Topic: My take on CRO2 Base

[PaulP]

Great post and pictures Dellydell.

Despite careful measurements when I make a 3 litre base and have 6 x 500 ml containers at the ready I always seem to be out by about half a litre, usually I find I'm short of the target amount.

The base looks very good - let us know how the cooking with it goes.

[JerryM]

dellydel,

u clearly know u're stuff - well impressed. pics are spot on.

the base tastes and looks as close as i can get to the base from my local TA. the fennel was as u say quite difficult to pin down and is a key feature of the base.

i've not tried adding tomato as i think it would then get too close to rajver & saffron which i like very much as well (they each have a different slant or touch).

on the 300ml of water - it does not cover the onion - initially. as the onion cooks it melts into the water and oil though. i tend to use around 500 to 550ml of oil to reclaim 400 to 450ml before blending - that perhaps helps with the cover initially.

i've even got 10 portions from the base - it seems to vary a bit. i think as u say 6 portions is too concentrated and 8 is about right.

i need quite a lot of oil at cooking stage - which is why i keep it to 100ml in the base. 150ml would be fine in the base (too much oil does spoil a base though).

at dish cooking i tend to add a little more tom puree than u would normally to compensate for the lack of tomato (heaped rather than level).

best wishes for the dish cooking.

[dellydel]

Cheers Jerry, I will bare the extra puree in mind when I come to cooking.

Oh, and by the way I brought one of those spice balls and used it for the first time in this base for the whole spices, what a fantastic bit of kit, cheers for the tip

Del

[JerryM]

dellydel,

the whole spice and spice ball is a key thing for me. i think it's what makes the oil.

i'm currently using up roasted powder using tgad's method. after that i don't know what to do - i can't make up my mind which is best. tgad's is certainly easier but my gut feeling keeps saying infusion ie spice ball is best.

i'll probably end up having to do a side by side on the last of the powder.

tgad link http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=2203.msg33181#msg33181

[dellydel]

I hadn't read that post, very interesting!

The more I am thinking about the smell and taste of this version of base the more I am believing the key lies with the correct blend of whole spices or garam masala.

I think this could actually become quite an interesting discovery for me and a new stepping stone as I had hit a bit of a wall up until making this base.  I will have to do a bit of experimenting and will also try reclaiming oil on the next batch, providing this batch goes down well  ;D

Del

[JerryM]

dellydel,

probably well worth some effort - i've certainly not done enough on it. i do know cardamom, bay and anis are crucial. i've also started adding in cinnamon stick. i have tried casia but that does not work. i've not tried any of the other "garam" spices. i don't like clove so that would be a no no for me (i don't think it's BIR either).

[dellydel]

Bit of a late update!

I recently made this base (made some more today actually  ;D) and I tested it out with a slightly adapted CK bhuna recipe.

I've got to say it was certainly up there with the best, no doubt about it!!

Here are some pics......

Ingredients (CA chicken tikka)


Pan and base ready to go


Completed curry (double portion)


On the plate


Close up!

[Stephen Lindsay]

This is an interesting thread, one which I had not read before. I was wondering JerryM if you have continued to use this base and developed compatible curry recipes?

[dellydel]

This is an interesting thread, one which I had not read before. I was wondering JerryM if you have continued to use this base and developed compatible curry recipes?

I know Jerry currently uses this base and rates it highly when cooking his regular dishes noted on the first page.

[JerryM]

Stephen,

dellydel is right this base is my top 3 along with rajver and saffron.

i struggle a bit with the idea of compatibility. there are some ingredients in base that do affect the final dish (tomato in base & tom puree at dish frying is the only example i can think off).

i keep all the recipes from the site on yellow stickies - i don't change them at all to suit ea of the my top 3 bases which i tend to make in rotation. i do make each of the 3 bases by exactly the same method and they do taste different. the difference seems to be in the character of the dishes cooked not down to the recipe at cooking stage.

this may be one of my "errors of ways". for example i'm currently struggling on adopting low spice at cooking stage. the rajver is high spiced whereas the saffron and mytake are low. i still (as do we all) have much to learn. it's not a problem though - well to me anyhow.

there are several other bases that i rate just as highly as my top 3 - it's just down to u're own personal preferences - i like coconut for example others don't. i also think how u make the base has quite a large impact on how it tastes in addition to the ingredients.