Curry Recipes Online
Curry Base Recipes => Curry Base Chat => Topic started by: Burning Ring on December 09, 2012, 03:40 PM
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Hi Guys,
1st post newbie here
I recently asked one the staff in my local favourite takeaway if I could have a sample of their base gravy for me to compare with the gravy I made at home (Julian
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Hi BR and welcome ;)
That base does look quite 'heavy' compared to most BIR's, is the gravy still that thick when you have a curry from them or do they add water to thin at final cooking stage.
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Hi emin-j
The gravy is even thicker has been reduced a bit further in the foil container with all the chicken onions & spices added
Cheers and thanks for the welcome and reply.
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Bet their curry's have a nice spicy kick then :P
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That looks more like a finished, basic curry. Did you actually see him take the base from the pot and put it in the container?
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Hi Santa,
No i didn't see him clearly but i did see him tell the chef that i asked for the base and would it be OK then saw the chef look at him and nod, the window view to the kitchen area is sort of head height so couldn't see anyone from the shoulders down so the counter assistant put it into the container.
Cheers
By the way Santa all i want for christmas is a base like this lol
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Hi BR & welcome.
You're not the first member recently to describe an "all in one' base with all the spicing contained within it. It certainly must speed up (and maybe de-skill) the process of churning out finished curries on the night of service, perhaps helping profit margins by decreasing staff costs. But the downside must surely be they struggle to differentiate their dishes from one another?
Apart from being very thick, the base is very dark compared to most I've seen. This would seem to indicate a lot of powdered spices have been added, as I noticed the same darkening effect when following C2Go's video to try his base. I notice from your profile you're in N Wales, not too far presumably from Julian in Chorley (curry 2 go), so perhaps these heavily spiced bases are a regional variation in the North West / N Wales region?
Curry in this country is undoubtedly evolving over time - there are forum members whose primary interest is in replicating the BIR flavours of the 1980s and those recipes differed from the standard fare of today. Maybe all in one bases are part of the "new wave" which will take over? If you look at what drives this evolution of restaurant cuisine it's usually economics, with new short cuts being introduced to get the costs lower - sad but true. I'm sure that the BIR flavours of the 70s and 80s came at the price of a lot of labour being expended with many different gravies being prepared. Once it became harder to bring in immigrant chefs willing to work for pennies, the recipes evolved into the single shared base with different spicing per dish... And now maybe it's heading to an even easier next generation?
A lot of speculation on my part there, I'm not sure any of that is really the case, but I wonder if it's all driven by labour costs.
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Many thanks for going to the trouble of acquiring the 'all-in-one' base and sharing with us, BR. Most interesting.
So, let me get this straight. In essence, it isn't a 'base' (in the sense that we know it) at all, but a basic curry sauce to which various ingredients are added to make specific dishes on the menu (red and green peppers and green chillies for a jalfrezi, etc).
Is that what we're looking at here?
If so, then perhaps it is a recent development that's indicative of the so-called 'curry crisis', whereby experienced chefs are in short supply due to changes in UK immigration policy?
But then if it tastes as good as you say it does, then we obviously need to find out exactly how it's made!
Any chance of you getting behind the scenes, BR?
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I don't think Burning Ring has said it's a 'all in the base' style gravy unless I missed that which is quite possible ::) I think he did say the gravy got thicker after it had been cooked down and spices added.
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I wonder if something got lost in translation? One man's base is another man's sauce and another man's gravy. This looks like a finished curry sauce and not a base in the CRO sense of the word.
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I wonder if something got lost in translation? One man's base is another man's sauce and another man's gravy. This looks like a finished curry sauce and not a base in the CR0 sense of the word.
I think that what we are experiencing is the generation gap, Stephen : to the best of my knowledge, Steve Jet was the first member of CR0 to use the word "base" to refer to a complete curry sauce (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=8989.0 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=8989.0)); since then, I think at least two other members have used the term in the same sense. Which goes to confirm, I fear, the suspicion that many of we older members have that "curries ain't what they used to be".
** Phil.
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Welcome to the forum GR. Interesting base sauce there. I agree it is very dark and very thick. And is it only a step or two away from the finished article which is a bit different to the BIR method many here are used to?
I wonder if something got lost in translation? One man's base is another man's sauce and another man's gravy. This looks like a finished curry sauce and not a base in the CR0 sense of the word.
I fear, the suspicion that many of we older members have that "curries ain't what they used to be".
