Topic: New Base Gravy from visit to Saffron

[slipperz]

I am on my third batch of this base now, even with the initial measure cock up at the start, it still tasted great, one of the best I have tried.

Looking forward to a good Madras tonight!

SLIPPERZ

[SnS]

upto putting the turmeric in i was sold on the taste. in the finished curry (made chris303 rogan josh) the turmeric was less of an issue but still did not sit well for me. i would reduce to 5ml (from 25ml) on my next go.

everything else was spot on and clearly an excellent base (background is KD, followed by parker21 - adopted norm, followed by development base). i particularly like the absence of chilli (can be added at cooking stage) and the high yield.

Overall with the turmeric reduced i would say 9/10.

Hi Jerry

Can you really detect the taste of such a small amount (25ml) of turmeric in such a vast quantity of gravy (over 4 litres)? Are you allergic to it?

Regards

SnS  ;D

[JerryM]

SNS,

i known its a bit different but i had banished it (turmeric) completely up until recently when CA got me back thinking to try it again. i now think a small amount to be beneficial.

i started some time ago having cooked KD and started looking at how i could improve it. i tasted all the individual spices/ingredients looking to relate to the taste of takeaway/restaurant food. i found turmeric did not rate well. i ended up making the base many times each time leaving 1 ingredient out. leaving the turmeric out i found made the taste better. incidentally the only other change to KD was to x2 the tin of toms but i never got to thinking of other vegetables ie carrot, green pepper which deliver the next step up from KD.

i did have about 4.5l of the sauce and appreciate 5 tsp is not a lot. just a personal preference of what i will do when i cook the sauce next time (ie 1 tsp only).

everything else was spot on. many thanks for the post in the 1st place. it's a quality base no question.

[SnS]

Incidentally the only other change to KD was to x2 the tin of toms but i never got to thinking of other vegetables ie carrot, green pepper which deliver the next step up from KD.

i did have about 4.5l of the sauce and appreciate 5 tsp is not a lot. just a personal preference of what i will do when i cook the sauce next time (ie 1 tsp only).

everything else was spot on. many thanks for the post in the 1st place. it's a quality base no question.

On my next batch I'm going to try adding another carrot and green pepper .... just to see how much the vegetables actually do influence the final taste.

SnS  ;D

[JerryM]

SnS,

On my next batch I'm going to try adding another carrot and green pepper

Result will be very interesting. I was really taken aback by CA's development base. It has only onion in the way of bulk veg (0.4:1 veg to finished base vol) but tastes surprisingly good yet has no carrot and no green pepper.

My expectation is that the addition of carrot & green pepper and probably proportion of onion will enhance the base further (this being drawn from cooking KD for yrs then trying parker21 which is definitely a step change and has 0.5:1 veg to finished base vol and having carrot & green pepper but also coconut milk).

My thoughts are that once a threshold is reached then more veg has no effect ie crossed the line into soup. I thought your recipe proportions to be spot on (0.4:1 veg to finished base vol).

I intend to try a similar line and swop the salad pots to normal pots being interested in finding out more about what "pots" in general are doing for us.

[Cory Ander]

Morning All 

I've had a chance to make this base now (following SnS's revised recipe) and can report the following:

• Orangey-brown broth of soup-like consistency (see photo)
• Pleasant oniony, slightly tomatoey, vegetabley, smooth, mellow, fairly sweet and pleasant flavour (not unlike the cr0 base in fact  )
• No other predominant smell or taste
• No particular smell or taste of spiciness
• No hint of bitterness
• I couldn't get the oil to separate (even after boiling for 1 hour after blending)

I wasn't too sure how to differentiate between "froth" and "scum" so I skimmed off what seemed to "congeal" (congealed "froth"?) in the middle of the top surface of the broth.  It didn't taste bitter anyway (further to recent "discussions" on the subject).

I'm not overly concerned about the oil not separating because I think it will separate in the main dish (however, rather less oil than I expected separated in the one main dish I have so far made).  But I am a little intrigued that my end result was quite unlike others, which appear very red and oily, in comparison.  Very curious.

So far, this base seems fairly typical of several other bases here.  I have no doubt that it will produce more than satisfactory curries, with the majority of main course recipes, and will suffice when "any decent curry base will do" is specified in the main dish recipe. 

However, it doesn't appear to be anything extraordinary.  I want the smell to leap out and hit me when it's added to the main curry.  I would probably choose Infinforu's (or Darth's) in preference to it.  Actually, I'd really prefer to use my own, of course 

I did make a chicken phal from it, but I used deep-roasted curry powder , which probably masks any subtleness in the base (and makes the main dish very dark....as you can see from the photo  ).  I will report further when I have made other dishes from it.

Meanwhile, I'd probably give it a fairly arbitrary 7/10 overall.

Thanks for the recipe SnS 

[adriandavidb]

I have no idea if it's just coincidence, but when I have made bases, if I don't include carrot and pepper (eg base made from onion, garlic, ginger and tomato plus oil and spices alone), the oil seems to separate; but if I include carrot and pepper it never seems to separate out, no matter how long I boil it.

I wonder if something in pepper or carrot emulsifies the oil??

[Bobby Bhuna]

Hey CA, good to see you back!

I couldn't get the oil to separate (even after boiling for 1 hour after blending)

That's really wierd!!! Mine looks nothing like yours! I wonder what we do diferently! When you boiled for an hour after blending, I gently simmered. Could that be it because are results looks world apart!

[SnS]

This really is wierd. I wonder why or what makes the difference - obviously there is something.

As adriandavidb pointed out, he can't get the oil to separate out if he uses the carrot and pepper. Really wierd.

The colour also appears much paler. Is the top photo straight after blending CA or the final gravy?

On my second batch, I had so much oil on the surface I had difficulty stirring it back in (like your photo Bobby).

SnS 

[Cory Ander]

The photo is the end result.

Yes, it's weird.  I "simmered vigorously" as instructed....for an hour (twice as long).  I double checked everything, to ensure I followed everything correctly, and I'm pretty sure that I did.  I'll check again....

I did use straight hungarian paprika in mine (its really the only place the red can come from...there aren't enough tomatoes to really colour it like that).  I also used Italian Roma tomatoes.

Looking at some of the previous results, though, it seems that Bobby's is may be more the exception....particularly regarding his intense red colour (and loads of oil...looks more than 500ml perhaps?)?

It seems that some people got the oil to separate and some didn't.  This would indicate something other than the ingredients used (like total heat energy applied).  I don't think it really matters, per se (unless you intend to recycle the oil), but it does indicate unexplained differences between the individual attempts. 

I've no doubt that the oil would have separated, with prolonged simmmering, and that the colour would have darkened...but I doubt if it would have been to the extent that Bobby's seems to have done.

I also found it on curry base 2, where I couldn't get the oil to separate but AST did (and I also did on curry base 1).  Curious.