the real bir base i sampled tasted slightly of chicken. i am going to have a go at replicating the taste in the base. what do you guys think will work best.

1) buying the expenisve tescos plastic packs of quality liquid chicken stock

2) putting a few chicken legs and bones into the base while preparing

3) home made or commercial chicken soup

4) chicken stock (i doubt it)
have a good weekend guys and gals 

I have found that when I make a Chinese takeaway style curry using the goldfish brand paste and use a knorr chicken stock cube disolved in water, when added it does improve the taste, maybe the same thing could add something to an Indian curry.   

hi guys
this avenue has already been explored, check out pete's and haldi's early posts. he added the jelly from the top of the chicken stock that forms on cooling.
regards
gary

Quote from: Derek Dansak on October 03, 2008, 12:53 PM
the real bir base i sampled tasted slightly of chicken. i am going to have a go at replicating the taste in the base. what do you guys think will work best.

2 or 4. By stock you mean home made stock right?

I agree with BB - 2 or 4 for sure. No commercial stock or cube can match the real thing for quality of flavour.

Instead of using water to make up the liquid of my base I use home made chicken stock.

I boil up the carcass of a roast chicken, after most of the meat has come off it in a few pints of water, if I have it I add some uncooked chicken on the bone, plus a couple of whole star anise, some cinnamon bark (or quills, whatever), some peppercorns some cloves and 2 or 3 bay leaves.  After 2 or 3 hours I strain off the rubbish and use the fluid for the base, making up the volume with water as required.  I use about 1.8 to 2 kg of veg, so that should give an idea of how far the stock can 'stretch'.

I am now VERY sure this makes a huge difference to the finished dishes, the chicken is not concentrated enough to be noticable, but rather it contributes a subliminal 'roundness' to the result.

I had a demo in what was the Gatwick Tandoori (now: Zari) years ago, and one of the guys that ran the place as good as told me they use home made chicken stock in their base.

I tried it without and it's no where near as good!

Thanks adrian, that sounds spot on. hopefully it will bring my base a little closer to the real bir base. I will let you guys know how i get on