Topic: Experienced members base sauce of choice

[Derek Dansak]

Hi Tgad, i would totally endorse all the ideas this chef has shown you. the chef at my local has taught me much the same appraoch, after many many chats about base preperation. the whole spices are quite important for adding subtle depth of flavor. i would stick to that base 100% and work on the actual madras recipe to go with it. see if the chef will give guidance on replicating his madras. having his base sauce is great, but you really need his exact recipe for madras. otherwise its all guess work, which can lead to mistakes. great work though. and an interesting read. cheers

[tgad2007]

HI all, Glad to hear all the feedback.
He said he has tried just buying normal Garam masala from a shop but it doesnt contain all of the things he puts in his, i have looked at several and they contain some, but not all of what he puts in it, he puts quite a lot of cinnamon sticks in as he says that it gives it a very nice aroma and final taste.  I will be finding out various recipes from him in the near future which i will post on here.  He also showed me how to make CTM paste which tastes lovely and sweet even when eaten just with a spoon before even being cooked.  one thing he did show me when cooking a dish was to start  by frying garlic and ginger paste for nearly every dish then adding a little pasata so the following spices didnt burn as he added them.  Anyway he wants me to experiment with using the base to make currys and for him to try in oder to give me further guidance.  When he put the tray of whole spices in the hot cupboard it was about 60degrees and he has that left on at all times, but i think it stays in there for about 10 hours as it then begins to break up very easily.

[joshallen2k]

tgad2007, I'd really be interested in how the CTM paste was made. Could you share?

[JerryM]

tgad2007,

i'd echo DD - your man clearly knows his stuff.

i am making base this weekend and will implement your chef's practises into my norm base. thanks for the oven details.

very best wishes.

[Derek Dansak]

Hi all, interestingly the chef at my local feels boiling up the veg should be a quick affair. around 30 mins. then add the spices for a medium simmer for another 25 mins. then you blend, and thats it. he makes the whole base in about an hour. he advised that a long cook is not his appraoch. i have had excellant results with this quick approach. the spices dont lose too much flavor if you do a quick cook. and the base does not get over boiled leading to unwanted flavors. i actually add the chopped tomatoes (or plum) after 30 mins so they dont get over boiled. heavily stewed tomato can ruin a good base, in my opinion!

[tgad2007]

HI guys, yeah just to back up what DD said, the base was made in about an hour, that was also the reason for chopping the veg up fiely as it takes quicker. I will post the CTM on the main recipes area so we can keep this area just for the base.

[Derek Dansak]

Hi Tgad, its good to get confirmation of the quick cook method. it seems there are 2 approaches used in base cooking. 1) the long cook with lots of oil. 2) the quick cook with less oil. Tgad, can you confirm if your chef adds lots of oil at the frying stage of making each individual dish? the chef at my local uses a little oil in base. but uses about 7 - 9 tbs of oil per dish?  i guess each approach gives slightly different taste. i would be intersted to hear from members (e.g. Jerry!) who might have tried both approaches. what are the merits of each approach? is the final result much the same, or different?

[Cory Ander]

Why do you say there are only two approaches?  What about "the long cook" with little oil and "the quick cook" with lots of oil?

Surely no BIR truly uses a "quick method" of making a base DD (except in desperation perhaps!)!  It's obviously variable!  They make stacks of base, for the session, and it invariably sits there, for several hours on end!

Anyway, to answer your question (and, yes, I have tried all 4 options)..obviously it's a question of which results in the oil absorbing and distributing the most amount of flavour from  the spices throughout the curry.  Therefore, the longer the oil is in contact with the spice the better!

So, to my mind (for a BIR at least), it's lots of oil in the base for a long time.  AND not skimping on the oil in the final curry!

[Cory Ander]

...and why has an "experienced members base sauce of choice" (a "sticky" I might add!) become a discussion on the amount of oil in a base! 

I give up, I really do!  :-X

[tgad2007]

just writing what i was shown and was told. And no DD he didnt overly use a lot of oil in the final curry making