Gordon Ramsay Added An Unexpected Ingredient In Curry — And Fans Were Not Impressed

Celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsay is famous for his dishes and infamous for dishing out his rather caustic brand of harsh criticism on hit shows like "Hell's Kitchen" and "Kitchen Nightmares," so naturally, fans aren't shy about giving it right back to him. Case in point the "Curry in a Hurry" segment from Ramsay's "Next Level Kitchen," the digital-only adjunct series on YouTube featuring Ramsay and his "Next Level Chef" mentors sharing "tips, tricks and delicious recipes." In this installment, the "MasterChef" himself quickly whips up a classic Indian Butter Chicken.

But, when it comes to making fun of nearly everything about the British restaurateur and bestselling cookbook author's video, fans and haters alike pulled no punches. From his frequent use of the word literally (one user counted 21 times!), to criticism about Ramsay's recipe's authenticity, nothing was left unexamined. And, for some viewers discussing the recipe on Instagram, it was the chef's rather unorthodox use of "tomato sauce" that really set them on edge. "Tomato sauce in curry???" one shocked commenter asked rhetorically (FYI, this is what the Brits call ketchup). 

"When he said Tomatoe [sic] sauce, i died inside," another quipped, with a crying emoji. Others brought their street cred to the table, with one noting, "With my mom being Indian, she taught me all sorts of curry dishes, and not once was tomato sauce mentioned. Get your facts straight, Ramsey. If you want to make curry, do it properly or don't do it at all." The general consensus was it wrecked the dish, with one person imploring him to simply utilize fresh tomatoes instead, reiterating their point with a face palm emoji.

While commenters had their issues with Gordon Ramsay's unique "Curry in a Hurry," there's one crucial piece of context they overlooked — the "in a hurry," part. So, while authenticity is always a valid measurement in a recipe entitled "Truly Authentic Butter Chicken," the focus of Ramsay's take was instead getting a delicious butter chicken on the table in just 15 minutes. And, by that marker, the prolific TV personality met the goal. After all, commenters may have been unaware of exactly what it takes to turn a deeply flavored, labor intensive dish into something that can be accomplished in a short amount of time and still taste like what it professes to be. This calls for strategic simplification.

In this case, the classic recipe from legendary restaurant Moti Mahal, which ingredient-wise Ramsay follows fairly faithfully, calls for an overnight, two-step marination process and a separate recipe for "gravy" (aka sauce). It also calls for fresh tomatoes, which get pureed (aka tomato sauce). Either way, shortcuts must be taken to achieve such a feat and the celebrity chef talks us through them.

Beyond that, there are so many different variations of the popular dish that finding authentic butter chicken is somewhat elusive, especially when there was a time when some Indian restaurants didn't even know the difference between true butter chicken and tikka masala. Meanwhile, the origins of butter chicken are so hotly debated now that they could soon be settled in a fiery court case.