Hi dellydel, I have been away for some time so forgive me if I ask what you mean by the Ashoka Hype, have I missed something that through my absence was not cleared up? I am encouraged though that JeeryM includes The Ashoka karahi in his five regular dishes.

I am just back and have lots to catch up on but see that margarine is included in your developed base sauce JerryM. On my last visit to The Ashoka the chef said that we could substitute olive oil for the margarine if we were concerned about using marg as I am, though used it again yesterday as I cooked up the Ashoka base.

I also got more recipes and will post them if there is still interest from my source though not sure what the hype refers too. Cheers Panpot

Panpot,

well pleased to see u back posting.

i am sold on marg - many thanks to the Ashoka. u'll notice i've reduce the amount (after much trial and error) and now feel it gives exactly what u need from the marg without it overpowering the rest of the base.

i'd love to here more on the recipe front.

i've used the garlic ginger paste a lot. i still can't decide which i prefer - paste of just fine chopped garlic. the korahi bhuna is fantastic. i still use the bunjarra and again can't really decide between ashoka and the original. i end u alternating. i also use the marinated pre cooked chicken if i'm not making tikka.

Panpot,

it don't seem the same place without u're posts.

i too saw the rick stein (there is a post on it) - the biriyani bit was the best bit for me.

Hi Jerry,

Finally going to get round to making some more base this weekend and im going to give yours a whirl!

Just wondering though, when you say fennel is this fennel seeds? And also chilli I presume that is chilli powder not fresh chilli.

Cheers

Del

@ Jerry,

Well I made the base Sunday afternoon and I have got to say it was the best smelling & tasting base I have cooked to date.

I haven't cooked many on the site, the few I have are SnS 2008, SnS Saffron, Ashoka and KD's and in my opinion this gives the best flavour and tasted very similar to my local's base sauce.

I think the ground fennel seed does a lot for the taste, I assume this ingredient is the major player as the other bases I have tried haven't included it.

I do wonder though, does it need 200g or so of blended plum tomatoes in there too?  Have you tried adding tomato Jerry?  I will however reserve judgement until I use it in a final dish at some point this week!

I followed the recipe as listed however there were a couple of tweaks....

- I used 150ml of oil

- The initial 300ml of water didn't go anywhere near covering the veg in the pot, infact I couldn't even see the water in the bottom when I poured it in so I filled it until the veg was covered.  This took it to the 2.5L mark in the pot.

- I simmered initially for 1.5 hrs

- After blending the level was down to approx 1.9L so I topped it back up to 3L (adding 1.1L)

- After an hour level was back down to about 1.9L again, I topped it up to about 2.1L expecting to split into 7 300ml portions, however when dished out it split into 8 300ml portions (obviously the pot markers are not that accurate).

So, on to the pics;


1.) Initial boiling the ingredients


2.) After blending


3.) Completed and dished up


4.) close-up


5.) Comparison with sample of my locals restaurants base.  Although the taste is very close, I assume my local adds tomato, hence the darker/red colouring and slight difference in taste.

I can't wait to try this one in a final dish as I have a lot of hope.  I could quite easily eat it on its own, which in my opinion is a good sign.

So initially Jerry, thanks very much for this recipe and I will report back soon!

Cheers

Del