Topic: Lowest Common Denominator

[livo]

Curry base gravies have been done to death. Nevertheless, they do invoke a lot of passion and as the fundamental principle of the BIR method they will always be the topic of discussion.  There are several reasons for performing my own personal analysis but mainly I was searching for a very neutral base.  I didn

[Peripatetic Phil]

An interesting scientific analysis, Livo (and I always admire a scientific approach), but could you explain what exactly you mean by "[7] Curry powder is same as chili powder", please ?

** Phil.

[livo]

The same as Note [6] for Chili in relation to the addition of heat. Chewytikka used a Hot curry powder where Julian Voight specifically says to use mild. Other recipes stipulate not to add Chili heat to the base.

[Peripatetic Phil]

The same as Note [6] for Chili in relation to the addition of heat. Chewytikka used a Hot curry powder where Julian Voight specifically says to use mild. Other recipes stipulate not to add Chili heat to the base.

Ah, thank you, now understood.  Yes, I would tend to agree that no general-purpose base should have significant chilli heat, any more than it should have other dish-specific ingredients such as almond or coconut powder, etc.  My suspicion is that the most basic and universal base requires no more than water, oil, onion, garlic, ginger and turmeric, and I might be inclined to try that on a future occasion, using fresh turmeric just as one already uses fresh ginger and fresh garlic.

** Phil.

[George]

mainly I was searching for a very neutral base.  I didn

[Peripatetic Phil]

Why would you want to do that [search for a very neutral base] ?  i.e. unless you aim to open your own BIR and need to cut corners, as in achieving your 'lowest common denominator'. I'm fairly sure many Indian restaurants (worldwide) use more than one base sauce, and so do I.

Not answering for Livo (of course) but from my own perspective I can see one very good reason for doing this, and that is practicality.  In general, one makes bases in bulk (for my recent Taz base, e.g., over 3 litres of finished product) and these require storage after preparation.  Bases should be chilled, if not frozen, if kept for more than a few days, so to keep (for example) 3 different dish-specific bases would require chilled storage space for 9 litres.  I certainly don't have space for 9 litres, and I imagine that the same is true for other members.

** Phil.

[livo]

In answer to your question George, I'm after a very neutral base for a very mild specific dish.

The lowest common denominator terminology here is not intended to reflect a down-grading or reduction in any way. It is more so used to describe the process of applying the rule of averages across the most commonly found ingredients expressed in terms of their proportional relationship to a lowest common denominator, being a constant fixed quantity of onions.

It is important to note that I'm not suggesting this list as a recipe.  It may or may not be suitable to prepare this ingredient list as a useful gravy, most particularly in relation to spicing.  It could end up over-spiced, unbalanced or both or it may actually work. I don't know.  The 8 recipes examined use differing combinations in relation to mixed or bought curry powders and single spice powders. Clearly the use of all of the averaged quantities as listed would not reflect any of the actual spice levels from the original recipes due to doubling up of single spices also present in the mixed powders.  The use of the main ingredients and other vegetables as listed would not cause the same level of distortion.

Last night I was sorting through pages and pages of old printed recipes from years ago and I found a few other Curry Base Gravy recipes. Abdul's Method, Curried Away Adey Payne, Dan Toombs, The Body Base, and a couple without accreditation, all of which I have used in the past  They are all very similar and I feel that their inclusion in the analysis wouldn't really change much. It's pouring rain again today so I might add them to my study and see.  It would appear that while Base Gravies are mostly quite subtly different, they are all inherently very similar.  Specialty gravies  like the "100 Best Baltis Rolls Royce" aside of course. 

The reason for my study is because I wish to create a Specialty Gravy which is noticeably neutral and mild and for specific use in a single dish.  I know this is completely opposite to the intended use of a universally central base gravy for use in multiple curries.

[livo]

Well my first attempt at a concocted base using this analysis data has proved quite successful. Not only did it produce better than hoped for results in the dish I wanted it for, but it also made a pretty good base for 4 other recipes as well. I'll give the spicing levels used when I go back to my notes but everything else was used at around 50% of the listed quantity with the omission of both fresh Chili and Coconut block. The half batch based on 450 -:500g of onion made a good quantity for a home cook. I made 5 double serve sized curries and used just over half of the batch.

I'm still experimenting with the additional water content after the gravy is blended. I like a thicker gravy in the finished dish but the cooking process certainly seems to require the higher water content, as expressed by all key players.

[livo]

I've gone back to my notes from making the lowest common denominator base gravy. As previously stated, I used half listed average quantity in the OP for all ingredients with the complete exclusion of any Chili.  I also omitted any coconut block or milk but I did use a 50/50 mix of coconut oil and ghee instead of vegetable oil to the 75 ml (50%) level.

Looking back over my notes, as it turns out I actually did just use 50 % of all the spices as well, including both Mixed and Curry Powders, again with the exclusion of Chili Powder.  This produced a very usable base gravy.  It has worked really well for my intended purpose actually.

My pressure cooker is a multifunction unit with saute mode so I was able to utilise it for the whole process.