Topic: Dipuraja's Curry Base Gravy

[peterandjen]

Ive just knocked up a pan of this base and must admit its very nice, and considering the fact that its much simpler than my usual base its just as tasty.
I followed the recipe to the letter, apart from i simmered the blended mix for about an hour.
I ended up with 2 litres of very nice base which ill be using a portion of tomorrow night, so ill post the results.
Im impressed.
I used dips spice mix(containing Rajah madras curry powder) and this garam masala.....
http://www.indiacurry.com/spice/szb03garammasala.htm

[string28]

Ive done some base today ready for this weekend.
Made sheek kebabs too and chicken tikka.
Will post the results again in a video will be making the bhuna chicken puri and chicken tikka balti.

[JerryM]

Razor,

yes. i feel i've stuck to the spec. i did add both green and red pepper (1/2 & 1/2).

i cooked for 2hrs before blending and 1 hr after blending. before blending i had 2L of base. i added 1L water for the 1 hr after blending and a further 1L water to thin the base.

the base is very good. there are others on the site that i feel are better. it's not going into my top 3 for example.

[Razor]

Hi PandJ and Jerry,

I followed the recipe to the letter, apart from i simmered the blended mix for about an hour.

Razor,

yes. i feel i've stuck to the spec. i did add both green and red pepper (1/2 & 1/2).

i cooked for 2hrs before blending and 1 hr after blending. before

So you have both altered the cooking process then?  This will no doubt alter the flavour of the base somewhat!

I think the longer cooking will add depth of flavour to the base.  The spices will cook properly as well as the onions but cooking it just to spec did nothing for me.  It just tasted over spiced?  Maybe I made an error somewhere, dunno?

I will just have to give it another go and see!

Will post the results again in a video will be making the bhuna chicken puri and chicken tikka balti.

String,

I can't wait, maybe you could add Bangra Nights as the sound track this time ;D ;D

Ray

[string28]

Ive found cooking it longer makes it taste better.
Also when it comes to cooking the curries the heat needs to be full and i cook the spices for a bit before adding the other stuff.
I think you have to watch with this base i think too much of the spice mix could give it a bitter taste.
I tasted the base before i blended it up and i must admit it had a lot more taste the other bases ive tried.
I cooked my base for over 2 and half hours if that helps.

The video ill make sure the sound tracks got some singing in it this time lol

[peterandjen]

Well i must admit it makes a bloody good curry, i made 2 portions of tandoori chicken balti for the missus and i and they both turned out lovely, i did have to reduce them both down quite a lot to get a strong enough flavour, the balti's looked more like a Dopiaza, but very good none the less.
I started off with hot oil (veg and 1tsp mustard oil) and g/g paste until starting to brown, added 1tbsp dips spice mix 2tbsp dry methi and 1tbsp balti masala spice mix, cooked these for a few mins and threw in raw chopped onion and tom puree, for another 2-3 mins then added my base.
Left it to cook for 10 mins on low-medium heat and then just added the chuck to reheat.
Seved with pilau rice and a fresh home cooked naan. very nice .
The only differnce between the two dishes was the addition of a couple of chillies with the g/g paste for mine.

[Razor]

Guys,

Can I just get some clarification on the video?  Is Dip suggesting that the massive pot of vegetables on the right of the burners, is what he starts with to end up with whats left in the pan to the left?

I don't think it can be because the left hand pan is smaller for a start, so I'm guessing that, the measurements that her has put out, gives you the small quantity in the left hand pan?

If this is so, I can't understand some of the previous post's that have suggested that they didn't need to add water?

Incidentally, that's exactly how much I had in the pan before I added the tinned toms and mix powder, confirming to me that my cooking method was sound!

I only added water after I blended like Dip suggests to give me enough for about 4 or 5 portions.  Maybe, that's why I believe the base to be over spiced? 

Based on this base giving you 5 portions, that would mean you would have 6ml of spice in the base, plus a further 15ml at least if you're making a madras.  21 ml of spice to me is over the top, especially if the blend is out of balance!

As for Jerry and Axe's observations with regards to fresh toms and red peppers in Dips pot, I also saw the red pepper, didn't see the fresh toms.  The point I'm making with this is, If it needs a red pepper, then why doesn't he state 'Red Pepper' in the ingredients list, as we all know it has a significantly different taste to green, and thus, must effect the final taste?

I'm gonna have to give this one another go, I can't get my head around how many of you are so happy with it and yet, I felt let down!  I'm questioning my own technique now for the first time in a long while

I'll let you all know I get on

Ray

[JerryM]

Based on this base giving you 5 portions

i got 10 portions out of this base.

i was real taken aback by how well the "large" amount of spice 1 tbsp (15ml) worked at dish frying. this is more than i've used before (more like 2 tsp, infact for quite a while now i've been using 1 tsp). it seemed to make a difference for me. it also seemed to allow me to use methi in large qty ie 0.5 and 1 tsp amounts called for in the recipes. the base itself is quite low spiced which perhaps makes the larger spice possible at dish frying.

Razor - for what it's worth i don't feel there is anything special about this base in fact i think u're kushi is better.

[peterandjen]

I think the best thing about the dipuraja site is that we now have all the ingredients and knowledge needed to make a standard takeway meal consistantly.
All we have to do now is replace the pastes with decent ingredients and add a bit of fine tuning and weve cracked it.

[string28]

I agree with you peterandjen i think this is close.... Once we learn more and more we can change it to make our own pastes..... Maybe even change the flavours to what everyone else is used to from there takeaways or bir.
I think we are getting closer now...Things can only get better.