Curry Recipes Online
Supplementary Recipes (Curry Powders, Curry Paste, Restaurant Spice Mixes) => Supplementary Recipes Chat => Topic started by: JerryM on October 29, 2008, 08:33 AM
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Traditional Kashmiri Masala (Basaar) is an interesting one for me. it's certainly not a missing ingredient.
i've just bought a packet and have only tried it in one curry using 2tsp (200ml finished portion) in place of mix powder (spice mix).
i was surprised that i liked it. having tasted it out the packet i thought it was really going to be well over towards traditional spicing.
i'm thinking of:
1) using it instead of curry powder
2) adding it to my mix powder (spice mix)
would appreciate other's experiences
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Hi JerryM
I mix it 50:50 with BE spice mix and find it adds a bit of extra depth to my currys.
Rgds Mick
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Hello
If it's the King of Spice brand send for the recipe sheet, very interesting insight to Pakistani food.
Commis
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I think it's Ok, I use 4 tps per 450ml base, so about the same ratio as you JerryM. I slighty prefer Bruce Edward's, but having said that, basaar does give an interesting result.
One thing I have noticed that seems odd, the shelf-life of King of Spices Basaar does not seem very long for some reason, compared to normal ground spices. I've had a couple of bags up to now, and you only get a couple of months to use it up! The consistancy is strange too, it's almost slighty damp or oily, compared to a 'normal' free-flowing spice mix.
Taste is nice, pungent, slighty 'fizzy' almost.
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And just as I was slagging it of...
After all my bitching, in tonights curry I thought I'd give Basaar one last chance, with a good dose of 2 generous tsp into my madras, along with 1 tsp BE and 1 tsp chilli.
I'm ashamed to say that it was one of the best Madras I have ever made :-X
Seems you just need a really good dose of the stuff to feel its magic.
It really was an awesome curry!!!
Btw, I think the greasyness of the mix comes from the mustard oil, high on the ingredients list.
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I may give basaar another go Bobby!
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thanks all,
really good help. will try out suggestions on next base. i like the idea of them particularly as a extra "complimenting spice" to the mix powder (spice mix) rather than a direct replace. sounds a bit more promising given BB's result.
commis u must be a lawyer - i'd not noticed the SAE bit on the packet or the digbeth address.
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After all my bitching, in tonights curry I thought I'd give Basaar one last chance, with a good dose of 2 generous tsp into my madras, along with 1 tsp BE and 1 tsp chilli.
Interesting that you should say that Bobby. A long time ago I used Bassar in my vindaloo along with mix powder and it produced a definite old style vindaloo taste for me where the vindaloos used to be a different beast to the madrases and not just madras + extra chilli powder.
I tried it again some time later and the magic had gone, but I'd forgotten the exact quantities I'd used. Perhaps I'll try it again now in light of your comment and up the quantity.
It is a very definite vindaloo ingredient for me though and doesn't work in a madras, at least if your aim is old style curries anyhow.
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I tried it again some time later and the magic had gone, but I'd forgotten the exact quantities I'd used. Perhaps I'll try it again now in light of your comment and up the quantity.
I had the rest of that curry for lunch today and it is excellent. Well if I'm entirely honest about my addition of a fair quantity, this is what I did.
- Put a few tbsp veg oil in pan on hob and chose heat setting 4 (halogen hob)
- Mixed around 1 tsp garlic puree with around 2 tsp tomato puree and around 10 ml water in a ramekin and put that into the hot oil, along with a pinch of salt
- Once most of the water had evaporated off I added 1 rounded tsp BE, 1 rounded tsp Chilli powder and 1 rounded tsp Basaar.
- At this point, the volume of spices meant that the paste was thick. I added some more oil to loosen it up again.
- I then did the usual base sauce bit by bit thing, during which for some reason I decided to get the Basaar back out and tipped some out of the packet into the sauce and stirred it in.
- Stuck in my boiled chicken thigh fillets and wallah (great value - every bit as good as breast for curries IMHO - this was my first time using them but will never look back)
Genuinely up there with the best curries I have made.
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It is a very definite vindaloo ingredient for me though and doesn't work in a madras, at least if your aim is old style curries anyhow.
SS, there is no doubt that you have far more BIR chomping experience than me, so for me, I'm afraid a Madras is just a fairly hot curry with no veg ;D. But forgeting about classic Madras / Vindaloo flavours, the taste that Basaar added to my curry is delicious and really reminds me of the smell of walking past a BIR on the way home from the pub.
That said, a fairly hot Vindaloo has me suffering quite severely. A hot Madras kind of heat is where my passion lies!
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- Stuck in my boiled chicken thigh fillets and wallah (great value - every bit as good as breast for curries IMHO - this was my first time using them but will never look back)
Bobby, thighs are about as close as you can now get to real old style chicken taste , before we got these antibiotic and growth hormone injected Frankenstein monstrosites that we now call chicken. The taste of today's chicken is insipid at best compared to 'real' chicken.
Christ Bobby, you've given me something else to whine about! :-[
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Christ Bobby, you've given me something else to whine about! :-[
I know the answer to all your problems - the curries, the riches, the chicken...
Time machine ;D
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Did it again. Swear by it!
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Very interesting read.
I will try the bassar in a Vindaloo for myself.
Bobby - when you say it was excellent, was it just a "good curry by your standards" or something that you felt closed the 5% gap in any way. The "walk past the BIR" comment is encouraging.
