Topic: Smaller portion for home?

[livo]

Top of Page 9 George says 2 Tsp of tomato puree.

https://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=279.80

Depending on actual puree, pasata, double or triple concentrate paste it could vary but I'd suggest 2 tsp of puree / pasata or water diluted concentrate.

I'm still looking for coriander but it is a love hate thing anyway.

What goes with the bay leaf George? Not a listed ingredient but you say to remove before liquidating. Page 9 is first mention of Bay leaf I can see.

So 1 heaped chef spoon of tomato "paste" (assume double concentrate) would scale to 1 tsp or George's 2 tsp of puree.

1 whole bunch of coriander would scale down to about 1/2 cup of chopped down here.

And the chef in markj's recipe does add chicken stock. His own.

Right at the very end,  p 19, is a scaled down 10 onion version. Scale it down further and you get pretty close to this thread 2 onion sauce. Knorr liquid chicken stock concentrate.

https://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=279.180

I'll give it a try.

Now George! The bay leaf? And did you nail the BIR Korma? (I'm reading the thread now.)

[Peripatetic Phil]

Page 9 of which thread, Livo ?

[livo]

Page 9 of which thread, Livo ?

Mark J's base thread.  The one you linked to. I was using tablet so not easy to do copy paste for links etc.

https://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=279.80

There appears to be a bit of a question mark over the linear scaling of the oil.  The concern being the amount in volume compared to the required depth in the pan to attain "deep frying" as opposed to "shallow frying".  I guess if you do deep you can always skim off once cooked.

There are interesting points about this base gravy that aren't in others. To mention;
1) Chilli. Even though not enough to give heat, and a mild is used anyway, most have none.
2) Garam Masala.  Widely variable and a very strong influence in flavour. Easy to overdo.
3) Celery.  I have used celery before but it isn't a common vegetable in Base Gravy recipes. See note # below.
4) Chicken Stock.  There are Base Gravy threads that refer back to "Old School BIR" with the chicken bones. (Pre vegetarian / vegan rights)
5) The Frying Stage. This as opposed to the throw in and boil method.  Not unique but not commonly seen in most recipes.
6) Curry Powder.  The use of a Curry Powder and extra turmeric as opposed to a Chef's Kitchen "Mixed Powder".  However this could be accounted for by the inclusion of the Garam Masala.

Note #. Celery.  Celery stick is a common ingredient is most soup stock.  Onion, Carrot and Celery.  Napolitano sauce recipe uses it including the top leafy section, for flavour.  I have a recipe for Anda Bhurji which says substitute Celery leaf for Fresh Kasoori Methi if not available.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Ah, there is no page nine in that thread when viewed on a PC !  Last page is page four.

[livo]

Mine goes up to page 19 Phil. Tablet and PC.

"Talked about Base Sauce with Take away owner and Chef"  started by Mark J in 2005.

[Peripatetic Phil]

I see only pages one to four, with page-4 ending :

Thank you very much Mark, I will have a go with this soon along with Darth's darkside base.

Happy Cooking
CP

** Phil.

[Madrasandy]

How to double a recipe, same principle for downsizing

Multiply your spices, like salt, pepper and cinnamon, by 1.5 times the original recipe. If your recipe calls for 2 tsp. (12.2 g) of salt, you now need 3 tsp. (18.3 g) of salt.

Increase chili peppers and other hot spices by 1.25 times the original recipe. This includes curry powders, garlic powders and fresh hot peppers.

Increase salty, peppery and concentrated sauces by 1.5 times the original amount. If a sauce has alcohol in it, you may want to only increase it by 1.25 times

[livo]

I see only pages one to four, with page-4 ending

** Phil.

That is reply number 184 which appears on Page 19 for me. Check reply number 80.

MA,  I believe in and use non-linear scaling when upsizing to bulk quantities in preparing spiced final dishes. All of my research, advice and personal experience leads to this being the case and it isn't as straight cut as some would like it to be.  There isn't a universal fail safe factor by which to multiply or divide every ingredient.  There are helpful guides.

Base gravy, on the other hand, is usually so weakly spiced that it is able to be scaled up or down by a common factor without any significant problems.  The finished product will still make an acceptable curry.

Is a 2 onion batch exactly the same as a 30 onion batch? Probably not. Can you still use it? Of course.

There are some people who refuse to believe one principle or the other. I feel that there is a need for both linear and non-linear scaling and each has a place.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Check reply number 80.

Gotcha

[livo]

As I can't use the quote function in the archived section this is copy and paste.

Quote: Andy2295  Jan 06 2007: found here https://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1476.0

"Basic curry base/ gravy.

As the chefs have an eye for visual measurement using their cooking spoon, we decided to weigh out all of the separate ingredients one evening while we made up a batch of base sauce/gravy. Please do NOT try to half the recipe amounts listed here as the results are not the same. We tried it! By all means proportion out to get a reduced stock but pure halving of ingredients is no good."

Andy's Base gravy is quite a complex affair, and more so than any other I've attempted. Despite the specific warning of not directly halving, I actually did deliberately just that to test the theory. I even went out and bought a large Mooli Radish and ended up tossing the other half.  Without having done a side by side of the full quantity and the half quantity, I cant say anything to them being the same or not.  What I can say is that directly halving the recipe quantity still produced a perfectly acceptable and usable Base Gravy.

If this is the case with a Base Gravy as complex as this then it is surely the case for a much simpler and less spiced recipe.

Unfortunately, Andy2295 never explained what he meant by proportion out the ingredients to get a reduced quantity, but it can be sure that he was referring to a non-linear approach to scaling.  The recipe calls for 5 large carrots. I only used 2 1/2.