Topic: Jb's takeaway base gravy

[Secret Santa]

I made the base and I thought it was pretty much like many I have done before
That was BEFORE I added the tarka and reboiled
That really transformed it
This tastes genuine
It's got that extra flavour

I'm having great difficulty believing that this simple tarka is really the final 5%. But then again I haven't tried it yet. And why has no-one else ever seen BIRs do this - crafty devils!  ;D

The thought occurs to me that it may be possible, as I have a freezer full of base already, to just add the garlic tarka to some reheated base and then blend. Would it really be that different? Suppose there's one way to find out.

And jb, as others also have asked, to what degree is the garlic fried?

[noble ox]

This I believe is important for this base quote chef
chef impressed the point that the onions MUST be cooked until they've virtually melted
The tarka garlic adds the extra wow taste and seems to work in conjunction with the proper cooked onions
I hope jb agrees with this ;D

[haldi]

I'm having great difficulty believing that this simple tarka is really the final 5%. But then again I haven't tried it yet. And why has no-one else ever seen BIRs do this - crafty devils!  ;D
And jb, as others also have asked, to what degree is the garlic fried?

I think it's the combination of a really good base recipe combining with the tarka
The base now has a flavour that is really yummy and I haven't a clue what it is
It's got a real zing about it and also BIR aroma

I fried the garlic in the required amount of oil, on a low temperature,until it took on some colour

Who else has tried this?
If you fry on low you can be extra careful to not burn the garlic

[Madrasandy]

Evening all, after a weeks holiday what a pleasant surprise to return to find jb has been in the TA kitchen. I do like the look of this base , simple enough to work with many main recipes, similar in components to others but with a little twist at the end.
 Onions cooked until melting/milky call it what you like, I find are a key element to producing the taste, Im not sure about the quick boil rather than a slower longer cook for the onions to develop into the sweet BIR flavour though but I will be trying this method.
 I defrosted a base earlier, a Taz/KD hybrid, and fried a small finely chopped garlic clove in some oil until brown and maybe slightly crisping and added it to the gently simmering base, Instantly hit with a wonderful aroma and tasting it a wonderful flavour. Maybe a little too much for 400ml of base . The curry I then made definitely had a little something extra, I was impressed .
 I shall and cant wait to make this to spec, once we find out the small details, ie the garlic tarka cook and colour.

 Well done jb and thanks for sharing, excellent post

[JerryM]

will be very good to get jb's take on the cooking of the garlic. i'd taken is as same as Zaal ie golden but tinged with darkness - ie the famous words there's burn and there's the right moment

could not find cro link hence youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY6DCPICKas

[noble ox]

The "Goldilocks" moment 

[Madrasandy]

The "Goldilocks" moment 

Haha 

[emin-j]

I made the base and I thought it was pretty much like many I have done before
That was BEFORE I added the tarka and reboiled
That really transformed it
This tastes genuine
It's got that extra flavour

I'm having great difficulty believing that this simple tarka is really the final 5%. But then again I haven't tried it yet. And why has no-one else ever seen BIRs do this - crafty devils!  ;D

The thought occurs to me that it may be possible, as I have a freezer full of base already, to just add the garlic tarka to some reheated base and then blend. Would it really be that different? Suppose there's one way to find out.

And jb, as others also have asked, to what degree is the garlic fried?

SS it is only a 5% we have been missing, fingers crossed this could be it  ;D

[jb]

Hi guys,sorry went away for the weekend.Well,this is looking good.I really hope this is going to give us that last bit we've all been chasing.Haldi if you think you've finally cracked it I'm so pleased for you,I know how frustrating it's been for you.

It seems such a simple thing to do and it's strange that no-one has come accross this garlic thing before.I have to say when I portioned it up for the freezer the taste of the base was terrific,it had that special something that I've never had before in a base.Like I said I cooked it myself,no special ingredients or magical pastes,and certainly no flames or flambe.The garlic was quite bown(but not burnt).
He tipped the garlic/oil in the gravy,spooned a ladel of gravy back into the garlic pan to get all the residue out and then emptied it back into the gravy pot.The most important thing is to cook the onions fully and then re boil the base after the garlic is added.

I asked him about his mix powder and he showed me the usual selection of powders...cumin,turmeric etc.He seemed a bit dismissive of the importance of mix powder really,any decent one will do he says.I actually had my notebook full of my Zall lesson.He looked at the mix powder from there and said that one will do.

The chicken curry was quite simple.A ladle of oil/veg ghee from the tin on the stove.I then added ginger/garlic,salt,mix powder,tomato paste.Cooked that out,added some base and the chicken.It was then cooked for about two minutes on a fairly high bubbling heat.He didn't add any methi by the way.Very simple,and quite important to me,very few ingredients,no pastes or anything so the base was the main thing that went in so it had to be good.PS forgot to mention a little bit of the spiced oil from the top of the gravy was added towards the end of the curry.

[haldi]

.Haldi if you think you've finally cracked it I'm so pleased for you,I know how frustrating it's been for you.

The garlic was quite brown(but not burnt).
He tipped the garlic/oil in the gravy,spooned a ladel of gravy back into the garlic pan to get all the residue out and then emptied it back into the gravy pot.The most important thing is to cook the onions fully and then re boil the base after the garlic is added.
The chicken curry was quite simple.A ladle of oil/veg ghee from the tin on the stove.I then added ginger/garlic,salt,mix powder,tomato paste.Cooked that out,added some base and the chicken.It was then cooked for about two minutes on a fairly high bubbling heat.He didn't add any methi by the way.Very simple,and quite important to me,very few ingredients,no pastes or anything so the base was the main thing that went in so it had to be good.

this is a perfect copy of the base of at least two places I have had samples from.
It has that a bright yummy indescribable flavour, which I guess is the boiled fried garlic

so now it's a question of cooking the curry from that
I can't do anything until the weekend

For me this demonstrates the importance of the tarka
I had a demo about three years back with curry gravy being made, and when the chef got to the tarka bit, he paused and asked for extra assurance from the owner before he continued the demo
So this method was considered a secret of some sort
At my demo the tarka was garlic ginger,spice and tomato puree
I tried it at home and it just didn't work the same
JB's simpler version does the trick perfectly
Perhaps it was garlic puree at my demo rather than garlic/ginger
I'll never know, but I don't need to now
What I do know is that I was given a carton of my demo gravy and it had that wonderful taste, that JB's gravy has too
The garlic tarka idea is reinforced by Chewy's post/picture
I cooked my finely chopped garlic to a nut brown colour, on a low gas, and I rinsed out the pan with gravy as JB described
I don't know if using gravy to clean the pan is important, but who knows?

I would guess that a madras recipe would be like the basic curry but extra chilli powder,lemon juice and fenugreek.
Is there any way you could find out, JB?

Has anyone else tried this base yet?