How do restaurants prepare meals in a shorter time than at home?

[Windigo]

Thanks for your comment.
"curry sauce and rice will have been made in advance on the day itself, so only the chicken needs to be prepared when you order it"
Well, for this kind of curry, it generally doesn't go well if you cook the chicken alone separately (if that's what you meant). All the veg. ingredients and the chicken together have to be let boiled in the pan for about 20 mins. And that's exactly I am not sure how they manage to reduce.

I was not aware it had vegetables in the sauce, but my comment already covered those. They are part of the ingredients I mentioned on a cooks station, that have been prepped before cooking.

 

[medtran49]

Hi,
Thanks for your comment. In the video that I shared, which portion of cooking do you actually mean as 'base'?

I don't watch videos. By base, I mean the spices, veges, liquid, etc., other than the protein.

The curry I made in this post Keralan scallop molee only needed to be warmed and have the scallops added to cook for a few minutes. What took the longest was the rice that evening.

 

[karadekoolaid]

Fry the onions, ginger/garlic paste, then add the spices: turmeric, chile powder and coriander. Stir for about 30 seconds, then add the tomato paste. Mix well together then add the cashew milk, water and cook through for about 5 minutes or so. You can now add the chopped chiles and the kasuri methi (fenugreek leaves), mix together, and you´ve got your base.
The following day, marinate the chicken according to the recipe, and cook in a little oil until just white. While you´re waiting for the chicken, gently warm up the base and add the yoghurt, little by little, incorporating it into the sauce. Do NOT let the base get too hot or the yoghurt will separate. Once your chicken is done and the yoghurt incorporated, add the other ingredients and cook through until done.
NOTE: I cook a lot of Mughlai dishes and the first move is often to soak some raw cashew nut in a small glass of water for about 30 minutes, fry up the onion till it´s soft, then blend the cashews and the onion.

 

[vernplum]

Thanks for your comment.
"curry sauce and rice will have been made in advance on the day itself, so only the chicken needs to be prepared when you order it"
Well, for this kind of curry, it generally doesn't go well if you cook the chicken alone separately (if that's what you meant). All the veg. ingredients and the chicken together have to be let boiled in the pan for about 20 mins. And that's exactly I am not sure how they manage to reduce.

Indian restaurants pre-cook large batches of meat in advance; they have to, otherwise if you ordered something with lamb in it, you'd be waiting about 2 hours if you wanted to eat tender bits of meat. The meats are cooked in a fairly neutral spice mix so they can be used in a variety of different end dishes without giving too much character of their own. Here's an example of a pre-cooked chicken recipe:
British Indian Restaurant Style Pre-Cooked Chicken

As mentioned multiple times, there is also a base gravy which is basically a spiced onion stock (usually with lesser proportions of other veg such as capsicum, tomato) which is slow-stewed and blended and forms the 'body' of the final sauce you will get in the dish that lands on your table. Restaurants will make large quantities of this each day - like dozens of litres of it.

When an order comes in the sequence of cooking is usually along the lines of:

• In a hot pan with a couple of tbsp of oil, start with whole spices such as cinnamon, mustard seed, cardamom, whole cumin etc, depending on the dish being made. Toast them till fragrant.
• Add garlic and ginger paste (another thing prepped in advance), stir fry a bit. Fresh chili goes in if called for.
• At this stage you would add tomato puree if the dish calls for it, then the ground spices such as curry powder, mixed power, any others like paprika, chili power, cumin. You will get a lovely thick paste of all the flavours here.
• Now you would add a splash of the base gravy, cook the flavours together and scrape in any fond from the side of the pan.
• Pre-cooked meat goes in now along with a bit more of the base gravy depending. Meat is warmed through (note: not cooked any further).
• Dish is seasoned, then finished with garam masala, chopped coriander, butter, etc.

All the above may take 5 minutes.

 

[k.udhaya]

Fry the onions, ginger/garlic paste, then add the spices: turmeric, chile powder and coriander. Stir for about 30 seconds, then add the tomato paste. Mix well together then add the cashew milk, water and cook through for about 5 minutes or so. You can now add the chopped chiles and the kasuri methi (fenugreek leaves), mix together, and you´ve got your base.
The following day, marinate the chicken according to the recipe, and cook in a little oil until just white. While you´re waiting for the chicken, gently warm up the base and add the yoghurt, little by little, incorporating it into the sauce. Do NOT let the base get too hot or the yoghurt will separate. Once your chicken is done and the yoghurt incorporated, add the other ingredients and cook through until done.
NOTE: I cook a lot of Mughlai dishes and the first move is often to soak some raw cashew nut in a small glass of water for about 30 minutes, fry up the onion till it´s soft, then blend the cashews and the onion.

Thank you so much!

 

[k.udhaya]

Indian restaurants pre-cook large batches of meat in advance; they have to, otherwise if you ordered something with lamb in it, you'd be waiting about 2 hours if you wanted to eat tender bits of meat. The meats are cooked in a fairly neutral spice mix so they can be used in a variety of different end dishes without giving too much character of their own. Here's an example of a pre-cooked chicken recipe:
British Indian Restaurant Style Pre-Cooked Chicken

As mentioned multiple times, there is also a base gravy which is basically a spiced onion stock (usually with lesser proportions of other veg such as capsicum, tomato) which is slow-stewed and blended and forms the 'body' of the final sauce you will get in the dish that lands on your table. Restaurants will make large quantities of this each day - like dozens of litres of it.

When an order comes in the sequence of cooking is usually along the lines of:

• In a hot pan with a couple of tbsp of oil, start with whole spices such as cinnamon, mustard seed, cardamom, whole cumin etc, depending on the dish being made. Toast them till fragrant.
• Add garlic and ginger paste (another thing prepped in advance), stir fry a bit. Fresh chili goes in if called for.
• At this stage you would add tomato puree if the dish calls for it, then the ground spices such as curry powder, mixed power, any others like paprika, chili power, cumin. You will get a lovely thick paste of all the flavours here.
• Now you would add a splash of the base gravy, cook the flavours together and scrape in any fond from the side of the pan.
• Pre-cooked meat goes in now along with a bit more of the base gravy depending. Meat is warmed through (note: not cooked any further).
• Dish is seasoned, then finished with garam masala, chopped coriander, butter, etc.

All the above may take 5 minutes.

Thank you so much!