Topic: Yoghurt in the Base

[DalPuri]

I was wondering if anyone has ever added or considered yoghurt in their gravy?
I did a quick search on here and found a brief quote from Ghanna, but nothing else.

Reason i ask is that i added a good spoonful to last nights curry and it lifted it no end.  Had a nice tangy flavour all round. Its not something i would use as an enhancer, but may rethink for the future.
Anyway, found these two quotes quite interesting, also from Ghanna.

Cheers, Frank. 

p.s. I know its used in some traditional gravies and i've used it many times in curries.

hi,all
i bribed one of the kitchen staff once , this is what he said ....
don't peel onion,garlic or ginger just but them in boiling water the night before,
next morning they are going to be very easy to peel ,peel onions and garlic but not the ginger
don't chop garlic or onions but put them whole in the big gravy pot ,chop the ginger coarsely and add to pot.
cover with water and bring to boil, boil until every thing is cooked (he don't know for how long but he said for ages )
the chef will come after that and add a lot of powder ( this is what he told me when i asked him what is there in the powder   
I DO NOT KNOW  THE CHEF ALAWAYS BRING IT WITH HIM  FROM HOME IN THE SAME DAY THAT WE ARE MAKING THE GRAVY ) ,
i tried to put some pressure on him  but really he didnot know,he is a very honest man and i know that from a previous experience.
after that the chef but new oil and as well the oil from the old gravy  he told me we don't through any oil away we use it and re-use it over and over again.

the chef add a big tin about 1 kg of tomato puree  and a medium tin of tomato paste.some salt, boil for a long time  then puree until it is very smooth .
cook again until oil rises to the top of the gravy .
they don't use it in the same day but the following day.
 when they are making the curries they alaways fry some onions garlic and ginger(slightly cooked previously )

in the beginning then they add some   tomato paste and spices and the main ingredient (chicken, lamb or prawn )
then the curry gravy and boil for some time  then they add one of these ingredients ( coconut , almonds, cashewnut or evaporated milk,
 rose water or kewra water  .it depend which kind of curry you want  i.e KORMA . pasanda   .......etc.
in some of the curries they add fenugreek leaves at the end but not in all of them
as well they add chopped coriander leaves at the end.
this what he told me .all of us know that but we don't know what is there in the powder that the chef use.
when they arrive in the kitchen at about 4:00 they start cooking the chicken ,lamb and defrost the prawn in just boiling water.
they use garlic,ginger , curry powder,salt , water to cook the chicken and lamb
the lamb will take longer to cook so they use some thing green called papaya as a tenderizer in order to cook the lamb quickly.
i hope i helped
i like this  site . all the people her are very friendly and every one trying to help
thanks .
GOD bless all of you
ghanna

hi ,all
the reason of not peeling the onion when it is raw is they make you cry and the kitchen staff do not like this specially there is a lot of onions (sacks).
the garlic is small and very difficult to peel as well, when they soak it in boiling water overnight the skin peels easily.
most of the ginger flavor is in the skin and just under the skin   like the potatoes because of that they don't peel the skin,
 as well they use huge amounts of it and they don't want to spend the whole day peeling ginger and at the end you will not notice it in the gravy,
i forget to mention that the chef put some fresh herbs in the gravy and he put that with the spices.(he bring these herbs ready chopped from
home and mixed together )
the kitchen staff told me the whole place smelled like  mint, dill , coriander and another herb that he thinks is sacred basil.
i made some inquires and i find out that this sacred basil is used a lot in Thia cooking.it is stronger than normal basil.
thanks
ghanna

[curryhell]

Not the first time i've read this.  Reading these comments from years ago kind of makes one smile.  How surprising is it that a lot of what  he reports is now "nothing new", but how many people have taken it on board?  Hasn't the forum discussed whole onions, use of fruit / veg for tenderising lamb, old oil, mature curry gravy etc etc?  At the time Ghanna commented, it probably wasn't given the recognition it deserved.
As for the yoghurt in the base, not so sure about that.  Possibly a condiment to add a  layer of flavour to some dishes.  I do know  one of my locals adds "cream" to their base.  Whether they mean cream, evaporated milk or coconut cream i'm not so sure.  I fancy it could be carnation, just like in the little india base which is the next base for me to try.

[DalPuri]

As i was reading about the chef making his own mixed powder at home and then strolling in to the kitchen adding it to this n that, i was picturing Norman Wisdom as Giulio the hairdresser in the film On the Beat.  ;D

Dill is a herb i really need to experiment with in Indian cookery! I've mentioned before about always seeing it in the Asian grocers. 
And there was that HUGE bunch Madhur added to that rice dish video i posted too. . . 

[Malc.]

i was picturing Norman Wisdom as Giulio the hairdresser in the film On the Beat.  ;D

I can tell you this, the one and only time I met Sir Norman Wisdom was 1 month prior to his official entitlement. Myself and my father were enjoying a meal at my favourite restaurant the Indian Garden and in walked the man himself for a take away. The IG being a favourite haunt of both himself and his son who owned a sport shop called Wisdom Sports, in the town.

My father, a mason, was happy to toast across the restaurant too which we both stood up to the now frail Norman Wisdom which brought a tear to my eye in admiration and a sense of pride for both my father and Norman, good on ya dad! My father then retreated with a 'Mr Grimsdale' and Sir Norman Wisdom graced us all with a retort and a short prose in his usual wit. Humble I felt!

RIP Sir Norman


Yoghurt in base, I have never heard of.

[jb]

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,4909.10.html

This is the one Abdul taught me,not seen anyone else use it but he definitely did!!

[DalPuri]

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,4909.10.html

This is the one Abdul taught me,not seen anyone else use it but he definitely did!!

Ahaa, Thanks JB.
So it has been done before. 
I bet people were beginning to think it was as wild a theory as cucumber.  ;D