Topic: Base Comparison Exercise

[Stephen Lindsay]

I found a copy of The New Curry Secret by Kris Dhillon, at a reduced price of ?3.99 in "The Works" today. I'd nothing to lose, so thought I would give it a try. I immediately went to the base section and compared the base in the new book with that of the original book "The Curry Secret". This got me to thinking about the bases on this forum. There are lots of bases on this site but I don't know if there has been a comprehensive comparison of them.
 
My question then is this - would this be useful exercise to undertake?
 
If so, what kinds of information would members like to see? My initial thoughts would be something along the lines of a table or grid where the key ingredients for each base could be compared, e.g.
 
onions
garlic/ginger
other vegetables
spices
 
Would this be a useful thread?

My thinking is that this could serve as a useful reference point for new and existing members.
 
Which bases would you like to see included? The ones that seem to have attracted most attention on the site over the last while are BE, CA, Ashoka, Admin, Saffron, SNS and more recently, Dipuraja. Are there bases which you think should not be included either because they have not generated enough interest or are not seen to be part of the BIR approach?
 
Please let me know your thoughts and if there is enough interest in this exercise I'll start doing some work on it.
 
regards
 
Steve L

[Razor]

Hi Stephen,

I'm not quite sure what it is that you are looking to compare here?

Is it, to identify the common ingredients such as, garlic, ginger, onions, veg?
Or are you trying to identify the variables, differing spices and so on?
Or are you interested in the method, cooking times?

It would be very difficult to compare bases as a means to grade them, as everybody has a different idea on what a base should be!

I have both KD1 and KD2 and there is a difference in the 2 bases being that, in KD2, you fry off the onions at first, so as not to get that horrible boiled onion smell waffting through the house.  The ingredients are more or less the same, so to compare these 2 bases, you would have to say that the cooking technique in KD2, improves the smell of the base.  I've no idea if it improves the flavour, as I've never made KD1 base.

Is that the type of thing that your looking for?

Ray

[Stephen Lindsay]

Hi Ray

I suppose I am looking more at ingredients and say, the proportions of spices to vegetables, that sort of thing. I could look at basic techniques, e.g. frying onions (or not) but the detailed technique would be gleamed from the recipe itself.

Steve

[Malc.]

I started typing a reply in favour and then came to the conclusion that I wasn't sure what the results would offer in way of being useful.

You could gather it all together to work out average quantities etc. but how would you apply this? Surely if you made a new recipe based on the average, the result would be average as it amalgamates the recipes into one. that said, it could identify certain trends that recipes of one make-up are better for some dishes than those that follow a different make-up, if you get my meaning.

As a total newcomer to the scene, I wouldn't know what to do with a table of comparisons for the all the best bases.

What I would find useful is the list of bases that members find better overall and which dishes they are better suited to. That would be very useful indeed and would save me having to trawl some lengthy topics to find the answers.

[JerryM]

Stephen,

i like the idea. i've just made dippies base and on tasting it was sure it was saffron and checked back at all the bases i'd made and found that i became even more unsure.

the reason i guess is that there is so much variation - for example i'd not recorded which bases i've made had red pepper or which had both.

for me we need to try to identify which are the best bases or even which are not worth considering - this has been tried a few times before without success.

my gut feeling is that the effort may not be worth it in terms of value gained.

there used to be a method of voting for u're fav base but i think this got removed. a top ten was started but there is no interactive method or validity to maintaining it.

i'll try and have a think but nothing is jumping out.

[Razor]

Hi Axe,

As I've said before, I think a base can only truly be assessed, if it is used in conjunction with It's creators spice masala and even precooked meat.

That's why I use CA's base and masala.  I couldn't possibly judge CA's base if I was using say, IG's spice masala, do you know what I mean?  It just wouldn't be fair on either of them. Which goes back to my grouped recipe theory ie: base, masala, meat = recipe, which I wanted a while back.

Now maybe a table of the most versatile bases would be good, what base goes well with what spice masala but again, like every other 'ratings' suggestion, how/who would be the judges.  It's really hard to implement.

If the reason for the comparison table is to create a new base, then hasn't this been done already? 

Or Stephen, I'm I just completely being a thicko and missing the point altogether mate ;D

Ray

[Stephen Lindsay]

I think a base can only truly be assessed, if it is used in conjunction with It's creators spice masala and even precooked meat.
Ray

Hey Ray

I agree with the above, well the first part of it anyway. It's not about assessing the quality of the base but finding an easier way to compare them.

If the reason for the comparison table is to create a new base, then hasn't this been done already? 
Ray

Developing a new base is not what I'm thinking of, I suppose for myself I'm trying to make sense of what seems a lot of different bases. I am thinking that in table form the similarities and differences might be a bit more apparent.

[Stephen Lindsay]

Ray, Axe and Jerry M

Thanks for your replies, they are constructive and giving me food for thought.

[Secret Santa]

I am thinking that in table form the similarities and differences might be a bit more apparent.

I'd love to see a table like that. I think Jerry already has one for the bases he uses, maybe he can help get it started?

[Razor]

So for instance,

If all the reputedly better bases all have, carrot, celery, onion and as their common denominator, a chart would highlight this as it would some of the less favourable ingredients, methi, ginger, chillies.....

or am I still just not getting this

Ray