Curry Recipes Online
Curry Base Recipes => Curry Sauce, Curry Base , Curry Gravy Recipes, Secret Curry Base => Topic started by: peteleton on May 27, 2010, 06:24 PM
-
A recipe i was given by my local BIR after i was allowed to watch him make a few dishes .
When i have typed them up i will post them up as well .
Ingredients
10 large onions (saw the ones he used they was mahoosive)
700 ml of vegetable oil or sunflower oil
4 tablespoons ginger and garlic paste ( made his own. same amount of each mixed with a little water and oil)
1/2 dozen 5" carrots, chopped
3 green bell peppers, chopped
3 tablespoons curry powder
3 tablespoons turmeric
6 green chillies
2 tablespoons garam masala
handfull of fresh coriander stalks
5 celery sticks, chopped
1 tablespoon salt
3 fresh toms
Instructions
1. Chop onions, veg and put in a large pot.
2. Add oil, ginger and garlic paste.
3. Add enough water to almost cover the ingredients (about 3 litres) and simmer for 45 mins.
4. After 45 mins add spices and cook for a further 15 to 20 mins
5. Once the ingredients are cooked liquidise and simmer on a medium heat for a further 10 minutes.
-
HI pete
Have you had chance to make the base youself yet?
im due for a new batch myself so might give it ago when i get chance cheers for the post.
Jamie
-
Not had a chance to make it yet but will in the next few days as need to stock up on a few things.
-
Hi
Pete could you please say when the oil is used.
Regards
-
Sorry my bad. It is added with the veg and water stage i have edited the post to indicate that.
-
Will be making this base today, so will keep u posted on how it turns out and compare it with the few i have made from here.
-
Hi Pete
Great work! Any friend of a BIR Chef is a friend of ours :)
I'm looking forward to seeing the accompanying recipes. Which dishes did he tell you about?
I'm out of base at the moment but I'll make this the next one I try. I'm on a diet for a few more weeks (sad I know) so it will be a while.
Keep up the good work. Out of interest, which restaurant and where was it?
-
The base is on the hob now cooking away and some pics have been taken so will post them up. I try them diet things but only ever last a few days lol. I have been sworn not to tell but i can tell its in aylesbury just on the outskirts. i have korma, madras and bhuna. and part of a tikka masala recipe but need to ask him a few questions on that one as i think i wrote the recipe down wrong. i am also trying to get a dopiaza off him. and i also have a spice mix, pre cooked onion and pepper recipe and garlic and ginger paste to type up. Ill post them all as soon as i can.
-
Hi Pete,
Great work. The base does look quite large, don't think I have a pot big enough.
It's brilliant that you've also got their spice mix as I believe that when trying a base, you do need the spice mix that is meant to compliment it.
Looking forward to the recipe post's.
Cheers,
Ray :)
-
I'm looking forward to the Garlic Ginger paste. I'm guessing if you have to write it up then it wasn't just garlic and ginger blended with oil and water. This is one part of the puzzle I'm keen to perfect.
-
the garlic and ginger paste recipe i was given is just equal parts garlic and ginger mixed with a little water and oil thats it.
-
Pete, you have been busy. What size onions have you used and how many?
Looking forward to your Korma and Dopiaza.
-
The onions he used were very large but all i had was small ones so i doubled up on them so instead of the stated 10 i used 20 small ones. just letting it cool before i blend it then ill get the pics up i have and make a dish to see if it has been worth it all lol
-
well here are the pics i have so far it just about fit in the pot i had
(http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff263/peteleton/P1010100.jpg)
(http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff263/peteleton/P1010099.jpg)
(http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff263/peteleton/P1010098.jpg)
-
not to be negative in anyway on this - anyone who don't like celery might want to reduce the qty a little. i only say this as i've only made one base before with it and it really does overpower.
-
I'm really looking forward to your results Pete, well done. :)
-
Hey pete that's a new technique, you start with an almost finished base and cook it until it becomes raw veggies! Very impressive. ;D
-
well base finished. Have had a taste and can say its not 3 bad different taste to many bases but by no means the worst i have tasted and the celery doesn't over power it like i thought it would but other peoples opinions of it may be diff so will be interesting to here them.
Here is a pic of my efforts
(http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff263/peteleton/P1010101.jpg)
-
Looks good Pete.
Looking forward to your report on trying it with one of the recipes you got.
How good is the food coming out of your local?
