Topic: KD-base/PT

[livo]

Thanks for this explanation Phil.
I will try this method for my next base, as I have previously had no luck with the KD Curry secret base,
It always smelled awful and tasted like boiled sick, so was quickly thrown away.

You must be doing something wrong for any base gravy to give a result like that.  Base gravy will not in itself be a delicious sauce but it should certainly not have the awful characteristics you describe. Base gravy needs to be edible even if a little bland.  Recheck your spice quantities. Excessive use of Turmeric is what leaps to the front of my mind from your description.

[livo]

Hello, why would you remove your tasty oil from your gravy please? I believed restaurant curry is requiring the additional oil to fry rather than boil a curry. Would you explain please.

Excess oil is often skimmed from the base gravy and after finished dish preparation. Some oil is required to be left in the end curry but the amount is subject to personal preference.  This excess oil is often kept, as spiced oil, and used in the prep of actual curry dishes. The repeated process of adding and removing oil builds extra spice depth in the reclaimed oil and hence the dishes cooked. 

Do a search for spiced oil.  Oil content in base gravy is widely discussed on the forum. You will never be able to reclaim 100% of the oil in the base gravy and you wouldn't want to.

[Peripatetic Phil]

I don't remove any oil from the base (apart from anything else, a good film of oil on the surface will help to prevent the base from festering when stored at room temperature), but I do remove some oil from the finished dish if it appears excessive..  There certainly needs to be some  oil on the finished dish. but not so much as to drown it ...

** Phil.

[CarpCarp]

I don't remove any oil from the base (apart from anything else, a good film of oil on the surface will help to prevent the base from festering when stored at room temperature), but I do remove some oil from the finished dish if it appears excessive..  There certainly needs to be some  oil on the finished dish. but not so much as to drown it ...

** Phil.

Hello, why would you remove your tasty oil from your gravy please? I believed restaurant curry is requiring the additional oil to fry rather than boil a curry. Would you explain please and why advise changing recipe.
Thanks

Phil I was hopeful for this response,  I read it’s your preferred base gravy. Your advice makes complete sense to me and mirrors my findings. Removing oil from base to add back to base gravy can’t be correct or productive   :  on a brighter note my KD books arrived today.
Thanks for sharing.

[Peripatetic Phil]

My pleasure, and sorry for the delay in replying

[CarpCarp]

My pleasure, and sorry for the delay in replying — I had to drive some 700 miles (in total) to attend a funeral, so was away for a few days.

** Phil.

Phil as this is your KD thread I will assume the topic of KD individual spicing for curry is relevant, can I ask your opinion on the subject of spicing please. Would your experience advise following KD

[livo]

 
Can't wait to see where this goes.

[Peripatetic Phil]

For most of my BIR life I have followed Kris Dhillon's advice and used individual spices (although I tend to use rather more than she recommends), and I have never understood the logic of using a so-called "mix powder" that contains "curry powder", itself variable and a virtual unknown.  However, when I was in Abu Dhabi I picked up some commercial pre-made masalas by a company called Mehran

[livo]

Good answer Phil.  There appears to be agreement that the KD base gravy is a good one but the approval of her dish recipes is not quite as solid. I guess a personal choice needs to be made as to whether to proceed down the individual spice route or use blended powders. I see a use for both in different situations.

You raise a point that did my head in when I first started this "hobby".  To my mind the inclusion of a "curry powder" as an ingredient to make "curry powder" was just so utterly confusing. It made no sense to me at all.  Why not just give the ratio formula of the individual spices to go into the final powder and make it?  It's like using a word in the definition of that same word. I struggled to understand it but eventually realised that it just didn't really matter.  I had to ignore my inner brain squirming around in discomfort and accept that this is just the way BIR is done. It's the end result that matters.  The food on the plate.

I regularly research and experiment with masala blends, mixed powders and pastes.  I've recently found 2 different formula for Madras Curry Powder that I will try out very soon.  One in particular. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24CfBr5t1Fs  It is claimed by the presenter to be identical to the brand commonly found in "the green can",  This could be one of at least 5 different labels packaged in green cans being, Ship, Camel, Indian Classic, Kitchen Xpress or Mother's Recipe.  Probably Mother's Recipe but the mystery has me hooked.  I've tried some proprietary masalas that are terrible and others that are amazingly good.

To put the discussion back on topic, I read this thread from late 2005 to early 2008 on the KD Base Gravy.  http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=579.0. I can see that you have tweaked her recipe only very slightly Phil.   I'm puzzled by reply number 8, page 1, where out of nowhere comes the question of how long you can keep spice oil.  There is no prior mention of reclaiming spice oil from this base gravy.

This short 1 page thread from 2006 gives a chefs opinion (Spanish Indian Restaurant) of the ingredient ratios in the KD base. It is quickly derailed though into a discussion about Lemon Juice in CTM and Mustard seeds in Madras. http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=695.0.  The key points made by the chef was not enough tomato and no seasoning as in Garam Masala. Once you start adding more onion, as he also suggested, you just get into a larger quantity overall which the OP has covered.

[CarpCarp]

A good read Livo, it seems extra/hot