Topic: CWG Quick Base

[chriswg]

If you need to make a quick curry and you don't have any base in the freezer, this recipe is for you. It may lack some of the subtleties of the long cook bases, but it packs plenty of flavour and will produce excellent results. 1 batch will be enough for 4 - 5 curries.

Thank you to JerryM for trying it out and suggesting a couple of areas of improvement.

NOTES

- There is a lot of salt, cumin, coriander and turmeric in the base so when a curry recipe calls for a spice mix this should be reduced or left out completely (as with my Madras Recipe).

- It will produce a thick base and will need water added at curry cooking stage to achieve the desired consistency.

- There is a lot of oil suspended in the base sauce so you might need to reduce the amount of oil used in the curry. I only use 2 tbsp when I start my Madras which seems to work well. You know the sauce is ready to eat when the oil just starts to separate.

Ingredients

- 200 ml vegetable oil
- 450g Onions
- 100g green pepper
- 75g carrot
- 2 green finger chillies
- 2 tsp Garlic Ginger paste
- ? tin blended plum tomatoes
- 2 tsp hot chilli powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 3 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp natural yoghurt
- 300ml water

Add the finely chopped onion and green pepper to a frying pan and add oil to completely cover (approx 200 ml). Turn heat to high and start to fry. After a couple of minutes add in two green finger chillies split lengthways. When the onion just starts to brown, add in chopped carrot and continue to fry.

After 2 minutes add ginger garlic paste cook for a minute then add blended tinned plum tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes. Then add the spices and salt and cook for 5 minutes then add the plain yoghurt. Add water (half a metal serving bowl) and simmer for a few minutes. Pour it into a blender to be finely blended.

This whole process should only take about 20 - 25 minutes. The finished base sauce couldn?t be eaten as it is like some bases. It is very yellow, quite spicy and very salty but this is normal as it gets thinned out by half with water at the curry cooking stage.

[billycat]

Chriswg

my first observations are the amount of chilli&chillies in the base! If you are going to use it to cook a CTM or Korma it would be far too spicey

easier too add heat rather than take it away mate

Also what does the addition of yoghurt do to the base pleae

[PaulP]

Just a few other observations from me:

I made another batch of SnS 2008 base last night and your list of ingredients doesn't look much less to be honest. In terms of preparation there probably isn't much in it and I wouldn't call it quick. But at the end of the full base I have enough for 10 curries.

If you made 4 curries with your base that would be 50 ml of oil per person before you add extra oil to make the final dish - that's quite a lot of oil.

I'm also not sure what effect the yoghurt would have on the flavour.

I appreciate your efforts to product an "instant" curry without a pre-prepared or full base so please don't take it the wrong way.

Paul.

[chriswg]

Hi Billycat,

Assuming you use the base for 4 portions, each curry will contain half a green chilli and half a tsp of chilli powder. I dont imagine that could make anything too hot but as I have only used this for Madras I can't accurately comment.

Regarding the yoghurt, to quote JerryM's feedback he kindly emailed me:

yogurt - something gave the base a taste i'd not come across. i can only think it was the yogurt. i liked the taste and would probably go up significantly to prove or otherwise. too much would not be a good either so maybe say 4 tbsp. i would defo keep it in and will probably try it in my base.

PaulP - I agree there is the same amount of work involved, you just dont have to boil this one for 2 hours before it is ready. I can cook a Madras from scratch within 45 minutes. If you have a Saturday afternoon free to make a big batch of base then go for it, if you want a quick Wednesday night curry after work (assuming you dont have base in the freezer) then this is for you.

This recipe and method isn't here to replace what people already do, it just offers a quick alternative and tastes almost as good as BIR quality. For some (like me), it might be exactly what they are looking for. If you have all the ingredients then knock one up this evening and let me know your thoughts. Everyone who has tried it so far has been surprised by the results.

[JerryM]

i'm not looking to change what i know and what i do from this site (the family have said so) - they know it works.

i don't freeze base so once it's made i tend to have to use it in ~7 days. not a problem. sometimes i do just fancy a curry in a hurry on the spur of the moment though.

this fits the bill.

it's surprisingly different to what i'm use to. the main differences are that it's real thick (the base which is then thinned at dish cooking) and all the normal adjustments (salt, chilli) are already made.

i liked the use of the green chilli and will give it a try in my base (perhaps scraping out the seeds). the yogurt is something i will try out as something gave this base a different taste that i'd not encountered before (that i liked).

Billycat is right u may want to tone the amount of chilli down if u're not going to make medium to hot dishes.

Paulp is right in that it is quite intensive on the effort front. i enjoyed cooking it taking me 1 hr from start to finish without rushing (producing 4 off curries). i agree that with practise that could come down  significantly.

it's one to keep in your backpocket. i was surprised how good it was.

[PaulP]

Chriswg,

I reckon you could still fry those ingredients in half the amount of oil, say 100ml. Of course you would have to stir it more. Then if you added about 700 ml water instead of 300, you might end up with about a litre of base sauce which would be thinner but still fit in a normal upright blender and doesn't require a big stock pan.

JerryM,

I once tried 2 de-seeded green chillis in a base preparation and I liked the result. Probably not BIR style due to extra cost but still nice. Wife didn't like a korma I made with it so I have to go easy on the heat of my bases to keep a happy family!

Interesting stuff though - I'm still not sure about the effect of the yoghurt without trying it myself first.

[billycat]

Chriswg

lol i am afraid it doesnt work like that mate

hot is hot no matter what

you get a cup of boiling water and drink a tiny bit and it will still burn you

so if you make a base that with hot chilli and chillies no matter what bit you eat or even if you divide into 4 it will be the same heat

[chriswg]

Next time I make it I'll make a Madras, Korma and CTM. My wife has a very low tolerance of chilli so it will make for a good test.

I'm sure you could reduce the amount of oil down, but I wouldn't want to. My final curry didn't taste overly oily and I would be concerned reducing this and increasing the water might throw the whole thing out of balance. If you ever give it a go like that I'd be very keen to hear your feedback. If it is possible to reduce the fat content while not compromising on taste then great!

The chef who showed me how to cook this said it can be used for any curry and that this is exactly how he cooks them at home for guests. Funnily enough, he also said he can't eat anything spicy. Even a Madras would be too hot for him to eat.

I'm sure with a bit more testing and refinement this could be up there.

[billycat]

OK Chris

you have convinced me i will give it a bash

[JerryM]

i made 2 further curries last night (3rd & 4th out of the batch).

they were much much better than 1st & 2nd goes.

i think the main reason was that i applied my std cooking and practises. i added 300ml water to the base prior to cooking to get it more like the consistency i'm used too. i also used olive oil to cook with for the 1st time as i add no other. i also added a further 100ml water for the Kashmiri down to the coconut flour.

i made a version of CK's madras and a version of 976bar's Kashmiri. both were ballpark what i produce on a normal day. i did reduce the chilli at cooking stage to 1/4 tsp. i also used no tom puree at cooking stage relying solely on passata added after base. i don't feel these slight difference made the difference. i think i was just familiar with the cooking. there has been that "24hr" since the base was made but i've made curry using fresh base before and don't feel it accounted for the step improvement seen.

i would reduce the chilli going fwd to perhaps just the green chillies. other than that this base rates very highly and fullfills my occasional need for a curry in a hurry.

many thanks to you chris - much appreciated.