Bruce Edwards Curry Sauce & Basic Curry - From The Man Himself

[Bobby Bhuna]

Sorry buddy, but I'm not that precise when I make the final dish. I don't really have time to be, plus I've made so many curries I can do the majority of it by eye. When I pre cook my chicken or lamb, I keep the water and use that rather than tap water to add to the curry when I'm thinning it down. I don't always need to thin it down but the BE base is fairly thick  on the scheme of things...

[JerryM]

Chow,

So can i pick your brains further

1. stock & vol

i've only used stock once which was with ghee and collectively they produced too strong a taste for me. i did not feel it was getting me towards the BIR taste so i have not used stock since - the bases on the site are pretty spot on and don't call for it. i use stock in a lot of my general cooking where i find it spot on - it just does not sit well for me in terms of BIR - in fact it's a big no no.

on the volume BE's ladle at 7oz is roughly 200ml. i always use 300ml of base to make ea 200ml portion and would have added a part ladle to make the difference (my ladle is actually 150ml).

2. tips

i found BE's recipe to be very good (and the base). on spice mix and tom puree it is each to his own - after the 1st go i increased the spice mix from 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp and the puree from 1 tsp to 3 tsp. this made the curry like i'm used to. i normally use 2 tsp of spice per 200ml finished curry but never tried it on the BE base.

[Bobby Bhuna]

i did not feel it was getting me towards the BIR taste so i have not used stock since - the bases on the site are pretty spot on and don't call for it. i use stock in a lot of my general cooking where i find it spot on - it just does not sit well for me in terms of BIR - in fact it's a big no no.

You're probably right Jerry. I just feel bad about throwing stock (if you can call the water from simmering a chicken breast stock) and don't really feel it's worth keeping for anything else. As far as the lamb goes though, I miss the lamby taste when using pre-cooked meat. Adding the stock gets that lambiness back. I would agree though, I am taking a step away from BIR so I should probably shut up

[chowie]

Chow,

So can i pick your brains further

1. stock & vol

i've only used stock once which was with ghee and collectively they produced too strong a taste for me. i did not feel it was getting me towards the BIR taste so i have not used stock since - the bases on the site are pretty spot on and don't call for it. i use stock in a lot of my general cooking where i find it spot on - it just does not sit well for me in terms of BIR - in fact it's a big no no.

on the volume BE's ladle at 7oz is roughly 200ml. i always use 300ml of base to make ea 200ml portion and would have added a part ladle to make the difference (my ladle is actually 150ml).

2. tips

i found BE's recipe to be very good (and the base). on spice mix and tom puree it is each to his own - after the 1st go i increased the spice mix from 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp and the puree from 1 tsp to 3 tsp. this made the curry like i'm used to. i normally use 2 tsp of spice per 200ml finished curry but never tried it on the BE base.

Yep I understand that, my stock is a really strong chicken flavor so no good if I was serving up a lamb dish. Most things I've read say BIR's throw the stock but mine looked so good I didn't want to, I've never used a stock before and I won't start now, I'll give it a miss.

The ladle answer makes sense from the way BE writes to, seeing mine is 100ml, I'll try three. Thank for the spice/puree variations, will try those too.

So it sounds like this base is quite thick, what would be the recommendation to thin, I guess more water rather than less onion like it states.

[Bobby Bhuna]

So it sounds like this base is quite thick, what would be the recommendation to thin, I guess more water rather than less onion like it states.

I'd try not to stress about it too much Chowie . Have you tried it already? If so how did it go.

If not, I say just give it a go and follow Bruce's advice as closely as you can, because he's the daddy when it comes to BIR in the home ;D. In his recipe, Bruce says to make a note of where the water was, and top it back up once your done. The base is thicker than some, but works a treat. In the end if your curry is getting too thick, then just add a little water. I'm sure you're going to love the recipe, I know I do!

[chowie]

So it sounds like this base is quite thick, what would be the recommendation to thin, I guess more water rather than less onion like it states.

I'd try not to stress about it too much Chowie . Have you tried it already? If so how did it go.

If not, I say just give it a go and follow Bruce's advice as closely as you can, because he's the daddy when it comes to BIR in the home ;D. In his recipe, Bruce says to make a note of where the water was, and top it back up once your done. The base is thicker than some, but works a treat. In the end if your curry is getting too thick, then just add a little water. I'm sure you're going to love the recipe, I know I do!

Yes, not stressing, just looking forward to it and just want to get it right to see if it's a big difference from my previous curries, I love the idea of being able to knock up 4-5 different curries quickly  using this (maybe more later, this is something I've not done before making individual portions, always cooked a 4 to 8 portion of the same curry), just as I see a Curry House would. I think it's that back to basics simplicity stuff that many forget and we try too hard sometimes, I also like the waste not won't not/cheapest way ideas. I will probably start chopping and boiling today and hope to make the curries on Sunday.

[chowie]

Ok, I'm off, got everything up together, measured everything as to spec so to speak, it's simmering away right now. Things I've noted so far.

Onions, I bought a 3lb bag, when prepared they were 2.5lbs so added 2 more small, see from pic they are spanish/sweet type onions as the main onion here is red or white and the size of footballs, well almost.

Carrots 4oz was two carrots

Green Pepper I found 4oz was 3/4 of a pepper

Coriander 1oz was half a bunch, Cilantro for me, chopped half a bunch with leaves and steams.

See I used pre prepared (Jars) of Garic & Ginger, just my preference easier and I can buy this cheaply in large quantity something I think many resturants propably use noways.

The rest as is, added all to pot and water level just above everything. This took no time at all, much faster than previous bases I've used, very easy, so far...

[chowie]

more pics.

[Bobby Bhuna]

See I used pre prepared (Jars) of Garlic & Ginger, just my preference easier and I can buy this cheaply in large quantity something I think many restaurants propably use noways.

Hey Chowie, great effort and fantastic post, we all appreciate seeing the pictures ;D. I'm so disappointed for you that you used the jars of ginger and garlic. For me, the blending of the fresh garlic and ginger in cold water before adding it to the base (Bruce explains why this is important in his post) was a complete revelation. It tastes totally different - much more flavoursome. I usually used either roughly chopped fresh or the paste from the jar and it's nowhere near as good.

That said, you've done a very thorough and precise job and I'm sure the base will be great nonetheless. On the grand scale of things, the garlic / ginger flavour strength is not the be all and end all. However next time, if you get a chance, try the cold water thing because it really made my day.

Cheers and all the best for your curry,

BB.

[chowie]

See I used pre prepared (Jars) of Garlic & Ginger, just my preference easier and I can buy this cheaply in large quantity something I think many restaurants propably use noways.

Hey Chowie, great effort and fantastic post, we all appreciate seeing the pictures ;D. I'm so disappointed for you that you used the jars of ginger and garlic. For me, the blending of the fresh garlic and ginger in cold water before adding it to the base (Bruce explains why this is important in his post) was a complete revelation. It tastes totally different - much more flavoursome. I usually used either roughly chopped fresh or the paste from the jar and it's nowhere near as good.

That said, you've done a very thorough and precise job and I'm sure the base will be great nonetheless. On the grand scale of things, the garlic / ginger flavour strength is not the be all and end all. However next time, if you get a chance, try the cold water thing because it really made my day.

Cheers and all the best for your curry,

BB.

Yeah, I tasted the base (before blending) and have been thinking the same (and thought that would get mentioned here, so you've sort of confirmed my fears), however I've used this stuff in other bases before and always thought my curries were a bit too ginger/garlicy. and other bases have only had a little more than this, hence I went for it. I'm debating if to had more when I re-heat after it's all blended but thats probably not a good idea.