Does anyone use a pressure cooker to produce the likes of base gravy or onion sauce for dopiazas etc etc in ten minutes as opposed to an hour or two?

Would this alter the balance of flavours too much? I see that in the Curry2go videos he has a couple of pans around the kitchen that look suspiciously like pressure cooker bases 

Like many, I guess, the base gravy preparation is the drudge part of the process and if I could get it out of the way quickly, or - of course - easily whip up a smaller quantity of base gravy "on demand" rather than end up with buckets of it in the freezer.

Chewtikka

he uses a pressure cooker - and has some threads i believe and a vid contact him - pm him
he seems a decent guy and will respond

I spied  a pressure cooker the other day and now its gone im looking again - will get one but for lamb/goat only
there aint much call for one out here its all stirs fries and soups

best, Rich

Hi BeachBum,

If you can get along to the Sunday courses in April, you will learn how to make the bases in a short period of time.

For example, a two onion base which will make enough gravy for approx 6-8 portions can be made in approx 30 mins. It uses very little water and is more of a paste rather then a gravy. It can then be put into the zip lock type bags and frozen. Water is added when cooking the dishes rather then when making the 'gravy', although it is still referred to as say butter gravy or vindaloo gravy. Onions are fried rather then boiled.

Uses very little space in the freezer, and unfreezes very quickly and in my opinion better then the gravies with lots of water in them having done it both ways.

Cheers,
Mark

Thanks Mark, I expect the fried version is richer tasting than the simmered one. I work weekends but often get the Sunday off, I'll check my work roster. Any chance of PMing me the guy's details so I can book?

Cheers BB

Quote from: beachbum on March 17, 2012, 03:02 AM
Does anyone use a pressure cooker to produce the likes of base gravy or onion sauce for dopiazas etc etc in ten minutes as opposed to an hour or two?

Would this alter the balance of flavours too much? I see that in the Curry2go videos he has a couple of pans around the kitchen that look suspiciously like pressure cooker bases 

Like many, I guess, the base gravy preparation is the drudge part of the process and if I could get it out of the way quickly, or - of course - easily whip up a smaller quantity of base gravy "on demand" rather than end up with buckets of it in the freezer.

Hi beachbum

Chewytikkas pressure cooker base sauce link is here

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=5375.0

Regards

W

Thanks, Whandsy, I'll give this a go in the next few days - as well as doing the Brisbane kitchen course in April, sounds like I'll need to do a cook off and post results  ;D

I've made a batch of base gravy to keep me going till I do the hands-on course in Brisbane next month. I used the pressure cooker, following curry2go's YouTube recipe to the letter. (edit: his and Chewy's recipe are very similar indeed apart from the tomato paste, I decided to go curry2gos's as I am using some of his other sauces and masalas as well so having the same or virtually identical gravy is a good "control" ). I used Clive of India curry powder for the curry addition. I'm not sure if that's an international brand but it's a fairly standard formula and is actually made in India.


Placed ingredients in cooker (oops forgot the coriander before I took the photo) 



Pressure cooked for 25 minutes



Added tomatoes and whizzed it up with a stick blender, then added spice mix as per his video and added more water, then cooked for about 45 mins. Silly me, I had ended up with too much liquid to safely pressure cook. 



It looks and tastes the picture. Those little white flecks in it are actually chewy little granules. I'm thinking they could be what's left of the coriander stalks - might run the whole thing through my big wire mesh strainer. Apart from that it seems to be a classic. Cookin' tonight 

Looking good there beachbum. That's exactly the colour I like my bases to look - and the pressure cooker method is brilliant. Whack everything in, get it up to pressure and wait for 'that' smell to be released from the onions (usually 30-40 minutes).

Anyone who hasn't got one yet I'd recommend going for a 7-litre model. I spotted a Tower 7-litre PC on Amazon or Argos the other day for around