Topic: Got some real takeaway base today

[pg89]

I asked at my local takeaway today if I could have a small pot of their base gravy. It is different from all the bases I have made, and I have tried several of the main recipes. It is very thin, oily and runny but not watery. It has a very mild smell, and tastes very mildly spiced. It seems to be mainly like a naturally sweet onion soup. It doesn't taste bland like all my bases have done.

I also visited an Asian cash and carry today called 'Sira' in Southall, London (a goldmine area for food and ingredients). I managed to get a big bag of about 20 dutch onions for ?1.59 and 7 massive bulbs of garlic for 89p.

I am going to try and replicate a smaller batch of this base tomorrow, which really does seem just like blended onions in oil and water.
Here is a photo of the base....

[joshallen2k]

Nice one!

Definitely oily! A few questions...

- Is the food from this BIR top quality/flavour? (No point is trying to recreate a crap BIR's wares)
- What base(s) have you tried from the site? Which is most similar? Different?
- Using one of the many Madras recipes from the site, are you able to recreate a BIR curry from home using that base?
- What ingredients can you identify as "there" or "not there" in the base?

Sorry for all the questions, but every bit of info we get brings us closer!

-- Josh

[pg89]

The takeaway is of a very good standard. I live in London and I am surrounded by BIRs and takeaways, and I always order from there. It is called 'woodhouse tandoori'...heres the best link I could find http://www.findmyindian.co.uk/restaurant/london/friern_barnet/woodhouse_tandoori

I cant remember exactly which bases I have tried from this site, but they have always turned out too thick and they didn't taste or smell as "mild" as the real thing (although the smell coming out of my extractor fan did smell very familiar) The consistency and flavour level of the real base (not the taste) is similar to the liquid part of chicken noodle soup, well thats the best I can really describe it as I don't eat many soups!

I havent tried cooking with the base as I only have a tiny tub full and I want to try and match it with my own base so il keep you updated on that one...

The ingredients that are definitely "there" are onion, water and oil. Maybe tomato/tomato paste although it is not clear. Other than that nothing else really sticks out. I'm guessing just a small amount of the usual mix powder/coriander-cumin powder, salt etc... It really seems very simple yet it tastes nice on its own and there is a hint of natural sweetness, which I presume is from Dutch onions.

[adriandavidb]

I made my usual base on Saturday, with onions I got from a local Asian 'cash-&-curry'.  I got a big bag of onions, a bag containing about 10 bulbs of garlic, a couple of huge pieces of ginger and loads of chilies (as many as you could hold in both hands cupped together), all for ?4-47p !!!

I notices too, that a base made from these onions tasted like a sweet onion soup (not at all 'French Onion Soup), pale gold sweet and tasty enough to serve as a soup in its own right!

It's madras night tonight, can't wait!!

Keep up the good work!

[JerryM]

pg89,

a very good move given u're recent post.

the spot's on top are not oil but marg/ghee. try freezing a spoonfull just to be sure.

if u cook the base right the way through till the oil starts to rise u'll see how much is retained in the base (what i'm getting at is yes put a lot of oil in intially but get most of it out, for example for 800g onion i use around 500ml oil but take out 400 before blending).