Topic: Portion amounts

[davidandbess]

Show me a small batch of base sauce recipe without trying to downsize an original one
Regards D/B

[Vinda looo]

You could try mine, its always been ok for me. I was the same as yourself not really wanting to make a large amount of base, mainly in case it didn't turn out and the whole thing was ruined, oh yes and I didn't have a big enough pot. Still I have always managed to produce an eatable curry with it. Have a look at some of the photos Ive posted to give you an idea of the base and main curry.

[George]

Show me a small batch of base sauce recipe without trying to downsize an original one

But it's easy! Just divide by a certain number.  I took MarkJ's base sauce down from 30 onions to 2 onions, so I divided everything by (surprise, surprise) 15.  Use a calculator as need be.

Regards
George

[andy2295]

Hi,

You cannot scale down. When will this get through. If you could scale down we would not produce in the quantities we do. What would be the point.

Andy

[davidandbess]

but surely Andy there must be a way, especially in the base sauce area

[George]

You cannot scale down. When will this get through. If you could scale down we would not produce in the quantities we do. What would be the point.

Of course you can scale down! I suggest the real question is whether a sample of, in my example, a 30 onion full scale prep of the MarkJ base tastes as good as my scaled-down 2 onion version. I haven't made or tasted the 30 onion version. All I can report is that the 2 onion version tastes so good to me, I'd be amazed if many other bases or quantities could get much better. Simple logic and 'scientific awareness' also leads me to believe the pro-rata reduction approach is sound.

Why would it make sense for you to scale down if you are running a busy BIR? That's why I believe most BIRs prepare base in large quantites, and I reckon it's just about the only reason.

Regards
George

[davidandbess]

This would be my sentiments also, the more you make the less it cost and the more profit
Regards D/B

[haldi]

I think things do cook differently if done in a larger quantity
I'm not sure what the "cut off" point is though
I am certain the sample takeaway bases, I have got, were better than what I make
I don't think they are doing anything different to us

For instance if you cooked a whole chicken in the oven for two hours, you would get a very different result to cooking just a chicken breast for the same time

You would have to adjust the cooking time for one thing

If you made a full size curry gravy , some places cook it for four hours
That must affect the oil,onions and spices in a very different way

[Curry King]

There are lot's of factors that could affect it not just scaling down, for instance a pot of gravy from the night before is added to the fresh new one, a BIR sauce may sit bubbling away on a low heat all afternoon etc...   I can't belive that by halving a recipe you are some how losing "the taste", but then again until you make the full scale and smaller version side by side we will never know 

[George]

I think things do cook differently if done in a larger quantity

Haldi

I agree with you for some things but not for base sauce!

>For instance if you cooked a whole chicken in the oven for
>two hours, you would get a very different result to
>cooking just a chicken breast for the same time

Yes, but that's because a chicken breast requires a much shorter cooking time than other parts of a chicken. When I scale down 30 onions to 2 onions it's a completely different situation.

>You would have to adjust the cooking time for one thing
Yes for chicken breast (10 mins) and whole 1.3Kg chicken (1.25 hours, typically) but not when cooking base sauce. Likewise, 20 chicken breasts in an oven would still take only 10 mins to cook.

>If you made a full size curry gravy , some places cook it for four hours
You can also cook a 2 onion base sauce for four hours. There's no difference.

>That must affect the oil,onions and spices in a very different way
Yes there will be a difference between cooking a 2 onion base sauce for (a) 30 mins and (b) 4 hours.

Another example - large scale industrial processes are used for cooking cakes that you buy in packets from shops.They normally taste less than good, whereas a home made cake with 2 eggs can taste much, much better, in my opinion.

Regards
George