Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: davidandbess on January 27, 2007, 05:10 PM
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Hi guys, this is a very informative site with lots of detail for getting your preffered BIR
but I have been checking out various recipes and info and everything appears to be on the large scale i.e. base sauces even some of the actual recipes, since I will only be cooking for my wife and I, it is somewhat tricky trying to find suitable measures. Is there no way to include recipes and info for the home rather than the large kitche/restaurant.
Dare I say it even a seperate thread/forum
Thanking you in anticipation, David
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Hi D&B. If you look through this Forum (yes i know it is big ::)) you will find lots of similar posts to yours and very good replies that extend back to day one. There is no easy solution I am afraid because BIR recipes, especially bases, work better when made in bulk. However some of the stars here have put in a lot of effort to create recipes that work with smaller amounts. In most cases with BIR stuf you can not simply reduce the volumes by ratio.
This page may help you http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1255.0 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1255.0) we have tried to put together some reference material and conversions.
Don't be put off and good luck with your mission.
CP
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Thank you for your reply, you know I have sat here at this computer for the last 3 nights trying to digest all the info :o but there comes a time when you have to get off your a@# and experiment, wish me luck.
Regards d/b
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Hi, d&b. When you find out how much the base sauce smells up the house (and clothes and furniture), you'll be glad to make one big batch and get it over with. ;D
But you can freeze it in single-serving amounts. Then, any time you want a curry, just thaw a packet of sauce and toss it into the other ingredients, and you've got a curry in no time!
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Hi mate
I only cook for myself and my wife as well.
The base recipes are always fairly large but are generally designed for freezing so the idea is you make a batch of base and freeze it in smaller 1-2 portion sizes eg
The final dish recipes are almost always for 1 portion
cheers
Mark
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I used to make a batch of base and use it before it had chance to go of, cut back a bit now though so freeze it like others have suggested. When you make a base seperate into portions and freeze, as mentioned by merrybaker when you have all the premade "stuff" frozen or made up in the fridge it takes very little time and effort to whip up a curry!
cK
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OK will try out and freeze into portions, better make sure I get it right :P
Regards D/B
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Yeah D&B, just to add to what CK said, making a curry for yourself is a 10-minute job when you have all the stuff ready. Its no more bother to make things in large amounts, as the bulk of the work is in washing up and hanging around when it cooks.
I do 1kg of rice at a time. When I have a curry, I just defrost a bag and 'ping', job done!
A8
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The reason I don't make large volumes of base is that I don't see it as either necessary or desirable.
I don't see it as necessary because my experience is that pro-rata scale-downs work perfectly well. I know that some others disagree.
I don't see it as desirable because if you're not too keen on the recipe you try, or you make a mistake, then there's potentially an awful lot of base to use up or throw away. It could, effectively, block you from trying any further recipes for several weeks or months, until you use up all the existing sauce. If you use the base even quicker, it could be unhealthy.
It is however necessary, in my opinion, to start with original large scale BIR kitchen recipes and work from there. I'd sooner scale the recipe down myself than have the chef do it and publish his 'home version' in a book or anywhere else.
Regards
George
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I don't see it as desirable because if you're not too keen on the recipe you try, or you make a mistake, then there's potentially an awful lot of base to use up or throw away.
Thats the reason I avoid large base recipes also
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Show me a small batch of base sauce recipe without trying to downsize an original one
Regards D/B
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You could try mine, its always been ok for me. I was the same as yourself not really wanting to make a large amount of base, mainly in case it didn't turn out and the whole thing was ruined, oh yes and I didn't have a big enough pot. Still I have always managed to produce an eatable curry with it. Have a look at some of the photos Ive posted to give you an idea of the base and main curry.
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Show me a small batch of base sauce recipe without trying to downsize an original one
But it's easy! Just divide by a certain number. I took MarkJ's base sauce down from 30 onions to 2 onions, so I divided everything by (surprise, surprise) 15. Use a calculator as need be.
Regards
George
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Hi,
You cannot scale down. When will this get through. If you could scale down we would not produce in the quantities we do. What would be the point.
Andy
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but surely Andy there must be a way, especially in the base sauce area
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You cannot scale down. When will this get through. If you could scale down we would not produce in the quantities we do. What would be the point.
Of course you can scale down! I suggest the real question is whether a sample of, in my example, a 30 onion full scale prep of the MarkJ base tastes as good as my scaled-down 2 onion version. I haven't made or tasted the 30 onion version. All I can report is that the 2 onion version tastes so good to me, I'd be amazed if many other bases or quantities could get much better. Simple logic and 'scientific awareness' also leads me to believe the pro-rata reduction approach is sound.
Why would it make sense for you to scale down if you are running a busy BIR? That's why I believe most BIRs prepare base in large quantites, and I reckon it's just about the only reason.
Regards
George
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This would be my sentiments also, the more you make the less it cost and the more profit
Regards D/B
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I think things do cook differently if done in a larger quantity
I'm not sure what the "cut off" point is though
I am certain the sample takeaway bases, I have got, were better than what I make
I don't think they are doing anything different to us
For instance if you cooked a whole chicken in the oven for two hours, you would get a very different result to cooking just a chicken breast for the same time
You would have to adjust the cooking time for one thing
If you made a full size curry gravy , some places cook it for four hours
That must affect the oil,onions and spices in a very different way
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There are lot's of factors that could affect it not just scaling down, for instance a pot of gravy from the night before is added to the fresh new one, a BIR sauce may sit bubbling away on a low heat all afternoon etc... I can't belive that by halving a recipe you are some how losing "the taste", but then again until you make the full scale and smaller version side by side we will never know :-\
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I think things do cook differently if done in a larger quantity
Haldi
I agree with you for some things but not for base sauce!
>For instance if you cooked a whole chicken in the oven for
>two hours, you would get a very different result to
>cooking just a chicken breast for the same time
Yes, but that's because a chicken breast requires a much shorter cooking time than other parts of a chicken. When I scale down 30 onions to 2 onions it's a completely different situation.
>You would have to adjust the cooking time for one thing
Yes for chicken breast (10 mins) and whole 1.3Kg chicken (1.25 hours, typically) but not when cooking base sauce. Likewise, 20 chicken breasts in an oven would still take only 10 mins to cook.
>If you made a full size curry gravy , some places cook it for four hours
You can also cook a 2 onion base sauce for four hours. There's no difference.
>That must affect the oil,onions and spices in a very different way
Yes there will be a difference between cooking a 2 onion base sauce for (a) 30 mins and (b) 4 hours.
Another example - large scale industrial processes are used for cooking cakes that you buy in packets from shops.They normally taste less than good, whereas a home made cake with 2 eggs can taste much, much better, in my opinion.
Regards
George