Topic: Glasgow curry base sauce

[bigboaby1]

Hi i've been working in my local takeaway now for about 6 months helping to prep most of the sauces and marinades..It differs quite a lot from the curry's from England where they tend to go for ghrabi and mix powder which i've used for years ...Below is their base sauce which is packed with full of flavor..There is also a marinade for the chicken they use which is cooked with oil and spices..no water...I don't think there is any base sauce like this on the site that i have seen

What you are actually doing is making on big pot of curry sauce that you can eat on it's own without
adding any other ingredient mix powder etc..To eat Ghrabi on it's own for instance can taste bland after
adding all that water killing all the flavour hence the mix powder and other ingredients to try and get flavour back into it...With my base sauce this is not required

My motto is keep things simple..

alexwilkie12@yahoo.co.uk...

Don't be put of by the amount of onions...It wont work otherwise

A POT THAT WILL HOLD 7 killo of onions
2 LITRES OF WATER..DEPENDS ON SIZE OF POT
HALF CHEF CORIANDER SEEDS
HALF CHEF CUMIN SEEDS
HALF CHEF SPOON METHI LEAVES
1 CHEF spoon turmeric
HALF CHEF SPOON GARAM MASALA
1 TABLE SPOON RED CHILLI....ADDS COLOUR TO YOUR SAUCE
1/2 CHEF SPOON SALT
1/2 CHEF SUGAR
1/2 CHEF SPOON GARLIC GINGER PASTE
1 CHEF SPOON TOMATOE PUREE
BLOCK COCONUT CREAM
2 LITRE VEGY OIL

METHOD

STEP 1.. FINELY CHOP ONIONS AND FILL TO RIGHT ABOVE THE POT
STEP 2..ADD CORIANDER SEEDS AND CUMIN SEEDS
STEP 3...FILL HALF THE POT WITH WATER TURN ON GAS TO HIGH AND COOK ONIONS UNTIL THEY REDUCE
COULD TAKE ABOUT HOUR HALF OR LONGER
STEP 4...ONCE REDUCED ADD 2 LITRES VEGETABLE OIL ALONG WITH ALL THE OTHER INGREDIENTS
COOK ON A SIMMER FOR ABOUT HOUR AND HALF
STEP 5...BLEND AND THEN SIMMER FOR 1 HOUR UNTIL YOU HAVE A NICE THICK SAUCE

END RESULT SHOULD LOOK LIKE THICK LENTIL SOUP NOT THE RUNNY GHRABI

CARFULL NOT TO BURN...NEVER LEAVE THE SAUCE FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME



CURRY SAUCE
TSP GARLIC GINGER PASTE
TSP METHI
TSP TOMATOE PUREE
SOME CHILLI
SOME OF THE BASE SAUCE

NO NEED FOR MIX POWDER OR SALT...EVERYTHING YOU NEED IS IN THE BASE SAU

[bigboaby1]

Hi i've been working in my local takeaway now for about 6 months helping to prep most of the sauces and marinades..It differs quite a lot from the curry's from England where they tend to go for ghrabi and mix powder which i've used for years ...Below is their base sauce which is packed with full of flavor..There is also a marinade for the chicken they use which is cooked with oil and spices..no water...I don't think there is any base sauce like this on the site that i have seen

What you are actually doing is making on big pot of curry sauce that you can eat on it's own without
adding any other ingredient mix powder etc..To eat Ghrabi on it's own for instance can taste bland after
adding all that water killing all the flavour hence the mix powder and other ingredients to try and get flavour back into it...With my base sauce this is not required

My motto is keep things simple..

alexwilkie12@yahoo.co.uk...

