Topic: At what stage to blend the onions?

[haldi]

I've had time to make up a scaled down version, of the curry gravy recipe, I was recently given

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,2093.0.html

I made it with
seven slightly small supermarket onions
400ml cheap supermarket veg oil
1 desertspoon salt
one desertspoon bassaar spice mix
one desertspoon turmeric
two cloves garlic
2 canned tomatoes
a quarter can of chick peas
and water up to the level of the onions

I boiled for about three hours, as instructed
The result was very dissapointing
I had frozen some of the takeaway's curry gravy and compared it to mine
I got the colour and texture, but it missed that extra "yummy" flavour

So what could it be?

Wrong type of onions and oil?

So I bought a 5kg bag of onions from an Asian shop and some KTC oil too.
(The onions were only one pound 20p. Bargain!!!)
I made the recipe again
This time the result was closer, but way too sweet
I mean really sweet, as if I had put in half a cup of sugar.

I ran out of cooking time, so I will have to experiment another weekend
But surely there can be only a couple of variations, in a recipe as simple as this.
How long to boil the onions
Or (dare I say it) the quantity you cook in

Anyhow, I made a really nice ctm with some of the gravy

I heated some skimmed curry gravy oil for a minute
Added a spoon of tomato puree and a splash of curry gravy
Stirred a moment
Added a desertsoon of spice mix
Stirred a minute then added another splash of curry gravy
Added two desertspoon coconut flour, one desertspoon ground almonds, one teaspoon of sugar,1 desertspoon pataks tandoori paste, and a quarter teaspoon red food colour
Stirred for a minute
Then added some thawed out some "home pre made" chicken tikka, and a splash of curry gravy
I cooked for five minutes than added a drop of milk (I'd run out of cream)
Two minutes later and it was ready
The best I have recently made

So, back to the onion theory
At what stage should we blend them
When they have just wilted?
That would bring the cooking time right down
For a six/eight onion base it would be ready in half an hour
Any thoughts?

[brum_57]

What's KTC Oil? just a brand is it?

Kev.

[Graeme]

Hi Brum 57,

I see drums of this oil at the back of BIR's.
its a wholesale oil branded or mfr by a company
called KTC.

[wardy11]

Hi, I also made a curry gravy last night. I used seven onions one carrot half green pepper spice mix plenty of oil etc. simmered onions for about an hour. blended. Didnt pay to much attention to detail and it turned out as good if not better than some of my past efforts which i followed to the word. cheers
                                                              Marc

[haldi]

What's KTC Oil? just a brand is it?

Kev.

It seems to be the only brand of oil that is used in takeaways round here.
If you ever see their rubbish bins, you will notice empty 25 lite barrels of the stuff.
I have noticed that it cooks differently
It gets a "skin" on it after about 15 minutes cooking
I think it is also a source of sweetness too

[parker21]

hi haldi
the salt you add to the onions is to extract the sweetness from them. when you have completed your gravy taste it if too sweet then to counteract the sweetness add salt to taste. if not sweet enough obviously add some sugar again to taste. that way it will not matter how long before you blend. i tend to blend once everything is easily cut with the spoon with the oil still in it then return to the hob to simmer with some water added to begin the process for the oil to rise to the top which probably takes about 30 minutes.

regards
gary

[haldi]

Hi Gary
        I think the time for cooking the onions will affect the end flavour greatly.

Have you ever tried a recipe where you cooked pureed raw onion?
It doesn't matter how long that is cooked, it remains different
It creates a totally different taste, but I think the problem duplicating a restaurant base is two fold.

In the recipe I was given, they cook the curry gravy for about three hours
They have to do this, to get the onions to the cooked stage they want
But while they are doing that, the oil and spices are getting an extended cook too.

So if you just cook your onions till they are done at home, then you won't have cooked the oil/spices for long enough

What do you think?
Maybe if we want to do a scaled down version we should boil water,oil and spices for a couple of hours before adding any onions

Something is definitely different about my "home" version
Theirs is definitely better

       

[parker21]

hi haldi
they have to cook theirs that long because they use a 10kg bag of onions. the key is to possibly cook the whole thing for about 1 1/2hrs indeed boil for that long. then blend add some water and simmer till the oil rises or if you extract some of the oil but not all of it as it helps to preserve the sauce. i tend to blend with the oil still in then add water simmer till the oil rises. but even the chefs at these restaurants making the sauce day in day out get it wrong sometimes having to tweak the sauce at the end as i have said by adding salt or sugar to give the desired results. even if they use the same type of onion each time you can't tell what the cooking will do to it as we all know. remember that not every onion will make you cry if you are chopping them maybe it is not the onions that are giving you the problem but the amount of salt you are adding to the pot. try reducing this to maybe half see how you get on.

regards
gary

ps a friend told me today that one of the local restaurants hhave advertised in the local paper about giving lessons ?20 each lesson  will give more details as soon as i get them.

[haldi]

ps a friend told me today that one of the local restaurants hhave advertised in the local paper about giving lessons 20 pounds each lesson  will give more details as soon as i get them.

I wish somewhere local would do that, round here.
20 pounds sounds good
You'll obviously get the meal too
I look forward to what you find out