-- Josh
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Having read this thread yesterday, I went out and bought another bag of King of Spices Kasmiri Basaar!
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Bobby - when you say it was excellent, was it just a "good curry by your standards" or something that you felt closed the 5% gap in any way.
I would say that it has put my recents curries closer to good BIR curries, although it's not 5 percent that I'm off by, compared to really good BIRs. It's nearer 50.
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Hello
The King of Spice recipe for yoghurt gravy is I'm led to think the 70's style simple curry which were served with chapatis in Birmingham. I've had this in Hong Kong from a Kasmiri curry vender and it's very nice. Think I'll nock up some and see what my mate thinks? May be this is the grandad!!
Commis
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Not if it has yoghurt in it buddy! :)
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Bobby.
Do you think it only works in your final madras, when its mixed with BE mix?
And would you use it in your base!
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Bobby.
Do you think it only works in your final madras, when its mixed with BE mix?
And would you use it in your base!
I've tried it on it's own and it's not sufficient, although I'm sure it would compliment other spice mixes. I suppose you could use it in a base, but I think it's a bit too hot for that really. I don't think it would go in every curry either. Who knows though, give it a shot.
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Secret Santa,
It is a very definite vindaloo ingredient for me though and doesn't work in a madras
many thanks - this adds an extra spin for me that i'd not thought of.
it suggests to me a derivative (accepting it's no longer a pucker dish) but i think i should use a "vindaloo" recipe aiming mild ie madras hot to get the best out of the basaar.
i'll give it a try on the next base
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I know the answer to all your problems...Time machine ;D
You may laugh, but I bet I'd have more bloody chance of inventing a time machine than of ever reproducing old style curries! ;D
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commis,
got a very impressive double side A4 sheet in the post from Unit 7 Cheapside Digbeth.
it is for traditional curries (which i've never liked i'm afraid - i guess too much cumin for me) but i must admit their recipes are very tempting (use of coriander stalks for example). the yoghurt curry has caught my fancy having never come across it before.
the other main thing for me is the amount of salt - 6 tsp for a 4 to 6 serving which is very high but consistent with my belief that salt has much to do with the BIR taste.
thanks for the prompt. i can scan the doc if there is demand.
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Hi
JerryM
See it pays to read the small print, I think my last post got misunderstud. Since this thread is about the spice. My coment was about Bassar not the yogurt. Birmingham and mainly the Balti Houses from what I've been told started of with this as there general one stop starting spice mix many moons ago. Then have adapted and changed over the years, always trying to be new to attract custom. A little to the 80's currys compared to todays.
Commis
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thanks commis
ps i'd not realised the connection of your earlier post with the yoghurt curry (gravy) until i got the recipe sheet.
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I got the recipe sheet today
I can't see anything that I want to try straight away, but the yoghurt curry is pretty intriguing
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i've finally got round to trying out the 2 main suggestions. i always use 50:50 mix powder to curry powder ie 1 tsp of each per 200ml finished portion. i stuck with the same mix powder (spice mix) and adjusted the amount of bassar as follows:
1) replace curry powder with the bassar
2) mix 50:50 curry powder with bassar.
i felt the best result was no 2 ie 50:50 mix (adds more to the depth of spice) but there was not a significant difference in the 2 off approaches.
i do think the bassar adds a nice touch. i would not use it in every curry but certainly would use it on the same night when making a few dishes just to add a bit of difference.
it remains a spice cupboard ingredient for me.
i think it does take u a bit of step back in time in terms of taste and maybe worth a try for Secret Santa.
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I agree Jerry, I tried replaced half my standard spice mix with basaar a while back, added a different, pungent almost slighty 'fizzy' note, good, but not really good enough to warrent using it that often, except as you suggest to add a bit of difference when making several dishes for guests.
I keep meaning to try it alone (with maybe some chilie) in a madras type dish but without the tomarto juice I normaly use. I'm wondering if it will prouce a flavour similar to one of my fav cheapo currys in London: the chicken karahi in the Lahore Kebab House down the Commercail Rd in the East End (down towards Brick lane but closer to the city). The Kashmiri Basaar I have smells very similar to this curry i.e. lots of turmeric and ground fenugreek seed.
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Adrian,
yep definitely got to keep the spice mix/mix powder unchanged. i'd certainly keep the tomato juice for the madras.
a pic of last nights madras sauce. i used: 2 tbsp oil, 1.5 tbsp Panpot's Garlic/ginger paste, 3 tbsp tom puree (normally 2 but current base has no tomato) in 3/4 cup of water (for the emulsification), 1 tsp LB spice mix (any of the good ones are just as good ie DD's), 1/2 tsp rajah curry powder, 1/2 tsp bassar, 1/4 tsp chilli powder, 1/4 tsp salt, 2 tbsp original onion paste. and of course my new found ingredient thanks to CK and Adrian - passata (4 tbsp). i'd run out of chopped fresh "frozen" coriander unfortunately.
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LOOKS GOOD JERRY
HOW MUCH BASE DID YOU USE PLEASE
AND WHICH ONE WAS IT
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billycat,
i always use 300ml to produce a 200ml finished portion. my ladle is 150 ml so i put 1/2 ladle in after the tom puree/spice mix and fry it off, then 1.5 ladles and simmer until it starts to crater or i can see oil (whichever happens 1st).
i've been using my take on real BIR base for the last few weeks trying to perfect it. i can post the recipe if it's of interest. i am sure any good base from the site would produce the same result ie saffron or rajver being the ones i use on regular basis.