Don't be put of by the amount of onions...It wont work otherwise

A POT THAT WILL HOLD 7 killo of onions
2 LITRES OF WATER..DEPENDS ON SIZE OF POT
HALF CHEF CORIANDER SEEDS
HALF CHEF CUMIN SEEDS
HALF CHEF SPOON METHI LEAVES
1 CHEF spoon turmeric
HALF CHEF SPOON GARAM MASALA
1 TABLE SPOON RED CHILLI....ADDS COLOUR TO YOUR SAUCE
1/2 CHEF SPOON SALT
1/2 CHEF SUGAR
1/2 CHEF SPOON GARLIC GINGER PASTE
1 CHEF SPOON TOMATOE PUREE
BLOCK COCONUT CREAM
2 LITRE VEGY OIL

METHOD

STEP 1.. FINELY CHOP ONIONS AND FILL TO RIGHT ABOVE THE POT
STEP 2..ADD CORIANDER SEEDS AND CUMIN SEEDS
STEP 3...FILL HALF THE POT WITH WATER TURN ON GAS TO HIGH AND COOK ONIONS UNTIL THEY REDUCE
COULD TAKE ABOUT HOUR HALF OR LONGER
STEP 4...ONCE REDUCED ADD 2 LITRES VEGETABLE OIL ALONG WITH ALL THE OTHER INGREDIENTS
COOK ON A SIMMER FOR ABOUT HOUR AND HALF
STEP 5...BLEND AND THEN SIMMER FOR 1 HOUR UNTIL YOU HAVE A NICE THICK SAUCE

END RESULT SHOULD LOOK LIKE THICK LENTIL SOUP NOT THE RUNNY GHRABI

CARFULL NOT TO BURN...NEVER LEAVE THE SAUCE FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME



CURRY SAUCE
TSP GARLIC GINGER PASTE
TSP METHI
TSP TOMATOE PUREE
SOME CHILLI
SOME OF THE BASE SAUCE

NO NEED FOR MIX POWDER OR SALT...EVERYTHING YOU NEED IS IN THE BASE SAU

[ELW]

Hi BoaB, yes great post. It still looks like a base gravy to me with lots of oil. I'm from Glasgow myself & recognise the sweeteners in that base. I asked a restaurant owner about this & he confirmed they use a fair bit of coconut & sugar. It doesn't taste overly sweet in the final dish though as some would imagine. He did tell me he uses the 3 base method,adding pastes to gravy, for masala,RJ.The dishes then don't taste similar as is with quite a few Glasgow t/a's & bir's. The mix powders in Glasgow are a good point to raise. There are none on here posted from a restaurant as far as i know.

Interesting to hear everything you can tell us from the t/a

Regards
ELW

[chef888]

thats a very intresting twist on a base sauce big , i,ll give it a bash affter i have finished my current base sauce i have in my freezer. ty for your posting ( ivan )

[Peripatetic Phil]

Looks very interesting, but there is something odd with the intial recipe :

1/2 CHEF SPOON SALT
1/2 CHEF SUGAR
1/2 CHEF SPOON GARLIC GINGER PASTE
1 CHEF SPOON TOMATO PUREE
HALF CHEF SPOON SALT

The salt is listed twice : is one of those a typo for something else ?

** Phil.

[jb]

A very interesting post indeed.This sounds very much like the kind of ready made curry/base that Stevejet66 has encountered,and also the one Haldi has tasted in a few places.I must admit,being a Southerner I've only ever come across the thin,watery garabi style gravy.The amount of onions doesn't suprise me,I always see shed loads of them when I've been in BIR kitchens.I take it this is the actual quantities used by the chef and not scaled doen in any way?

I'm pretty happy with my base/curries at the moment but this certainly does intrigue me.I've actually run out of base so I might just give this a go,it seems so different to any base I've done thus far.The only thing that concerns me is the thickness of the base.In my early curry attempts my base was way too thick and that affected by curries.If this curry sauce is already thick how can you get your dishes the right thickness? If it's simmered in a pan as usual then surely it will go too thick.Also,if you're doing a massla,adding coconut,almond powder this will make it even thicker??

I'm sure everyone would love to hear more recipes.The fact that you actually work in a takeaway is an achievement in itself.Just wondering how you came about working here and what you've actually been taught,sounds like a dream job to me!

[haldi]

A POT THAT WILL HOLD 7 kilo of onions

Hi Bigboaby
is this a full sized base or is it scaled down for us?

