Topic: where to buy muslin bag. how to use them?

[Derek Dansak]

any suggestions folks?

[Domi]

draperies or mothercare (at least I think mothercare still sell muslin squares...) to use them is easy, just pop whatever you want into them and tie in a knot..

[matt3333]

any suggestions folks?

Try this link Muslin squares at Lakeland.

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/F/keyword/muslin/product/7011

[JerryM]

DD,

i've upgraded to a spice ball (ebay supplier, sorry not got a link, suggest google). before that i used an unused dish cloth and piece of string.

[Derek Dansak]

cheers guys. so whats a sensible mix of whole spices to place in muslin bag when boiling the base gravy. approx quantities ?

[JerryM]

for 800gm of onion i use 4 cardamom, 4 bay, 1 anis and ~4" cinnamon. i think u could leave the cinnamon out depending on personal preference. i pro rata if i make a bigger volume base.

[adriandavidb]

I just bung 2 star anise 3 or 4 bay, some peppercorns and maybe a few cloves and/or cardamoms (last two not essential) into a a big pot with the left-overs of a roast chicken (bones and everything), with a couple of uncooked 'savers' chicken wings.  Boil it all for 2 or 3 hours, filter the lot through muslin (from any good cook-shop), into a big pot.

Then I add all the veg that I use for the base, and continue as usual....

I REALLY REALLY suggest anyone who is looking to get another 3% of the way to "the final 5%", to give this a try!  Home made chicken stock does not necessarily taste a lot like chicken, particularly in a curry with so many other strong flavours. BUT rather, it seems to act like a general flavour enhancer, it seems to fill-out the flavour in a way that is dificult to discribe, but very effective.

Sorry, I know I've banged-on about this before, and perhaps this is not the thread to mention again; but it IS a very good use for muslin!

[Cory Ander]

cheers guys. so whats a sensible mix of whole spices to place in muslin bag when boiling the base gravy. approx quantities ?

Hi DD,

I understand that a spice infusion ("akhni" or "yakhni") is sometimes used in traditional Indian cooking.  But I'm not sure how prevalent it's use is in BIR cooking.  Does anybody know?

Pat Chapman gives a recipe for this "stock" in his books.  He uses 10 green cardamom pods, 10 cloves, 5 bay leaves, 6 pieces of cassia bark, 2 tbsp dried onion flakes and 1 tbsp ghee, in about 750ml water, and boils it for about 20 minutes.

I've used to use akhni stock (i.e. adding this pre-infused stock to the curry base ingredients instead of plain water) to make curry bases (which is what you're attempting isn't it?)

But I stopped doing it because I really didn't think it was an improvement (and it seemed to make it worse).  Also, some whole spices, when boiled, can add a horrible astringent taste I find (particularly things like cinnamon stick and cassia bark).

I will be interested to hear what you find.

[JerryM]

my use is only in the base. i've tried stock once before (without spices, i made currytesters base) and it wasn't for me. clearly from what adriandavidb has found it must be a matter of personal taste or amount/intensity.

my use of using spice infusion was 2 fold. meals in brum tended to have whole cardamom in the cooked curry and i found it enhanced the taste (i don't go that far as i remove it all before blending). i also saw a lot of anis in my local asian store and felt it must be used for something and ended up trying it in the base.

how prevalent as CA's say's i've have no info and it is an extra hassle.

[Derek Dansak]

Hi Adrian, thats the kind of approach the chef at my local spouted on about one night. i like the sound of that chicken stock, it certainly adds a lot of taste. the head chef also said its good to simmer whole spices in water. he did not say what you do with the water though. i tried adding some flavored spicy water to the base, and it was unclear if it was a step forward. he also mentioned the importnace of cooking whole spices properly to remove the raw taste. i guess they might use whole spices in some dishes, once they have been pre cooked to remove raw taste. not sure? i intend to try pre cooking cloves in water, then mash them up and add a little to a jalfrezzi.