Topic: Hot Or Cold Base??

[JerryM]

Are the spices added immediately to the cold base?

yes. after frying the g or g/g and the other early fry ingredients i take pan off heat. then add 1 chef of base, the spices, tom puree (straight out of tin). give it a good stir then back on the heat until the liquid "free water" has almost gone. during this fry i've tried both leaving the pan un disturbed and stirring frequently. both seem to give the same result.

at this point i then add 1 chef at a time of the rest of the base (5 off in total or 300ml). the 1st chef spoon producing the quench. i add meat after the quench.

i have added all the main base as ladles (much like Dipuraja) ie in 2 off 150 ml pours. the heat of the pan dips as a result. it still produces decent curry but not as good as keeping the pan hot all the way through from the quench point.

i keep the same heat all the way through the cooking - the splatter towards the end of the evap stage is not a concern in the garage. neither is the smoke.

[uclown2002]

Are the spices added immediately to the cold base?

yes. after frying the g or g/g and the other early fry ingredients i take pan off heat. then add 1 chef of base, the spices, tom puree (straight out of tin). give it a good stir then back on the heat until the liquid "free water" has almost gone. during this fry i've tried both leaving the pan un disturbed and stirring frequently. both seem to give the same result.

at this point i then add 1 chef at a time of the rest of the base (5 off in total or 300ml). the 1st chef spoon producing the quench. i add meat after the quench.

i have added all the main base as ladles (much like Dipuraja) ie in 2 off 150 ml pours. the heat of the pan dips as a result. it still produces decent curry but not as good as keeping the pan hot all the way through from the quench point.

i keep the same heat all the way through the cooking - the splatter towards the end of the evap stage is not a concern in the garage. neither is the smoke.

Thanks JM

Surely you have 5 'quench points' if you put in 5 x 60 ml cold base?

Spices, tom paste after first chef of base, then meat after 2nd chef of base? 

[spiceyokooko]

yes. after frying the g or g/g and the other early fry ingredients i take pan off heat. then add 1 chef of base, the spices

Interesting.

Do you not fry your spices in the garlic/ginger paste? Are you using the Taz base?

I generally fry my garlic/ginger paste at quite a high heat, then add the spices all in one go, fry this till the oil separates, then in goes the uncooked chicken which is stir fried till opaque (I don't generally bother to pre-cook my chicken) then the tomato puree watered down and when the oil separates again in goes a couple of chef spoons of pre-heated base, (I never add cold base) this is reduced down by about half, then another two chef spoons of base which are gain reduced by half then the final two chef spoons of base and heat turned down to a simmer for about 10-15 mins or so. I never take the pan off the heat at any stage and generally shake it whilst stirring. Up till the point the final two spoons of base go in, this is at full flame on my hottest burner.

It's interesting how we've developed our own individual ways of doing things.

[JerryM]

uclown2002,

only 1 off quench point after the 1st chef of base has gone in - at this point the pan needs a good stir (BE recommendation in his post some time ago). the remaining 5 off chef spoons (6 off in total) are timed not to dip the heat but also avoid the pan becoming dry. as more is added to the pan there is more residual heat so the later chef spoons are added progressively quicker. same principle i think to Chinese wok cooking.

spiceyokooko,

not using Taz base - i need oil up front to stop black debris down to the heat in the pan. the garlic/ginger paste goes in with the oil right at the start.

as you say we all have very different thoughts on the process. i only use pre cooked meat and never aim to separate the oil.

it just shows 2 very different methods but both very happy with results.

[meggeth]

Hmm. I tried heated base tonight for my curries, and I could not tell any difference between adding heated base or cold base, as I have used previousy. So I'll stick without heating the base I think, just seems to adds extra work.

[RubyDoo]

My tuppence-worth. Cannot understand anybody adding spices to cold base. The spices should, imho, be brought to life in oil before adding base. Hot or cold? Always hot for me. Keeps up the cooking process best as possible on my humble home hob  and is really no extra effort to have it hot in the pan next to the ali.