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

[DARTHPHALL]

Whats the difference between the Passatta & tinned tomatoes ?

[blade1212]

It is less bitter - basically the seeds a sieved out.

[DARTHPHALL]

Funny you should say that, as sometimes i get a slightly bitter aftertaste to my curries & Ive been trying to source it so i can remove the offending ingredient from my recipes ( although most of it is the amount of hot chili powder i think ).
Is Passatta more like Tomato Puree then ?

[blade1212]

It is not as concentrated as puree. Think of it as a liquidised tin of tomatoes with all the hard bits removed

Actually I'm interested in what the other are referring to as tomatoe paste - it sounds like something between pasatta and puree. Can anyone clarify what this is ?

[DARTHPHALL]

I'm off to Sainsbury`s then !! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[blade1212]

Blade: I have made Pete's 600ml oil base with coriander stalks and I used ~20-30 stalks, I would suggest the same or a whole bunch of tesco/asda coriander that currently costs ~99p. I would also guess 500g passatta is about right, if maybe a bit too much, for 10 onions worth of base sauce in this recipe.

Where is this base recipe ? I looked around but can't see it.

Rather than wait until Wednesday   I'm going to use this recipe posted by Curry King as the base is very similar

The Vindaloo:
3 tbsp Veg oil (approx, if you like it oily add more)
1 tsp Garlic & Ginger puree
Half a tbsp Tomato puree
3 or 4 tsp Chili powder
Tsp Curry Powder (mix)
6 Ladles of gravy
Small handful of chopped coriander (include the stalk)
Salt to taste
Pre-cooked chicken or meat

I think I'll add some fresh chillies as well as a tsp of methi and use ketchup intead of puree.

[George]

The big question to my mind is that of scale, can you really just half all of the ingredients and try this kind of recipe? I don't know, is it just a case of halving all the spices & salt etc or should the spicing be kept the same??

I suggest you must reduce the spices and salt pro-rata with everything else. I simply cannot comprehend how any other approach would make sense.

Celery, carrots and chicken stock are very common ingredients in western soups, sauces and other dishes.

Does everyone agree that this latest 30 onion base has overtaken KD and Pete's 600ml oil version, amongst others as the very best version of a base sauce? I say 30 onions, but I would never make such a large quantity. I am confident that we could scale it down to, say, 5 onions, and still produce the very same flavour, texture and end result.

[DARTHPHALL]

I also wonder why we cannot scale this down (although i am going to cook the 30 onion version next weekend & i`ll post my results).
Does anyone really know why recipes cannot be scaled down, is it the fact that a large batch takes a little longer to achieve its optimum cooking temperature which in turn changes the characteristics & flavor of the oil .
 I have found that you can make a curry very sweet by heating the oil on very high & literally cooking it for 10 minutes then putting in the ingredients, is it all down to the oil how long its cooked & how high perhaps this is why we cannot achieve the same result all the time ?? who knows but its fun anyhow !! ;D ;D ;D

[pete]

I couldn't wait for the end of the new curry base recipe so I guessed the coriander and tomato paste quantities.
I made it with ten onions.
I thought it was very important to keep the depth of oil mentioned (3/4 inch).
This actually meant using a frightening amount of oil.
Probably nearly a litre.
The recipe tied in very well with my ideas that we have been using too many spices.
The base seems good but no sign of the "taste"
Maybe you have got to have the thirty onions
I haven't added any chicken stock to it yet.
I am sure that it is in the finished base.
Where are people buying this Knorr liquid chicken stock from?
Asda (my local supermarket) hasn't got it.
I hate boiling up chicken bones and Knorr sounds a far better option.
Chicken Oxo doesn't work

[DARTHPHALL]

Would using the water from the separately cooked Chicken do ?
Or do you need to boil up bones an all !! for ages ??