-
Well they have 2 bases one for the takeaway and one for the restaurant. This is the takeaway one and its pretty good but the restaurant food is the best i have had its really good. So i have high hopes for this but i do believe allot of skill is involved in cooking don't forget allot of these Cooks have been doing it for years. But if the base doesn't come up to scratch ill take some in and see if they will cook a dish with it 4 me.
-
Two bases? Very interesting. I've spied this in countless videos now. I'm not sure the IG do two but I will endeavour to find out. I will say their take-out is not as good as the eat-in.
I guess the logic is to ensure restaurant custom, I can't see any other advantage.
-
peteleton,
this may be of interest http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=2332.0 (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=2332.0) - it's where i tried the celery. u're result is clearly v.good in terms of your base in that it shows it's all in balance which is crucial to the end result. believe me though if the celery is out of balance u know about it.
-
Two bases? Very interesting.
it would be good to get more info on this - my own thoughts are that when 2 bases are used they are very different - a std base for most "spice" based dishes and a mild version for the "ingredient" based dishes ie korma.
i can't see it being down to TA or restaurant quality - this is down to the cooking for me.
-
I agree with the celery i used the pre packet cut and washed stuff which is about 6 inches long each piece ( I should have stated that really) but the next person who comes along may stick in 5 huge sticks and it come out completely diff infact ill state in the recipe what i used .
-
when i was there i asked what the two different pots were and he said one base for takeaway and one for restaurant. Unless he is trying to put me off or distract me from knowing some secret i cant see it not being the case as i would say the food u eat in has a better taste than the takeaway food. but i have allot of questions for him on my next visit and ill take a sample of base in to see if he thinks i have done it correctly and see if i can find out any more secrets. but to be honest i think its all down to they just know what they are doing were as I'm still learning, the same way any chef would be able to cook dishes far better than i could at home.
-
Hi Pete, Jerry.
I must say that the "two bases" do raise a few questions.
Pete, I'm not sure that they are being completely honest with you. Why would they have a "substandard" base for their takeaway menu? I would hazard a guess at the bulk of their main trade would come through their TA section?
Surely it would be prudent for them to ensure that the food that they serve through their TA section, would be comparable to their restaurant menu?
Now, I do know that TA food, quite often, is not as good as the restaurant food but I put this down to the length of time it takes from the pan to the table.
I too have often seen two pots on the go, one usually being smaller than the other. I have asked about this and been told that one base is for the milder dishes such as Korma, CTM and so on, while the other is generally used for you Madras, bhuna, Vindaloos.
Also, in the Authentic Balti curry cookbook, there is a 2nd base recipe purely for the use in Korma's.
I would be well pissed off if I thought that my TA dish was purposely created with the intention of it not being of the standard of the same restaurant dish!
Ray :)
P.S,
Pete, I'm not doubting you by the way mate, I'm questioning the answer that the chappy gave you :)
-
Could it be that the restaurant dishes are cooked with much more procedure requiring a greater amount of ingredients to be added at cook off, there by requiring a less generalised base. Leaving the the takeaway dishes to be cooked with less procedure in a quicker time and requiring a more generalised base?
One thing that I found confusing when at the IG was when I asked about the Korma recipe. During the conversation I was told that sometimes they use single Cream and sometimes they use Condensed Milk. What is clear is that they stock alot of both which begs the question why? I had no choice but to conclude that it was the difference between eat-in and take-away.
For the same reasons Ray, I find it strange that they would do this. But it seems to sit with my experiences. I know foods like Naan and even Bhaji can be upset being confined to a take-away packet, but curry dishes in the main should be okay.
It will be very interesting to learn more.
-
Hi Axe,
For the same reasons Ray, I find it strange that they would do this. But it seems to sit with my experiences. I know foods like Naan and even Bhaji can be upset being confined to a take-away packet, but curry dishes in the main should be okay.
Certainly the starters do not travel well and as you say, curry should be fine, but it quite often isn't? The only thing I can think of is, It may continue cooking in the foil container, just a little too much?
The thing is, how complicated would it be to have two separate recipes for the same dish? Ok, the base would/could go along way in altering the flavour of the dish but even this would have to be completely different to have any noticeable taste difference.
For example, one base would have to be the usual, onion, carrot, peppers spices, maybe tomatoes. The 2nd base would have all them ingredients plus, a load of whole spices too (in theory) to have a noticeable difference!
