Topic: My Recent Thoughts About Base Gravy

[MonsieurBadgerCheese]

Bonsoir,

For what it's worth, here they are.

I

[Edwin Catflap]

Hi MBC, interesting, would you then use less oil in teh actual curry itself. If so how much oil per portion in total do you think it ends up with?

Cheers

Ed

[Peripatetic Phil]

The second thing that I have considered is the blending of the Base. I believe it is important to blend it to within an inch of it's life! Then blend it some more........and one more time for the road. Then let your smoking blender cool down. Then do it all again. This is not only to achieve a smooth texture, but more importantly to create a true

[redman1212]

Personally I've never had good results with a stick blender, but find that a liquidiser for about 5 minutes per jug gives a pretty smooth, homogenous base sauce. I have tried sieving the final sauce and removed a very small about skins and bits but only tried it once. it didn't make all that much difference to the final dish and 'life is too short....'

[MonsieurBadgerCheese]

Hi MBC, interesting, would you then use less oil in teh actual curry itself. If so how much oil per portion in total do you think it ends up with?

Cheers

Ed

To be honest, I still use a good CHSP of oil for the cook. Hate to think how much oil we end up consuming, but this isn't health-food after all.

MBC

[MonsieurBadgerCheese]

The second thing that I have considered is the blending of the Base. I believe it is important to blend it to within an inch of it's life! Then blend it some more........and one more time for the road. Then let your smoking blender cool down. Then do it all again. This is not only to achieve a smooth texture, but more importantly to create a true

[MonsieurBadgerCheese]

Personally I've never had good results with a stick blender, but find that a liquidiser for about 5 minutes per jug gives a pretty smooth, homogenous base sauce. I have tried sieving the final sauce and removed a very small about skins and bits but only tried it once. it didn't make all that much difference to the final dish and 'life is too short....'

Bonsoir,

I intend to give the liquidiser a go soon. Also considering splashing-out on a proper 'industrial' stick blender

MBC .

[pete]

I must admit that I've paid less attention to the blending stage, than all the other parts of the recipe
I will blend my next attempt really well and see what difference it makes
Because I'm still not totally satisfied with my results either
I've tasted the base at a takeaway after it's been blended (before the reboil)
and it really did taste very nice
Maybe the reboil isn't needed

[Secret Santa]

Maybe the reboil isn't needed

I don't believe it is. I've made bases with and without a  reboil and there's no perceptible difference in the finished curry, so I don't bother now. If you're cooking the curry properly, it's going to get boiled/fried to within an inch of its life anyhow ... so why bother with a reboil at the base stage?

And the reason there's usually a slick of oil sitting on the curry houses' base sauce is because it's a huge pot that sits there simmering slowly for hours as it gradually gets used up in the making of the curries.