Topic: Bases: Fried onions vs boiled onions?

[nice 'n easy]

Hi all, first post but have done a fair bit of reading 

Normally I make my curries from scratch rather than make a base, however yesterday I made a load of DarthPhall's base and (slightly modified) madras and it was very very good. So I am a convert to first making loads of base and then making whatever curry around it. I also like the addition of carrots and celery which I don't normally do.

Anyway, I already make a damn good curry ; that's pretty close to a BIR, but I start by chopping onions super finely (so no need to blend) and then gently frying them for 45 minutes with garlic/ginger until caramelised, then adding spices, meat etc etc. I also thought the key to an authentic curry was the way you fried the onions, so I was quite surprised to see that in most of the bases you basically just boil them for an hour or so.

So what's the pros and cons of frying vs boiling do you think? Do yu get the same rich sweetness do you think?

[mike travis]

Hi nice`n`easy,  welcome to cr0. I also start my curries by slowly frying some onions, but I then blend them and re-fry them along with ginger/garlic and tomato puree. This I believe gives the sweet `chutney` texture that is similar to a BIR curry. I also believe that a base sauce is made up of cheap ingredients, such as boiled onions and carrots to `bulk` up the finished curry. If you are talking about `Authentic`,rather than BIR curries, there is no need for a base sauce as the curry is left to simmer for maybe up to an hour. This would not be possible in a restaurant. I look forward to hearing from you soon...regards.. mike

[Cory Ander]

Hi NnE and welcome to cr0! 

You might find this previous discussion helpful:  http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,1095.0.html

[chinois]

If you are talking about `Authentic`,rather than BIR curries, there is no need for a base sauce as the curry is left to simmer for maybe up to an hour. This would not be possible in a restaurant.

Indeed, authentic indian home cooked curries are v different to our takeaway ones (and probably different to their restaurants/fast food too). A lot of the rules/tips i first learnt (including that one) turned out to be for authentic indian and actually didnt apply to the BIR food i was trying to cook.

[nice 'n easy]

Thanks people, yeah actually by authentic I meant authentic BIR 

[JerryM]

I don't think the "when" matters only that frying does occur. I work off 2 cook books for the base (KD and Balti by Lynette Baxter). The end result after the final cooking stage from both in terms of sweetness is the same. the KD base (onions boiled) is quite bland and needs the final cooking stage to get the taste. The LB base (fried onions) has a lot more spice in the base and tastes almost the finished product at the base stage and hardly needs the final cooking stage.

[Bangra]

I have had most sucess with a combination of both ( just to be awkward He He ) Ie put oil and water in the same pot