Haldi's Curry Base (from a local restaurant)

[George]

author=haldi link=topic=2243.msg19068#msg19068 date=1199305033]
I have made some brilliant curries but they still lack that extra (dare I say it?)....taste
At least now I know where my problem lies
It's the curry base
If I buy a base from a takeaway, then I can make a perfect curry (with the taste and aroma) on my big cooker or my domestic cooker

Haldi

I've always had a hunch that any special taste would be in the 'stage 2' recipe, like when a base is turned into a Madras or Dhansak. But from your test results, using pre-prepared BIR base, it sounds like I was wrong. Were you able to compare the aroma of your DIY base with the BIR base? On the other hand, the only time I ever bought a sample of base, they added something out the back just after putting it in the foil container. I think it was fenugreek but there could have been other things. So, in an instant, they sort of contaminated the base by turning it into a pseudo stage 2 dish. Did you see your base spooned out of the pot and into your container, with nothing added?


Regards
George

[ast]

It's been said many times that these bases do not "scale"
I have never totally accepted that
Perhaps I will have to!?
When I have time and a new pot, I will try a full sized version

I personally find it hard to believe that scaling any recipe isn't possible.  What I think happens most of the time is that, depending on the proportion you're trying to apply, your margin for error becomes quite low compared to the original.  Thus, even being off by one or two grams of a particular ingredient (or sometimes less, depending on the amount required) can affect the taste. 

When you're talking about taking a 5L yield (or 10L if you add the water at the end) down to something in the 1-2L (or less) range, that's a pretty big difference given the original quantities of the ingredients.  You'll have to treat it more like chemistry instead of cooking to come anywhere close to the original, I'd expect.