Topic: Your thoughts .

[chilli head]

Just a small thing,did the curry taste a bit sharp i.e. the back of your through seems to get a bit acidic?any one else come a cross this ?I never use much chillies powder when making hot Curry's it is a myth use fresh chillies instead its a better sort of heat without that sour taste.
       Andy

[JerryM]

emin-j,

i've found that it's best to work on the sort of "safe" side initially by adding "too" much water - the only downside is that the evap off takes longer. u can then start to reduce the extra water and eventually u get a feel for how thin a base should be to suit your own cooking style. i think some members have even said that they keep a jug of water by the base during cooking which is the same but u're then having to react as opposed to plain sailing.

i've added link to my observations on real BIR base for info. the colour was "green/yellow/brown" and very much along what u experienced http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=2368.msg26329#msg26329

[emin-j]

Just a small thing,did the curry taste a bit sharp i.e. the back of your through seems to get a bit acidic?any one else come a cross this ?I never use much chillies powder when making hot Curry's it is a myth use fresh chillies instead its a better sort of heat without that sour taste.
       Andy

Hi Andy,
       No sharp taste in the Curry ,I have tried fresh Chilies ,dried Chilies ,and Chili powder but to be honest couldn't really taste any difference  and when I watched the Chef at my favourite T/A make my Madras he used Chili powder and his Curries are delicious 

[emin-j]

emin-j,

i've found that it's best to work on the sort of "safe" side initially by adding "too" much water - the only downside is that the evap off takes longer. u can then start to reduce the extra water and eventually u get a feel for how thin a base should be to suit your own cooking style. i think some members have even said that they keep a jug of water by the base during cooking which is the same but u're then having to react as opposed to plain sailing.

i've added link to my observations on real BIR base for info. the colour was "green/yellow/brown" and very much along what u experienced http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=2368.msg26329#msg26329

Link not working for me JerryM 

[JerryM]

emin-j

i got the real BIR base as part of the CR02 base development which got archived a while ago. have added the notes i took at the time below and a pic.

"I've now got the CR02 base as good as I wanted and having only a few ideas left felt I needed the real McCoy to take the development further. the BIR base taste certainly took me by surprise ? it's not what I expected.

Observations:

Colour - yellow brown
Texture - quite coarse thickish consistency (will almost soft peak) yet runny
Vegetable taste - onion, carrot and possibly potato
Spice taste - minimal spice certainly nothing sticking out, a hint of chilli and possibly ground coriander.
Oil - very little oil with a little yellow coloured oil on the surface and a few specks
Taste - Very smooth, mainly of onion, not salty, sweet or sour. A definite slight hint of something though which is difficult to put your finger on.
Smell - onion and a hint of this -something?

Best guess on what's not an ingredient:

fresh coriander
cumin
paprika
fresh, tin tomato or tomato puree
stock
garlic or ginger
green pepper
coconut
ajowan
ghee

Conclusions

It's a bit like a thin runny soup. It's not exactly the same as any base that I've tried from the site - they all seem too "deluxe" in comparison. The closest is the saffron but thinned.

The trouble is on a blind taste test against the bases I've tried from the site I'm sure I would not pick out the real McCoy. The difference between the base and the finished TA dish in terms of taste, colour and smell is stark and massive. You would swear you were being duped if you had not seen with your own eyes.

Given this I can't believe that the base is where we need to be looking given the site's bases are really "deluxe" and should therefore be producing fantastically curries on a like for like cooking basis.

I've got 10 off (ice cubes) goes at searching for the "something" but need to reformulate the CR02 to get to a closer starting point.

many thanks to Derek Dansak & Haldi for the inspiration."

[emin-j]

Well done JerryM are you into forensic science  ;D I can see how you study this and how your minds working  ;)Don't we have a Chemist on the forum who could analyse some base 
Seriously , I remember the words of the boss of the T/A he said " If the base is not right the Curry will not be " he went on to say they use the same base in most of their cooking.When I think how bland the base tasted this is probably why they can use it in so many products as it wont force any unwanted flavours into say a Korma.
I will be making another base tomorrow and remembering the ingredients he told me I need to find a recipe as close as possible.

Onions
Carrot
Green Pepper
Green Chilies ( small amount )
Fresh Coriander
Ginger ( small piece fresh )
no mention of Spices ( I should have asked  )

The colour was very close to your photo JerryM.

[Secret Santa]

What? No garlic!

[JerryM]

emin-j,

for info this base was how the forensic science turned out http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3462.0.

ps Must have garlic as Secret Santa says. i've also tried x2 on the garlic recently following a suggestion in another post and feel it's a good tack to follow.

the question on the spices would be very interesting. i've tried a selection of "simple spice", curry powder, mix powder/Spice Mix, garam masala in various combinations. i've settled on simple spicing only.

[emin-j]

JerryM ,
      I ended up using a RAJVER recipe for my base which used almost the exact ingredients as the T/A ,but I did leave out the Tom Puree and the 1 Tbs of Chili Powder.I wanted to try to end up with the same colour base as the T/A ( yellowy/green )and a sorta bland taste . I am beginning to think it's easy to overdo the Spices ( and especially Garlic )if it goes into the base and the Curry 
I made the base this afternoon and to be honest when it all boiled down it didn't look to appetizing  but when I blended it all together it looked just like what I remember the T/A looked like and the taste was very similar too ,just like a very very weak Curry Sauce with the flavour of Onions and Coriander ( very mild )and just a couple of seconds of the 2 Green Chilies that went in.I'll get back to you tomorrow night when I make my Curry with the results  :

[emin-j]

What? No garlic!

Hi Secret Santa , no Garlic in the base only in the Curry ,perhaps this is what makes it very versatile in the T/A