Topic: PanPot's Ashoka Curry Base

[Jeera]

CA. My main point is you have jumped in to say the base is similar to others  without following a full recipe and using your typical final madras. Fair enough you are looking for a madras, but hey before you judge at least give one of the originals a crack.

btw, I have already posted my own findings and observations.. so feel free to comment.

[CurryCrazy]

And that oil is definitely unreproducable at home

Why is that?

[haldi]

Interesting comment about the oil but how does that account for those restaurants that simply use oil straight from the bottle

A proportion (about a third) of this oil gets into your base when it's blended.
It's this recooked oil that gives the base the "taste"
You could use it, without adding any extra oil to it at all, and it still would gives top results
You already have the flavour in your base, no matter what you do

Why is the oil definitely unreproducable at home?

Because some comes from a fryer that's cooked for two evenings, and some is second generation curry gravy oil (or perhaps older)

Different places do different things, they are not the same

One place I knew took oil from the deep pan fryer for each new curry
I don't know if that oil went in their curry base too, but either way it still found a way into the cooked meal

[Cory Ander]

And here (due to popular request Jeera  ) is the Ashoka Bhoona curry sauce (no chicken at this stage...to follow) made to PP's instructions.

Observations:

• nice and creamy
• pleasant to taste - my wife likes it lots
• predominant smell and taste of onions and garlic
• very garlicky
• quite salty
• coconut (in base) not really discernible to taste or smell
• cumin (in base) not really discernible to taste or smell
• lacks depth of flavour
• lingering greasiness (not so much oiliness, but greasiness) on the lips and the roof of mouth

I think you can see the margarine already beginning to congeal on the surface?

[joshallen2k]

Haldi, assuming you're right, and that the "taste" is from the oil used in the base, without outright dismissing the prospect of doing this at home, what might you suggest we do to get oil that's "suitable" for base cooking?

Fry some poppadoms? Bhajis? Over how much time?

There has to be a way to do this at home.

[Jeera]

And here (due to popular request Jeera  ) is the Ashoka Bhoona curry sauce (no chicken at this stage...to follow) made to PP's instructions.

Observations:

• nice and creamy
• pleasant to taste - my wife likes it lots
• predominant smell and taste of onions and garlic
• very garlicky
• quite salty
• coconut (in base) not really discernible to taste or smell
• cumin (in base) not really discernible to taste or smell
• lacks depth of flavour
• lingering greasiness (not so much oiliness, but greasiness) on the lips and the roof of mouth

I think you can see the margarine already beginning to congeal on the surface?

lol good man CA.

I agree with most of your comments especially too much salt and garlic. I do think there is real depth in it though.

I didn't get the congealed marg effect you talk about - actually your making me feel a bit ill mentioning this 

[haldi]

Haldi, assuming you're right, and that the "taste" is from the oil used in the base, without outright dismissing the prospect of doing this at home, what might you suggest we do to get oil that's "suitable" for base cooking?

Fry some poppadoms? Bhajis? Over how much time?

There has to be a way to do this at home.

That's what I thought, but I got hold of their scooped off curry gravy oil and used it, I then knew it was something I had never EVER made
It's aroma (even cold) is almost drug like
When heated, well........it's everything I have tried to get
You could cook frozen peas in it, and you would have a fantastic tasting meal
It can go back into your new curry base
This stuff can go on forever

I tried to make a flavoured oil to use in my curry gravy
The closest I got was some chip oil
But that lacked something
So I cooked loads of bhajees and chips
Still no luck
So I did chicken as well in some oil
What can I say, but this wasn't giving the result needed

So I went round a few food places trying to get their old oil
I got some old chip vegetable lard
That was the most disgusting curry venture ever

To make the oil, I believe you need to be cooking food commercially and also cooking the right things

If I owned a curry house I could do it
I would have no missing flavour

[Cory Ander]

And the Ashoka Chicken Bhoona (using Ashoka marinated chicken). 

I know I made it more runny than a "bhoona" should ideally be 

Unsurprisingly, the Chicken Bhoona didn't taste that much different than the bhoona sauce alone. 

It was a little more piquant (because of the chili powder in the chicken marinade) and even more garlicky (because of the garlic/ginger paste in the marinade).

To be honest, I didn't really detect that the marinating did much (except add more chili and garlic to the final curry). 

I thought you anyway needed acidic substances (like yogurt, wine, vinegar, lemon juice, etc) to effectively marinate (i.e. soften the meat by breaking down the fibres)?  Maybe I'm wrong....

Verdict - pleasant, creamy, garlicky, but rather tasteless, very greasy and somewhat salty.

[Cory Ander]

.....so I turned it back into a Madras! (i.e. added spice mix, fresh chillies, chilli powder, sugar, splash of vinegar....please see above post..and taste it first and forget the salt if you think it's too salty  ).  FARRRR more tasty! 

[Bobby Bhuna]

Looking good CA. 

Back onto the base. Inspired by your picture, I tried a standard Madras, minus garlic and ginger, as I feel the base has enough already. I also used fresh chillies and a little fresh finely chopped coriander. I also tried a using a little vinegar. Guess what? Pretty much just like my standard Madras... That's no bad thing I suppose, and it is a decent base. I'm still on that plateau.