Curry Recipes Online
Curry Base Recipes => Curry Base Chat => Topic started by: dirtymull on December 16, 2008, 01:46 AM
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picked this up a few years ago on tinternet been using variations of it ever since .
have noticed on here that most sauces call for the spices to be added 5 mins or so before the end is there any benefit to this as i have always added mine at the beginning.
Base Curry Sauce
Ingredients
6 tablespoons sunflower oil
3 large onions
1 pepper green or red
2 carrots
couple of small potatoes
4-6 cluves of garlic minced
1 tbsp minced Ginger
1 tsp kashmiri chillie
1.5 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
pinch of fenugreek leaves
3 tsp tomato puree
Water - 2 pints ish
Method
On medium, heat the oil in a pan then add the chopped onions and spices and stir for a few minutes.
Add the ginger and garlic Stir for a couple of minutes.
add carrots pepper and potatoes and half the water bring to boil then cook on low for about 30-40 mins till soft
Remove from the heat.and let cool add tomato puree and water.
Blend to the consistency of tomato ketchup add more water till it looks right. Ensure it is completely smooth.
Bring to the boil and cook the blended mixture on a very low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. It will turn orangey brown.
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add another 5 onions and a carrot, and leave out potato, and it would be a lot nearer BIR standard. The potato is certainly not going to give a good flavor in a base, as it clashes with some spices.
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add another 5 onions and a carrot, and leave out potato, and it would be a lot nearer BIR standard. The potato is certainly not going to give a good flavor in a base, as it clashes with some spices.
Sorry but your statement regarding use of potato is rubbish. :-\
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Sorry but your statement regarding use of potato is rubbish. :-\
Your statement is rubbish (and no, I'm not sorry). ;D
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sorry but i always put 1 potato in my rajver base, it gives something to the texture and flavour. try adding a potato to your base but removing it before it falls to pieces ie cooked but not ready for mashing iukwim, then use it in a bombay aloo or vindaloo. taste great ;)
now every body be nice ;D
regards
gary
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1 potato in my rajver base, it gives something to the texture and flavour.
Texture, perhaps. Flavour, almost certainly not. :P
try adding a potato to your base but removing it before it falls to pieces ie cooked but not ready for mashing iukwim, then use it in a bombay aloo or vindaloo. taste great
Perfectly good suggestion and something I do myself! ;)
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Perfectly good suggestion and something I do myself! ;)
Yes SS, the main benefit being that rich yet delicate, subtle, deep savoriness and missing BIR taste and smell, that one can only achieve through the addition of potato, if only for a short while! ;D 8) ::)
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was more iterested on the adding of the spices at begining instead of the end.
did"nt want to start a war
but i was told a while ago though that potatoe would spoil the taste have tried making it without couldnt really notice much differance but think its more a texture thing than a flavour thing
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I know of BIRs that add potatoes to their curry base. They sometimes do it to save costs by replacing relatively expensive onions with relatively inexpensive potatoes. Some BIRs I know frown upon it.
Potatoes primarily add bulk (at a lower cost than onions) and change the texture/consistency of the base (presumably via their starch content). I suppose they could add flavour too.
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Yes SS, the main benefit being that rich yet delicate, subtle, deep savoriness and missing BIR taste and smell, that one can only achieve through the addition of potato, if only for a short while! ;D 8) ::)
Bobby, I know you're probably only joking, but all Graham and SS are saying is that the potatoes taste great in other dishes if they are first boiled in the base (thereby absorbing all the flavours of the base). I'm certain SS isn't claiming anything else :P
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have noticed on here that most sauces call for the spices to be added 5 mins or so before the end is there any benefit to this as i have always added mine at the beginning
Hi DM,
I think the advantage (if there is one) is probably that the spices retain more of their flavour if they are added towards the end of cooking (and therefore haven't had the crap..and flavour...boiled out of them). On the other hand, boiling them for longer makes the flavours more diffuse and subtle, which is no bad thing.
As far as your base recipe is concerned, there seems to me to be to be too few onions (I'd up them to 2 - 3kg) for the quantity of other ingredients there. And maybe too little oil (I'd increase it to 500ml or so if you also up the onions).
Personally, I wouldn't fry any ingredients first (but others would disgree). I'd just chuck them all in a pot, add the water, boil them for an hour or two, then blend them until smooth.
How do you find it anyway?
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In my opinion, A good bir madras does not include any potatoe flavor. If you add potatoe to the base then how can you arrive at a true bir madras. Answer: you can't. At least this is what a bir chef taught me during some lessons. His curries are superb, yours i have not tried, so i am inclined to believe him more than you. When i stopped adding potatoe to my base everything else improved. sorry if this pisses anyone off, but thats what my taste buds reported back. Its also what a very good bir chef taught me. try it, you wont be disapointed. if you are, then go back to your old potatoe habits.
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Sorry but your statement regarding use of potato is rubbish. :-\
Your statement is rubbish (and no, I'm not sorry). ;D
Yes, we all know you're never sorry SS - and we all know you're against potatoes being used in the base ...
