Topic: Question: how to cook large quantity of the same curry?

[n13]

Should it be done the usual way in individual portions,  or in a largeish stock pot?
I have my precooked chicken and my base gravy waiting to be combined, but I only want one curry (but several portions)

[Garp]

With everything else on this forum, there are different opinions. There are a few members who have experience of cooking in bulk.....hopefully one of them will provide your answer, my friend.

How many are you planning to make?

[Peripatetic Phil]

I suspect you will get better results by cooking at most two portions at a time and then re-combining them before serving.

** Phil.

[n13]

I have about 1kg chicken and 1l of gravy to use up.  So maybe 5 portions,  I'll save whatever sauce is left over

[london]

n13,

you won't have any base left as most curries use about 350ml, maybe you should aim for about 3 portion.

London.

[littlechilie]

Should it be done the usual way in individual portions,  or in a largeish stock pot?
I have my precooked chicken and my base gravy waiting to be combined, but I only want one curry (but several portions)

Hi no13, it can be done in both ways, but unless you know exactly what your doing I would advise cooking individual portions and tipping them one at a time in to a large pot.

This will give you practice cooking the dish, also it gives you a chance to sample and make small changes adjustments to the first couple of portions if your not happy.

I have used this method for 15 portions of madras without incident, resulting in a good balanced Bulk dish. You will also know how much to serve per potion.

It can be reheated next day in the oven or on the hob, good luck and let us know how you get on.

[livo]

A couple of things to consider here. 

*BTUs: If you overload your pan you may not obtain the heat you require, depending on your stove's output capability and the actual dish you intend to make. In this case several smaller quantities may be preferable.

*Spicing for increased quantity:  I read somewhere that for a "recipe stipulated spice list", each doubling of overall quantity only requires an increase in spices of 50%; ie, not double the amount as you'd expect.  So for example, if a written recipe calls for 500g of chicken and 1 tsp of any spice, let's say cumin, then if you double the amount of chicken to 1 kg you only increase the cumin to 1.5 tsp, (not 2). The same would apply for all other spices. 

Disclaimer: I think this is correct, but I'm not sure of it as a fact and haven't tested it, so don't take my word for it. Perhaps others may comment as to this "general rule's" validity.

[Naga]

I think you're right about the spice ratio, livo. Trial and error has taught me only to increase not only the spices, but also the ancillary ingredients by 50%. As so many of the recipes here are written for a single portion, I've found that an increase of 50% for a double portion is just about right.

When I (rarely) make a 4-portion curry, I double the spice and ancillary ingredients. On the domestic cooker, though, that sort of thing is only possible - for me anyway - with traditional curry's or curry's that don't really need much in the way of spice fusing, like kormas, CTMs etc.

[n13]

Follow up:
Unfortunately; time wasn't on my side,  so I ended up in a large pan.
Fortunately though; my Base gravy recipie was quite rich and thick (saves freezer space) and I had used a bit of mixed powder in the Base (can't remember which Base I used)
My precooked chicken sauce also contributed to the curry and since it is only me who is eating it i was happy to throw it in once I had fished out the big spices...  Luckily there was a lot of (now spiced)  oil on top of my precooked chicken so I skimmed that off to start the big curry off,  used about 2 tbsp. If gg paste and made my curry as usual,  added tomato and cooked for a bit then mixed powder until the consistency was right. Then Base gravy,  boil, precooked chicken in for a few mins served in boxes ready for work .
All in all it seemed ok. Could have been a lot better,  as I didn't manage to get the more cooked bits around the edge of the pan...
But yea: ppl still take some convincing that it's not takeaway  :/

Thanks all for suggestions,  with more time I'll be doing individual portions and combining after

[livo]

Rather than to further derail the other thread, this one is topic specific to the debate / varied opinion regarding increased spice ratios for larger quantity cooking.  First of all I refer to my post above in which I state that I have not tested this anomaly myself so my perspective is purely anecdotal and also I have said that I'm undecided at this point.  Someone here recently cooked a ridiculous number dishes in a short time so he would be the person to ask.

I found Sverige's last post on the recent thread noteworthy and possibly a reasonable explanation as to why some would reduce the level of spicing non-proportionally, especially the chili.  However, then I recall the video I watched last year of 2 Indian women cooking traditional style and they very clearly stated that the increase for larger preparation was not linear.

I will find the other topic on the same issue and post a link to the other sites referring to this point soon.