Topic: New Base Gravy from visit to Saffron

[Secret Santa]

If you are using the MDH brand of Deghi Mirch and it is hot, then don't use this in the recipe - use Hungarian Paprika instead.

Fair enough but, do you really think the vast majority of BIRs use Hungarian paprika? Seems highly unlikely to me.

[ast]

I wouldn't want to see the results of using a really floury potato...It would melt away to nothing and probably end up adding very little.

The problem with that agument is that the potato, whetever type it is, gets blitzed into non existence along with all the other ingredients. If you look at the majority of  base sauce recipes they don't contain potato and I think this is another good argument for it not being neccessary. The only real effect the potato will have is to thicken up the sauce due to its starch content and that's just not required.

Possibly, SS, possibly...  I'd originally intended to write more, but I guess there isn't much point.   Yes, it gets blitzed, but, while I haven't performed a side-by-side test, my guess is the type of thickening observed/tasted would be slightly different.

Personally, I'll stick with the semi-waxy salad potatoes for this recipe. ;D

[SnS]

Possibly, SS, possibly...  I'd originally intended to write more, but I guess there isn't much point.   Yes, it gets blitzed, but, while I haven't performed a side-by-side test, my guess is the type of thickening observed/tasted would be slightly different.
Personally, I'll stick with the semi-waxy salad potatoes for this recipe. ;D

That it Ast. You stick with the recipe mate - that's what it's there for - isn't it.

If Secret Santa chooses to leave out the potatoes and the carrot, stir in the scum, remove the surface oil and not use sweet paprika let him. It doesn't sound to me like he'll be trying this recipe again anyway, so why he's even bothering to comment on what we should be doing, I really don't know.  :

Besides, from what I understand SS can turn any curry into a masterpiece, so now I'm just waiting for his secret recipe.

You get yourself 40 odd years of general cooking experience and knowledge along with nigh on 30 years of trying to get the BIR smell and taste (at which I have admittedly failed), mix it liberally with an energetic and enquiring mind and voila, you have someone who can turn the curry equivalent of a pig's ear into the proverbial silk purse. No secrets!

(at which I have admittedly failed)
No wonder! He's probably never ever stuck to a single recipe in all those 30 years.

Only joshing with you SS  ;D

SnS  ;D

By the way SS, I'm also sure that the indian restaurant chefs don't go looking to buy HUNGARIAN paprika either, but that is probably what they use. It's labelled PAPRIKA POWDER (Product of Hungary (or Spain) written in small letters on the reverse side). ;D

[Bobby Bhuna]

Hahaha, what a ripping ;D
SS, I would be curious as to where you draw the line regarding the way you decide what is and is not important while following a recipe.
Personally I think it is arrogant to assume that you know better than a recipe that has evolved over years into what it is, regardless of how much time you spent not achieving what you set out to do. Either you must assume that the chefs offering the recipe just add instructions for some unknown reason, or that you have a superior sense of taste to them. It just doesn't really wash.
You seem to be against every super-pedantic, "namby pamby" practise, and now your even suggesting just leaving things out?
I have to think to myself that with that attitude, it's no wonder you've never got quite what your after.
What I don't understand is, wasn't it you who claimed to have made two side by side bases and stirred in the scum on one and skimmed the other?
With that attention to detail and sheer will to get the "taste" and "smell", I find it really odd that now you just assume things about the addition, or lack thereof, of certain supposedly key ingredients... What's going on?

Ast - I'll see you at London Olympics Curry Freestyle qualifiers. Bring your best game because my Bhundaloo's packin heat!

[ast]

Ast - I'll see you at London Olympics Curry Freestyle qualifiers. Bring your best game because my Bhundaloo's packin heat!

You're on, mate!  I'll be practicin my curry, stir-fry hang-time technique and the frying spice hold-your-breath-so-you-don't-choke moves from now till then.  Bring it on, mister!! ;D ;D

[Mag1973]

Okay, for my first foray into the sites recipes I decided to try this one,here is what happened.

Attempt 1

Followed the recipe faithfully, not a very nice smell from the base gravy at any point.
Went straight onto the Madras attempt, again following the recipe exactly.

Result- I can't describe the taste, it was horrible, not bitter not sour just horrible.Ditched the entire batch.

I hate being beaten by anything and have read some very good reviews for this base in this thread and so therefore decided it wasn't the recipe that was at fault but me somehow.First step was to throw out all my spices, they needed it as I started to realise just how long I'd had them.

