Topic: How do I Blend a Curry Base?

[PaulP]

Dirk,

It sounds like your hand blender is not working very well.

When I put mine in 3 litres of base it is very powerful and mixes as well as blends the pan contents. Like SS says in five mins it should all be done.

You do have to move the blender around the pot as well. Are you sure you're not getting stuff stuck to the bottom of the pot?

As others have said an upright jug blender will do the job fine - just messy and more washing up to do.

[Stephen Lindsay]

Dirk the other thing to think about with base recipes is that they differ in the way they cook the onions. Some call for frying in oil before adding the liquid ingredients whilst others call for putting them straight into a pot and boiling. Neither method will make any difference to the finished sauce.

If you wanted to be really cheffy about this and achieve the smoothest of sauces you could push the whole thing through a sieve but I think most people on here would agree that this is not necessary and doesn't represent the techniques used by BIRs which is basically the core interest of this site.

[Dirk]

You do have to move the blender around the pot as well. Are you sure you're not getting stuff stuck to the bottom of the pot?

As others have said an upright jug blender will do the job fine - just messy and more washing up to do.

No, nothing is sticking and I've used three different hand blenders. I must say that I have made a few smooth bases before but most are lumpy. I have never changed the recipe / method which is why I asked if the type of onion makes a difference. I'll keep trying!

[joshallen2k]

Dirk - could you post a photo of your blender? This sounds strange to me too.

Are you putting your blender all the way to the bottom of the pot when you are blending?

[Dirk]

I've actually thrown the blender away now so I can't post any pics. I have made a couple of curries with the base and they are very bitty but taste fine. I'm absolutely stumped with this. I'm following recipes from this site and have done everything that people are suggesting (apart from chopping the onions first so far) but all i get is an onion mash rather than a sauce. I'm going to try another batch with a jug blender and I'll let you know how I get on.

[joshallen2k]

Yes it does sound odd.

What consistency is the base when you have finished blending (as much as you're able to)?

It should be soupish.

The chop coarseness of the onions should have nothing to do with it. I made a base with whole onions the other day, and they blended up no problem.

-- Josh

[Secret Santa]

all i get is an onion mash rather than a sauce.

Assuming your blender is up to the job, and I would find it hard to believe it wasn't, no matter how cheap it is/was, that sounds to me like you don't have enough water in the base when you blend it.

[Dirk]

The consistency of the sauce is very watery on top with the mashed/blended onion at the bottom. It doesn't seem to mix very well. I always use enough water to cover all the ingredients in th pot.

[PaulP]

When I make a base they usually already contain the oil and a measured amount of water. I would say there is a lot more liquid in my bases than "enough water to cover the ingredients".

After blending I then reduce the water content to achieve the required volume.

One tip I use: If the recipe says this will produce x litres of base I put x litres of water into the stock pot first then measure the depth with a ruler. Then when doing the final reduction I use the ruler to see if I have reached the required volume.

I've never had your problem but suspect there is not enough liquid in the base when you are blending.

[JerryM]

The consistency of the sauce is very watery on top with the mashed/blended onion at the bottom.

Dirk,

this is normal to a certain extent. i always give the stock pot a good stir before taking out for dish frying/cooking.

It doesn't seem to mix very well - this isn't normal at all. once the stock pot has had a good stir it should hold the "solids" in suspension with settlement over a period of time.

the only thing for me is u could bee putting in too much water at the start (i always add at the end).

if u can take a photo of a spoonful of the base on a plate (from say the top and the bottom). alternatively i'd follow one of the site's bases exactly to spec and see what difference u get (any of the good ones - CA's aka is current and getting a good cross section of support).

i'm making base today and will take a photo for comparison.