I bought a portion of base sauce from my TA last night.

I was very surprised at the watery consistency, when i tried it i was like spiced water (it tasted nice though). So this is either the sauce they use or they are pulling my leg. (Hope its not the later)

I pressed for a bit of information on how to make madras.  This is where it got confusing.

He said they use lots of veg oil to fry onions with a bit of salt till they start to turn slightly brown around the edges, but the madras has no onions in. So it?s either he is talking about how make the base or use very finely diced onion so by the time the curry is ready the onions have gone.

So tonight i am creating two curry?s using this base and finely diced onions and one using the base i have already made.

Apologies for the giant image

Quote from: hamidge on July 29, 2015, 08:35 AM
I bought a portion of base sauce from my TA last night.

I was very surprised at the watery consistency, when i tried it i was like spiced water (it tasted nice though). So this is either the sauce they use or they are pulling my leg. (Hope its not the latter)

Your description of the base sounds spot-on to me; remember, the base is just that -- a base -- it is only when the spices, herbs and main ingredients are added that it becomes the curry we all know and love.

QuoteI pressed for a bit of information on how to make madras.  This is where it got confusing.

He said they use lots of veg oil to fry onions with a bit of salt till they start to turn slightly brown around the edges, but the madras has no onions in. So it?s either he is talking about how make the base or use very finely diced onion so by the time the curry is ready the onions have gone.

If (in your opinion) their Madras is a /good/ Madras, then his description may well be accurate; that is certainly how traditional Indian curries are made, and it would not surprise me to learn that the better establishments still use that technique, augmented by the use of base sauce and pre-cooked main ingredients to save time.  The onion, would of course, be finely chopped, so you should not be able to detect physical pieces of onion in the final curry.

** Phil.

Thanks for your comments phil.

The madras from my local TA is very nice one of the best ive had.

So yesterday i made 2 madras currys both following chewytikka madras recipe.

I added a chef spoon full of finely diced onion at the start for my TA base, this curry was lovely i have just given it the morning taste test and was even better. I gave the other curry to a friend and they said it was fantastic.

In comparison they didn?t taste any different, they both had a sweetness about them which i cant fathom out why. I used fresh lemon juice this may make a difference (lemon dressing is on route today).

The consistency of the curry was different the TA base made for a thicker texture with the onion which had totally broken down once cooked.

Overall i think the base i used is the business, and it?s my cooking technique that?s letting me down maybe.

I've managed to get hold of a few samples of base gravy from different places over the years.The person taking the order normally gives me a funny look but when I explain that I'm a keen amateur BIR cook they're usually quite interested and only too willing to listen and give me a sample of gravy.

Without exception,every sample I've been given has been really thin and watery.In my early cooking days I made the mistake of leaving my gravy too thin,I thought how can I make a decent curry with thin watery gravy??  However if you cook it for long enough it does indeed thicken on its own in the pan.Don't stir too much,just scrape the sides down now and again.

I reckon he was actually describing how he makes his madras,adding oil and onions.If you cook the curry long enough they will kind of melt away into the sauce.

I've just had a new take-away opened up nearby,the food is excellent and the added bonus is that it's a completely open kitchen.I watched the chef cook my order last night.He had a runny gravy,I'm going to ask him for sample next time.He must have thought it was quite amusing when he was cooking,I had my nose pressed against the window the whole time.He left all of the curries bubbling away for ages,not stirring,just as I do,I'm convinced that you have to cook your curries for ages to get the right flavour.

I couldn't resist,I went and got another takeaway last night.The bonus was the fact the Manager was present and very interested in my cooking skills..Next thing I'm in the kitchen peering over the chef's shoulder.The kitchen was bonkers,but he still made it look easy.The gravy was really thin,next time I'm going to get some.I mentioned about lessons and it got him thinking so watch this space.I got a madras and pathia.They were both very nice,although I wouldn't say they were any better than my own efforts so I guess I'm doing something right.

So jb you were like a kid with his nose pressed against a sweet shop  ;D

The high heat causes the thickening of the gravy because all of the ingredients bond together even the oil tries to, but fails so that why it gets pushed to the surface. This would happen at a low heat: but would take longer, end up tasting different and would be too slow for a commercial kitchen. This is what I assume anyways.