Topic: New Base Gravy from visit to Saffron

[ast]

Now why couldn't you have just said "waterline"   Damn posh technical jargon..... ;D
Why yes, now that you mention it, that would be quite handy!

I'm ex-Royal Navy Ast ! (no jokes about sailors please).

Yeah, well... *and* your from *that* side of the Atlantic too.... Ok, so technically it's "this side" now that I live in Ireland, but I'd still never heard it called anything other than a waterline before.

When I get round to "trimming up" the "final" recipe I think the amount of water added to the veg will be a measured volume.

Probably a good idea.  However, I was pleased that I managed to end up with almost exactly 4.6L--a number nice and easily divisible by 200ml!  Not sure what it did to the taste though.

BTW, as far as I'm aware, tomato puree comes in three strengths (?), I wonder how much each of these strengths affects the final curry taste. Which did you use for your vindaloo?

Mine's Roma double concentrate in the tube.  After getting tired of throwing out the small cans because I didn't use it for anything but the KD base, I figured it was a better solution.  I honestly didn't pay attention to the strength when I bought it.  Packaging was the primary selection criteria.  Varying the amount is one of the things I want to play with since I'm not sure quite what it does to the final taste either.

Speaking of the final version, you did catch my note about the amount of salt and to identify the mass of the garlic and ginger puree, right?  I know it was sorta buried in all that exposition...

I used the French Exquisa potatoes because that's all the shop had that were classified as salad potatoes.  They're a little smaller than the Charlotte ones, so I probably could've used 2x as much without problem, but they seem to be about right in terms of solidity and lack of disintegration into unidentifiable mush.  With all the potatoes we get over here, I'd be surprised if I can't get Charlottes now that I know what to look for.

Next time I do it, I think I'll leave out the carrot and see what happens to the taste.  The single pepper diluted and cooked didn't seem to bother my wife, but the carrot would be pretty hard on my mother if I ever want to make it for her.  She's never eaten much Indian food of any kind, and I'd hate to make her sick on the first go.

I think I'll try and find the right paprika too.  Thanks for the reminder CQ.

[SnS]

Speaking of the final version, you did catch my note about the amount of salt and to identify the mass of the garlic and ginger puree, right?  I know it was sorta buried in all that exposition...

Yes I did note your observation Ast. I'm afraid I got carried away with those pesky grams again. Should of course be ml (volume). I don't think it makes much difference to the final outcome. "Slight errors" in the recipe will of course be ironed out (later).

So what is the weight of 2 tablespoons of garlic/ginger puree anyway?

I used the French Exquisa potatoes because that's all the shop had that were classified as salad potatoes.  They're a little smaller than the Charlotte ones, so I probably could've used 2x as much without problem, but they seem to be about right in terms of solidity and lack of disintegration into unidentifiable mush.  With all the potatoes we get over here, I'd be surprised if I can't get Charlottes now that I know what to look for.

I know the Charlotte salad spuds are definately available in Tescos and Sainsbury stores.

Regards

SnS  ;D

Sorry about the carrot thing - didn't mean for you to poison your mother (Mother-in-law : ?)

[ast]

So what is the weight of 2 tablespoons of garlic/ginger puree anyway?

I've no idea.  I was trying to get as close to 15g of each as I could, figuring that at least it was even, it would be ok, based solely on the KD proportion (which I know some people disagree with).  Since I was chipping off hunks of frozen puree, I didn't bother to see how much actually fit in the measure.  I'll try to remember to check next time I make some puree, but I've still got about 3/4 of what I made left.

Anyone else have some handy?

I used the French Exquisa potatoes because that's all the shop had that were classified as salad potatoes.  They're a little smaller than the Charlotte ones, so I probably could've used 2x as much without problem, but they seem to be about right in terms of solidity and lack of disintegration into unidentifiable mush.  With all the potatoes we get over here, I'd be surprised if I can't get Charlottes now that I know what to look for.

I know the Charlotte salad spuds are definately available in Tescos and Sainsbury stores.

We don't have Sainsbury here, but there's a Tesco not too far away.  We don't go there very often, though.  There's a couple of other places we use which are closer (and one of them even delivers for free), but I'm sure they carry them too.

Sorry about the carrot thing - didn't mean for you to poison your mother (Mother-in-law : ?)

Not to worry.  The whole reason I stumbled across the forum in the first place was when I was there visiting for Christmas, I got hungry for a curry but I forgot my KD recipes.  Where I grew up, there's only one mediocre Chinese restaurant and the nearest Indian (of any kind) is at least 45 miles away.  She's not heading over for a few months, so at the rate I'm going, I've no fear that the current batch of base will be gone by then!

Besides, like I said, I'm curious what it will do for the taste.  I didn't miss the salt in the KD base when I left it out, so maybe the carrot isn't contributing that much to this one.  Since my mother's allergic to carrots and you become aware of this sort of thing, it's most surprising where they turn up.  Lots of restaurant dishes use them as filler and color more than anything, but I'm sure it adds something - however slight - to the taste here.

