Quote from: Cory Ander on September 26, 2009, 04:52 PM
I think you're right on both counts 976bar ("hallelujah!", he cried!  ).

I've tried exactly that (i.e. separately frying spices, etc, in oil).  I didn't have a great deal of success, but it's probably something I need to revisit.  There is a thread on it here:  https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3295.0

I also have found that adding too much oil to the base makes it...umm....oily.

I'm surprised that Jerry managed to reclaim that oil after only 1 hour of gentle simmering.

Finally we're hopefully on the same wavelength...

I'm thinking that possibly blending oil with maybe ghee or butter on a low to medium heat, will stop any burning and just fry those spices for a short while, then take off the heat and allow to cool.

I have to make some base early next week and will give this a go at the same time....

Today, I made a beef stroganoff. I used about 2 tbsp of oil plus 1 tbsp butter, where I cooked the onions until soft then added the garlic. After that I added 2 tsp of Paprika, which I cooked for around 2-3 minutes on a low heat. The smell was fantastic and the end result was probably the best stroganoff I've ever made, which I will post on here later with some pics.

But definitely frying those spices gently and for a few minutes certainly brings out the flavour more, than burning them on a high heat

Hope this helps......

Quote from: JerryM on September 27, 2009, 10:26 AM

Quote from: PaulP on September 26, 2009, 04:06 PM

Do you rate the reclaimed oil?

adding excess oil then removing it would weaken the spiciness of the remaining base.

all u need on reclaimed oil is here https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=2684.0. i'll update it on how long it keeps.

on weakening the spiciness - i feel no. i recently started to make a "low spice" version of the bases that i make. i was surprised that less was better. i'm now working on a norm around 2% spice c/w 3.5% previously.

Can you post the recipe for that please Jerry, I'd like to give it a go with a little less spice. I think you're right, less can be more

Quote from: Cory Ander on September 25, 2009, 02:34 PM
Interesting to note we've followed similar paths ADVB

I've noted you comments about using home made stock and will give it another try (I've never had much joy, in the past, but I can see how it can undoubtedly add depth, savouriness and flavour).  I'll try your recipe for the stock.

I normally make about 5 litres of base in 'one-go'  The stock from the remains of one whole roast chicken (not much meat left on it after a roast dinner!) goes in it.

I usually boil it up with enough water to cover the left-overs completely (at least 2 or 3 pints), for a couple of hours or so; during the last hour I add some star anise, peppercorns,  a couple of bay leaves,  one  or three cloves (that's cloves, NOT cloves of garlic ), cinamon; I don't bother adding the other traditional stock ingredients: onions etc, because they'll be plenty of that in the base anyway!

After is simmered for a couple of hours (3 max), I filter it through a culender , then a kitchen sieve (failing that, an old tea-towel would do).

I WOULD say tha at this stage you are likely to be put-off the whole thing by the somewhat discusting site of a  pile of nasty looking bones and slimy debris in whatever you've used to filter the stock: please don't be; it's worth sticking-with it for the results!

You should end-up with a couple of pints of watery-looking 'broth', perhaps with the odd dropplet of oil floating on top.

If it was allowed to cool at this stage a thin skin will form on the top, skim it off and chuck it - I don't normally allow it to cool before using it so this dosen't apply!

Use all of this stock, making it up to the required volume with water.

You may have to make a real conscious effort to do this as the sight of what's left of the chicken after it's removed from the stock really does seem a bit off-putting!

! REALLY recommmend anyone who hasn't tried this to give it a go: it's got be closer to BIR that most other things I've tried!

i had a go at the stock a while ago (link to pic https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=2614.msg23080#msg23080).

it was part of making currytesters base. the ghee was too strong for what i'm used to in terms of BIR taste. i also recall the stock not really taking me in the direction of BIR.

i took out the freezer the last few ice cubes of base from my local TA at the weekend to compare it with CA's base. i'd already compared it with the other bases i make regular (rajver, saffron, mytake CRO2). i've not been able to detect any real difference that could produce a step change in the taste of the final curries i make. i honestly think it must be at cooking stage in terms of ingredient or spice that accounts for that missing bit.

CA - are u able to describe what u feel is missing. i'll give it some thought overnight. i find it very difficult to put into words. i'll ask the boss.

pic is BIR base LH - CA's aka RH.

on the real BIR base comparison with the site bases - there are 3 key differences:

1) much lower spice
2) much higher onion content
3) less veg

this view comes from the taste difference. the real BIR is spiced but very much in the background. the texture appears very watery but there is a lot of quite coarse fragments of onion (suggesting my blender is better than theirs). the appearance is of a 2nd rate base ie cost focused c/w to what i'd call the sites bases as "delux". i've made onion only base before and been amazed how good it tastes. i'm also conscious of the KD1 base which i've made a lot (essentially onion only) this is too cheap in comparison to the real BIR.

what i'm getting at is i think the ingredients are known - there's nothing new or missing. we've just got to be more "cost focused" on how much of everything that we use that is relatively expensive. i count onion and water as the only exceptions.