Topic: Base Gravy,Oil v Without Oil.

[JerryM]

Littlechilli

Top notch post

Is the idea to make good the No oil in base by using more at dish frying or solely a means of reducing the amount of oil.

[littlechilie]

Hi JerryM, im using 2x chef spoon of oil at fry stage, but it's just realy an experiment I'm trying and a way of seeking opinion.
But the Vindaloo I made and ate last nice was very good indeed and lost nothing in aroma taste or flavour from cooking base without oil.

When I get time will will make a reverse base and use 1liter of oil to 1ltr of water and do a direct comparison on taste and aroma of finished dish.

I will update this post when I get the chance.
Thanks for the interest.

[JerryM]

Littlechilli

Presume your 2 chef is 4 tbsp. Would need to check but I think I leave something like 10 to 15 ml of oil in the base which would give approx 5 tbsp total for me.

I've been amazed how stubborn  oil is in taking on flavour. suggests a No oil base would work.

Also been amazed how much more difficult it is to get best results in the final dish from a basic base (I've given up)

I put oil in the base so that I can reclaim it to dish fry. I guess if you don't reclaim then why not leave the oil out.

For info I find the opposite does not work for me ie the taz base. It does work for others so water is muddy. I need the 4 tbsp at dish fry to enable the fry and produce BIR. How important the 5 th tbsp from the base is I really don't know.

Quite a post for sure.

[livo]

This is a great thread and an interesting one to follow.  I don't think there is any dispute that some oil is essential in the process.  Where in the process, is obviously the main question here and secondly, how much of it is required?  My wife is always banging on about oil in food, so I try to keep to the bare minimum.

I was astonished at the video of the chef spooning oil into a lined bin, I assume for disposal. I would think that a major factor here would be the unnecessary cost of this practice.  He must have a reason for using so much in the first place, otherwise why would you throw money away like that. Cooking oil is not a cheap ingredient.

[sp]

in the time i was there (one evening per week over a 3 month period) i watched them make a lot of dishes of all different types, the fryer, which holds 30 litres of oil, was very occasionally used for a spoonful of oil to start a dish off if the base wasn't as oily as usual.  i watched them pour in from big drums of new fresh vegetable oil straight into the pre-cook (lamb, chicken, vegetables etc) so it wasn't reclaimed oil they were using for that.  last year before i got into the restaurant kitchen itself i got given a few tupperware boxes full of the old fryer oil so i could try it !!  it smelt nice, but made no discernable difference to anything i cooked, make of that what you may! 

[sp]

i must stress that my hands-on experiences are only of one pakistani-run scottish BIR, and i've found they use similar methods to the glasgow recipes (re indian takeaway recipe book by alex wilkie aka bb1 aka bigboaby aka fred45) from a while back, if not the same ingredients for everything.  the most important is that, like the glasgow recipes, the base is a finished sauce of a thicker consistency and no mix powder is used in the final dishes.  unfortunately they don't use the same ingredients, as i never once saw turmeric either being used or stocked, and when i enquired about garam masala (do they make it or buy it in) they don't use a premix, they just use the spices seperately (cassia bark, black cardamom, cumin seeds, salt)

[George]

this video illustrates that It's not unusual for bir establishments to not use oil in there base, I bet for this one guy following this process there is another 2000 or more out there doing the same....basic curry sauce dad 0001

I watched a couple of the videos of "dad 0001" and I don't think he's telling anything like the full story. The base sauce video cuts quite early on. I bet he adds loads of oil later on.

As Bertie Bassett commented on you tube (aka alex wilkie, bb1, bigboaby and fred45) in the pilau rice recipe he said initially that he didn't use colour but he's seen adding it later on. Hardly a reliable witness.

[curryhell]

Great info SP.  From a regional point of view - invaluable. As time goes, by with members experiences, BIR is very much a regional thing with some common denomenators. For some it will press all the right buttons and provide curry nirvanah. For others an interesting read and an insight into the regional style.  All great info though and another piece of the huge jigsaw  that is BIR

[livo]

George, I'm a devout conspiracy theorist myself. Suspicion is my faith. I don't trust him either.

[littlechilie]

Evening all,

Had a little time to do a comparison base today, must say I'm liking the look and smell of the 50/50 oil base a lot better than the no oil.

But as we all know it will come down to the finished dishes but as far as smell and flavour go the oily base wins hands down.

Photos below.

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,13404.msg112874/topicseen.html#new

Thanks.