Topic: PanPot's Ashoka Curry Base

[Unclebuck]

Do you also want to edit how In have presented the other recipes on the other thread?

Panpot check your PM, also Ive edit the base recipe does that fit with you?

[Panpot]

Thanks Unclebuck, your a star and it looks right to me. JerryM I do hope for many of us if not all the base here gives us a new standard. Cheers Panpot

[Secret Santa]

JerryM I do hope for many of us if not all the base here gives us a new standard.

At the risk of making another enemy (but I sincerely hope not), I'm prepared to bet that this base is neither better or worse than many other bases on this site. It is in every sense, from the ingredients list, a bog standard base. There is certainly nothing in it to make me think, hmmm, I really must try this one.

Same goes for the bunjarra (which I think might be spelt bunjara) and garlic/ginger paste. Nothing really new here.

I still enjoy this type of report though, so keep it coming panpot, you're doing a sterling job.

[Panpot]

Secret Santa, I appreciate you have more experience on the site than myself but I certainly have not come across Margarine in the base yet and the ingredient mix of what went into the Banjara or however it is spelt is absolutely new to me too. The precooking of the Garlic/Ginger paste in turmeric too. I seem to read endless threads about us experiment with a little here and a little there and given the subtlety of regional taste differences imagined or real then the new stuff I found for myself at The Ashoka is enough for me to at least give it a go. I look forward to reviews of those who do have a go themselves at least until I can on my return to my pots and pans and spice drawers.

[CurryCrazy]

I'd guess Banjara  ;D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banjara

I'd agree that the base is similar but if we are only looking for the final 5% then I would assume it would be.

Adding turmeric may well change the flavour in some way to give it a kick, the marg I would guess adds something to consistency...who knows lets all try it...thats why we are here and why Panpot has gone to so much trouble.

Although sitting on the fence with about 2 months worth of "average" base in my freezer I was hoping for an OMG moment when reading the recipe. ;D

[joshallen2k]

I will try this and the banjara on the weekend. Panpot if you could post whatever finished curry recipes you have that would be great. Very interested in the CTM and the Bhuna. Too bad no Madras...

Question - when is the banjara added and how much?

Will post pics.

-- Josh

[Secret Santa]

Question - when is the banjara added and how much?

Just before the oboe and usually after the guitar...and in small doses, and when I'm cleaning windows! However, this is only on hearsay!  :

[Secret Santa]

Adding turmeric may well change the flavour in some way to give it a kick

No

the marg I would guess adds something to consistency

No

thats why we are here and why Panpot has gone to so much trouble.

Yes

[Panpot]

Joshallen2k, please forgive me I am rushing out to work and the recipes are deep in the recording so cant reach them right now. The Bunjara was added shortly after the GG paste which went in right after the oil was hot. He would use a quarter of a chefs spoon of each and after the base went in he would ad More bunjara to taste. I hope this helps in the meantime. Maybe some of the stalwarts could suggest the rest IE chili powder,curry powder, Garam Masala, turmeric etc. Good luck

[JerryM]

there can be no enemies on this site - it's a win win. Secret Santa has sow much wit that he can be no other than a star.

panpot u're not missing of the list either - fast becoming a legend.

i can understanding the emms.

firstly - this u won't like and i feel where secret santa is coming from. i have made many many bases. i think it was either DD or Haldi or both who made me realise that whilst i was comparing my finished dish to a real BIR side by side i had not got a clue what a real BIR base tastes like.

this gave me that extra push to ask at my local TA. i got a sample to take home. i also talked at length with the chef about the" curry gravy". it reinforced my belief that once a base exceeds a certain threshold it has very little bearing on the final dish - the Togo items have a far bigger impact. the chefs words, "there is no special ingredient - the base is simply a means of adding bulk and water to a curry".

don't get me wrong though some bases are better than others and do give a better tasting curry. it's the duffers that stand out in the finished dish - not the good ones.

on the onion paste and garlic/ginger. this is different. the original onion paste is crucial. we need to try this new recipe for sure.

the garlic ginger paste was different for me as i feel now with hindsight i was not cooking it well enough and as a result had always tended to use garlic on it's own as i always got a undertone of ginger when using paste - not in balance. the pre cooking does something for me (it ensures rawness is removed and equal cooking - ginger seems to need a longer cooking than garlic or something like and the pre cooking removes the hit and mis of cooking).

as for the marg we will need to see. i am pretty sure though it's not in the real base i tasted so i would say it's not universally used (there was no solid fat on the chilled base).

ending on a high which this post well deserves - my curries this week have been the best ever. if i was blindfolded i would find it very difficult to say for sure i was not eating the real stuff. all that was different was the onion paste, the garlic/ginger paste, the passata.