Topic: Basic Procedure

[trucker5774]

Hi all, I'm still fumbling my way around the forum and trying to not ask the usual new boy questions common to all forums. Having had a good look I'm still not seeing a basic method. I keep reading about a base sauce, but not when and how it is used. What I am getting at is, armed with all the ingredients for a madras, rogan josh or any common curry with a similar method, is there an idiots guide as to what goes in when ......base sauce, meat, spices ghee etc.

Sorry if this has been asked a million times......what do I need to read, please?

[Razor]

Trucker,

Don't worry mate, ask away.

Most of the main dishes posted on here will ask for a quantity of base sauce and will state when to add it.

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?PHPSESSID=3971e4159862a90e7c3021c4365ab6ac&board=3.0

Click that link, and it should take you straight to the main course sections.

Hope that helps,

Ray

[trucker5774]

Thanks Ray. I can see that now. Just wondered if there was a rule of thumb, or if I had missed a basic section or FAQ somewhere.

Cheers, John

[Peripatetic Phil]

Thanks Ray. I can see that now. Just wondered if there was a rule of thumb, or if I had missed a basic section or FAQ somewhere.

I don't know if there's a FAQ, or even if all recipes follow the same procedure, but for the style that I cook, heating the base sauce with adequate oil (e.g., 5 tablespoons of oil for 3/4 pints of base sauce) is the starting point.  Once that is at a gentle boil, the pre-cooked chicken, ground chillies and salt are added; after about five minutes, the heat is reduced and additional spices added; after a further three minutes, things such as fresh chillies and coriander stalks go in; and after a further couple of minutes the excess oil is poured off, the finished dish garnished with chopped coriander leaf, and served.

** Phil.

[Razor]

Quite a different approach from me Phil, John.

My Method;

Heat 4 tbs veg oil
Fry off 1.5 tsp garlic/ginger paste (careful, it spits like mad)
Pan off heat, add spices and stir,
Back on low heat, and cook out the spices, stirring all the time for about 30 seconds,
Turn up heat to full, add 100ml of base,
Reduce by half, then add a further 100ml of base,
Reduce again slightly, than add remaining 100ml of base, and precooked meat.
cook on high for about 3-4 mins then add Fresh coriander
Stir through and remove from the heat
Serve with fresh coriander sprinkled on top.

No right way or wrong way I guess, just a different approach for me

[trucker5774]

Thanks guys. I've had a little time off from Indian and been doing a fair bit of Chinese. Having made up a couple of litres of base sauce do most people freeze it in batch sized amounts?

[Peripatetic Phil]

My Method;

Heat 4 tbs veg oil
Fry off 1.5 tsp garlic/ginger paste (careful, it spits like mad)
Pan off heat, add spices and stir,
Back on low heat, and cook out the spices, stirring all the time for about 30 seconds,
Turn up heat to full, add 100ml of base,
Reduce by half, then add a further 100ml of base,
Reduce again slightly, than add remaining 100ml of base, and precooked meat.
cook on high for about 3-4 mins then add Fresh coriander
Stir through and remove from the heat
Serve with fresh coriander sprinkled on top.

Hmmm, this is much closer to my old-style "traditional Indian curry" approach, which never really worked for me (clearly it works for Ray !).  But a philosophical question : do you think that a typical BIR would use so many distinct stages ?  It seems to me that, over time, they must have optimised their methodology to use as few stages as possible ...  Just a thought !

** Phil.

[TyeNoodle]

Hi, I use the plastic containers that most chinese restaurants use to freeze batches of base.

[Razor]

Hi Phil,

I can't say for sure that this is strictly BIR method but I reckon it's pretty close.  There are only 8 cooking stages here and they are all done, pretty quickly.

The one thing that I would say that may differ, is the quantity of base sauce that they put in.  It's possible that they add it all in one go.  They have the kw's to cope though, whereas most domestic burners are what, 2kw?

I add my base in increments purely to retain the heat in the pan and aid reduction.

Ray

[Peripatetic Phil]

Ah well, I can see I shall have to give it a go 
** Phil.