Topic: UCB Update Please read

[Chilli Prawn]

Hi all, I had a long and productive meeting with Mark this morning at his work.  As expecetd there were a few things that popped out of the woodwork regarding his UCB and Vindaloo recipes.  I will modify the UCB later but here is the gists of the meeting.

1. UCB

He definitely does not believe that the base can be made in smaller quantities by simply cutting down on ingredients; he has tried it!

The only change he made was to the Onions (re some queries here).  He said to top the pot up with onions as before, but only peel and cut the onions in half and no smaller.  This way will reduce the amount of onions used and the quantity of stock.

Cook the base until the onions are practically melting and remove and blitz them to a fine puree.  Then do the rest as per recipe.

The measurements are in heaped chefs spoons not ladles.

When using the base in recipes it must be warmed before adding to the dish!

If you freeze the base; after you defrost it you must blitz it again in a blender it to amalgamate it, or it will not work properly (he said that goes for all bases)

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2.  Bases

Now if you recall I have said on occasions that besides the master base BIRs usually have other bases in smaller pots around them; I will have three or four.  I am sure you will recognise what Ihe says because you all have mentioned or refreed to the following but not all as one process.  So here are a real BIR chefs secrets on how to get the BIR taste and smell.  And yes they do change the day after because of this process.

Typically the 'bases' would be the following: The master base, a tomato base (recipe later), the water from the Akhni, the oil(s) from the bases and precook mix, saved excess oil from other dishes.  Now the last may amaze you: by the side of their cokkers they have a pot of water in which they place their ladles after cooking their dishes, and this gets like a soup after a while.  They use this to add flavour to the dish also.  I also have a plain cooked onion base, and a Barga base which I add to certain dishes, this is a Punjabi thing though.
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3. Tomato Base

This is used in most of his recipes and if you watch the curry progs on telly you will usually see them using it.  It is very simple and very effective; and more importantly it is what contribute to the BIR taste.

Ingredients. Half pint of butter ghee, one whole head of Garlic (smoked is best), 4 heaped catering (Chefs - see my measurement post) spoons of good quality tomato paste.

Peel the garlic (and remove the skin this time!), and finely slice the garlic along the length so it looks like slivers of Almonds.

Heat the oil on low flame and add the Garlic.  Cook very gently utill the Garlic has softened and add the Tomato paste.  Turn the heat up and stir for 3-5 mins until the oil and tomato separate, do not let it catch or burn; if it does then throw it away.  Add a little water to get a consitency like double cream.  That is it!

This base is used to marinate and fuse meats prior to or during cooking.
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4. Onion base

Use as many onions as you want.  Peel them and chop them in to large chunks.
Bring a pan of water to the boil (enough water to cover the onions)
Lob in the onions a a little salt.
Bring back to the boil for three minutes and then strain off the water.  This removes the acidic taste from the onions.
Allow to cool and then blitz to a fine pulp

Heat  out 1 cup of vegetable oil in a pan, the amount will depend on how many onions you use.  You will need to add more oil later so don't worry.  Fry the onions gently for a few minutes and you should see the oil start to rise; if it doesn't then keep adding oil from time to time until it does.  Cook until the onions become transparent and golden colour.  I let then stick a little (not too much or it will ruin the base) and then stir to give a faint fried onion flavour (a Northern India thing!).  You should be able to see plenty of oil when the onions are ready.  Don't let the base sit around or it will start to go rancid; so place cling film over it and put it in the fridge.  Alternatively this base can be frozen.  Don't use utensils that have been used for meat products, always wash them thoroughly first.  If don't do this the base (and any base for that matter) will be contaminated and will not last, even if frozen.
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5. Barga Onion Base - already posted by me.
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6.  Spoon base, just wash your spoons in a tin/jug of water and keep water ;D
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7. Oils, well I don't think I need to explain this, but be very careful not to contaminate with meat products.
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8. BIR techniques

What you have been waiting for!  It is the order in which you add and cook the ingredients which is the key to success, so follow the recipe religiously.

High heat is essential at the start.

Use a simple frying pan, or saucepan.  He doesn't use woks.

