Author Topic: My Local Indian Curry Base (Read 30818 times)

ANNAM · « **on:** October 09, 2007, 11:37 AM »

Hi everyone managed to go into my local indian,s kitchen last night ;D
Had a few beers on friday on the way home called in for a curry as you do
and asked them while I was there if I could have a look in the kithcen
They declined but told me to come back on mon night .So last night I went
down about 9 very quiet in there so they let me in the kitchen .
first i asked about there base sauce ,He showed me there finished sauce which
was not as dark as many you see and very thin with a nice layer of oil on top.
Then he showed me a 20 ltr pot which he was prepairing the base in for the next
day.
Not sure of the exact amounts but looked about 15 to 20 onions he told me there
was no ginger in there they add this later when making the dishes ,only about 6
garlic cloves ,red and green peppers,corriander stems ,dried fenugreek,salt and
some tumeric and not sure of the amounts but full nearly to the top whith water
and oil , then when cooked blend this with only one can of tomatoes,that is why
the base sauce is so light in colour. All the rest is added to the dish when
prepairing ,the base sauce is only for speed in the resturant they dont blend
nothing down when cooking at home they just let it boil down for longer so it
brings out a better flavour of the spices.
I asked him where he thought that classic bir taste comes from ,he got out a
thick sauce pan added some ghee then heated it up on the burner and made my
favorite dish :

,whilst doing this he said that its probably from the heat
that they get the oil upto every thing is cooked really quick and not to much is
added at once to keep the cooking temprature high at all times ,the oil in the
base sauce is infused with its ingreedients so at the high heat these are
brought out the amount of oil allows this to get to a very high temp without
it all sticking to the pan so all the flavours are fried into the oil

He finished making the dish then sat me down in the resturant apearing
two minuets later with the dish he had preped for me and some keema rice,spot on
with that amazing bir taste . when i went to leave he told me it was on the
house and was pleased that I took an intrest in how it was all done .
WHAT A RESULT BEST EVENING IVE HAD IN AGES , hope this throws some more light on
taste subject

ANNAM

Secret Santa · « **Reply #1 on:** October 09, 2007, 11:57 AM »

Result ANNAM, not only did you get to see it made, you got it for free! But you didn't tell us what curry he made and what went into it.

ANNAM · « **Reply #2 on:** October 09, 2007, 12:06 PM »

When ive tried to make it myself I will post it on here for you very interesting ingredients in this one but tastes great ANNAM

brum_57 · « **Reply #3 on:** October 09, 2007, 12:41 PM »

excellent post m8 well done

Kev.

Cory Ander · « **Reply #4 on:** October 09, 2007, 01:00 PM »

Great post Annam!

Interesting observations regarding the curry base.

Minimally spiced, fairly light in colour, thin consistency, and oily...versatile....sounds about right to me

I reckon your comments about heat (and maintaining a high/stable temperature) are spot on too......plus the copious amounts of oil "distributing" the flavours.

Like Santa, I'd also be interested to learn more about how he cooked your final dish...please don't delay too long in telling us

Curry King · « **Reply #5 on:** October 09, 2007, 07:09 PM »

Great post always intresting to here actual BIR observations, thanks for sharing

Secret Santa · « **Reply #6 on:** October 13, 2007, 09:45 PM »

Have you made it yet ANNAM? Anything to report?

Davepanir · « **Reply #7 on:** October 14, 2007, 04:08 AM »

Sounds fantastic, Annam! What a friendly chef. Really looking
forward to hearing about your attempt. I'm very much a newbie,
and still stumbling around in the dark. Have to get organised
and try some of the recipes on here!!

ANNAM · « **Reply #8 on:** October 14, 2007, 09:30 AM »

hi everyone im going to make up the base sauce today and then probably try to make the dish mon or tues.I will post some pics of the process

Went in there for a sit down meal last night and I told him that I was going to make it tomorrow ,he makes what he calls masala paste to go in this dish so I asked him what was in it (I will go into this when I post next) he went out in the kitchen and came back with some of this paste in a foil tray ;D enough to make about 4 dishes he told me. It will keep for about 4 days in the fridge but should be ok to freeze some down , cant wait to make this will be very intresting to see how close it comes to the real thing, will it have the taste

will post soon see ya ANNAM

Secret Santa · « **Reply #9 on:** October 14, 2007, 11:49 AM »

Hi ANNAM

That's great news, I can't wait. I'm particularly interested in the masala sauce, I think I know what'll be in it but it'll be interesting to see what you come up with. Keep us posted.