Curry Recipes Online
Curry Base Recipes => Curry Base Chat => Topic started by: Mikka1 on December 18, 2009, 06:07 PM
-
Why?
Mine is Bruce's and the reason is that its simple so what did I do today? I changed it! :-\
To be honest I didn't have toms in tins. (Song there). So I added 3/4 more Green Pepper and 1 whole tin 12oz tom paste. Smells pretty good.
I liked Bruces because the Green pepper came through since the spicing was not harsh.
What is your favourite base and why? ;D
-
hi mikka
the curry base i now use was given to me by the guys at Mouchak, St michaels. it involves using spiced water, oil, turmeric and salt boiled with the onions, carrot and green pepper. boiling until soft allow to cool alittle then blend. stage 2 involves frying garlic and ginger puree until golden brown then adding blended tomatoes, chilli powder, mixed powder, coriander, cummin and garam masala and coconut milk for 3-4 mins then adding to the onion base and mixing well. bring to the boil adding some hot water to thin the base. boil for 10 mins then reduce to a simmer until the oil rises. remember that to get the oil to rise you must bring to a rolling boil before reducing to a simmer!
at some point i will post the quantities :D
regards
gary
-
My favourite base is CAs, it seems to be the only base I don't get any bitterness in my curries. Of course this could be down to my cooking improving as I still think I have a lot to learn.
cheers
Will
-
Gary - your BIR base sounds interesting.
Could u post the recipe?
-- Josh
-
My favourite base is CAs, it seems to be the only base I don't get any bitterness in my curries.
It's interesting that you should mention that. I found CA's base very sweet and I put that down to the fact that it doesn't use any tinned tomatoes. It makes me wonder just how many bitter bases, and I've had a few myself, are caused solely by the quantity and/or type of tinned tomatoes used?
-
hi josh will try to post the recipe soon mate
regards
gary
-
I put that down to the fact that it doesn't use any tinned tomatoes.
in non curry cooking i was told by a chef to always sieve tin toms whenever using to take out the seeds which are bitter.
ps forgot to add my fav's
i know that all good bases show up as very little difference in the final curry taste. so the why is probably down more to personal taste or preference. ease and speed are important to me and i tend to stick to 3 which i rotate everynow and then (saffron, rajver and mytake).
-
in non curry cooking i was told by a chef to always sieve tin toms whenever using to take out the seeds which are bitter.
I have also heard this. Fresh as well as tinned.
Does anyone deseed their tomatoes before adding to base? I wonder how pronounced the difference in the finished base is?
-
This largely depends on the type of toms you are using? Some have massive seeds, green bits/flesh. Italian toms always have a good reputation here and I can vouch for that too. They are juicy and have very little of that annoying acid that some brands carry.
I always use Italian tomatoes in the base or when making a pan sauce.
Actually I'm looking at this too now because I love toms and they are good for you too.
Good point Josh.
Does anyone deseed their tomatoes before adding to base? I wonder how pronounced the difference in the finished base is?
-
I put that down to the fact that it doesn't use any tinned tomatoes.
in non curry cooking i was told by a chef to always sieve tin toms whenever using to take out the seeds which are bitter.
ps forgot to add my fav's
i know that all good bases show up as very little difference in the final curry taste. so the why is probably down more to personal taste or preference. ease and speed are important to me and i tend to stick to 3 which i rotate everynow and then (saffron, rajver and mytake).
Interesting point that JerryM ;)
-
Some toms are really course in nature. Piths of course are what they came from but in all honesty I haven't had a problemo with Italian tomatoes.
Heck some sauce/bases call for greek 'High Tower'. Which I think are also blended from Italian tomatoes?
Piths however are a problem in sauces. But only in Indian sauces it seems?
Great point peeps. ;D
-
I know in pizza cooking, its common to remove the seeds before making pizza sauce from scratch, due to the bitterness they add, even for Italian tomato varieties.
On the other hand I can't imagine it being common BIR practice to seed tomatoes before use in a base. I may try it on my next base though, to see if there's any difference.
-
i know that all good bases show up as very little difference in the final curry taste. so the why is probably down more to personal taste or preference. ease and speed are important to me and i tend to stick to 3 which i rotate everynow and then (saffron, rajver and mytake).
i agree with you jerry, if you just remember what spicing you added to the base then any base of onion,tomato, veg i think will produce good results. Im still very much experimenting with bases, the one im using now i just made from what i had lying around needing to be used up.
I think presentation is important to so if the base is not reddish then i tend to add the tomato for colour at cooking stage, what ive gathered so far is if you use the correct spice combinations then its not so important to worry about what makes up the base, the base is after all just a carrier of your spices imparting little taste to the final meal. Im sure many would disagree with me here but i recon a decent base could be made from little more than onions and water.
-
I think its more to do with if you get one in your teeth in a meal perhaps? I cook some lovely Italian food and never bother to remove seeds. Actually I cannot remember eating one and having a reason to spit it out? Hmmm
-
My favourites are Bruce's SnS' and CA's. This is not only because they turn out good curries and are versatile but because the recipes are laid out in such a way as to leave no room for error. This is crucial.
That said, I've still not managed to make a base like the one I bought from a takeaway. It tasted very mild and more pleasant than any I've made. It was like a nice mellow oily soup. I need to try and buy more base from takeaways.
-
Im still very much experimenting with bases
jimmy2x
it depends what sort of a charater u are but for me too it's essential to do this (i need to know the why as well as the what). i've made over 15 different bases but overall 30 different variations mainly making 1 off change on the previous or even doing a side by side.
very best wishes
-
Admin's rick stein's base is best for me....probably because it's from a Bradford curry house...I'm in West Yorks so it's closest to what I'm used to....and it's bloody good!
-
Admin's rick stein's base is best for me....
Which one is that then? I know he did a recipe for a lamb curry from a curry house, but I never heard of him doing a base. Can you post it?
EDIT: Oh, I just saw that it's admins base? I'm a bit confused now?
-
The base is the lamb karahi recipe minus a couple of ingredients...recipes are posted here:-
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1846.msg16005#msg16005 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1846.msg16005#msg16005)
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1894.0 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1894.0)
Since the original recipe is from Rick Stein's show I call it the rick stein base. ;) I really do recommend that you try it, SS - by far the closest to older style BIR than any others I've tried, though I haven't tried them all :P
-
Since the original recipe is from Rick Stein's show I call it the rick stein base. ;) I really do recommend that you try it, SS
Ahh, yes, I remember it now. I did actually try this when it was first posted, but I had the same problem that a few others did in that it turned out very bitter. I moved on after that and forgot about it.
Time for round 2 I think!
P.S. if you have the recipe for the Bhuna that you make with it that would be splendiferous.
-
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3199.0 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3199.0)
-
So is this the base that most work from? Or perhaps those that can? It's a huge portion that's for certain.
Anyone tried to break this down?
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3199.0 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3199.0)
-
in non curry cooking i was told by a chef to always sieve tin toms whenever using to take out the seeds which are bitter.
thought i would put this to the test on a non curry recipe i know well (diane sauce).
putting the tin toms in as is ie without sieving made a fat lot of difference.
for me i don't doubt what the chef said. i can only put it down to "fine dining" taste buds.
it's a real hassle sieving them so for me a breath of fresh air going fwd.