Topic: PanPot's Ashoka Curry Base

[Derek Dansak]

Hi Jerry. no coriander, carrot, and the addition of marg. sounds like a totally new base development to me. does it have a lightly spiced soup flavor. or is it quite heavily spiced and full of flavor? i must admit i prefer the light spiced soupy bases the best. i like to do all my spicing, and flavoring, at the stage of cooking the dish. good luck with the base

[joshallen2k]

Not really sure what the marg added to be honest. This base smelled the best of any I've made, however I got mixed up on the directions and used whole cumin instead of ground. I'm thinking that if Panpot got this base verbally from a restaurant and never got a chance to make it, it could in fact be genuine.

Still waiting for some finished curry recipes Panpot!

[Panpot]

Joshallen2k given all the trouble I have gone to post this whole Ashoka experience as I have been travelling extensively with work including a visit to your Toronto it kind of pisses me off that you are suggesting that I have posted something that is not genuine. I have also come on at all manner of times including now at 5.30 am to help out and have apologised and explained why I have been delayed in posting more recipes. I witnessed all of what I saw and the chef gave up more than two hours of his day off to give the info on all our behalf. Slightly disillusioned Panpot

[joshallen2k]

Panpot, I think you got the wrong idea. I was suggesting that since you gave the recipe without trying it, and the fact that it turned out so well, made me think it was indeed genuine. I made a Madras and it tasted great. I was just looking forward to the CTM and Bhuna recipe to go with it. I was holding back any judgement on the base until I had a matching recipe, that's all.

The only downer on it for me, was the mistake using whole cumin. That's my fault.

Hope that clarifies!

[JerryM]

no coriander, carrot, and the addition of marg.

i will try to do the base this weekend - my only limitation is pan size - i will need to do a 1/2 batch.

the only thing i would like to change in this base is to add paprika. i've made quite a few onion only bases and they were very much spot on. i recently switch to yellow oil curry bases as opposed to red oil curry bases by removing the tomato and paprika.

although this approach is certainly on the lines of my local TA and Maliks i'm not convinced it produces the best curry.

hence for me this as spec base could be the stepping stone i need to get back ultimately to using paprika in the base.

[Derek Dansak]

interesting work you have been doing jerry. i really respect that kind of experimentation. i also constantly tweak my base and recipies to endeavor to find the perfect one. currently i feel lots of carrot, plum toms, tom puree, and onion is a real must for any base. if the base is light yello from the carrot and tumeric, it seems to work well with many curries i make. however this site has taught me there is no one method, to producing a good bir curry. its about finding your base and recipies which work for you.

[JerryM]

however this site has taught me there is no one method, to producing a good bir curry. its about finding your base and recipes which work for you.

much wisdom DD.

The Base:

i got the important ingredient - the marg.

the initial smell of the cumin and onion cooking is not good.

i've got a few teaks that i feel i would need to put to this recipe long term. however i stuck to the recipe rigidly - it's not everyday u get chance to cook a real BIR base.

all went well except weighing out the small ingredients - i reverted to spoon. i made 1/2 the batch. the stage 1 volume was 4.35L and i added 1.0L of water during stage 2, the finished volume being 3.1L. i added an extra 175ml of oil and reclaimed 275ml.

this base is quite different to anything I've experienced to date - a sort of cross between saffron and rajver. it tastes very nice - very smooth with a hint that it's a curry.

the marg does make a difference to the taste. it's not that different to bases i've made before though in terms of the overall taste and texture so i don't expect a major breakthrough. if anything it reinforces my view that making a real BIR depends on getting all the pieces of the jigsaw right and that once a base hits a threshold then it's effect going fwd is limited. don't get me wrong this is a very good base and i really need to cook with it to make a proper assessment. so far so good. very pleased.
pics

1) end of stage 1 after blending
2) end of stage 2
3) finished base and rec oil

[CurryOnRegardless]

Wow, fantastic pix JerryM. I'm contemplating doing a scaled down 1/3rd version of this tomorrow as I couldn't possibly handle 6 litres of base plus I do have reservations about all the saturated fats from marg and coconut block. Last weeks base (BE) is getting a bit whiffy but the 3 curries we've had from it have been really good (followed your suggestions) re more tom puree spice mix etc.

[haldi]

Bliming Heck JerryM,
                    that pot looks so clean!
Great shots too

[mickdabass]

Hey Jerry-
Looks like you managed to reclaim more oil than me...I didnt even bother trying to separate the oil because there was so little! Like you I followed the recipe to the letter. Strange to have such a variation in finished results.If nothing else it makes me realise how difficult cooking in a bir style is!
Haldi you were right - I could not taste the coconut in the finished dish, but I can smell it in the base. Im really impressed with this gravy - which is just as well as my freezer is now full! I got 15 x aprox 400ml portions.
I had a go at the banjarra paste but I was not happy with the final result.The paste is a very dark brown colour (about the colour of Branston Pickle) but too bitter. I think I overcooked the onions. I shall give it another go later but I intend cooking the onions on a much lower heat for a lot longer to caramelise them. I think having the oil at "frying temperature" for too long was an error on my behalf.
Cheers
Mick