Small batch base and curries

[SoberRat]

I made a batch of base sauce on Monday and decided on a different approach. Here is the recipe

First stage
1 medium onion chopped
2 TBS sunflower oil
1 TBS G/G paste
1 TBS tomato passata
1 tsp ground turmeric
handful of chopped coriander
half a small carrot
quarter of red pepper
0.5 tsp salt

Heat the oil in a pan on a medium flame then stir fry the G/G paste for 30 seconds. Add the onion, pepper, carrot and salt and saute for about 5 minutes until the onion softens. Add turmeric and mix well then add the tomato passata. Fry for about a minute or two then add boiling water to cover well and turn up the heat. Add the chopped coriander and boil for about an hour. The water level needs to be topped up. Once the onions are totally melted add another 0.5 tsp of turmeric and simmer for about 20 minutes. Give the mixture a quick blend then chop 3 large cloves of garlic. In a small frying pan fry the garlic in sunflower oil until its golden brown then add this to the base and put a little base back in the small frying pan to de-glaze  it. Pour this back into the base. Simmer this again for another 20-30 minutes then blend. Return to the flame on a low heat and wait for the oil bubbles to rise.

On this occasion I put the raw chicken in the base to cook, I did marinade the chicken in a little mix powder with lime juice for about 15 minutes before boiling it in the base.

This is the first time I have used only ground turmeric. In the past i have also used ground cumin  and coriander seed. The resulting flavour was really very neutral and produced the following curries.

Chicken Saag
 

Chicken Vindaloo


The curries both had really good flavour and were certainly different because of the base. I will post the curry recipes at some point too but they really are very simple recipes.

All the best

Rob   

[Stephen Lindsay]

good post Rob!

[Sverige]

Interesting Rob. I would never have thought you could make two portions of curry from just one medium onion. BIR chefs seem to use a massive pot of onions with just a small proportion of other veg, so I've always viewed base gravy as mainly onion based with just subtle other flavours coming from the peppers, coriander, etc.

Making a small portion of base will appeal to those who dread spending all day prepping, boiling and portioning out base for the freezer, so I'm sure you'll inspire a few others to try.

[SoberRat]

Interesting Rob. I would never have thought you could make two portions of curry from just one medium onion. BIR chefs seem to use a massive pot of onions with just a small proportion of other veg, so I've always viewed base gravy as mainly onion based with just subtle other flavours coming from the peppers, coriander, etc.

Making a small portion of base will appeal to those who dread spending all day prepping, boiling and portioning out base for the freezer, so I'm sure you'll inspire a few others to try.

good post Rob!

Thanks guys! My main reason for doing it this way is to enable me to experiment with various variations without losing too much if the idea doesn't work. I find using the smaller quantities doesn't reduce the time it takes to make the base by much but it does save time measuring out and cooling the portions for the freezer.

Best regards

Rob