Topic: Most Popular Curry Base Sauce!

[Invisible Mike]

I think. The onions need to be cooked slowly until absolutely melting as we all know...Someone also mentioned soaking them in water to remove the harshness. I tried this last week and it does produce a smoother flavour. I would also only ever use Dutch onions nowadays as they attend to be milder varieties than English.

The base also needs to be very watery in my experience otherwise if it is too concentrated it can overpower the finished dish. Mix powder, garlic, ginger need to be cooked in a baghaar and added at the end for maximum flavour and an akhni stock consisting of tej patta, cloves star anise and their ilk is also a very good idea for an added dimension. (Interestingly it has been noted by top chefs that star anise and onions have an affinity with one another as the star anise helps to bring out the onions flavour!) Other than that most bases are pretty similar. Onions, peppers, tomato, carrot, fresh coriander...They all seem to be the same give or take.

Rather than people's favourite bases I think what would be interesting would be a poll of people's top techniques and tips that make a difference in producing the BIR taste.

[ELW]

Base doesn't really  need to be thin Mike & mix powder not required in the dish if the base is spiced accordingly ,which with the water content, is tricky to  judge for home cooks after boiling the onions. This is where home bir goes skew whiff for most I think
Agreed Akhini stock is a great way of favouring the base

[Invisible Mike]

No mix powder in the dish. Now that's an interesting take on things... I wonder how many have tried that? I must admit my bases are relatively very mildly spiced with also (again relatively) little powder in the dish. It does make for a 'cleaner' taste.

[Naga]

No mix powder in the dish. Now that's an interesting take on things... I wonder how many have tried that?...

As far as I recall, Panpot's Ashoka recipes don't use mix powder in the final dish.

His Jaipuri recipe is one of my good lady wife's favourites and it's a regular in our house.

In fact, we had it last night and it was delicious as always!

[gazman1976]

Also no mix powder in the Glasgow base either 😁

[Madrasandy]

I would also only ever use Dutch onions nowadays as they attend to be milder varieties than English.

Are milder varieties better for producing BIR taste? If so why not use Spanish?
English for me, cooked correctly, perfect

[Invisible Mike]

I find milder onions make for a smoother flavour. You'd think I'm a curry the stronger the better but I find it counter productive. Yes I've also tried Spanish with good results. I'll check out Panpots Jaipuri recipe. Maybe next on my hit list! :-)

[Madrasandy]

With mild onions you lose a bit of that Bir magic

[gazman1976]

I have tried all different onions, as long as they are cooked properly ( melted ) bring out their natural sweetness then you cant really go wrong

[Madrasandy]

Yes I agree gaz just saying some onions work better than others