Sorry, if I've not understood this correctly, but how do you make a curry with this base?
I see the ingredients, but would like the method
Thanks

[bigboaby1]

Hi i've been working in my local takeaway now for about 6 months helping to prep most of the sauces and marinades..It differs quite a lot from the curry's from England where they tend to go for ghrabi and mix powder which i've used for years ...Below is their base sauce which is packed with full of flavor..There is also a marinade for the chicken they use which is cooked with oil and spices..no water...I don't think there is any base sauce like this on the site that i have seen

What you are actually doing is making on big pot of curry sauce that you can eat on it's own without
adding any other ingredient mix powder etc..To eat Ghrabi on it's own for instance can taste bland after
adding all that water killing all the flavour hence the mix powder and other ingredients to try and get flavour back into it...With my base sauce this is not required

My motto is keep things simple..

alexwilkie12@yahoo.co.uk...

Don't be put of by the amount of onions...It wont work otherwise

A POT THAT WILL HOLD 7 killo of onions
2 LITRES OF WATER..DEPENDS ON SIZE OF POT
HALF CHEF CORIANDER SEEDS
HALF CHEF CUMIN SEEDS
HALF CHEF SPOON METHI LEAVES
1 CHEF spoon turmeric
HALF CHEF SPOON GARAM MASALA
1 TABLE SPOON RED CHILLI....ADDS COLOUR TO YOUR SAUCE
1/2 CHEF SPOON SALT
1/2 CHEF SUGAR
1/2 CHEF SPOON GARLIC GINGER PASTE
1 CHEF SPOON TOMATOE PUREE
BLOCK COCONUT CREAM
2 LITRE VEGY OIL

METHOD

STEP 1.. FINELY CHOP ONIONS AND FILL TO RIGHT ABOVE THE POT
STEP 2..ADD CORIANDER SEEDS AND CUMIN SEEDS
STEP 3...FILL HALF THE POT WITH WATER TURN ON GAS TO HIGH AND COOK ONIONS UNTIL THEY REDUCE
COULD TAKE ABOUT HOUR HALF OR LONGER
STEP 4...ONCE REDUCED ADD 2 LITRES VEGETABLE OIL ALONG WITH ALL THE OTHER INGREDIENTS
COOK ON A SIMMER FOR ABOUT HOUR AND HALF
STEP 5...BLEND AND THEN SIMMER FOR 1 HOUR UNTIL YOU HAVE A NICE THICK SAUCE

END RESULT SHOULD LOOK LIKE THICK LENTIL SOUP NOT THE RUNNY GHRABI

CARFULL NOT TO BURN...NEVER LEAVE THE SAUCE FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME



CURRY SAUCE
TSP GARLIC GINGER PASTE
TSP METHI
TSP TOMATOE PUREE
SOME CHILLI
SOME OF THE BASE SAUCE

NO NEED FOR MIX POWDER OR SALT...EVERYTHING YOU NEED IS IN THE BASE SAU

[curryhell]

A very interesting post indeed.This sounds very much like the kind of ready made curry/base that Stevejet66 has encountered,and also the one Haldi has tasted in a few places.I must admit,being a Southerner I've only ever come across the thin,watery garabi style gravy.

Totally agree jb.  I believe emin-j has also commented on this "one pot" method.  I'll pass for now since that isn't the style used in our neck of the woods and stick to the "traditional" BIR method for now ;D  I'm more than happy with many of my results but still loads of experiments to do and lots to be learnt :
Keep posting the info Bigboaby1.  It's good find out how things differ from place to place, especially with insider information being available

[ELW]

Yes this has similarities with taz / ashoka, both i believe to be punjabi bir albeit a bit thinner.I'll give this a bash once i have space in my freezer, need to be scaled from7ltr which is possible. I've never came across a mix powder recipe that i'm overly familiar with tastewise in a final dish, which is probably why i like the onion paste. That said i've had curries in london etc, when cooked professionally just taste like good curries. I don't think i could separate them easily from Glasgow style. A few things reading between the lines here tell me there is something fairly new to be learned from bigboaby's posts.
Would like to hear Haldi's thoughts on this.