Lots of oil and salt are essential, Veg oil is OK

Always finish the dish when it is ready to serve with a spash of Ghee or Oil base on top

The use of the bases in the right quantity and order is essential

Resting the dish after cooking is essential

The fusing & stirring technique is esssential (see below)

The stirring technique is absolutely esssential and is what gives that flavour.  This is not easy for me to explain easily.  I use a steel chefs spoon or a steel ladle.  When you are flash frying the dish you press sauce with the spoon or ladle against the bottom of the pan in a stirring motion to fuse it, but do not let it stick so scrape it regularly.  Make sure you get under the meat or veg you don't want to break them up.  When the sauce starts to fuse you will get the famous smell and then you will also get the flavour.  I will try and describe this whole thing in a new posting of the UCB Vindaloo (because Mark did not explain the things above properly previously - I still like it though).
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9. Precooking Meats

Slight change here.  When precooking Chicken, do not use water!  He showed me using a 12 pint pot.  Use absolutely loads of oil - about 50% of the volume of the Chicken.  Heat the Oil on a medium heat and cook the wole spices for a few seconds and then reduce heat and add powdered spices and let them fizz a couple of seconds (don't burn!) and the cubed chicken and cook until the chicken is almost cooked (still pinkish), keep the oild topped up above the level of the Chicken. Remove from the heat and store in a cool place until ambient temp is reached ( as quickly as possible) and then store in fridge.  You can find the spice recipe in my UCB precooking of meat. 

If you are cooking lamb or mutton you must boil it first for about 1/2 to 1 hour depending on the quality of the meat and then use the process described for the Chicken above.

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That is it from the horses mouth!  We are going to meet up on his day off and work out some recipes, and plan the video.  Mark is well aware of the video and book failures in the past and is already working on the story board!

I will re-post Vindaloo, Madras, and Korma recipes as per updates.

I did press Mark several times on issues you have raised and he is adamant that he has told me all and there are no secret ingredients, there are no complex spice mixes (everything is very simple), one stop one pot bases will not work properly, what you see above is what it is all about.  Finally two points you raised.  First use your eyes and nose all the time not your tongue (did I not say that many times  ) only taste before you are ready for service to adjust seasoning.  Second "Why do BIRs taste/smell different the next day?"  It is simply because of the techniques used above which release flavours and smells ultra quick an therfore they are mostly dissipated by the next day.

Gosh I am knackered   Is anyone going to by me a pint please.

Don't shout at me I am only the messenger but I will take note of any sensible queries and pass them on.  I don't want to p**s Mark off, especially as my Son may be going to work with him for a while!

Sorry too knackered to correct any spelling mistakes at this time.

Happy trials
CP

[Chilli Prawn]

I forgot to add, but any veggies that we have mentioned can be added to the base stock, but  it is important to use the Knorr Stock base.
CP

[Yellow Fingers]

Well I'm just in the last stage of making the base (to the original recipe), it's on its final simmer now. I tasted the base before adding the final spice base mix and it is very nice just as it is, so I halved the base and only added an appropriate amount of the final spice base to one half only. Now I have two bases to play with. I certainly wouldn't call the base with all the spices in it subtle, anything but. I tasted it and it already has a madras/vindaloo flavour to it. I'm personally not in favour of this sort of base because it doesn't allow for much variation in the final dishes. However I'll defer final judgement until I have actually made a couple of curries. I do think the half base without the spices is the winner at this stage though.

YF

[lagathy]

the update is much appreciated CP ...im definatly going to give it a try(albeit with much reduced oil due to recent "acquisition"of diabetes  )...your friend Mark sounds like a top bloke..perhaps we could have a new thread here dedicated to his contributions and tips(or indeed a thread for genuine BIR chefs recipes/advice)?..

lags

[Chilli Prawn]

Well done YF!  I agree that it is a bit spicy but you can always reduce the chilli. I await with baited breath for your results.

Legathy, sorry to hear of your Diabetes, I am also a Diabetic (T2 for past 8 years) but I don't worry too much about the oil.  You could try some of the lighter oils like Rapeseed but take care as they burn easily.  I think Mark would be very flattered, but he is a retiring type and would not care for his own thread!

CP

[DARTHPHALL]

Excellent post Cp you old Dog, really giving us hopefully more insight on how to achieve the Taste/Smell, like the point about the technique affecting the Curry the next day (as we discussed) it does seem to be moving in the right direction i cant wait to make my next base in a few weeks.
Is it true then that many of the good bases & simple recipes can be used combined with "the Technique" ( does this deserve to be in the Glossary of terms alongside "The Taste"?) give virtually the same Bir style results ?
Thank you CP for your efforts in such a short time matey.

[Curry King]

Lots of oil and salt are essential, Veg oil is OK

Your not suggesting an excessive use of salt are you CP 

Thanks for the update BTW I will get round to trying this next.

cK

[DARTHPHALL]

Salt pwnes CK !!!!

[Chilli Prawn]

Yeah! Ok Ok I dug a hole I know :-[.  I feel like the bloke in that Piccie that Spicy URLed 

[lagathy]

ah...another fellow diabetic CP...soz to hear  dyou have any suggestions as to when the best time/stage would be to remove the oil(i also have high cholesterol rofl,dunno wot im doing eating curries really...but ive been obssessed with em for over 15 years,so im notgonna quit now  ;D)...im presuming to retain all the tastes etc you should leave it until the very end,where you actually make the whole dish and just scoop iot off the top??