Topic: Just for info

[emin-j]

Hi all,
Just a couple of things you might find interesting.
My closest t/a use the ' all in the base ' technique of making their curry's as in no additional mix powder,g/g,tomato puree or salt is added when making the final curry,their curry's are a bit bland for my liking so I ask for extra mix powder when I order a t/a   : the chef knows me now and brings out a sample on a spoon for me to try before putting into the t/a container 
Although a little bland their 'all in the base' curry's still have the usual BIR smell and flavour even without the extra mix powder so does this go to prove the flavour must come from the base 

Also plenty of large buckets 10L ? of veg ghee ( taj mahal red and yellow containers ) about the place.
Noticed 25 L containers of Rapeseed oil .

cheers.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Although a little bland their 'all in the base' curry's still have the usual BIR smell and flavour even without the extra mix powder so does this go to prove the flavour must come from the base 

No !  It proves that the flavour comes from the base if the base already has in it all of the spices that more traditional BIR technique would have added later in the process : nothing more, nothing less.

** Phil.

[curryhell]

Agreed Phil.  The flavours in the base because of the preparation that was done when it was put together.  Who knows what singeing was done on a possible tarka that was added to finish the base.  Need to get some more info emin-j from the chef and see if we can unravel the mystery of the "all in base". My only concern with this would be that a lot of the curries using similar ingredients, excluding korma CTM and the like, are all going to be  a bit "samey" IMHO.

[emin-j]

Just finished my t/a  as usual chef came out with the frying pan in one hand and tea spoon in the other for me to have a taste - was spicy enough (already asked for extra mix powder) but was not quite right, what was missing was......... salt.
They were too busy to ask questions but I will get the answers 

[curryhell]

They were too busy to ask questions but I will get the answers 

In true CR0 style  ;D We will not give up until we have the answers
 

[Peripatetic Phil]

In true CR0 style  ;D We will not give up until we have the answers 

Or, for those of a certain age :

    Number Six: Where am I ?
    Number Two: In the Village.
    Number Six: What do you want ?
    Number Two: Information.
    Number Six: Whose side are you on ?
    Number Two: That would be telling. We want information

[ELW]

Hi emin-j, interesting post again. The amount of oil that ends up in a final dish through base /paste/cooking/marinade etc becomes, IMO an ingredient in itself. The oil supplied & used for mass production / trade will unlikely be the same product for retail as is the 20kg curry powders. A bit like paint for example. The likelyhood of home cooks using trade oil I would imagine would be virtually zero.
It's probably a missing ingredient in recreating the bir taste at home but not entirely essential i have found.

of note: Some people i know in Glasgow have a small restaurant serving Scottish produce, small menu, very little spice. Before opening, the aroma from their kitchen is similar to a bir, without the spice. a  bit of garlic aside  & the smell is oil

@curryhell~ I think the base provides far more flavour than I previuously thought. Many dishes here are sweet(ish), not korma sweet. Im sure it come from the base. An owner told me fairly recently he uses coconut in his base & 3 other bases he uses(i think he meant pastes) Stick the usual madras ingredients on top of a sweetish base & the results are outstanding

Regards
ELW

[emin-j]

A couple of other points, they don't use any oil to start their curry's they use a chef spoon of base and fry this down quite a bit before adding the meat and more gravy.
The oil they use is Pride make.