Topic: New Base Gravy from visit to Saffron

[JerryM]

that the KD base wasn't ideal to make because she suggests boiling the ginger and garlic which gives off a very strong smell. However it seems to be the same in this base?

Pickledswede,

the KD base is not bad at all. there is KD1 and KD2 versions. the KD2 avoids the smell. in KD1 the smell is down to simmering the onion, garlic, ginger and salt.

the bases on this site differ from KD in that they add in veg ie say green pepper and this makes quite a difference in the final curry - for me better.

for all bases that i make including the saffron which i rate highly i chuck all the ingredients in at the start - for some reason this stops that nasty smell. i'd certainly recommend including coriander root in any base as this gives of a real aroma in with the rest of the ingredients.

you can also leave the ginger out completely.

[Dix]

Just made base everything went well was making basic madras everything going well until last bit adding tom puree used 2 TBS instead of 2 TSP nearly cried added a bit more base and in the end didnt taste to bad  a little thick and tom puree'ee but not not to got loads of base left so i guess i try again tommorow night

[976bar]

Just made base everything went well was making basic madras everything going well until last bit adding tom puree used 2 TBS instead of 2 TSP nearly cried added a bit more base and in the end didnt taste to bad  a little thick and tom puree'ee but not not to got loads of base left so i guess i try again tommorow night

Stay with it!! We've all done that in our first attempts. It will come right if you persevere, don't give up, you'll soon be mastering mouth watering curries

[SteveyG]

I had a go at this one today and am very impressed with the results.

Ingredients in the pot ready to start boiling:



After 45 minutes:



Adding spices:



Prior to blending:



After blending:



And at the end:



I did have to add some more water (probably another litre) as it started getting very thick, but not that much oil came out the base. However once I started cooking with it, the oil came out in abundance.

Made a chicken tikka phall with it tonight (with a potato in it too):




Overall I was very impressed with this sauce. The taste of the phall was almost indistinguishable from the one from my local takeaway, and I shall see how it compares with other dishes over the next week or so.

[curryhell]

Terrific post Stevey.  The end result looks fantastic.  I'm just about to cook a curry for later on.  Undecided on what to have though .   What recipe did you use for the phall?  And what made you decide to use the saffron base in preference to many of the other more popular bases?

[Ramirez]

That looks absolutely wonderful. Top marks!  ;D

[SteveyG]

Terrific post Stevey.  The end result looks fantastic.  I'm just about to cook a curry for later on.  Undecided on what to have though .   What recipe did you use for the phall?  And what made you decide to use the saffron base in preference to many of the other more popular bases?

I've been going through the bases one by one on this site and this was the next one on the list. The Phall ingredients were:

3 cloves garlic, 1 piece of ginger about the size of a clove of garlic, about 1.5 tbsp tomato puree,
1 tsp Deggi Mirch, 1 tsp naga paste, 1tsp ground coriander, 1tsp ground cumin, 0.5tsp garam masala, 1tbsp mild madras curry powder, 1tsp methi leaves. Some salt and some sugar.

It wasn't from any specific recipe, but probably similar to a lot out there.

Fortunately we left just enough for dinner tomorrow  ;D 

[jackson81]

just made this today and all i can say is thankyou and respect !

[TheDirector]

deet..deet..duh..deet..deet...deet...deet...This just in... the latest results from the curry lab...

Ok, so you'll have to improvise on the sound effects yourselves--think Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam.

Wanted to post this so I don't lose it amongst all of my recent notes.  I've been trying a few different things over the past couple of days, and I think this one turned out absolutely brilliantly (of course, after eating this many curries lately, my objectivity may be slipping a little...).  I don't think this is a stopping point because I'm still working on my overall technique and exploring the different effects of spices, etc., but I think I *could* stop here and be pretty happy.

I'd be interested in feedback if anyone else tries this recipe.  From here on, the only variables will be experimenting with different spice mixes.  I'd experimented with vinegar and/or Worcestershire sauce, but neither seemed to really add all that much.  I may try again at some stage, but as a second pass.

I've also tried this with chicken and it works equally well, although pre-cooking didn't use the same ingredients.  This time I only added 1 tsp turmeric to CK's chicken method (I mentioned this previously somewhere in the thread, I think).

Unfortunately, I haven't tried this at Madras heat levels yet, so I'm not sure how well the flavors balance in that case.  I promise that I will try it soon, though.
 
