Topic: Glasgow curry base sauce

[Kashmiri Bob]

Rob,

I made a half portion so used 1L of oil (!).  I nearly filled a 7L pressure cooker with the finished base and used about 200-250ml per curry (no need for 350ml as there is much less reducing.  With that in mind I think there is about 3-4 TBS per portion. 

Bear in mind that for BIR taste you need oil to cook the spices, be it in the base of the main dish.  If you compromise on anything, including the oil, you WILL compromise the final taste.

I'd rather eat half a 'proper' curry than eat a full one that hasn't had the spices cooked out !

Purely to experiment, if I was to do it with less oil, I'd try with 600ml for a half portion.  If it doesn't taste as good I could possibly recover this by adding oil at the cooking stage.

MAKE IT PROPERLY FIRST SO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO BENCHMARK ANY ALTERATIONS FROM THE ORIGINAL!!!!  IF YOU DON'T TRY THE ORIGINAL RECIPE YOU CAN'T REALLY COMMENT ON HOW GOOD OR BAD THIS BASE IS.

Hope that helps!

Martin

Hi Martin.  Yes, will try the base without changes.  My previous post was meant as constructive critique.  The pics of your dishes look really good.  At the mo I use a very thin base for my curry and after reduction (est. 30 %) 45-60 mls oil as you suggest would result in a bit of a slick.  Not a bad thing mind.

Rob 

[Martinwhynot]

Rob,

Sorry if I came across as a bit 'pushy' but from experience I see loads of users questioning recipes on here that they've never tried but have made up 100's of other bases (that don't work for them) and complain that the latest one isn't similar to other bases that didn't work for them - no logic!  Great that you will try it exactly.  To be honest my results were a bit oily but that's what Glasgow curries are like.  If someone reduced the oil then it would probably change the end result. We would then have another 'expert' who's posted 1,000,000 posts but is still here looking for their perfect curry, and thinks this one isn't that good.....despite not trying it correctly. 

If I have a point here it's that if you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got.

Sorry, I'm excited that I've found the base I was looking for, so I don't want anyone to tweak it without trying it.

Let us all know how it goes for you!

Martin

[ELW]

Top report martinwhynot, reading that, you obviously understand what your doin. I had an idea bigboaby's info would produce results like yours. He'll be back with some more recipe's to use with the base, which may build up new method & recipe set once tested. It's similar to the Taz base & method which Stephen Lindsay has stuck with.
 I find that some Glasgow curries don't seem overly oily ie pools of oil, but texture wise, the moisture is oil & less water.People I know from all over always comment on the flavour of a curry here. I don't think there's been anything like this posted previously, although I think Haldi may have picked this a while back

ELW

[Kashmiri Bob]

Rob,

Sorry if I came across as a bit 'pushy' but from experience I see loads of users questioning recipes on here that they've never tried but have made up 100's of other bases (that don't work for them) and complain that the latest one isn't similar to other bases that didn't work for them - no logic!  Great that you will try it exactly.  To be honest my results were a bit oily but that's what Glasgow curries are like.  If someone reduced the oil then it would probably change the end result. We would then have another 'expert' who's posted 1,000,000 posts but is still here looking for their perfect curry, and thinks this one isn't that good.....despite not trying it correctly. 

If I have a point here it's that if you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got.

Sorry, I'm excited that I've found the base I was looking for, so I don't want anyone to tweak it without trying it.

Let us all know how it goes for you!

Martin

Nice one!  I think one of the things that is so great about all of this is the diversity; be it regional, own preferences, skills, and so on.  And agree, you can't knock anything if you haven't even tried it.

Rob 

[Martinwhynot]

Hi ELW,

Yes, the content is a bit like the TAZ base, particularly with the use of cumin seeds.  I used that a while back, but it is much runnier than this and so requires loads of reducing.  Think TAZ base, but quicker!  ;D

Tonight I could simply add more base as I saw fit without worrying about diluting the mix, etc - so much easier!

I hope you try it and it works for you - can't wait for the other recipes to get posted as I'm having to wing it a bit using my current knowledge to make dishes up.  The fact that the family LOVED them can only be an indicator of how much influence this base plays in the final dish.  To be honest this method is hard to mess up!

 

Martin

[Secret Santa]

I am trying to work out the oil (fat) content of the finished base/dish.  I am thinking it's very high, and possibly off the chart.  Any ideas?

This is Scottish fare so of course it's an artery hardener. My only surprise is that the chicken pieces aren't deep fried in batter!  ;D

[Martinwhynot]

They were! 

[jb]

Well I tried this base today,actually it seemed to take all day,simmering,blending then simmering again.





I couldn't believe the amount of onions I went through!

I was really impressed with this,I couldn't stop stop having a quick taste every now and again once it was finished,it definitely had something addictive about it. The amount of oil was a bit frightening,but after I blended it the texture was very good.I was surprised that the oil didn't separate more,I guess the inclusion of the whole coconut block was a factor in this.Incidentally the finished sauce didn't taste of coconut at all.it just had a nice sweet,curry flavour.I'm going to keep this in the fridge for a day and then cook a couple of dishes.I have to say it's totally different to what I'm used to using,I feel like I need to thin it out but that's not the idea.Hopefully there will be a few new recipes posted to go with this base sauce. 

[ELW]

Hi jb, thats a 7kg onion batch as spec right?. What size of stock pot are you using?

ELW

[Martinwhynot]

 JB,

Nice! Reassuring as it looks like mine! I chopped the onions more so that may have sped up the process? Cooked the onions for an hour, added everything else then a hour, blended then another hour.

I used a mandolin (and swimming goggles to protect my eyes!) to chop them quickly!
It was strange to make a base with no pepper/carrot/cabbage etc.  you could practically have the base on its own, lol!