We shall see...

[cheesyknob]

I used 1.25kg of onions (10x British cooking onions, unpeeled weight) and Charlotte potatoes that are readily available from Tesco.

Hi Cheesyknob

Welcome to the forum and a great first post.

Be great to hear more feedback from other curries you try using the Saffron base gravy.
Glad you enjoyed it. 

Can you just confirm that the weight of the 10 onions of 1.25 kg was UNPEELED and not peeled please. Just gathering relevant information for the final "trimmed up" recipe. Thanks.

Regards

SnS ;D

Hi smokenspices

To confirm I used 1.25kg of unpeeled onions (approx 1kg peeled weight) - this equated to 10 onions.

Regards

[SnS]

Hi Chaps

Took some advice from Jeera's recent results.

For prawn & mushroom Madras (for the better half):-

0.75 tsp turmeric and coriander
0.5 tsp chilli powder
0.5 tsp cumin
0.25 tsp garam masala (added separately immediately before the gravy and tomato puree)

Also added 1 tsp dried methi and some coriander leaf + stems.

Results - much better, full of flavour, best curry she's had in years.

I had prawn & mushroom Vindaloo:-

Same as above except 1 heaped tbsp chilli and left out the garam masala. Added 1 tbsp wine vinegar and 2 tspn sugar. Cooked about 10 minutes but had to add a little water.

Results - bloody hot but really nice flavour. Less vinegar next time. (picture below)

Dried Methi made quite a noticeable difference. More coriander and turmeric, less cumin gave a slightly sweeter taste but less aroma. Might also increase cumin to 0.75 tsp next time.


Regards

SnS  ;D

[extrahotchillie]

Made this base last night and followed the instructions to the letter, scooped off the froth and the oil floated exactly as stated. It did look like a thin soup and tasted quite bland. However, I cracked on with it and made the Madras as per the recipe; what can I say, probably the worst curry I have made in years for me this is not as good as Kris Dhillon's (curry secret) base which I feel I surpassed years ago (although KD's base was a great starting point).

AS far as I am concerned the best base to date is ifinforu's (A great curry base recipe)I get superb results every time.

I thank you for the recipe and you can't really comment unless you make the effort and try it, as I did. If others on this site are happy with this recipe then I am pleased for them, thats what makes this site great, helping oneanother.

Curry on

EHC





 

[ast]

Hi EHC,

That's really weird.  Can you post some pictures?

The base I got both before and after blending (without adding the extra water) was very flavorful and had a very subtle sweetness about it.  After adding the extra water, it was still there, but much more subtle.  However, I wouldn't call it bland--unless you mean in terms of heat.

Terry's ifindforu base is one of the next ones I'm planning on trying, but in looking at it, I don't think it's a million miles from this one, and the same goes for the rajver one (the other one in a dead heat to be tried next).  I haven't yet made either, so I'm willing to be proven wrong.

After making about a curry/day since Sunday with it, I'm still quite pleased with the results.  Sorry it didn't work for you, but, as you say, diversity of opinion is what this site's all about.

ast

[Secret Santa]

what can I say, probably the worst curry I have made in years

So I haven't completely lost my sense of taste then. To be fair though my comments were based on the guinea pig version (i.e. the wrong version, which I appeared to be the guinea pig for) and I might eventually get around to trying the modified version, although I notice that SnS himself is now modifying the madras recipe to more along the lines that I would take, so I think this one is still up in the air. Just shows you how far apart our individual expectations are for that BIR flavour and doesn't bode well for our proposed "standard" BIR curry!

[extrahotchillie]

Hi AST

What I am saying is that this base in my opinion did not live up to my expectations, there is a lot of people on the site that are very happy with it, but its is not for me.

I think you will find, (ifindforu's) base a lot different to the base you posted, lots more spices, garlic, ginger etc I get great results everytime and consistently reproduce the smell and taste that I had been seeking for many a year. I personally think a lot of what I am producing comes from the oil I use in the base (pure mustard oil),in your base I used as instructed vegetable oil.

I don't want you to feel bad about what I have said, I just think for me it was a  step backwards to what I am currently producing. However, top marks for getting the recipe and creating such interest in the site again, its nice to have a debate, well done.

Regards

EHC

[ast]

Hi EHC,

Actually, it's smokinspice's recipe, not mine.  I have just been having good luck with it, and I'm very curious to identify any differences between what I did and your experience to learn more about what kinds of things influence the final curry flavors.  As I said, I haven't tried a bunch of different bases yet, so if I can get dramatically better results depending on the base as you indicate, it's all good.

So far, the family's pretty happy with the results.  We'll see what the increased sample size this weekend (curry for 9) has to say.  They're friends, but we've never had them over before.  They claim to like their curries, so I'm curious what their verdict is.  I'll let you know.

Cheers,

ast