Topic: Zaal - Restaurant Base / Garabi

[solarsplace]

Zaal Restaurant - Curry Gravy / Garabi

This base gravy / Garabi recipe is a scaled down version of the exact base that is used in the Zaal restaurant as taught by the owner Az. The recipe has not been tried on a smaller scale than this.

Credits and thanks to Az and his staff @ Zaal restaurant in Fleet ( http://www.zaalfleet.com/ )

Thanks to forum member JB and the Fleet 5 for the original notes and post ( http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=7859.0 )



Onion Base Stage

Indian Restaurant Base Sauce Lesson

Use a pot roughly eight to ten litres in capacity. The one in this example is around 10 liters capacity.

Fill it just over three quarters full of chopped English / Dutch onions. Do not use milder Spanish onions. In this example there is 4Kg of onions in the pot.

It is suggested not leave the onions whole in the pot. Chopped onions will cook more quickly (Especially if its busy in a restaurant and it makes no difference to their sweetness when cooking).

The level chef spoon volume used in this example is 3 x tablespoons capacity.

Then add:
1 x chopped carrot (100g)
1 x chopped green pepper (120g)
1 x sliced potato (140g)
1 x desert spoon of salt (15g)
1 x desert spoon of ginger / garlic paste (25g) - (50 x 50 ratio is fine)

2 x litres of water
2 x chef spoons of vegetable oil

Put the lid on and bring to the boil.



Boil it for at least an hour, making sure the bottom doesn't catch. If it does add a little more water. There is not an exact cooking time as to when it's ready. Like most things it is done by eye and when the onions begin to 'melt' it is time to move to the next stages.

Akhni Stock Stage

Medium saucepan on the boil and add a few Cinnamon sticks, a small handful of green cardamon pods and about six bay leaves ( Asian / Indian bay is preferred ) . Leave to boil for about ten minutes then strain the mixture and put the strained water into the original onion and carrot base.



*** Avoid just adding the whole spices to the original mixture - this may seem like a shortcut but is a recipe for disaster. You would have trouble trying to fish them out and the whole spices will never blend smooth enough to leave in the base. The Akhni stock whole spices can be recycled and used again.

Fry Spices Stage

British Indian Restaurant BIR Base Gravy Curry Sauce



In a frying pan add:
1 x heaped chef spoon of veg ghee (100g)

*** Veg ghee is strongly preferred *** However substitute with Sunflower oil or similar if you cannot get hold of veg ghee or do not want to use it.

1 x chef spoon of ginger / garlic paste (120g) - (50 x 50 ratio is fine)

Cook until the g&g mixture goes slightly brown.

0.5 (half) x chef spoon mix powder
    ( Zaal mix powder http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=7863.0 )
    OR
    ( I like to use Abdul 8 spice http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=6176.0 )
2 tsp x standard chili powder
3/4 (Three quarters) x chef spoon of turmeric
4 x chef spoons blended peeled tomatoes



Cook the spice mix fairly hard taking care not to burn the spices. It is important to cook the rawness out of the spices. It helps to add the blended tomatoes a spoon at a time to keep the mixture moving.



After cooking for around 4 minutes add to the blended onion mixture. Bring the mixture to the boil and then leave to simmer. As it simmers on the stove top the oil will gradually rise to the surface. This is a good indicator that the base is now ready.



Leave to cool then thoroughly blend. Note that the base may need thinning with water at this stage if it is too thick.

The gravy made should be slightly sweet with just a mild curry flavour so it could be used in everything from a Vindaloo to a Tikka Massla. This quantity of ingredients will produce around 16 or more 350ml portions of gravy. If done right, you may well notice that your currys now actually smell of that magic aroma that one associates with a good British Indian Restaurant (BIR).

[Peripatetic Phil]

MOST informative : thank you !

[curryhell]

Excellent post Russ.  A good piece of work for the benefit of all forum members  .
 This pulls all the info  together for the Zaal base; JB's notes and the various video footage and should enable anyone to create the Zaal base without having to read and watch the vids a few times before having a good idea of the method. 
Obviously, it was easier for us as we were there ;D.  The finished base looked identical to my attempt and the description of it and of the taste sums up what i found. In fact I would say it's probably the sweetest (but not overly sweet) tasting base i've made.  Unfortunately, used my last portion on Friday so will have to get cooking again once i return from my hols.  Having cooked the most popular and highly rated bases on CR0, I personally rate this as my no. 1 and will have as a stock item in the freezer.  One observation though, did i see some European bay leaves in that akni stock, or was it just my imagination :
What a fantastic day that was.  I'd so love to do the whole thing again just for a great day out as well as the opportunity to pick up some more gems.  For me, the experience was priceless 

[Peripatetic Phil]

One observation though, did i see some European bay leaves in that akni stock, or was it just my imagination :

At maximum zoom, I am regrettably forced to concur.  Probably those d@mned Rajah bay leaves that so many are misled into believing are Indian (Cinnamomum tejpataa) rather than European (Laurus nobilis).  Rajah really should be more honest about this, IMHO.

** Phil.

[rallim]

Excellent informative post Solarsplace. Will definitely need to try this base...once I move into my own place again :-(

[h4ppy-chris]

appreciate the time you have put in to this post solarsplace well done 

[Secret Santa]

Has anyone ever been told why veg ghee is used? I can't rationalise its use at all. When I used it in the distant past it made no discernable difference to curries or bases (unlike butter ghee).

Is it, perhaps, just because it's the cheapest oil available at trade prices?

[Secret Santa]

One observation though, did i see some European bay leaves in that akni stock, or was it just my imagination :

At maximum zoom, I am regrettably forced to concur.  Probably those d@mned Rajah bay leaves that so many are misled into believing are Indian (Cinnamomum tejpataa) rather than European (Laurus nobilis).  Rajah really should be more honest about this, IMHO.

** Phil.

That was the first thing I noticed. You have to wonder if the chefs themselves know the difference. And (at least when they have any flavour at all) there is a distinct flavour difference between the two.

[solarsplace]

Hi Ladies & Gents

I was not intending to sneak the European bay under your radars in the pictures. Az himself specifies the use of Indian / Asian bay. Unfortunately none of my local shops had any so I had to use the European ones instead at this time. Interestingly, the base still turned out superb even without using the Asian variety.

Thanks for the positive feedback so far. I hope more members will try this recipe and enjoy the results.

Regards

[Secret Santa]

Az himself specifies the use of Indian / Asian bay.

Ah, well that makes sense then. I couldn't imagine the chefs using European bay (although I take nothing for granted).