** Phil.
And if things carry on the way they're going they won't even be what they are now Phil :-\ :'(
I'm inclined to agree with Natterjak and SD that as the skilled curry chefs become fewer, this new wave phenomenon, quite possibly a product of the curry crisis, could become all to common in the future. Maybe in 15 - 20 years people will remeniss about the tastes from the 90's and early 2000 just as some of us do now about the 80's and 90's ???
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CH, we had better do what we can ourselves to keep the traditional BIR method going then ;) :)
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CH, we had better do what we can ourselves to keep the traditional BIR method going then ;) :)
My thoughts exactly emin-j ;). I'm sure CR0 will continue to fly the flag of traditional BIR as best as we can. Looking at jb's efforts the other night, some are bang on the money ;D
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Hi Guys,
1st post newbie here
I recently asked one the staff in my local favourite takeaway if I could have a sample of their base gravy for me to compare with the gravy I made at home (Julian
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Wow guys thanks for all your comments and interest i will try to answer all your points in one go..
I am trying my best to get access to the kitchen in this takeaway they have got fairly chatty with me over the 3 years or so i have been ordering there, the chef reckons he has been in the trade for over 20 years and looks quite old! lol.
The chap who takes the orders over the phone and counter told me that he prepares the base gravy and other ingredients they use as he lives upstairs. I told him of my exploits at home to make my own base and curry dishes and he said "if you need any help let me know"! so i have and when he has time he will help me, i gave him my phone number to text me, i am keeping my fingers crossed. He also shruggingly said yes its not rocket science! to which i answered not to you but its magic to me!
I suppose thinking about it this might well be an "All in one Base" as i have my usual chicken Jalfrezi and she who must be obeyed a Bhuna and both look exactly the same colour and consistency but different heat/spices.
I have noticed the inclusion of Kalonji seeds in my Jalfrezi along with the usual green chillies red pepper onion and on occasional sliced garlic cloves. They must use more than one base though as when we have had a Korma for my daughter it is obviously a different colour so they must use another base?
I have loved my curry since the mid seventies i am an oldie at 59 lol and for me personally this Jalfrezi they do is as good as anything i have ever had and better than most but i guess that if other members had the op pertunity to try it they wouldn't agree its what make the world go around!.
It is definitely not a dirty base gravy made from dregs as it always looks and tastes the same its very consistent.
I agree it is only a step or two from the finished article.
I told the assistant that i had made my own base gravy and could i sample some of theirs so i presume that what he gave me was their basic base gravy but it is obviously not basic but possibly the all in one variant that has been reported.
All this might well be driven by labour costs as there are only two staff in the kitchen the main chef and a trainee there is always a different assistant every three or so months and one other who is the permanent counter assistant who i have befriended.
I can post a photo of my Jalfrezi that i get from there if anyone is interested?
Thanks Guys. :)
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I wonder if something got lost in translation? One man's base is another man's sauce and another man's gravy. This looks like a finished curry sauce and not a base in the CRO sense of the word.
+ 1 on that
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he said "if you need any help let me know"! so i have and when he has time he will help me, i gave him my phone number to text me, i am keeping my fingers crossed. He also shruggingly said yes its not rocket science! to which i answered not to you but its magic to me!
Get in the BR and let's see what we can find out ;)
I can post a photo of my Jalfrezi that i get from there if anyone is interested?
Yep, post away. Let's see how it compares with other jalfrezi's pictured on the site mate.
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I wonder if something got lost in translation? One man's base is another man's sauce and another man's gravy. This looks like a finished curry sauce and not a base in the CRO sense of the word.
+ 1 on that
And in the light of BR's in-depth investigation, if the chef has been hard at it for 20 years then he'll most definitely be well schooled and practiced in the art of the base (in the CRO sense of the word).
Keep digging away, BR - he'll crack in the end! ;-)
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interesting post.
the dark colour is along the lines of the rajver which i make but not quite as dark - it's the inclusion of garam masala that does it.
the thickness does put me off and suggests to me that they have fried it before handing over - it would be well worth checking with the TA to confirm what was given.
there is a lot of onion in base - it looks like i would have it after the stage 1 cook ie just after blending. i then add a lot more water and cook for a further 1 hr.
looking forward if any further information can be gained - i take it the curries are top notch.
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interesting post.
the dark colour is along the lines of the rajver which i make but not quite as dark - it's the inclusion of garam masala that does it.
the thickness does put me off and suggests to me that they have fried it before handing over - it would be well worth checking with the TA to confirm what was given.
there is a lot of onion in base - it looks like i would have it after the stage 1 cook ie just after blending. i then add a lot more water and cook for a further 1 hr.
looking forward if any further information can be gained - i take it the curries are top notch.
