Topic: Madras Base Sauce

[lorrydoo]

Hi Mike thanks for your advice, I will have a look at making your curry when I next get a break from work.  I was telling Curry King the other day about my obsession to recreate my local takeaway curry and how I bought a porion of plain Madras sauce and put it through a sive to find out what solids where in it!!  Crazy I know but such is my obssession lateley.

The only thing I could identify was curry leaves (dried) onion and the skin of either a capsicum and/or a green chilli.  There were also a few very small seeds, the same as cumin but smaller. 

Last week my wife asked the take away what they put in the Madras, as you would imagine, they remained tight lipped!  All they would say is that it was a grayy that had spices in it and when pushed the guy said there were too many spices to mention as there where litrally hundreds in it, so he claimed.  I doubt very much there are, and think it is probbably less then we think.

My latest thinking is that they start with or use at some point, real chicken gravey or a form of chicken stock that exudes a genuine chicken flavour.  This is coupled with pureed onions as we already know and there is also a tomato element also, possibly reduced passata.  This is then spiced and somewhere along the line garic and ginger are added.  In my mind, these are the basic componets in a bIR curry but their proportion and timing are a bit of a mystery.

[lorrydoo]

Forgot to mention, after leaving the Madras sauce in the fridge over night, I asked my daughter to smell it, she imediatley said "that smells like gravy and chips."  and a bit like a sunday dinner.  This could be something and does point toward the use of real chicken gravy.

[mike travis]

Hi Lorrydoo,  the base sauce could be as simple as a chicken gravy as you say. The point I was trying to make is that I think the base sauce is just added to make up the amount of finished sauce, its what is done prior to adding it that I think is a key.

I cooked a Chicken Curry tonight using a portion of Onion`s base sauce. Now, Onion`s base sauce is somewhat of a time consumer (no disrespect to Onion) but the end result is more like a curry sauce than a base sauce and it does produce a very nice curry. Stew`s base is less time consuming but I found it to be similar to Onion`s(no disrespect stew) (more curry than base/very nice curry). Darths`s base on the other hand, is simple, uses cheap ingredients,looks more like a broth than a curry and makes a large quantity. This is the sort of thing I imagine a BIR kitchen to use.

I fried some onions for at least 35Min's until they were dark brown (not burnt)then added ginger/garlic and chilli's. After a few Min's added some spices/a little chicken stock,base sauce then chicken/tomatoes. Result, very nice.

I think next curry I do I will boil some onions and blend them, then fry them until brown and see what difference it makes.

It is frustrating.     ;D

[Cory Ander]

Am I making any sense or talking rubbish? 

.....or still simply talking to yourself perhaps?

.....who's a pretty boy then!  ;D

[mike travis]

Hi CA,  I have spent a while talking to my self, talking to myself. If it wasn't for the other pretty boy in the cracked mirror I would have lost the plot ages ago  . Cheers mate 

[Secret Santa]

sort of in reply to the gravy and chips post.

I can say for sure that the sort of authentic BIR curry i am used to never smells anything other than a BIR curry, wheteher frozen mashed or whatever.

It's a very distinctive taste/aroma and always lingers in the oil left on the plate.

What really worries me is that some of the more inferior curries, those like andy 10 years produces are actually now making their way to my town, arghhh.

this is really depressing