... however they certainly do not clash with some spices as suggested (which was my point) ... unless of course you know different ... in which case why do so many restaurants and TA's still use them?
I've been told (from reliable 'chef' sources), that potatoes were very often used in the 70's/80's bases (together with chicken stock), which may or may not help in producing that distinctive taste that some here would love to reproduce (including you SS)......
SnS ;) :)
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In my opinion, A good bir madras does not include any potatoe flavor. If you add potatoe to the base then how can you arrive at a true bir madras. Answer: you can't. At least this is what a bir chef taught me during some lessons. His curries are superb, yours i have not tried, so i am inclined to believe him more than you. When i stopped adding potatoe to my base everything else improved. sorry if this pisses anyone off, but thats what my taste buds reported back. Its also what a very good bir chef taught me. try it, you wont be disapointed. if you are, then go back to your old potatoe habits.
Derek
2 or 3 small salad potatoes included in a base of some 3 litres (or more) is not going to make the base, Madras curry or any other curry taste of potatoes is it? ::)
SnS :P
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I am only trying to make suggestions on improving this base on what i was kindly shown by a bir chef. As with most things on this site, i am sure there is no true right or wrong approach. I used potatoe in my base for 6 months. now i don't. In my vindaloo a like the potato flavor, so i add 3 small pre boiled potatoes to the dish just before the base goes in. Hope this helps. I like the flexibility of this approach. And lets face it, a good base should be as flexible as possible. Ok thats enough of my ranting for one afternoon :)
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I am only trying to make suggestions on improving this base on what i was kindly shown by a bir chef.
Derek
I'm sure you are and it's always nice to share any information we can get from BIR chefs.
I suppose the real point I'm making is that the base ingredients will vary between chefs and we cannot rule out the use of potatoes based on one or two chefs' opinions.
The Saffron base which contains potato, was also demonstrated to me by a BIR chef, so it can't be wrong. I know of at least 5 other BIR chefs that have in the past, or still do, add spuds to the base - so we cannot dismiss it as an ingredient - nor should we dismiss the possible use of any other vegetable (even the Mooli radish).
SnS ;)
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to ca
cant get the hang of the quote feature????
but i have always found it quite decent i have tried a few others bruce edwards,khris dillon few ebay kits etc not really much difference in taste but texture is certainly differant (i do like them pretty thick). anything i have tried though is certainly missing something for me the best taste i can manage is like a happy hour bir curry in a cheap restaraunt at best (5 courses ?5.99)
i am now out of frozen sauces so hoping to try a few off the site any recommendations on something that can stop my having to go to the star of asia twice a week lol
as this guys south Indian garlic chillie lamb tikka is the finest i have tasted
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this guys south Indian garlic chillie lamb tikka is the finest i have tasted
and that's why you should continue to go. There's nothing like a great BIR curry to keep your curry chef skill level self rating realistic and for the most part modest! I think I'm the man, then one great BIR later, it's melancholy!
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Where is that BIR dirtymull?
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Where is that BIR dirtymull?
ocean rd south tyneside mate too much competition 2 sides of street nothing but curry houses for a mile
have seen as low as ?4.95 rice,starter,side,nan,pickles,popadomms,lager,ice cream
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SnS, i totally agree. bir chefs all have there own unique recipies for making a base. Thats what makes this site quite tough, because we often get fragments of info from different bir chefs. Luckily with the ashoka we have nearly got the whole set of recipies. If panpot is lucky enough to get the madras recipe we will be sorted !
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I'm not sure about potatoes costing less than onions, but can see why they could add bulk (potato also used as a thickener in other types of cooking, e.g. soups). I'm wondering about what the minimum ingredients would be for a decent base, with the flavours being added to individual curries at the cooking / assembling stage. I like the idea of maybe experimenting with a base that has only onions, garlic, ginger and water.
What do you think?
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I'm wondering about what the minimum ingredients would be for a decent base, with the flavours being added to individual curries at the cooking / assembling stage. I like the idea of maybe experimenting with a base that has only onions, garlic, ginger and water.
What do you think?
I've often thought about doing that as well but have never got round to it, it would certainly allow for a wider range of final dishes, if you do try it let us know how it goes.
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I'm not sure about potatoes costing less than onions, but can see why they could add bulk (potato also used as a thickener in other types of cooking, e.g. soups). I'm wondering about what the minimum ingredients would be for a decent base, with the flavours being added to individual curries at the cooking / assembling stage. I like the idea of maybe experimenting with a base that has only onions, garlic, ginger and water.
What do you think?
I think you'd want spices in there. A strong spice flavour is difficult to obtain (i find) and it seems to me that is why spices are used at every stage (base, precooked meat, onion paste, finished dish). I see the fact that spices, onions, garlic, ginger and tomatoes are cooked in mulitiple different ways as being important to the depth of flavour.
The ashoka banjura was important in realizing this, as well as using both tomato puree, fresh tomatoes and ketchup in one dish.