Topic: Jb's base sauce

[Unclefrank]

Hi jb, leaving the skins on the potatoes is interesting, have you tasted the base yet?
If so what does the taste compare to with other bases on this site (if any, that is).
And again jb thanks for all your time and effort to post this.
Cheers.

[commis]

Hi
UF, the spuds are peeled as are the carrots.
Regards

[Unclefrank]

1st picture towards the bottom of the pan, well i think its a potato  ;D

[commis]

Hi

Well I never, your right UF! could this be Jb throwing us of the scent at the first turn. This curry game can be pretty ruthless. lol

Regards

[jb]

As promised the second and final part of my base sauce.

Well spotted the potatoes went in with the skin on.Can't really see much difference either way to be honest
Corriander?? An average bag from Asda's,cut about 1 1/2 inches of the stalk and chop.

Base Sauce Part 2 Ingredients
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2 tablespoons garlic ginger paste(blended in a ratio of 60/40)
3 teaspoons of tomato puree
3 tablespoons plum tomatoes
5 tablespoons yogurt
4 teaspoons mix powder(http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4908.0)
2 ladles of plain vegetable oil

Ensure that the base from part 1 is cooled and take 2 ladles of this mixture and place in a blender.Add the yogurt and the plum tomatoes to the blender.Blend this until it is completely smooth.

Next get another large pan and put on a medium heat. Put in the two ladles of oil then add the garlic/ginger mixture and gently let it brown.Add the blended yogurt and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Add 3 teaspoons tomato puree and 4 teaspoons of mix powder.Lower the heat to cook the spices out,a reddish oil should appear when it is ready.Add the blended mixture from Part 1 and the bring to the boil.Leave on simmer for about 15 minutes,if you have added enough oil the it should float on the top,this is what you scoop off when making your curries.

Conclusions
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Well not that different to other bases on this site.Reminded me ingredients wise of CA's base the only unusual addition is the lemon and yogurt.Still not entirely sure about the lemon,it does give a funny smell when cooking but then disappears in the finished sauce.I've never managed to get my hands on an authentic BIR base sauce so I'm not sure what it should smell like.One thing is for sure,it does get better the day after-the flavours become more subtle,a bit like Mulligatawny or apple soup.It's neither hot nor spicy so I guess that's the sign of a good sauce so it can be used in hot dishes like madras as well as kormas.Plain vegetable oil is used,I'm really tempted to try some spiced oil from my onion bhajis to see what it does.

[jb]

Second stage cooking ginger/garlic spices etc



Finished base



Going in freezer

[Malc.]

The tomatoes made it in after all. lol

I'd bet you would notice the difference if the lemon was left out. I found it added a sweetness to the base as well as flavour.

[Fi5H]

hi JB, I made this base today with slightly less success than anticipated. When cooking Part 2 there was quite a lot of oil separating but after i mixed the 2 together and simmered all im getting is foam, would it not be better to reclaim the oil at the end of part 2 before mixing the 2 parts together? Also my base does have a citrus tang to it, I will cook a curry sauce tomorrow with it and see how it goes.

[Fi5H]

I just did CA`s madras sauce, omitting the chicken, I didn't add any lemon juice and was contemplating adding another spoon of sugar to counteract the citrus in the base, the madras came out quite good, a lot better than expected.

I have always used Cory`s base and use that as my benchmark, this base is to early to tell, its good but not great, the texture is a tad grainy but that's fixable, the citrus will have to be counterbalanced in the final dish.

I have just gone to do another taste test now its cooled down a little and there is still an undercurrent of citrus, I`m going to add an extra 0.5 tsp of sugar.

Next time I do this base I will be leaving the lemon out.

Andy

[dellydel]

Hi JB,

One question I have is that the first stage only requires boiling for 15 minutes, and the same for the second, so that's only 1/2 hour of cooking.  Is that correct?  I was thinking if the first stage was cooked for say an hour maybe that would make the lemon taste more subtle?

Cheers,

Del