Well hello everyone.
I found this site yesterday after doing a search for a base sauce. (I'd made one last month from a recipe I found, and it was poor - just tasted of onions! - and it's daft that this recipe comes almost top of the searches, whereas this site was quite a way down).
Anyway, once I registered, I was hooked. I couldn't stop reading, there's such a wealth of information here. I was reading well into the early hours and went to bed dreaming of onions and sauces and spices! It's a great site, and I have the feeling I may be visiting a lot, and hopefully contributing to the occasional discussion.
I've tried to cook curry a lot over the years, but I'm the kind who likes to experiment, not follow strict recipes, and just chuck things into the pan at random. Sometimes they're great, sometimes they're barely edible. For example I tried to make a pathia last week, and used mango chutney, lemon juice, and tamarind paste to try and find that sweet and sour flavour. The base sauce thing is quite new to me - I've just spent the afternoon putting together the BE sauce, which is currently just cooling down. So we will see tomorrow when I use it - fingers crossed!
After my intense reading sessions, here's some of the things I've already learnt and been surprised by:
1) Chilli - I'm amazed, I had always thought that powders were a cop out, poor quality, and that fresh stuff should be used. The first thing I do usually is chop chillies, garlic and ginger, then add coriander and garam masala (which hardly seems to be used at all on this site). Hardly any recipes I found here use fresh chilli, and I have avoided chilli powder for years.
2) I like the hot, sweet, sour currys, and often make pathia, dansak, ceylon etc. I always use dessicated coconut, which I have read is not the right thing to use - I must buy some powdered sort.
Oh I'll stop now, you'll all have got bored by this point! Suffice to say that I found a good local indian grocer, stocked up, and the base sauce is on the hob. Can't wait, cheers!
Topic: Hi, and first impressions (Read 3301 times)