to be left to mature in a big vat for a few days before bottling off.

Mrsfry – three words…
Jammy
Red
Roo

re-heat?

you have left over food after a meal….this concept is alien to me 😳

Geeta’s Lime and Chilli Chutney

You’re doing it wrong. Find some Anila’s pickles/chutneys (or make yourself, surprisingly easy)

I have never understood use of the redundant phrase “cooking from scratch” – It’s COOKING. If you don’t assemble all the fresh ingredients and cook it yourself, well then it’s a ready meal, or a take-away meal, and by definition, NOT COOKING.

So what you mean is – you cook. Well done !

you have left over food after a meal….this concept is alien to me

Maybe we just cook bigger batches than you.

If you don’t assemble all the fresh ingredients and cook it yourself, well then it’s a ready meal, or a take-away meal, and by definition, NOT COOKING.

So if I use a jar of curry paste, rather than preparing my own, but otherwise use fresh ingredients then I’m not cooking?

Oh and this

Ice crystals causing it to break down, thus releasing inner yumminess?

Is, as far as I know, the right answer..

So if I use a jar of curry paste, rather than preparing my own, but otherwise use fresh ingredients then I’m not cooking?

not really

Anyone who can finish off my slow cooker’s capacity you’re a bigger eater than me! I think I have about 8 portions of leftover curry in the freezer from the last one I made. It’s a real bonus that not only do you get a whole lot of meals to simply re-heat, but also they are even better than the original was. Makes cooking so much less hassle and more rewarding. Cooking from scratch every day (ok, cooking 🙄 ) would do my head in.

not really

Hangs head in shame.

Am I allowed to use tinned tomatoes?

No, you must grow the tomatoes yourself. And raise the animals. And slaughter them.

I always thought freezing food leaves ice crystals in proteins and cells to cause denaturing.

Could be good for some food types and bad for meats and ice cream unless you use liquid nitrogen.

The thing with curries is that the spices need to work. They work through the way they interact with the oil and other ingredients, which all depends on how you cook them to start with.

First thing to remember is that the majority of curry sauces as we know them are based on onions. People make the mistake of thinking that onions are simply an add-on, or padding, so they tend to be sweated in a bit of oil and then forgotten about, but in a curry the onions are treated very much as a spice, and need to be cooked properly in order to develop their part of the mixture.

I do basic curry base which is more or less the same no matter what I’m going to add in later, with only one or two deviations, as taught to me by a colleague and various friends.

Firstly, don’t be afraid of the amount of oil. You need plenty to make it work, as it affects the way the base cooks, and carries the dry spices through the dish. The oil is flavoured at the start with some dry whole spices. I use a large heavy based casserole dish like a le creuset, as it’s great for retaining heat consistently.

I add enough oil to give a good covering, perhaps up to a quarter inch deep, put it on the heat and add a couple of bay leaves, four or five whole cloves, an inch of cinnamon stick, a couple of teaspoons whole jeera (cumin seeds) and three or four cardomum pods. As the oil heats these will eventually start to spatter, and then it’s time to put in the onion. I use a couple of medium onions sliced very thinly and then chopped fine. Stirred into the oil these need to be cooked at a reasonably high heat for a good ten minutes or so, stirred to stop them sticking. They should take on a yellow gold colour after ten minutes, then add plenty of chopped or minced garlic and some ginger. Stir this in and reduce the heat to medium. You want them cooked but not browned or burnt.

At this stage the onions will begin to break down, still looking like chopped onions, but as the garlic and ginger combine with them they
start to look more like a thick paste. After a few more minutes cooking the mixture will split. The paste will form holes, and the oil will bubble up through it. Now it’s time to add a tablespoon of tomato concentrate and stir this into the paste, then half a teaspoon of haldi (turmeric) and a teaspoon of salt. Stirred briskly, now add half a tin of tomatoes and stir these in. I often blitz or sieve them first, but it isn’t vital. Here’s where you will see the onions breaking down completely and giving up their flavour into the mixture. The liquid from the tomatoes needs cooking down, so stir and leave it to cook, again until the mixture splits. You can add in chopped green chillis at this stage if the curry needs them.

From here the basic spice paste is done. It has the flavours from the whole spices and the wet spices combined, and the next stage is where you add the powdered or ground dry spices, all depending on the finished curry.

For a basic chicken massala I would now add red chilli powder or flakes, ground coriander, a touch more jeera and stir it in. This forms a thick, sticky paste and keeping the heat high I’d add in diced chicken, or even better a jointed chicken, bones and all. Stir this so that each piece is coated with the oily spice paste, making sure nothing gets stuck and burns on the bottom of the pan.

Once the chicken starts to colour add half a cup of water. As soon as you do the paste will reconstitute into a thick sauce. Stir then reduce to a simmer and cover the pan. Simmer for as long as it takes to cook the chicken through and watch the sauce. You can add water a little at a time, but it needs to be pretty thick.

It’s done when once again the oil separates and floats to the top. Add chopped green chilli to taste, a handful of chopped fresh coriander and a sprinkle of garam massala.

The long-winded cooking process is designed to extract and develop the flavour of the wet spices, otherwise the onion, ginger and garlic remain harsh and occasionally bitter. I expect a resting period or freezing would help to break down the fibres, sort of replicating the multi-stage process I’ve described.

And raise the animals. And slaughter them.

Don’t feed them ready meals though.

What about if you go to a butcher and buy a bit of meat and heat it up, rather than stalking a cow with a homemade longbow?

And make sure they’re Organic farmed Animals, obvz

@scapegoat…..wow im going to try that!!

@scapegoat…..wow im going to try that!!

+1. Good work!

It is because of something called “Kokumi

Scapegoat > Fantastic post, thank you. Do you remove the whole spices at some point?