Topic: Jb's takeaway base gravy

[Madrasandy]

A few thoughts on the base-

The onions have to be initially cooked for long enough

Which onions are best to use out of the cheap readily available onions?

Chef spoon measures , what is this in Tbs? Chef spoons vary greatly in size

I based my attempt on 1 chefspoon=3Tbs

Oil rising to the top of the finished base, is there enough oil in the base?

The final cook after the garlic tarka is added is very important, mine changed dramatically in this phase of the process

[london]

I wonder if it's the sizzling of the base when you De-glaze the pan after frying the garlic that makes the difference and not the garlic as 1 clove of garlic is very much for a whole pot of base?

[littlechilie]

Hi Jb I am cooking for 20 people on Friday afternoon so I have decided to take a calculated risk and use your base, it's now on the boil on high heat for two hours maybe a little more.
I shall be serving mild Madras , Mushroom fried rice and Tarka Dal.
Followed later in the afternoon with a selection of home made pickles, tandoor chicken , indian salads and Naan breads, washed down with a selection of extremely cold beers
I'm extremely great-full for your recipe and will fill you in on my results and comments.
Many thanks.

[Madrasandy]

Brave LC, cooking for 20 with a new base! I'll be checking my postbox in morning for my invite

[chewytikka]

Your even starting to sound like Professor Jerry M ;D ;D

Stew I will take base pictures tomorrow, unblended, blended and garlic tarka added

What happened here then MA? I wanted to see if the base was bright orange like JB's

The common Chef's spoon is 30g = 2Tbs
Oil, You get out what you put in.

Shame you couldn

[ckchao]

haha, that missing 5% is that one tiny clove of garlic! put more please, make chewytikka proud!

[Madrasandy]

Harsh chewy

The recipe was halved , the first stage was boiled for 2 hours , the spices added and simmered half hour , the garlic tarka added and cooked for hour as  half hour didn't taste cooked enough, as Jb said half hour if not longer, where's the problem?

I asked about chef spoon measurements as there is a lot of debate on the matter, haldi says 4 desert spoons you say 2 Tbs Jb says it looked like 4Tbs , lot of variation there.

As for pictures I haven't had chance to upload them as I have not been at home to access my laptop for most of the day.
 
Half a clove of garlic?

As for messing about with people's recipes , I always cook people's recipes to spec first , if I don't like them I don't cook them again, if there are parts of the recipe I like I use it, don't see what the problem is   

Cheers MA

[ckchao]

off a bit of topic, maybe the Black Garlic could give you all that big extra unami for the Bir taste! although it is laboring to ferment! If that tiny 5% is from garlic. I am hoping big from this garlic perspective. unfortunately I have no black garlic on hand.

[littlechilie]

Never heard of it before Ckchao but a google search provided this.

Mr Botwright, 51, is Britain's only producer of black garlic, which costs ?3.50 per bulb and has a shelf life of over a year

IMO there is no profit for a business that uses 100s of bulbs a week at this price
Good idea though.

[ckchao]

if check youtube, I say guys u ferment black garlic by using electronic rice cooker by urself making sure temperature from 55 - 60 C ( and humidity range 60-80, for home rice cooker it is secondary thing ) . try chicken soup with these garlic clove. garlic, you will get that sweet unami. eat raw no problem. if willing spend invent to ferment. U got that extreme flavor from garlic without bitterness. Of course it is not for Bir normal business running. But , I say this to u if this is that final 5% unami from garlic. Winner takes all!

Originally, black garlic from Korean and Japanese culture.

try and cheers,
Kai (ckchao)