Topic: Oil

[wardy11]

Hello all, can anyone please tell me why i dont seem to get my oil seperated to the top of my curries. Have made plenty of dishes from the site with good results but cant understand whats happening with my oil , thanks  marc

[Yousef]

Hi marc,

Could be a few reasons but maybe you are not using enough oil in the pan to start with.
Also when preparing the base sauce that use when making all curries if you did not remove the oil before blending and put back in the base i find you lose it forever.

More oil in the pan at the start of the curry making process should sort you out....

Stew ;D

[Chilli Prawn]

Hi Marc, yes Stew is correct.  You must add lots of oil, and don't use too high a temperature to cook the sauce/spices, e.g. medium should do it. 

Your second point is due to emulsification, if you blend oil and other stuff together it emulsifies and it is very difficult to reverse the effects of this process.  So try and remove as much oil as possible before blending and return it afterwards.  If you add more oil this can also release the emulsified oil, but only in certain circumstances.

You will see lots of input here about the use of heat, and it is crucial you understand why this is imporatnt and when to use the different levels of heat, especially when it involves the cracking of spices.

CP

[Curry King]

As far as heat goes i've only ever seen restaurant chefs use one setting and thats maximum  power 

As the others have said don't hold back on the oil at the start you can always remove it when your finished.

[wardy11]

Thanks for the replies. So are you saying remove oil then blend then use the base or freeze it and use the oil for the finished dish. Hope im not confusing matters cheers marc

[vin daloo]

no, after you blended it add the oil back to the base so its floating on top.

[Cory Ander]

Hi Marc,

I agree that you shouldn't shy away from using lots of oil....either in the curry base, or in the final curry.  As others have said, you can always skim off any surplus oil prior to serving.

As an indicator, I use 700ml of vegetable oil in my curry base (to make 7 litres) and about 150 -200ml of vegetable oil in my final curries (to serve 4)

I never remove the oil from my curry base, before blending it, either (assuming you can actually even see it!).  I find that the oil (from the curry base) rises to the surface, when I'm cooking my final curry, anyway. 

One other thing I believe is important.  The oil will not rise to the surface if you don't cook the curry for long enough and/or cook it at too low a temperature.  There will obviously be a trade off between time and temperature.....i.e. higher temperature, shorter time and vice versa.   

When frying spices (paste) the oil rising to the surface is a good indicator that the water has been driven off and that the spices have been properly cooked.  It should only take a couple of minutes on high heat......longer on medium heat.

...I think this is probably why Darth has success with cooking his curries in an oven....

so:

• lots of oil
• lots of heat
• sufficient time

Hope this helps!?

Regards,

[Chilli Prawn]

Sorry if I confused you Marc, the CK and the guys are right, the medium heat I was referring to was for the base not the final curry which should be high heat.
CP  :-[

[wardy11]

Not at all CP Cheers for the help guys. Plenty of curry to be made over the xmas hols eh!