Then when cooking the main dishes, the chef would have to be very competent to be able to create two different dishes of the same name, ensuring the TA version is intentionally not as good as the restaurant version. Unless the TA food is cooked by a different chef/cook who may not be of the standard of the restaurant chef? Even so, I just can't understand why they would do this. The TA is probably the first dish that a punter will taste. If this is of a very high standard, then it stands to reason that, the same punter will give the restaurant a go, and probably bring guest's along too.
Dya see where I'm coming from?
I don't think it is about profit margins either. Most restaurants charge higher when you sit in, than when you take out, obviously to cover their overheads. The portions are usually smaller in the restaurant too. So, why would they absorb their profit margins in the restaurant by using more expensive ingredients?
I dunno mate, it's an interesting one, and not something that I've come across before.
Ray :)
-
I agree with u it does seem a bit strange but i was so dazed after 3 years of asking questions he finally let me in the kitchen, i prob didn't ask the questions i should have and here what he was saying properly. But on my next visit i am going to ask him all the questions i should, and ill ask about both bases. After all it is a learning curve for all of us, if it wasn't we would have all the answers and be cooking curry like we all like lol. I do believe the chefs do hold stuff back but perhaps one day one of us will have the answers we all seek :)
-
Hi Pete,
I do believe the chefs do hold stuff back
I'm convinced a lot of them do mate, after all, if we knew how to cook what they're selling us, we wouldn't use them no more.
My local TA won't tell me sod all, but I use them alot (wife can't cook won't cook :-\) so they obviously want to keep my custom.
Ray :)
P.S,
Your profile picture is making me piss laffin, the dirty old sod lol, ;D ;D ;D
-
I don't have them much anymore as the wife don't like em so go when my family go there as we all enjoy it. I have tried in many TA to ask questions and i get no were and a few times gave up on even trying to make BIR curry but something always draws me back. and cheers found it on my photobucket so thought id stick it up lol
-
Ray, yes I understand exactly what your driving at, I find it equally confusing.
When I first spied two pots in one of the videos I simply thought it was a case of one being used and one being cooked. But Pete's comments certainly offer another possible reason, as does Jerry's.
-
My local TA won't tell me sod all, but I use them alot (wife can't cook won't cook :-\) so they obviously want to keep my custom.
Ray :)
P.S,
Your profile picture is making me piss laffin, the dirty old sod lol, ;D ;D ;D
Same here, you go asking too many questions in a BIR/TA round here and you can see them thinking "...is this bugger from the Council, the Revenue or the Immigration people..." and they just clam up.
Maybe it's me, perhaps I just look shifty??
Regards
CoR
-
well lunch time is here and thought what better way to start than with a curry so here are my efforts and i must say I'm surprised. pretty chuffed with the outcome taste is good as well so i will type the recipes up and let people try for them self's
bhuna
(http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff263/peteleton/P1010104.jpg)
dopiaza
(http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff263/peteleton/P1010103.jpg)
-
Are those pictures the right way round? The bhuna looks like it has more onion than the dopiaza...both look good mind!
-
They look very appetising indeed. :)
-
I would be extremely interested in seeing the Bhuna recipe as this is my favourite dish and I still haven't got it quite right yet, although almost there :)
-
I don't have them much anymore as the wife don't like em so go when my family go there as we all enjoy it. I have tried in many TA to ask questions and i get no were and a few times gave up on even trying to make BIR curry but something always draws me back. and cheers found it on my photobucket so thought id stick it up lol
Looks to me more like you're stickying it up :o durty burdy! :P
Be interested to know about the two bases too, it's been mentioned before on the site and some wondered if one could be a tomato base and the other non-tomato be good if we could get at least one definitive answer at least :)
-
Are those pictures the right way round? The bhuna looks like it has more onion than the dopiaza...both look good mind!
yeah the bhuna, i had a little bit of pre cooked onion and pepper left over so u shoved it in but still came out ok and atho they look the same size the bhuna dish is half the size or the other one
-
So would you say there has been any major breakthrough with this base? Does it produce a better curry than other bases you have tried?
-
Each base i have tried has produced diff results. this one has got me closer to the taste i am used to(hard to describe but id call it fruitier) i think ill practice some more with the base i have left which is a good 5 litres and make decision weather to stick to it or move on. i would say give it a go, be carefull of the celery i would edit the post but it wont let me and id say cut it down to 3 full sticks or 5 6 inch sticks like i did