Topic: No Oil

[Snook123]

Hi has anyone done a base with no oil in it? was thinking of trying it just to see the difference. Reason is I love curry but my growing tummy and doctor hate it! lol

[Peripatetic Phil]

Hi has anyone done a base with no oil in it? was thinking of trying it just to see the difference. Reason is I love curry but my growing tummy and doctor hate it! lol

# No oil, no oil, no oil, no oil
Lacking all flavour and boring as hell #.

Sorry !

[PaulP]

It saddens me that people are so afraid of oil/fat these days.

You have to remember you will die if you don't eat any oil/fat in your diet as the body requires essential fatty acids. You will die if you don't eat protein but you can survive a diet of zero carbohydrates.

I don't think a zero fat base sauce would work very well as the spice oils won't mix with the water like they do with hot oil.

Maybe try to cut down on sweet starchy food so you can enjoy your curries?

Paul

[RubyDoo]

Maybe try to cut down on sweet starchy food so you can enjoy your curries?

Paulg

Just what we do. Eat sensibly during the week. Watch out for the crap fat ( cakes, pies etc ). Drink whatever alcohol I like and have a curry fest every Saturday. Lost one and half stone doing this. 

[Salvador Dhali]

I can only concur with what has been said above.

Oil is the lubricating life-force and preferred vehicle of choice for carrying all those delectable spice flavours in a curry. While I'm not placing any of us in the same arena of mastery, cutting it out would be tantamount to Vincent Van Gogh using powdered paint to produce 'Starry Night'.

As for weight, well, that's an entirely personal thing, and as you mention your doc then it may be that there are medical reasons for you needing to cut oil out of your diet.

But if you don't need to cut it out completely, then you can compromise a little by skimming as much oil as possible from the base after cooking (and the finished dish). Count those tablespoons of oil in, then skim and count them out again. It really is amazing how much you can reclaim. (And then of course you can save all that lovely spiced oil to use the next time you cook a curry.)

[Malc.]

There are many ways to enjoy Indian cuisine without overdosing on oil to cook it. But you do need oil to cook the spices and extract the natural oils that are contained within them. I mostly cook tandoori and dal dishes where you can get maximum flavour with minimal oil. Also take a look at more authentic dishes within Indian cuisine as these too can help to cut back on the amount of oil you consume. But if your after that quintessential BIR curry, i'm afraid you'll have to accept that oil will be in abundance. For that matter, just restrict the amount you consume and offset it, as others have said, with a healthier balance of diet.

[Snook123]

Hi thanks, so its salad and fruit all week and a curry feast at weekends!!! Think I could manage that. How would you store the skimmed reclaimed oil. Just in a jar with a lid in the fridge? Also would you be able to mix the reclaimed oil from 2,3,4 curry's together if they were different meat dishes?

[Peripatetic Phil]

How would you store the skimmed reclaimed oil. Just in a jar with a lid in the fridge?

Mine just lurks on the working surface (room temperature) in a jar with no lid.  Never goes off.

Also would you be able to mix the reclaimed oil from 2,3,4 curry's together if they were different meat dishes?

Can't think why not : I even reclaim the oil from some Chinese dishes to add to my spiced oil stock.

** Phil.

[PaulP]

I know it's low risk Phil but anybody doing this needs to be informed about the botulism risk of oil containing traces of garlic. Personally I would freeze it as I've found frozen oil can be quickly defrosted just enough to use it then refrozen again.

Botulism isn't just an upset tummy or the runs, it is more like being poisoned by nerve gas whereby your mind is clear (and terrified) but you lose the ability to move your chest muscles and suffocate.

Sorry about that! 

[Peripatetic Phil]

Scaremongering is fine by me, Paul ! In the United States, an average of 110 cases of botulism are reported each year.  The United States has a population of 313,914,040, the UK a population of 62,641,000: on that basis, the UK can expect of the order of 22 cases per year.  However, the number of members of CR0 is only
19513, so the number of cases experienced by our members is only 0.007.  I suppose that might creep up to 0.01 if too many leave their garlicky oil to fester . . .

** Phil.