Topic: PanPot's Ashoka Curry Base

[Unclebuck]

Josh that madras in the pan looks right as jeera says too much oil but thats ok easily drained off and ill rather use too much oil then not enough. Good effort thanks for the pics. UB.

[JerryM]

i've not used coconut block in a base but believe "coconut" to give a superior base. the rajver base uses a tin of coconut milk. for me it is one of the key ingredients that puts the rajver in with the top notch bases. adding the coconut as Haldi confirms does not give a strong coconut taste as long as it remains in balance with the rest of the ingredients (but this holds good for pretty much everything that goes in a base except onion).

i use coconut block in CTM  and it works very well (i am just about to switch to coconut flour folllowing Maliks lead in CTM though). i see the block working better than coconut milk in a base and see this a real plus of the Ashoka recipe.

the presence of the coconut does make the oil separation a lot more difficult - more water, higher simmer and longer time are needed but it will separate in the end (once it took 3 hrs) - if u need it to (i reclaim oil now before blending much easier)

Josh,

excellent efforts - they never disappoint.

how did the marg work for u. given the pic of the oil and marg it does not seem too much.

what finished volume did u end up with.

[joshallen2k]

UB - yes, I went overboard with the oil in the final curry. As you said, easy to drain off.

Jerry - with the amount of oil and marg I thought I'd have a reclaim bonanza. After an hour plus, there was nothing on top. I actually let it sit on the cooker overnight, and checking it this morning, there's about 1/8th of an inch on top.

Panpot - need some curry recipes !!

[JerryM]

Josh,

sorry not been clear enough - what volume of base did u end up with. i am guessing 6L - is that about right.

[Panpot]

Joshallen2k, thankyou,thankyou,thankyou, for diving in and having a go. The finished article looks just like theirs. Interestingly enough there was no surface oil on the finished base at The Ashoka it may be because they had allready used any available for cooking. They did use the oil on top of the Bunjara and I witnessed them reclaiming from cooked curries in larger pans that were cooked for the buffet.

A couple of pointers if I may, I realise I may have confused folks but thought I clarified above somewhere or on the other thread but they did in fact use Ground Cumin. Did you use the precooked Garlic/Ginger pate with turmeric in? The Chef stressed the need to keep enough water in throughout the cooking, your photos suggest you could have got away with more.

Your Madras looked the business given your comment about the oil. I cant wait to have ago myself. I intend to get more recipes up today or tonight sometime. Panpot

[joshallen2k]

sorry not been clear enough - what volume of base did u end up with. i am guessing 6L - is that about right.

Yes it would have been in that range. Definitely the most base I've ever made. Probably 20% more than the standard BE or Saffron yields.

-- Josh

[joshallen2k]

Panpot,

OK, I thought the recipe as posted by Unclebuck had been edited. UB - can you change that one? The whole cumin just didn't blend well.

Regarding the water, at no point did it appear to be "drying out". I probably only added 3/4 liter of  water just after blending. The finished base was consistent with other bases I've made.

And yes, I did use the garlic/ginger paste as specified.

[Unclebuck]

OK, I thought the recipe as posted by Unclebuck had been edited. UB - can you change that one? The whole cumin just didn't blend well.

Done edited to ground cumin

[Derek Dansak]

how does this new base compare to the safron base? What makes this base stand out from the rest? is it a contender for best base on the site? i have not tried it yet due to work commitments. am really looking forward to trying it asap.

[JerryM]

What makes this base stand out from the rest?

we need josh to comment on the marg effect. the only other difference is the absence of ground coriander but i expect that is sorted by it being present in the curry powder.

just opened my bag of curry powder to look at the ingredients - what a waff - base is starting to look a priority for this weekend.