Topic: MDB’s Birmingham Balti Gravy 100% Clone Al Frash Balti Restaurant MKII

[livo]

So how did it go curryhell? 

On the tomato question, I'd say it doesn't really matter other than to mention that canned tomatoes may be more flavoursome than fresh depending on the type and quality of either.  There's good and bad in both.  It's the same thing when using paste / puree / passata.  I just use what I have on hand and never bother too much about subtle differences.  They obviously exist but I can't say I've ever been capable of saying any dish would have been better or worse from this.

[mickdabass]

Whatever the result, I’ve enjoyed the read and I’m sure I’ll enjoy dishes produced with the base.  Thanks for posting MDB.

Morning CH

Its tinned chopped tomatoes, although It probably doesn't matter too much

Thanks for trying the base

Kind Regards

Mick

One positive about the base, it has at least woken up the sleepy cr0 crew and kick started the forum for a while

[Kashmiri Bob]

It will certainly be interesting to see how CH gets on, although the notion that Mick's base is similar to other base gravies makes no sense to me, unless something has gone badly wrong. Will be making another batch of the MK1 version this weekend.  I think this will be batch number 10.  Been using pre-cooked chicken for a few weeks.  For convenience and to speed up the pan cooking.  Results as before, all 10/10, with little or no further additions.

Rob

[curryhell]

Sorry for the delay gents but due to a tooth issue, i had to postpone the cooking and eating of "Al Frash Balti Clone".  Anyway, this is how it looked but I admit to having it with special fried rice, as I did not want to chance it on its own with chappatis, just in case the whole experiment turned out to be less than successful.  A full report will follow.

[mickdabass]

It will certainly be interesting to see how CH gets on, although the notion that Mick's base is similar to other base gravies makes no sense to me, unless something has gone badly wrong. Will be making another batch of the MK1 version this weekend.  I think this will be batch number 10.  Been using pre-cooked chicken for a few weeks.  For convenience and to speed up the pan cooking.  Results as before, all 10/10, with little or no further additions.

Rob

Hi Rob

I do find that the MK1 version of the base gives superior results to the simplified MK11 version.

Looking forward with baited breath to Curryhell's report!

Regards

Mick

[Kashmiri Bob]

My bad.  Reposted to MDB MKI.

Rob

[curryhell]

At last the long overdue report on my results with the MDBv2 balti base, delay partly due to the long period of time that the forum  has been down.   Now where do I begin?   When reading both threads on MDBs base, it certainly sparked a couple of questions for me and I did raise an eyebrow on one or two occasions as I digested the topics’ contents.  But given the general consensus on the quality value of it as a base alone I definitely had to give it ago.  One of the attractions was the simplicity of the V2 base, a definite  breeze to prepare, missing out the common baghar finishing process associated with many bases.  Unlike some, I do not hold with the belief that a base is simply a base and it’s all about the technique.   In my opinion, if you have a reasonable level of skill when cooking BIR at home and you are using good quality fresh ingredients,  you will produce a reasonable standard of dish, although sometimes you’ll consider your dishes to be better or worse than previous efforts,  and be racking your brains as to what you did differently or what may have caused the change.  That said I do not see how you can consistently produce a dish with the same taste when you are using different bases.  Slightly different ingredient ratios and individual chef “tweaks” will result in a different tasting curries.  If this wasn’t the case, there would be far more flavour consistency across the many restaurants  when churning out the same dish.  In my opinion, the obvious variables impacting this (assuming a reasonable level of chef competency, which some would argue may be harder to find nowadays) is the base gravy and the mix powder.  I’m sure some will disagree and I look forward to the ensuing arguments.  At least the discourse will be about cooking and curry   Whilst I may be able to create a good tasting vindaloo which bears some resemblance in flavour to my local BIR, I will never be able to replicate it exactly, at best getting close because there is almost a mirroring of both the base and the mix powder if used.
So moving on to the curry cooked by me using the MDB base and faithfully following the recipe and instructions as closely as I could.  I was pleased to hear I had made the correct choice in opting for tinned tomatoes  over fresh, as this was obviously the intention of the recipe but was not obvious to me for some reason.  As far as I can tell my only departure was to use a whole red pepper rather than half and half.  I must confess to being very apprehensive about cooking this simple curry and then having to eat it, as it really is a far cry from the more robust curries  that I have become accustomed to eating over the last 30+ years .  Absolute minimal ingredients leaves the cook nowhere to hide if the curry turns out less than successful other than to blame the base, and obviously I was not going to get away with doing that with this base, even if it was not an absolute carbon copy as made by the man himself.  I have read several times on the site that a good basic medium curry is the coming together of good cooking technique and a good base.  From this I can only deduce, if your medium curry is poor, it’s most likely down to the cook when the base you are using is considered to be reliable by many.  So this experiment could have potentially embarrassing results   There was a lot of hard frying going on and at times I thought maybe I was pushing things too far.   I can’t say I produced a “Birmingham balti” as I’ve never actually eaten one so I’m unable to make a comparison.  Did I find the curry “bland”?  Well this really does depend on one’s interpretation of “bland”.  For me this would suggest lacking in flavour, having no depth or body and lacking in any appeal.  Did I experience this when I worked my way through the dish?  All I can say is that I had managed to produce a tasty medium curry that I would be more than happy to cook and serve to any lover of a basic curry dish and be confident that they would enjoy it.  My taste in BIR has changed very little over the many years and I look for strong flavours as well as heat.  Whilst this is tame by comparison to what I normally eat, I enjoyed the flavours contained in the dish, its sweetness and the moreish aftertaste.  I will cook it again and see if I experience the same flavours and satisfaction as I did on this first occasion.  Whilst I’m not sitting on the fence, I can’t rave over the flavours that the “Birmingham Balti” contains.  Maybe one day I’ll get to try the real deal and can make a more informed judgement.
Having just polished of the other night’s vindaloo cooked with this base, I do certainly have to agree this is a quality base and most definitely will not disappoint anybody that takes the trouble to make it.  My second batch is now cooling and waiting to go in the freezer.

Tonight's supper

[Kashmiri Bob]

Nice one Dave!  I'll need to read your report a few more times before discussion starts proper. To be fair I have only made the MK I version. I was a little surprised you opted for the simpler method.

Rob

[Kashmiri Bob]

Hi Rob

I do find that the MK1 version of the base gives superior results to the simplified MK11 version.

The MKI version also gives better results than Misty's balti base Mick, imo.  I did a side-by-side comparison a while back.  Both are top notch, but the shear depth and sparkle of the MKI base/balti is just outrageous.  I will give the MKII version a go at some point.  I suspect invaluable for anyone who panics when confronted by three pans, whilst only having two hands. Instills confidence.

Rob

[curryhell]

Nice one Dave!  I'll need to read your report a few more times before discussion starts proper. To be fair I have only made the MK I version. I was a little surprised you opted for the simpler method.
Rob

Quick, easy and 1kg of onions doesn't yield too much base in case I have a bad day in the kitchen.  Fortunately I didn't, and so much so I repeated the process 2 weeks later.  I'll revisit the V1 thread and may be consider it when there's  a bit more room in the freezer.