Topic: India Raj - North Town Aldershot - Curry Sauce

[Peripatetic Phil]

just for additional info have attached link to real BIR base sample that i was given by my local TA.... most bases on the site don't produce this result.  the colour looks very similar to solarplace's sample.

But what about flavour, Jerry ?   Although I have never tasted my own base, I imagine that you tried this one, and wonder which base, if any, on this site, is closest in flavour to the TA base ?

** Phil.

[JerryM]

Phil,

the flavour is very different. i'd perhaps call it "characteristics" which are down to the longer cooking and not the ingredients or recipe. i feel that most base recipes stop after blending or say 1 hr or less of cooking. the difference happens by cooking on after blending for at least 1 hr. i think the addition of water at or after blending also makes this difference.

i cook all bases by the same method: all ingredients in, simmer 2 hrs, blend, add more water, simmer 2hrs.

the important thing is that it works for any base. i cook the saffron and rajver by exactly the same method.

this is a sort of standard end point ie after blending


this is what to aim for from the after blending simmer



this post gives more detail.
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3462.0

[Peripatetic Phil]

this is a sort of standard end point ie after blending
...
this is what to aim for from the after blending simmer

Very interesting : it is quite clear from your photographs that one of the changes that occurs after prolonged post-blending simmering is a far smoother consistency.  Yet when I think of your photographs of the Madras & Vindaloo posted recently, their texture looks closer to that achieved immediately post-blending rather than after further prolonged simmering.  Do you think that this is the result of adding the other ingredients that are needed to convert a base sauce into a fully fledged curry ?

** Phil.

[George]

Yes, she learned to cook at her mother's knee, as do many of us, and by the age of 12 she was frequently cooking for her entire family.

How do you know? It might be true or it might be total fiction, just like I suspect the story behind 'Undercover Curry' is - a good tale designed to get people interested in the book. Even her photo and gender might be made up, for all we know.

[Peripatetic Phil]

How do you know? It might be true or it might be total fiction, just like I suspect the story behind 'Undercover Curry' is - a good tale designed to get people interested in the book. Even her photo and gender might be made up, for all we know.

Yes, and you might be Mrs Thatcher, posting under a pseudonym.  But we give you the benefit of the doubt, and I for one do the same for Kris Dhillon  ;D

[JerryM]

Phil,

you're right. i work on 300ml of base reducing to 200ml during the frying process. the water that is given off during this frying returns the base to a consistency that will stand up "soft peak".

i am 100% sure the other ingredients do have an effect in conversion to the fully fledged curry. i feel the water and the oil during this frying also plays it's part. i 1st came across it from Admins Jalfrezi post.

in terms of trying to sum up base in just a few words - it must not be like soup, it's nice to taste but it's still a long way from the finished article.

the KD1 base is a very good example of the characteristics in many respects (proportion of onion). i made it for years before coming across a Balti Book which added in whole spice and a more diverse base spicing. then after joining this site i became aware of how other veg and ingredients along with technique can lift the base further.

i felt it was important to try out a selection of bases from the site to get a good overall understanding of what the various additions omissions do. the use of fresh coriander in base for example was a real inspiration and a post on coriander root to sort of top it off.

[JerryM]

it's feels difficult discussing KD for me. she being a member and me being a big fan.

my gut feeling is that she's knows a lot more than is published. i might just be that life has made me a real sceptic.

i have the KD2 book along with the Gurkha's book and i've still not made a tap from each - new year resolution eh.

[George]

How do you know? It might be true or it might be total fiction, just like I suspect the story behind 'Undercover Curry' is - a good tale designed to get people interested in the book. Even her photo and gender might be made up, for all we know.

Yes, and you might be Mrs Thatcher, posting under a pseudonym.  But we give you the benefit of the doubt, and I for one do the same for Kris Dhillon  ;D

The big difference is that I'm not trying to make money by taking anyone for a ride, like the authors of most books claiming to reveal BIR secrets.

[Peripatetic Phil]

The big difference is that I'm not trying to make money by taking anyone for a ride, like the authors of most books claiming to reveal BIR secrets.

Have you any reason to believe that Kris falls into that category, George ?  I have said before, and I will say it again here, that had it not been for Kris Dhillon's 1989 The Curry Secret, my "curries" would still be the rubbishy inedible things they were for over thirty years.  I just had to make one curry from Kris's book to realise that BIR was finally within my grasp.  I don't follow her recipes to the letter (although I did initially, until I had the confidence to start to experiment) but I learned more from her than I had learned in over thirty years of experimentation based on traditional Indian recipe books (E P Veerasawmy, Madhur Jaffrey, and all the other "authorities" that I consulted).  So as far as I am concerned, Kris is the real thing : you are entitled to your doubts, but I for one do not share them.

** Phil.

[George]

The big difference is that I'm not trying to make money by taking anyone for a ride, like the authors of most books claiming to reveal BIR secrets.

Have you any reason to believe that Kris falls into that category, George ?  .... So as far as I am concerned, Kris is the real thing : you are entitled to your doubts, but I for one do not share them.

Here's another reason to hope that, some day, we might get to taste each other's attempts at producing BIR type dishes (my 'Come Dine' proposal).  It's difficult to know whether our tastes differ, whether one of us is more easily pleased, whether the quality of the restaurants we've dined at are miles apart, or any number of other differences on perspective.

I agree that in the 1980s, Kris took us a leap forward by describing the concept of a base sauce. I thank her for that, but not for much else. I never managed to produce anything close to BIR quality dishes from her final recipes, not that I tried many recipes after a few disappointments.