Topic: rajver vindaloo sauce - new chef/ and base sauce recipe

[onion]

bearing in mind that this recipe is at the moment unique to this site and this site only!

Hi Gary

I do not subscribe to any other sites.

Onion

[Yousef]

Made this base the other day, left out the coconut and i can not for the life of me find Rajah madras Curry Powder anywhere so used regular supermarket stuff.
I thin i did not cook the onion for long enough as the sauce has a real bitter taste.  To overcome this i just added sugar...this made all the difference to the base and this is a tip anyone can try.

I will always add sugar to my base now.
Very pleased with this base sauce.

[ast]

Gary,

Quick question about this base (and any other one that uses the "fill pot to the top with onions" measurement.  I have to assume that this is referring to whole, peeled onions and not chopped onions.  If it isn't, that's a boatload of chopped onions to fill a 15L pot!

The reason I ask this is I'm trying to figure out roughly what proportions that might be.  Also, for you or anyone else who has made this base, did you just make educated guesses as to the amounts you specify (e.g. 5 onions, etc.), or are these based on proportions given to you by the chef?

Actually, I was wondering something else too... why is there no mention of the chillies, carrot or the coriander in the first description which, I'm assuming, came from the chef?  Are these actually used by Rajver, or were they additions based on personal preference?

Sorry for so many questions, and thanks in advance.

[JerryM]

Gary so far so good (and i mean brill).

I've got the sauce made and I've never spent so much time tasting as i moved through the stages. i normally make KD and find your's a real deluxe base.

i think the green pepper really makes a difference. i think cooking the onions for a longish time is needed to make sure their sweet. i use coconut milk quite a lot in other cooking and amazed how it's taste disappears but clearly adds character.

i did not use turmeric as i don't like it. i did not add the ground chillie at the curry powder stage (i added 3 dried red chillies instead of the green earlier and they gave it sufficient kick). i also reduced the oil to 8 tbsp and did not thereby need to remove any later. I also picked up on one of your posts and sieved the tin of toms which i am sure improves the sweetness. i used my own garam which is based around KD. i particularly like the cooking of the garam which effectively made the base spiced but very well balanced.

i need to make your madras before i finally proclaim you a star but you're almost their. my expectations are very very high.

many many many thanks for your efforts.

[parker21]

yes carrot and coriander but no chillies
regards
gary

[JerryM]

Gary,

your info is totally spot on. premier league status for sure.

have made about 6 test madras curries (about 200ml).

the 1st was using my normal method (oil in med/hot pan, then base sauce, then spice mix, then just before serve a little garam). i found your sauce to be much better than my normal KD. importantly it did not need the garam which has been a real problem in that in getting a spiced dish i could not get an even spice (something however much i change the garam ended up sticking out and spoiling the overall flavour)

the 2nd was your method (and probably closest to your instructions). the garlic did not brown but did release the rawness smell. i got the "toffee" smell which i prefer to call "choking" as to me the smell is nothing like toffee but very much a desired smell. i don't think i simmered for the 5 mins though and tasters complained that fine chopped garlic was still hard.

3rd go i got the garlic slightly brown and left the choking smell develop a little longer but again failed to let simmer enough to Cook the garlic through. this had the taste of takeaway/restaurant standard.

then i went totally wrong. i make pizza myself and pre cook the garlic to avoid it being hard. this ruined the choking smell. the curries were still good but now clearly dropped a league.

conclusions:
1) i am sold on this and the need for toffee smell as you call it.
2) the garlic must be raw and only cooked on medium heat until rawness smell gone (quite quick).
3) full heat is used to cook the water puree spice mix to get the toffee smell
4) essential to simmer for 5mins to get the garlic to cook through
5) i would not put chilli in the base as this reduces cooking stage flexibility
6) the existence of garam in the base gives good spice at cooking stage without anyone spice overpowering the rest

possible changes not really. i like garlic and i did put 1/4 bulb in the base which i think i would increase next time to a full bulb. still retaining the pinch at cooking stage. i am not sure on the absence of ginger but did not miss it. the only mix i buy is a tandoori masala which i use only for chicken either tikka or coated for use on pizza. i might just try this instead of spic mix to change from madras curry to tikka masala curry.

for info my spice mix is LB's Balti book (2 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp chilli, 1 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tsp coriander, 1 tsp cumin).

Gary, just one question - would a finer chopped garlic be better ie from a mixer rather than by hand (not puree though as i appreciate this i think would be no good)

[ast]

yes carrot and coriander but no chillies
regards
gary

Hi Gary,

Thanks for the clarification on the ingredients.  This is a base I really want to try, so I was just curious how you came to the proportions described from the original you saw, that's all.  It's ok if you made educated guesses, btw, I was just wanting to be as accurate as possible.

Unfortunately, that's just how I am...

Jerry,

I too found Gary's recommended cooking procedure to be the business in terms of getting the best curries so far (even with the KD base).  The one thing that I did differently was to make a paste of the dry spices and his recommended amount of base first instead of doing it in the pan.  I added this after browning some garlic in the hot oil and fried until "the smell" (which I find hard to classify as "toffee" either) and then a bit more before adding the rest of the base and meat.

Having done it by frying the dry spices when making SnS's Saffron Madras, I think I prefer to make the paste beforehand.  I intend to make a paste in my next iteration of that to see if it makes a difference to the taste, but I do think it makes things slightly easier to manage without as much chance of burning the spices (which, fortunately, I've managed to avoid so far...).

Cheers,

ast

[JerryM]

Ast, totally agree with your thoughts. thanks jerry

[parker21]

hi ast
 it is the only smell that comes to mind and that comes from talking to chef. it is a toffee type smell.

glad the method and gravy worked for you

regards
gary

[Panpot]

Just back on the site after roughly a year and have found this thread and base sauce. I am at the cooking the onions stage and I am genuinely looking forward to the results.

Can I pick up on the camping gas idea deeper within that Gary has mentioned. I currently use a ceramic hob and to be honest it's not great, however I have often wondered about this camping burner idea myself.

I see Gary got a result with a really cheap one. Are you still using it or have you upgraded to a bigger or more elaborate one? I can get my hands on the type I have seen on TV from an Asian store locally here in France and intend to have a go.

Back in Glasgow where I come from there is a number of places where you can see the chefs using there massive gas rings blasting the tiny individual pans as they cook and often of course the contents catch fire which seems to be part if the process. So I will have a go within the next couple of weeks with the camping stove one way or the other and will report back. If anyone else cares to comment on camping stove experience I will look forward to hearing from you. Cheers Panpot.