What is the difference between tandoori, balti and madras curry paste?
Please tell me if each of these are mild or very spicy
It’s hard to describe. You should taste them. Each has a different taste and hotness. I think tandoori and balti are more styles of cooking but that are also both associated with degrees of hotness. I find tandoori pretty tomatoey and mild. Whereas balti is harder to describe – I’d say it’s more a style of cooking. Korma, which you don’t mention, is mild and creamy. Madras is medium to hot. I like madras very much. Rogan Josh is medium to medium hot and I like that a lot, too. Pataks make very good curry pastes in all of these styles.
PS – if you go to the supermarket or shop that sells Pataks curry pastes then you could look on the jars – they describe each one on the respective jars. Ahh, I just had a thought – go to the Patak’s website. See below.
It’s hard to describe. You should taste them. Each has a different taste and hotness. I think tandoori and balti are more styles of cooking but that are also both associated with degrees of hotness. I find tandoori pretty tomatoey and mild. Whereas balti is harder to describe – I’d say it’s more a style of cooking. Korma, which you don’t mention, is mild and creamy. Madras is medium to hot. I like madras very much. Rogan Josh is medium to medium hot and I like that a lot, too. Pataks make very good curry pastes in all of these styles.
PS – if you go to the supermarket or shop that sells Pataks curry pastes then you could look on the jars – they describe each one on the respective jars. Ahh, I just had a thought – go to the Patak’s website. See below.
References :
http://www.pataks.com
Balti and tandoori are mild, madras is hot
If what you make is too hot for you add a little plain yoghurt or some coconut milk
References :
Heat in curries is getting almost standardized
1. Mild such as Pasanda Korma Chicken Tikka Masala or Makhani. Pasanda is the mildest in this category.
2. Normal Spicy such as Rogan Josh
3. Hot such as Madras
4. Very Hot such as Vindaloo
5. Extremely hot such as Phall or Tindaloo
Tandoori is a mild dish but not as mild as Pasanda. You could add heat to Tandoori but than it would not be Tandoori.
Balti is normal hot dish which can be made hotter by adding different spices. Balti can be made very hot, even as hot as a Phall by adding Scotch Bonnett or Habanera peppers.
Madras is classified as a hot curry but not as hot as Vindaloo but hotter than average Balti. Madras can also be made as hot as Phall by adding Scotch Bonnett or Habanera pepper.
References :