Topic: Talked about base sauce with take away owner and chef

[grimmo]

Could someone ask their local BIR to give the recipe in terms of the quanitities as they would cook it?? ?If one of us could have a go at it, that would be a test worth doing.

Unfortunately the two BIR's nearest me aren't overly talkative/friendly, and with the new one we've started going to I think we need to get to know a bit better before the questions start rolling. It's being worked on though!

[Mark J]

OK, I chatted to the guy again tonight and have his recipe for making up his standard sized pot of base sauce, bear in mind the size of the pot is huge, its about 14-16 inches in height and diameter. The guy is very honest and is entertained at what I am doing, he has also said he would be happy for me to come and watch him make the base.

This is a full recipe of base sauce in the quantity that a BIR would make, when I refer to chefs spoons below I am referring to the big spoon they use to make all the curries, I estimate this is approx 2 table spoons, all measurements are round spoons, not level nor heaped.

In this 14-16" pan add veg oil up to a depth of 3/4 inch, heat on a high heat

Add 2 chefs spoons each of ginger and garlic puree, he was at great pains to point out to me this should be cooked until brown as Pete has seen before and to make sure I keep stirring it.

When brown add 1.5 chefs spoons each of curry powder and turmeric, add half a level chefs spoon of chilli powder (I have seen him add chilli powder to my dishes and he doesn't use very hot chilli powder)

Stir quickly frying for a short while and then add some water "otherwise it gets too sticky/thick"

Next add the following chopped:
30-35 onions (thats no typo!)
5/6 carrots "or 4 big ones"
3 green peppers
half a bunch of celery
and half a cooks spoon of salt
2 desert spoons of garam masala "be careful not to over do this as it will easily dominate the base if you add too much", this is equivalent to 4 level TSP
fresh coriander and tomato paste*

Add water and see the top post now for how long to cook this for and what to do next

* I didn't get the measurements for these 2 ingredients, will do next time I go

He was at great pains to be wary of adding too much chilli, salt and garam masala. Too much of any of these will ruin the base and are irreversible.

[Mark J]

The thing that suprised me the most about this is how little volume of spices there is compared to the overall volume of base this recipe produces.

[grimmo]

Brilliant Mark. I am sure there will be a few of us trying this!

Now where to find a pot big enough...

[pete]

OK, I chatted to the guy again tonight

That's fantastic Mark.
Could you squeeze in a question about chicken stock/jelly.
Does he make it?
Thanks Mark again

[DARTHPHALL]

Nice one mark i will try it out with a 15 onion version & cut all the ingredients by 50 % & see what happens, i agree about the Garam Masala it will overpower the other subtle(did i say subtle !!) spices, we all seem to be coming to the same conclusion, with time & patience we all may get 100% clone soon then we`ll have to try other dishes (lasan chicken next ??). ;D ;D ;D ;D

[blade1212]

MarkJ, I think you are VERY close here. I've been real close but I've never tried celery and peppers in my base. I wonder............

Can you tell me how much celery he put in for this quantity ?

[Mark J]

Pete:I will ask about the chicken jelly/stock, he didnt mention it but then again he probably wouldnt  ;D

Darth: Go for the full 30!  ;D ;D ;D

Blade: It was about 3/4 sticks of celery

[pete]

Pete:I will ask about the chicken jelly/stock, he didnt mention it but then again he probably wouldnt ;D

Thanks Mark!
Are you going to try the full version?
It's massive isn't it?
I don't know if one gas ring would be enough.
I suppose it just takes longer.
One chef, I know, said they have to use four rings to heat their pot.
I can't wait for part two of the recipe!!

[merrybaker]

Great job, again, Mark!?

I don't know if one gas ring would be enough.
I suppose it just takes longer.

Timing will definitely be a problem.? It'll take longer to get to boiling, then (trying to sound scientific here ) will evaporate slower/faster than at the restaurant, depending on the diameter of the pot.? But as long as the final texture is the same, it should work.? I know I'm just stating the obvious...