Topic: Syed base gravy

[Peripatetic Phil]

Just finished making a new batch of Syed's base gravy, again to spec. but this time using his commercial quantities and scaling down linearly to domestic quantities (7

[Robbo141]

This is definitely my next base, after I use up my last portion of the Instant Pot base I made.  That has been very good for me and produced a couple of very satisfactory results.  I tried Syed

[livo]

Robbo141, your Instant Pot / Pressure cooker should work fine with any base recipe. I haven't tried it with Syed's Base Gravy as it is cooked in about 1 hour start to finish anyway.  You can possibly do it in 30 - 40 minutes with a pressure cooker.  10 minutes or so of Saute mode then put the liquids and spices in before putting the lid down.  Blend it up after 20 minutes or so and then cook a bit longer.  The real benefit of the Instant Pot is the lack of curry splatter on your cook-top.  I'd be reviewing Chewytikka's Soup Pot or Pressure Base 2 video and following his process but using Syed's ingredient list if I was to go that way.

Soup Pot
pressurebase2

[livo]

Just finished making a new batch of Syed's base gravy, again to spec. but this time using his commercial quantities and scaling linearly (no Clover, just ghee).  As you will see, the casserole more-or-less survived the last disaster, and nothing stuck while making this batch, although the bottom of the casserole (inside) is clearly micro-crazed.  Smells good, and no adjustment needed to be made for consistency.

** Phil.

So what are the significant differences between his video and the commercial quantity as you see them Phil?  I'll be interested to see if you feel there is any difference in the curry made using it.

[Peripatetic Phil]

I published my Excel interpolation a few messages ago, Livo

[Donald Brasco]

Oh, I published my Excel interpolation a few messages ago, Livo

[Peripatetic Phil]

the carrot is there for flavour.

Syed says "for colour", but W.T.H. ...

It will be interesting to see how you find a finished curry compares with this version, if you should wish to make one of those you

[livo]

I read it incorrectly as 2/3 instead of 2-3 chef spoons of cream. This means I used "not enough" in my recent micro cook. It means my previous answer to Donald Brasco is out of context. My apology Donald, but I don't think it changes much.  As to your question to Phil, I think the 2-3 chef spoons mentioned by Syed is already the amount used for the 1 kg amount, he demonstrated in the video. I would think that in the commercial quantity he uses more.

In relation to my micro version, instead of 1 tsp, the correct amount would be 1 TBSP or a little bit more.  Will it make much difference? Probably not and it will be my practice to omit it anyway, for the reasons already mentioned (lactose intolerance and the use of cream only in certain dishes).

The main thing is that this Base Gravy is a good one, even with no cream, and it produces great curry using Syed's recipes and Mixed curry powder.  Out of interest I will add some extra cream to the base gravy I have left for my next cook.

[Secret Santa]

On a broader note, has anyone tried using the dry-fry mix powder technique on their usual mix powder rather than Syed's and using that to make what was your previous best (non Syed) curry? If that doesn't make your previous best curry noticeably better then it would suggest the dry-fry method is a red herring.

Or indeed a non dry-fried Syed mix powder could be tried in one of his curries and compared to the same curry with the dry-fry Mix powder.

I have a feeling that any differences that may be noticeable when using the dry-fried Syed mix powder will be down to the actual contents of it, rather than the dry-fry, lacking curry powder as an ingredient as it does compared to nearly all other mix powders.

[livo]

That's a really good question. I haven't done either yet, but it is something I'd given some thought.  There are quite a few variables to explore here. What I can tell you Santa is that with the Bhuna / RJ I cooked the other day I felt there was nothing missing. The dishes had the full restaurant curry taste and aroma.

I guess there is the need to re-cook a single dish using a variety of slight differences in a side by side testing.
Full Syed w/roasted powder. Same with raw Syed powder. Same with own usual powder. Same with roasted own usual powder. So there's 4 to sample for starters.
Then you can try all 4 again using your own usual base gravy (before Syed) or just any different one.
Then you can try Syed pre-cooked chicken V previous method. So there are 16 variations.  32 pieces of pre-cooked chicken in 2 styles. 2 base gravies and 4 micro mixed powders should do the trick.

That sounds like a fun day in the kitchen.  The problems would be how much could you eat and whether you'd be able to really tell any differences due to sensory overload.