Andrew's Latest Lamb Vindaloo (Jan 22 edition)

INGREDIENTS

200ml Saffron curry base (shaken, not stirred.... )
3 tbsp vegetable oil (see note 1)
1/4 cooking onion, chopped (approx 40g or so)
2 tbsp minced garlic (approx 2-4 cloves, depending on their size)
1 pre-boiled (but not quite cooked completely), small salad potato, halved
60-80g pre-cooked lamb (see note 2)
60ml lamb stock
2 tsp tomato puree (double-concentrate)
8 small green chillies, thinly sliced (see note 3)
2 tsp extra hot chilli powder (see note 4)
1 large pinch of dried methi leaves

"Haldi's Takeaway" Spice Mix (courtesy of Haldi's recent posts)

1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp corriander powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp Madras curry powder (see note 5)
1/4 tsp ground cumin

METHOD (basically the same as in the original Madras recipe)

Heat a heavy pan on med-high heat until hot.  Add the oil and wait until it starts moving easily around the pan, but isn't smoking.  Add the onion and garlic and sautee until just beginning to change color.  Add the dry spices and stir continuously, making sure not to burn them.  Wait until you can't breathe and then continue to cook them a bit longer, adding a little base if necessary.

Add the base and stir well to evenly mix the spices and the curry base.  Stir in the tomato paste.  When mixed well, add the chillies, lamb, lamb stock and the potato.  Bring to an energetic boil and reduce to medium.  Stir occasionally to check the consistency.  After about 5 min, stir in the dried methi and reduce to desired consistency, adding some water if it gets too dry.

Sprinkle with coriander leaves (freshly chopped or dry) and serve.

Note 1:

It seems that after freezing this base, the oil doesn't want to separate like it used too.  I know I'm cooking it the same way as before, but I've tended to end up with a tad drier curries trying to wait for the oil to separate.  It still does, but there just doesn't seem to be as much of it.  If you're using fresh, e.g. not frozen, curry base, you can reduce this amount to 2 tsp.

Has anyone else noticed this problem?

Note 2:

I used Curry King's method for cooking lamb (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,1915.0.html), except that I used 6 green pods, 5-6 small pieces of cassia bark, no ginger, 1 tsp of turmeric, 2 tsp of garam masala instead of the cumin/coriander mix and a large pinch of dried methi leaves.  There was about 650g of lamb which  was boiled on low for 1 hr and was also boiled with the hip bone and the hock ligaments.

Note 3:

I've no idea what they're called, but they look like this:  http://indianfoodrocks.blogspot.com/2007/10/make-your-green-chillies-last-longer.html

Note 4:

I think what I bought is Raj, but I forgot to write it down before I threw away the package.  It seems to have quite a bit of cayenne in it from both the color and the taste.  I'd say it'd be *roughly* equivalent to 4 tsp of Schwartz hot chilli powder and 1-2 tsp of pure cayenne powder as this was about what I was using before I went shopping at a real spice store.

Note 5:

One of the things I didn't buy when I was at the Indian grocer was Madras curry powder, so I cheated and used Schwartz's Medium Curry Powder.  Probably nowhere close, but it's all I had.

Hi, wondered if someone can help - ive been reading through theis thread and confused at this post with the reference to a spice mix? The recipe above references the base sauce and then the lamb recipe, but where does the spice mix come in thats referenced?  Is this meant as an alteration to the spices used in the Safron base sauce?

Any help appreciated.

[curryhell]

Hi, wondered if someone can help - ive been reading through theis thread and confused at this post with the reference to a spice mix? The recipe above references the base sauce and then the lamb recipe, but where does the spice mix come in thats referenced?  Is this meant as an alteration to the spices used in the Safron base sauce?

Any help appreciated.

Hi Director and welcome to CR0.  The spice mix is a blend of ground spices, like those listed above, whose proportions vary according to who created it.  Some people add additional spices to their spice mix.  There are many in this section of the forum:

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?board=28.0

The spice mix or mix powder as it is often referred to is used basically like a curry powder to add a more intense flavour as base gravy is normally very mildly spicey.  It is added to  fried onion garlic/ginger tomato puree before adding some of the the curry base which preparing the final chosen dish.  Have a look at some of the videos in the video section of the site to get a better idea. They explain more than i can in words.  Keep us posted on how you get along.

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?board=21.0

If you need any help just shout.  There are plenty of good people on here who are very knowledgeable and will try to answer any questions or queries if they can