Topic: PanPot's Ashoka Curry Base

[Cory Ander]

the malik's base has marg in

Does it? How do you know that then?

We know (or at least should know) that BIRs generally use some cheap, convenient container to put totally unrelated ingredients in.

The fact remains that butter ghee is bloody expensive, olive oil is bloody expensive, butter is bloody expensive, vegetable ghee is pretty expensive, marge is pretty expensive...compared to common all garden vegetable oil (which is getting there!). 

This fact (together with the lack of concrete reports to the contrary) pursuades me that the use of any of these ingredients, in a curry base, would be infrequent.

Unless anyone else knows (factually) otherwise of course?

[topconker]

Any idea where I can get hold of some of the East End margarine down here in Salisbury?
Tried the local Asian supermarket who say they dont do it.
TC

[mickdabass]

I used Asdas own brand. 
 

[topconker]

Thanks Mick,
So presumably I could use any own brand veg marg then?
Rather than worry about the Eastend one.
TC

[mickdabass]

just been checking out the spec at http://www.eastendfoods.co.uk/oils.htm.
Quite possibly comes out of the same factory as Asdas brand!!! Besides Im sure birs buy the cheapest they can. I know they do with onions, and I would have thought the quality of onions would affect the overall flavour of the base more so than most other ingredients in the base

[JerryM]

the cumin overpowering the Base.

Mickdabass,

need to clarify this so i don't mislead anyone. i'm not a fan of cumin. i appreciate though that it's a crucial ingredient. in the as spec base i made it did not overpower. in fact the whole base seemed in good balance (a tad on the salt maybe).

where the coriander comes in is for me personally i'd like to try the base swapping the cumin for coriander. i've made a few base batches recently along the same lines and the results were very good. i then add the cumin via the spice mix.

i'm not recomending anyone does this or that the as spec base is inferior in anyway - it's spot on for me - obviously i've not cooked with it yet but i don't expect my views to change ie it's going into my top 3 of bases.

[Panpot]

Just Picking up on recent posts. Joshallen2k the home cooked Bhuna was just the same as the one he cooked for me. It was not as red in colour but that may be down to me not using the Diggi Mirch in the sauces where chili powder was required. He gave me a packet of the stuff which he swares by for it's flavour and natural colouring. It is expensive as it comes in ittle boxes as you will see when Unclebuck loads them up. I certainly will be hard pressed to venture away from this base now and the other basics such as G/G Paste and Bunjara. I am sure I will get more recipes in the new year but until then experimenting with these basics along with other adventurers on this site would be my preference now. It almost feels like an anticlimax now that I have the secrets I was searching for although lots still to learn in how to use it all.

The margarine thing seems to have come as a suprise to most of us and precisely the kind of thing I suspected would be part of the secrets. If it helps the doubters the chef is big on Eastend Brand spices and the catering size tub of marg was of this brand, I therefor assume the brand must sell lots into BIRs and TAs. As I stated elsewhere the vegetable ghee is only used on cooked nans and in Glasgow they are huge easily four and five times the size of some I have been served up down south. Perhaps a "show us your the size of your local Nan photo thing could add some fun over the coming festive season.

The finished Bunjara I also found to be rather salty though not when finally cooked through in the Bhuna and you will notice no salt is required at the dish cooking stage. Maybe I didn't need to but I ended up with just over half of a 400gm tin of blitzed plum tomatoes in my final bunjara and some sugar to counteract the saltiness.

JerryM you might be interested to hear that the final result based on the recipe he gave me was not as watery as you might expect but neither were the finished 60 litre pot load or the one used for cooking on the hob. As for scaling down, he seemed to be instantly at ease with providing a recipe for us but I suspect that was something he was used to working with at home.

Joshallen2k I am wondering if your issue with the cumin was to do with your using seeds rather than powder.the end result I got with cooking with all the bits and pieces was a very balanced dish. I tasted on the day the basic Korma made with the base and UHT single cream and it was perfect but what would you expect when this one base is used for so many dishes.

Bye the way, I have corrected the typos and some errors on the recipes post thanks to advice from Jeera which was most appreciated. Uncle buck has the photos and will post them for us in due course so big thanks to him too. panpot.

[joshallen2k]

Yes, my issue with the cumin may be down to using whole cumin instead of ground.

Completely agree that no salt needs to go into the final curry.

Panpot - in the recipe post you had two Bhuna recipes. One with peppers/onions and one without. Do they have two dishes?

[Unclebuck]

From panpot
Now some from my own efforts. I have followed the recipes to the letter so may help those finding it challenging to trust some of the ideas connected with The Ashoka.
 
Base with Onions and Cumin Powder simmering.
After Blitzing and cooking through, the final result.
 
Cheers Panpot

new photos added on first post on page one

[joshallen2k]

Panpot, maybe its something with the colour balance in the photo, but that finished base looks positively pink!

When I made the Ashoka base the colour matched the pic from the restaurant kitchen. They DID seem to use whole cumin though, but then again probably not a problem for them by the looks of that massive blender!