I've been cooking curry's over 20 years, but only in the last couple of years did I get into base sauce. Amazing how you can knock up a curry so quick.
Lots of different chefs method's are very similar but very wordy, which tends to make them seem different and can have you lose focus on the main thread. While documenting, I try and keep things simple and put the rest of the "fluff" down to experience. This way I managed pull together 9 completely different curry recipes in 1.5 pages of A4. Essentially it's a super short, concise, ebook. Thought I'd share. Not sure if this is the best place for such a thing, but I see this thread as more about 'keeping it simple', using a standard approach, adapted slightly for each recipe, and less about the recipes themselves. Follow this standard approach, and take ideas out of other peoples recipes to try and match what you are looking for in your own curry.
CURRY METHOD
Pre-fry
6 tbs veg oil
1-2 tsp garlic & ginger paste
1-2 tbs fine chopped onion & green pepper
Fry above until just before browning.
Spice fry
1 tsp chilli powder
Spices
Add above and fry some seconds.
Main cook
1 portion base sauce
1 tsp salt
1 portion of pre-cooked meat
On high heat, add some base sauce bit by bit to prevent the spices burning. Add the salt. Add the meat. Reduce to simmer. Thicken the sauce to the desired consistency.
Late additions
Add the aromatics and other late additions and simmer for a minute or 2.
THE CURRY'S
You'll notice I only fill in the blanks below. The ingredients in the curry's below are to be ADDED to the standard cook outlined above...
Standard
Spice fry: 1/2 tsp cumin powder.
Late additions: 1 tsp garam masala, pinch fenugreek leaves, fresh coriander.
Madras
Pre-fry: 1 tbs tomato puree, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce.
Spice fry: 1 tsp mix powder.
Late additions: pinch fenugreek leaves.
Jalfrazi
Pre-fry: half onion, half green pepper, half red pepper, 1 star anasi, 1 tbs tomato puree.
Spice fry: 1 tsp cumin powder.
Late additions: 1/2 tsp garam masala, pinch fenugreek leaves, fresh coriander.
Bhuna
Spice fry: 1 tsp coriander powder.
Late additions: 1/2 tsp garam masala, fresh coriander.
Bhuna Masala
Pre-fry: 50g mushrooms, half green pepper.
Spice fry: 1 tsp cumin powder.
Main cook: 1/4 tsp red food colour powder.
Late additions: 1.5 tsp garam masala, pinch fenugreek leaves, fresh coriander.
Do-Piaza
Pre-fry: 2 small onions (cut in strips).
Spice fry: 1 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 tsp coriander powder.
Late additions: 1 tsp garam masala, pinch fenugreek leaves, fresh coriander.
Korma
Change to standard: only 4 tbs veg oil, no ginger & garlic paste, no onion & green pepper, no chilli powder.
Spice fry: 1 tsp cumin powder.
Main cook: 2 tbs finely ground cashew nuts, 1/4 tsp yellow food colour powder.
Late additions: 150ml single cream, 1/2 tsp garam masala.
Sagwala
Change to standard: 7 tbs veg oil.
Spice fry: 2 brown cardamoms.
Main cook: 200g well chopped frozen or tinned spinach.
Late additions: 1.5 tsp garam masala.
Rogan Josh
Spice fry: 1 tsp cumin powder, 2 tsp paprika.
Late additions: 2 tbs yoghurt, 1 rough chopped tomato, 1 tsp garam masala, pinch fenugreek leaves, fresh coriander.
My favourites are the Jalfrazi & Sagwala, both made unique with the addition of their respective hard whole spice. Keeping my recipes written simple like this allows me to see easily what it is that contributes to the flavour of each curry, and so more easily pick out problem additions or omissions as I continue my search for perfection. My current base sauce of choice is Chewy's, which I split into 6 portions and cook with 400-500g meat.
Topic: BIR, keep it simple - 9 Korma Chameleon recipes (read 84,782 times)
