Topic: New Base Gravy from visit to Saffron

[Bobby Bhuna]

I'm on the Heera Paprika from my local Indian shop.

[JerryM]

the rajah paprika is very good and tastes significantly better than what i had previously bought from the big4 supermarkets.

[ianrollo14]

Just made this wonderful base and would like to thank you for sharing it with us....Had to cook it 30 mins longer for the oil to separate, but without a doubt the results were excellent.

Cheers Ian  ;D

[SnS]

I made a another batch last night (exactly the same as posted recipe) but with the following modifications

used normal potatoes
added 1 x red capsicum pepper
added 1 x carrot
replaced 25ml paprika with 25ml MDS Kashmiri Mirch
reduced oil from 500ml to 350ml

Followed the recipe cooking times exactly. Results were a thicker gravy. Oil did not separate. Tasted sweeter and creamy than standard recipe. No dominant taste. No bitterness. Much more flavour. Slightly redder colour than standard recipe.

Oil did not separate after the normal cooking time. I assumed this was due to the extra "thickness", so I added another 1 litre of water to thin it down. Returned to boil, reduced to gentle simmer for another 10 minutes during which time the oil started to break at the surface. After resting an hour, there was the normal dark pool of oil covering the surface.

I'm reasonably happy with the results and there is definitely more flavour to the gravy. Next time, I will revert back to waxy type (salad) spuds as I'm now convinced that this does influence the base viscosity which in turn prevents oil separation.

SnS  ;D

[Rai]

I will revert back to waxy type (salad) spuds as I'm now convinced that this does influence the base viscosity which in turn prevents oil separation.

Great report but, as said before, who really cares if the oil separates?  What relevance does it have to anything?

[SnS]

I know what you mean Rai - after all it's all going to be mixed up together anyway.
But I do think it's a good indication that

1) the cooking process is complete
2) the gravy is at the correct consistency

Regards
SnS  ;D

[JerryM]

Smokenspices,

very interesting

Results were a thicker gravy. Tasted sweeter and creamy

i'm also not interested in the oil etc.

i guess the red pepper gave the sweetness and your thoughts will be interesting once you've had chance to cook with it - is it nearer to BIR sweetness as a result.

on the pots i presume your saying keep them in and either std or salad are both ok with no real diff in taste

[SnS]

Hi Jerry

The extra pepper and carrot produced a sweeter taste.

I'll be keeping the spuds in - for the time being anyway.

SnS  ;D

[JerryM]

Smokenspices,

thanks but which spud are u going to use salad or std or does it not matter

tasting the salad spuds on their own - they are clearly in a different league but is the price difference worth it?

[SnS]

Jerry

I'm sticking to the salad spuds (personal preference) - for the small quantity used I can't see cost being an issue.

Regards

SnS  ;D