Topic: How much base sauce do you use?

[dellydel]

Something I mentioned in SnS's base thread but I thought I would mention here instead of going off topic.

When I buy a TA curry the containers they come in a hold much more than the 250ml base sauce I am using at the moment, they probably contain around 500ml.

The obvious answer is to use more base per portion, however does this mean if I am using a recipe saying 250ml of base and I want it to be 500ml for a bigger portion, I should theoretically double all the spice ingredients to?

Out of interest how much approx are you guys using in your curry's?  Say a Madras for arguments sake?

Cheers

Del

[joshallen2k]

I'm usually 300ml of base for a single curry.

[Derek Dansak]

i am using 5 ladels of base per portion. i always stick to this amount, and use 1 rounded tsp of dd spice mix per curry, and 1 tsp of chilly powder per curry. these measurements are spot on every time (for my taste buds!). i use exactly the same measurements for every curry. but vary the amounts of things like garlic, methi, coriander, etc. this way, its easy to build up a picture of what quantities work best for eg a madras v's a jalfrezzi. jalfrezzi has lots more garlic for example. but i still stick to the rule of 5 ladels of base per dish. its quite saucy!  ;D 

[joshallen2k]

DD - how big is your ladel?

I saw somewhere on this site that a ladel was 142ml. So 5x 142ml = 710ml.

I'd say that's way too much, but I'm guessing you use a smaller ladel?

[JerryM]

i always use 300ml of base to produce 200ml finished curry sauce. this is 2 off ladles for me with each ladle 150 ml.

so if i was making a 400ml finished sauce i would double all the basic ingredients ie oil, tom puree, spice etc. i actually do this when i make CTM - for example i often make a 12 ladle portion which is a x4 the std recipe (fills the wok  ;D).

i think the TA discrepancy comes from the extra "bulk" (none sauce) ingredients ie the chopped onion, chicken, fresh tomato etc - take these out and you're left with very little sauce - well for me anyhow.

the volume is quite a tricky issue though for me as i feel it depends on quite a lot of variables ie how thin the base is, how much evaporation at cooking, the proportion of onion in the base. i find that i have to work backwards and refine each base after making it for the 1st time. i aim for between 60 & 70% bulk veg in the finished base volume. for me it seems important for the base to be thin yet to contain quite a lot of bulk veg at the same time. i know it sounds a bit of a contradiction but the effect is thin base followed by lots of evaporation at cooking stage produces nice curry consistency.

[Bobby Bhuna]

I too am a 300ml man. It just works! You can just tell though depending upon how much meat and veg your using. Just get the consistency right and you're laughing.

[Secret Santa]

i aim for between 60 & 70% bulk veg in the finished base volume.

Hi Jerry

Can you explain exactly what you mean by this please? The reason I ask is that it is normal practise (from watching malik's videos and other real BIR accounts) to fill the pot to just under, or perhaps just over, the level of the 'bulk' ingredients. In other words, you lob all your onions, garlic, ginger, toms, carrots etc. into the pot and then fill with just enough water to cover.

This to me seems to be a 'golden rule' of BIR curry base making. They all seem to do it this way.

So, shouldn't we be doing the same, even on a smaller scale?

[Secret Santa]

On the general theme of how much base per portion of curry, these are my thoughts.

1. Each base is different in 'spicyness', so there can be no fixed amount.

2. Each base varies in wateryness, so there can be no fixed amount.

3. Unless specified, each person's ladle size will be different, so there can be no fixed amount.

4. Each person will evaporate off the base at a different rate and usually to personal preference, so there can be no fixed amount.

Conclusion:

1.There's no such thing as a right amount of base per portion (unless all things are specified precisely).

2.You add the amount of base sauce that makes it work for you (by trial and error!)

[joshallen2k]

Part of getting to BIR at home is matching what they do, down to the last detail (as best we can). 300 ml of base, plus a takeaway size portion of meat, yields a finished curry that fills a takeaway size container.

If it tastes BIR, then you've done SS's 1-4 correctly

If I need to make more, I get two pans going. Keeping the portion size correct I think is important. A lot of recipes scale poorly.

[Panpot]

At the Ashoka the chef advised us to add the base in small portions stirring and cooking in before adding more until the consistency was right. i have noticed on the Malik video and at my local TA that they pour in laddlefulls at a time. Perhaps as a chef of high standing he is nor prepared to compromise on the quality of the end result for the quickness of TA food.

He mentioned the lack of care he has witnessed elsewhere with the cooking of the Banjara where the onions are not browned long enough over a slow flame.

The practises i witnessed not to mention the recipes will certainly guide my cooking from now on especially adding in the sauce. Cheers panpot