Topic: Too many layers in base gravies?

[bhamcurry]

Fenugreek, for me, is the essence of BIR, which is why I include it in my base

hi Garp,

Do you add the fenugreek as leaves or ground seeds? Do you add them to the curry or the base gravy? And how much?

Thanks 

[Garp]

Please see previous answers 

[bhamcurry]

Please see previous answers 

do you just eyeball the amount of seeds to grind, or do you consistently do a teaspoon or....? (sorry, this is my nerdy side coming out )

[Garp]

I don't grind them, I buy ground fenugreek 'powder'.

[bhamcurry]

I don't grind them, I buy ground fenugreek 'powder'.

Thanks, Garp. You helped crystallise something for me. I was messing around with leftover spices and there was a "zing!" moment with something in there - it was the ground fenugreek.

I will play around with quantities

[Secret Santa]

@Garp and livo. Well that's interesting, I also recall that Phil rates fenugreek seed as an essential. Interesting because they do nothing for me. I wonder if this is just one more case of us looking for different things when it comes to the BIR flavour. For me they're sort of the Indian version of MSG in Chinese cooking ... lot's of recommendations but fail to impress (me personally).

[Garp]

Thanks, Garp. You helped crystallise something for me. I was messing around with leftover spices and there was a "zing!" moment with something in there - it was the ground fenugreek.

I will play around with quantities

If it's any help mate, I use 2 level teaspoons in a batch of base which serves 6 (300ml per serving).

For me they're sort of the Indian version of MSG in Chinese cooking ... lot's of recommendations but fail to impress (me personally).

MSG doesn't do much for me SS, nor do whole fenugreek seeds, but powdered seeds remind of that aroma I get passing a BIR.

[Peripatetic Phil]

MSG doesn't do much for me SS, nor do whole fenugreek seeds, but powdered seeds remind of that aroma I get passing a BIR.

Exactly right.  If I cook a curry with ground fenugreek, SWMBO complains that "the house stinks like an Indian restaurant".  If I omit the fenugreek, it's just "the house stinks of curry".

** Phil.

[livo]

A long time ago, pre BIR, I'd been cooking Indian without fenugreek and enjoying it. My wife wanted to cook a dish from a recipe that called for fenugreek. We had a glass jam jar full of seeds that had sat unused for ages so I took the required amount and ground them for her using a mortar and pestle. I still remember the senses being lit up by the dish.  I don't remember what the dish was but I remember the fenugreek aroma and taste.

Also pre BIR, I had never heard of Kasoori Methi.  The aroma of these two ingredients from the same plant mean Indian to me now. I love the stuff.

[Bob-A-Job]

I had also been missing something in my curries and despite cooking for several years, I just couldn't get it right.

It was a casual remark that I made at one of our local asian supermarkets that prompted me to try some fresh fenugreek and instantly I got the aroma that I was missing, that I usually get as I walk through certain neighbourhoods.

Whilst we 'eat with our eyes' we also 'taste with our nose' and for me, that is a generous supplement of fenugreek... I have even started adding a small amount to onion bharji's.

BAJ.