Topic: CA's Curry Base (aka "gravy"/"sauce")

[Willyeckerslike]

Hi,

I Made this as my latest batch of base and very good it is, the best I have done so far I think.  It looks the same colour as the one in my local restaraunt when I managed to see it a few years ago (daughter worked behind the bar for a while).  It does taste a bit like a mildly spiced veg soup and is yellowy in colouras CA says it should be, also it is a lot thinner in consistancy than the others I have made.  I made Curryking's chicken tikka massala with it and the whole family enjoyed it very much (that's a 1st ;D, usually too spicy for them).  Next I will try Uncle Bucks garlic-chilli chicken with this base as I enjoyed it very much with the SNS base but this base is a lot different so will be interested to see the results. 

I was going to post a pic of the base but cant seem to upload it, probably a problem at my end.

thanks for sharing this Cory Ander

[Cory Ander]

Hi Will,

Thanks for trying my base and reporting your results.  Glad that you had some good results with it 

I was going to post a pic of the base but cant seem to upload it, probably a problem at my end.

The problem is that the forum needs more capacity to post photos.  I also wanted to post some photos of my base but I also can't 

Until Stew acquires more capacity, an option is to post photos on another file sharing website (e.g. photobucket), and link it to here.

[Secret Santa]

I was just reading through this thread in preparation for making this base tomorrow and one thing that struck me in the recipe is the lack of tinned tomatoes.

Now I fully intend to stick to the recipe as written, but every real BIR base I've seen, which admittedly isn't many, but includes the East Live and Maliks ones, have a substantial amount of tinned tomatoes in them.

This seems logical to me as fresh tomatoes are expensive compared to tinned, or maybe not at trade prices, I don't know.

Anyway it was just a thought.

[Curry Barking Mad]

I was just reading through this thread in preparation for making this base tomorrow and one thing that struck me in the recipe is the lack of tinned tomatoes.

Now I fully intend to stick to the recipe as written, but every real BIR base I've seen, which admittedly isn't many, but includes the East Live and Maliks ones, have a substantial amount of tinned tomatoes in them.

This seems logical to me as fresh tomatoes are expensive compared to tinned, or maybe not at trade prices, I don't know.

Anyway it was just a thought.

Spot on SS,
Cheap, easy and effective,
Bob

[Bobby Bhuna]

Hey guys, well like many of us (given his great curry pictures), I was excited to try out CA's recipes. I actually bought scales for this. Here is my attempt at CA's base gravy and Madras, to which I added a few extra veg ingredients at the curry stage (whole deseeded finger chillies, 1 tbsp finely chopped green capsicum, 1 tbsp finely chopped onion, 1 fresh tomato quarterd and a little extra garlic - you can see in the pictures) to create a Bhuna Madras. Other than the changes mentioned, I stuck exactly to the recipe (oh, I used chopped Coriander leaves rather than stalks / roots - I don't care if it looks green).

Stage 1 base ingredients:



Added spice mix and Coriander



After blending:



Ingredients for curry ready



Finished Curry



Curry and Pillau Rice ready to eat



I had great success with this recipe. The best results I've had in a very long time, possibly ever. This really worked for me. The result was just like my best local takeaway. I'm very happy with the base and think the spice mix suits me perfectly.

Observations

The base is thinner than what I'm used to. It also asks for small amounts of things like green capsicum and carrot - less than most other I've seen. I was dubious about the use of sugar. I've added some to a base before and it turned out to be a bad move. However in the final recipe I did add the 2 tsps which were called for. Worked a treat. My picture of the spice mix didn't come out well but mine looked lighter than CA's. I can't explain this, as I stuck as precisely as I could to the recipe. Maybe just a crap camera?

I'm very glad that I tried these recipes. They are excellent. Thanks very much CA!

Having cooked the base, I have since realised that I should have added the Coriander after having cooked with the spice mix for 5 minutes. I seriously doubt this made any difference as the base gets cooked again when the final dish is getting made, making any argument for loss of freshness of the Coriander or similar unlikely.

[joshallen2k]

Great stuff BB. Looks great.

I too had an excellent experience with this base. Sadly all I got around to making was a Bhuna (CK's) and a korma. I remember the bhuna being fantastic.

I take it you followed CA's Madras recipe (plus extra veg). How did you rate the Madras? There was a few things in that recipe I recall (like sugar and tandoori masala) that made me curious.

Cheers,
Josh

[Bobby Bhuna]

I take it you followed CA's Madras recipe (plus extra veg). How did you rate the Madras? There was a few things in that recipe I recall (like sugar and tandoori masala) that made me curious.

Hey Josh, hope you're well!

I rated the curry I made following the Madras recipe plus a few extras, very highly. I have often used Tandoori Masala in recipes as a bit of a legacy of the original KD recipes, so no surprise there for me. I was worried about the sugar but it was fine. I can't say I really noticed it but the end result was very good indeed.

[Cory Ander]

one thing that struck me in the recipe is the lack of tinned tomatoes.

Yes, valid observation SS.  You may have noticed (from previous posts) that I'm not at all keen on using tinned tomatoes in the base (or even in curries) because I find they can make the base (and curries) bitter.  Not everyones agrees, of course.  So I use fresh tomatoes and tomato paste instead.

[Cory Ander]

I had great success with this recipe. The best results I've had in a very long time, possibly ever. This really worked for me. The result was just like my best local takeaway. I'm very happy with the base and think the spice mix suits me perfectly

Great pics BB,  thanks for taking the time to try this recipe and reporting back your pics and findings 

It also asks for small amounts of things like green capsicum and carrot - less than most other I've seen

One of the problems with "scaling down" base recipes, I suppose.

I was dubious about the use of sugar. I've added some to a base before and it turned out to be a bad move. However in the final recipe I did add the 2 tsps which were called for. Worked a treat

I presume you're referring to my Madras recipe, where adding sugar "to taste" is specified (rather than this base recipe, where there is no sugar specified)?

[Bobby Bhuna]

Great pics BB,  thanks for taking the time to try this recipe and reporting back your pics and findings 

You're very welcome - thanks for taking the time to post the recipe.

One of the problems with "scaling down" base recipes, I suppose.

I think this could be the key. I could well have been using too much capsicum and carrot in the past.

I presume you're referring to my Madras recipe, where adding sugar "to taste" is specified (rather than this base recipe, where there is no sugar specified)?

That's right. I went for the 2 tsps, which seemed to work a treat. Next time I will try without. I can't say I really noticed it.