Topic: Oil impact on base and dish Frying

[JerryM]

this post caught my eye and for me would be good to collectively discuss.

Jerry_M once said the oil helps soften and sweeten the onions.

impressive memory or searching.

quite ironic for me too. still work in progress but the basic basic base work i'm on with "no water" is producing much stronger oil.

Hi JerryM
1) stronger oil is good for rest of cooking after base reclaiming.
2) Don't you think sweet onion base gravy is not our goal here for most of curry fan? Stronger oil produces the aroma by emusifying with onion and water not what we want in the base?
3) If oil is plain how can we later on utilize browning reaction to pan fry that onion sugar. Strongly flavoured oil is absolute essential for Chinese restaurent stir fry. I have never eaten a  naturally sweeten cuury by water but I have good restaurent experience by oily sweeten onion gravy. Cheer up for curry!
Kai

1) Is stronger oil any good

i feel it makes a marginal difference at dish frying in the finished dish (it's hard to put a measure on it). its easy to make via the base so why not. it also for me looses that raw oil taste in the finished dish that can be made out in side by side comparison.

the whole picture is not known though - as the actual oil after dish frying has lost it's taste and is pretty dumb stuff. it puts a question in you're mind is it worth having really good tasting oil only to convert it to poor tasting oil. where does the good taste go - in smoke or into the curry

certainly using no water in the stage 1 base produces a far stronger oil.

2) sweet onion base

"sweet" (hindsight) is really the wrong word - perhaps moorish is a better description. for me its down to cooking the base properly (ie 2 stage). does the oil contribute to this change. i don't feel it does as i've removed most of the oil before blending and it is only during the stage 2 cook ie after blending that the moorish taste appears. what is the moorish taste and why does it happen.

3) browning reaction "maillard"

ive not used plain oil for dish fry that much. my gut feeling is that oil, water and heat are needed. does the strength come into play - i just don't know

we can probably now add a

No4) the garlic tarka base

this certainly produces a massive difference in the dish taste when using the Zaal method at dish frying. the actual oil used to cook the tarka tastes pretty grim though. it must therefore be the actual garlic which brings about the taste in the dish. why is this different to making a baggar and adding to the base.

No5) Seasoned Oil (bhaji per curry2go or Haldi fryer oil)

not an area i have any info on. i have just put fryer oil in the base i'm making now so fingers crossed i will at least give pointer either way.


This topic is something i'll think more on. any thoughts from others and clearly help from Kai - very much appreciated.