Agree with you there JerryM,
My Sister in Laws Son only eats and asks for the Gravy from his t/a but they just make a curry without the meat and not pure base from the pot,some time ago I asked my local t/a (the one that now uses an 'all in the base' gravy) for a container of gravy and they to added mix powder,chili and fresh coriander ::) I wonder if this is what Burning Ring was given.
Also the last Zaal base I made I added an extra 1kg of Onions to see if it made any savoury difference - it didn't
and looked similar to BR's sample :-\
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1st post newbie here
I recently asked one the staff in my local favourite takeaway if I could have a sample of their base gravy for me to compare with the gravy I made at home (Julian’s c2go base) he looked very bemused and said of course you can. I got the base home and was very surprised that it was so thick and quite a lot more spicy than mine, almost like a finished curry without the meat.
Burning ring, ive been trying to explain this for a long time, but no ones excepting that it is almost like a finished curry, ive tried the base gravy here in wolverhampton on a couple of lucky occasions years back so what they are cooking elsewhere im lost mate!apart from i know its for publicity! one springs to mind, now selling, (Julian’s c2go base)
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Infact i suppose the only way you could really find out whats in a base gravy would be food DNA testing or analysis, but! that would cost a fortune to get the exact analysis, why not raise a fund with admin, and find out the truth! it can be done with todays technology. 262 users online today, 10 quid each, price of your takeaway! money raised
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Even a good food analysis will not give you proper proportions and can have trouble differentiating between different type of chili or even cassia/cinnamon.
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Even a good food analysis will not give you proper proportions and can have trouble differentiating between different type of chili or even cassia/cinnamon.
Not to mention the DNA of animals in touch with these spices/veggies.
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Hi Guys,
Sorry for the delay, hear are the photos of the finished takeaway meals, one is a Chicken Jalfrezi & the other a chicken Bhuna which is my wife's favourite. I must say that they look fairly similar but obviously the Jalfrezi is more spiced & hotter. I am still trying to get in their kitchen but the chap that was offering to give me help and advice is now not so chatty! just hello sir how are you and that's it. I will continue to work on him but back off a bit for a while till i see he is in a good mood lol.
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/.jpg) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#.jpg)
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/.jpg) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#.jpg)
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Can't see the pics.
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>:(Yes i know & i dont know why?
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2nd attempt lol :D
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/.jpg) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#.jpg)
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/.jpg) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#.jpg)
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:( >:( :( >:( :( >:(
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-http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/.jpg-
I quoted your post and this kind of link won't work
try to copy paste the direct link by right clicking the image if you use firefox
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The link you are posting goes directly to the image host. Have you reduced your picture size (640 x 400) before uploading and then copying and pasting into the thread?
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Hi Curry hell, i thought i had but i will check the size of the files again
Thanks ;)
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/c37102728f9327dbdb16cbf1bc7c589d.jpg) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#c37102728f9327dbdb16cbf1bc7c589d.jpg)
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The photos are not that good after all that !
(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/pics/42694bfc9950c33b181583659e3a9254.jpg) (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/imagehost/#42694bfc9950c33b181583659e3a9254.jpg)
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Hi BR. Well, that's sorted the image problem anyway. Unfortunately, what we cook and how the camera portrays it sometimes are two different things >:( Unless my images look like what i think i photographed i don't post them. Too often the pic does not do the finished dish justice :( Nor do i want to post a pic of a dish that looks great, but in reality tastes crap. It's hard enough trying to get a dish right, then there's all these technical difficulties thrown in >:( >:( Then again, nobody said it would be easy ::) >:(
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Hi Guys,
the chap that was offering to give me help and advice is now not so chatty! just hello sir how are you and that's it.
i think this happens a lot. rightly so the TA want to sell and see being friendly a big part of it. if you start asking questions that show you know more than you look i know that quite a lot clamp up.
from my experience it may be better to move onto a more receptive place - i'm also of the opinion there's a limit to what can be gained.
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Round my way alot of the containers are only 2/3 full. Those look full & very oily. One place does dish out full containers & masses of rice. It is hard going to finish a portion by myself & i can put food away no problem. Problem is, although decent enough, alot of their dishes taste the same so i don't go there very often. I don't think 300ml of base fills a container to the brim like that.
Regards
ELW
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Burning Ring, do you think he recognized you ?