Attempt 2

Wary of having to dump the lot again I cut all the ingredients down to 25% of the original so that I don't block the drains when I send it down the plughole again.
Brand new spices but same smell and horrible taste.Now I'm confused, there isn't much to go wrong but obviously something is ?.
I press on regardless and attempt the madras, this time I notice that horrible smell coming from the pan as I fry the onions off for the Madras recipe.
Result - I ditch the lot again.

I wake up this morning and all I can think about is this bloody base.
I decide to try to find out what is happening, I haven't any onions left from the original batches so decide to try rule out the pan and oil first.
I poured some of the oil into the pan I was originally using and heated it up, once it got hot the smell appeared.I then tried a standard teflon coated pan with the oil, again the smell.
The oil was freshly bought from my local Asian dealer.Its tradename is 'Pride' and its sell by is the end of 2009.

Attempt 3

New oil from my local supermarket, its Sunday so I don't have much choice, its also a lot cheaper than the 'pride' oil I used previously so I didn't have much hope.
Started again on the 25% recipe, this time whenever I took the lid off it smelled quite nice, so nice that I did a taste test throughout its cooking, no bad small, no bad taste, so far so good.
The end result of the base is that it is in no way unpleasant to taste, I begin to feel a little excited, maybe this time it wasn't a waste of time and money.
I knock up the Madras recipe improvising for 4 people and change it a little to add fresh chillies and a tsp of madras powder.

Result- Not what my local BIR serves up but I think that was down to my playing with the Madras recipe to get it to 4 portions without actually putting 4X the spices in there.It was however very very very nice and I'm sure that once I get the correct amount of spices for the portions it will be spot on.

I think the moral of this story is don't think that every oil tastes the same when heated.

Thanks for the recipe smokenspices I'll certainly be making more of this. ;D ;D ;D

[Cory Ander]

Thanks for reporting your findings Mag 

Did you use the revised recipe here? (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,2271.msg20262.html#msg20262)

And did you use vegetable oil in all cases Mag?

If so, it's interesting that the BRAND of oil can have such a significant effect? 

I sometimes use cheap, cheap, homebrand vegetable oil (because it's errr...cheap!) and it really does SMELL stale (and is often cloudy).  It seems to me that it's worth spending a little more, on a higher quality oil, for this reason alone.  But, in your case, you say you had a better result using a cheaper oil....

...incidentally, isn't the price of oil so prohibitively expensive!   

Maybe BIRs are using less of it, as a consequence, and maybe THAT's another reason why BIR curries have changed over the years.  It certainly makes me think twice before heaping litres of it into a curry.  On second thoughts, no it doesn't...but I bet it makes BIRs think twice about it (sorry, I don't mean to de-rail the thread  )

[Mag1973]

Hi Cory,

I used the original recipe,(just noticed there is a new improved one out),and yes the oil was vegetable in both cases, normally when i do a curry its made from fresh and I use ghee but this was the first time I've knocked up a base.
The first oil was around 1.50gbp a litre if I recall correctly (maybe a little cheaper but I never really noticed the price at the time tbh), the second was a Costcutter own brand at 89 pence per litre, but there is no smell at all from it, unlike the first I used.

[SnS]

Result- Not what my local BIR serves up but I think that was down to my playing with the Madras recipe to get it to 4 portions without actually putting 4X the spices in there.It was however very very very nice and I'm sure that once I get the correct amount of spices for the portions it will be spot on.

I think the moral of this story is don't think that every oil tastes the same when heated.

Thanks for the recipe smokenspices I'll certainly be making more of this. ;D ;D ;D

Great report - many thanks.

I'm real glad you got there eventually. Many would have given up on their first attempt and then blamed it all on the recipe. 10/10 for perseverance.

Peculiar about the PRIDE oil though. Personally never heard of it. Do you know what type of veg oil it is? Does it say on the label?
Really is amazing that any cooking oil could be that disgusting.  Perhaps just a bad batch?

Regards

SnS  ;D

ps There are a number of Madras recipes on this site in which the Saffron gravy could also be used. Have you seen Ast's recipe on this thread?

Is your Pride oil pictured on this link http://www.westmill.co.uk/products/brands/pride/pride_home.html

[Mag1973]

Hi SNS,

Just looked on the bottle it came in and it doesn't really say much apart from made with GM sources, and a list of the standard energy, proteins etc
It may have been from a bad batch but I'll never find out because I certainly won't buy it again  ;D
On the same subject though I was doing a stir fry the other night , prepared all the veg, noodles etc then opened the freshly bought chicken breast from Asda and the smell that came out was unbelievable, it had even started to go white when I checked the underside, so I guess you can be unlucky in anything you buy.

I had read so many good reports of this base in this thread that I would never have been critical about it, for me it was a case of others have been successful with it so obviously something is wrong at my end.Thankfully I found what it was. ;D