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Curry Base Recipes => Curry Base Chat => Topic started by: hotbot on October 11, 2006, 05:09 PM

Title: no oil on finished base why?????
Post by: hotbot on October 11, 2006, 05:09 PM
hi i made a great tasting currybase.  (darthphall's)
copied recipie to a t.
Have now been simmering for another hour after blending and no real oil like some of your pictures has risen to top.
Any ideas??????
cheers Hotbot :(
Title: Re: no oil on finished base why?????
Post by: laynebritton on October 11, 2006, 06:54 PM
hotbot
Recipes are only guidelines they shouldn't be followed to a T as you put it you should look / taste and add accordingly if you think it needs it. The only recipes that must be followed to a T is things like Pastry.

Anyway don't be disheartend try again but next time if you can SEE the oil content is to small add more it's better to add to much then you can drain it of later if needed.
 ;) Layne
Title: Re: no oil on finished base why?????
Post by: johnboy on October 11, 2006, 08:41 PM
I don't get oil rising in Darth's base either, I put that down to there not being very much in the recipe compared to some others.

Still produces an excellent base though. Much healthier too.  :o
Title: Re: no oil on finished base why?????
Post by: hotbot on October 11, 2006, 09:50 PM
 :D    Yep my thoughts too!
thanks for confirming.

Cheers HotBot
Title: Re: no oil on finished base why?????
Post by: DARTHPHALL on October 11, 2006, 10:40 PM
Hi My young apprentice the Darklord is here  ;D
If its this base  http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=674.0
Start of with 500/600 ml of Vegetable Oil, i have made it healthier as it is, but agree it will need loads more Oil to be fully authentic Bir, then when you cook the actual Curry itself add about 10 Tablespoons of oil, this will make it as close to a Bir's oil level (you need to experiment as oil levels do vary from Take-away to Take-away), if it ends up too much you can remove it & use it as many others do here on this forum.
hope this clears things up i will edit the post accordingly to allow for both Bir & healthier Oil levels.
cheers.
Title: Re: no oil on finished base why?????
Post by: CurryCanuck on October 12, 2006, 02:12 AM
Ditto Darklord....you don't need the extra oil !
Title: Re: no oil on finished base why?????
Post by: Cory Ander on October 12, 2006, 06:18 AM
....have now been simmering for another hour after blending and no real oil like some of your pictures has risen to top.....

Hi HotBot,

Sorry HB, when I replied to your post yesterday, I didn't realise you were cooking Darth's curry base.  Darth's base does not use much oil (about 100ml) so I wouldn't expect to see much float to the surface during the final preparation stage.

Many other bases, including mine, use far more oil.  I use 700ml of oil in about 7 litres of curry base.  I believe it is necessary (and also in the final preparation of curries) to reproduce "that BIR taste".  I believe it is necessary to help develop, absorb and distribute the flavours.  As Layne says, simply scoop off any excess oil prior to serving.

Of course, decent (and far less unhealthy) curries can also be produced using far less oil......
 :P
Title: Re: no oil on finished base why?????
Post by: CurryCanuck on October 12, 2006, 06:25 AM
Refresh my memory ,  but why in this cuisine  as opposed to all others on the face of the earth will increased oil improve anything ! Fries in one litre of oil or ten still taste the same .
Title: Re: no oil on finished base why?????
Post by: Cory Ander on October 12, 2006, 06:58 AM
Good question CC!......but I think that it may be more a case of using too little oil being detrimental to developing the (BIR) taste?.....

....plus......(most) BIRs use copious amounts of oil!  ;)

This is my opinion CC...not necessarily fact....each of us needs to make our own mind up of course :P
Title: Re: no oil on finished base why?????
Post by: DARTHPHALL on October 12, 2006, 08:31 AM
Have experimented this Oil question many times i have come to these conclusions.
I have to agree with CurryCanuk, you can make healthy Curries without Gallons of oil (i do), you just need to find out at what point does the Oil just become superfluous

1. You can make a dam fine curry without any Oil in the base Gravy. ;)

2. It is possible to make a very close interpretation of a Bir Curry if you only add extra Oil in the second stage of cooking the actual curry.

3. you can use the Lighter color Olive Oil to make good curries as it has a much less overpowering flavor, as with traditional dark Olive Oil's.
 
4. You don't need to be strong with the Darkside of the Force to cook great Curries but it helps.  8)

Close you're Eye's & open thy mind  ;D

One thing, i think many are missunderstanding, you don't need to copy the Bir methods (for many of us this is imposable anyhow) to attain great results, is it not true that our goal is to end up with Curries that taste the same as an average BIr, i have posted on several occasions the attributes of cooking the final stage in the Oven which gives many of us without high powered Gas Burners the chance to get dam close to the results from a Bir.

Title: Re: no oil on finished base why?????
Post by: Curry King on October 12, 2006, 11:37 AM
I've tried making currys with less oil including a low fat base and they have always turned out to be complete muck.   I've never had a takeaway that hasn't had lots of oil and without it your not going to replicate that BIR taste.  I think the same goes for salt, you need lots of it to the point where it seems an unhealthy amount.  For me rather than try to make the currys more healthy I just try to eat less of them now and as long as you have a balanced diet I can't see a problem.  If you don't like all the oil just drain it of prior to eating, personaly I like a little bit to soak into my rice  :P



Title: Re: no oil on finished base why?????
Post by: woodpecker21 on October 12, 2006, 09:24 PM
hi g/gls
this oil thing... well i have tried many ways of cooking the base and final dishes.... blending the with the oil in the base and the oil disappears but does it no no no ...it will reappear in your final dish thats where the oil appears again. if you read the threads for the recipes and methods in the demos shown to all pete, curryqueen, curryking mark j and admin there seems to be a very close connection  ::) approx 4 tbsp of veg oil or reclaimed spice oil from the curry sauce if you add a little water to the final dish just before you have added the spices it seems to work then when you have the end of the cooking process of the final curry remove any excess oil the add the coriander(leaf ) i'm not sure if you fill the wok for four peeps sauce you would get the same results as restaurants would only(imo)cook a maximum of 2 peeps dishes together (pans not big enough......and they have to be the same dish doh!)
hope this is some help

regards
gary