Hi Trucker,
First of all, thanks for giving my base a go.
Ok, with regards to the extra water at the end, if you feel that it is runny enough for you, then don't bother with it but, if you have followed the recipe to spec, you want to end up with 3 litres of base. If you have that already, without adding the final litre of water, then great but if not, try to bring it up to this volume.
When I describe it as soup like consistancy, VC hit's the nail on the head, school dinner soup and not cream of chicken or anything like that.
You should end up with 10 x 300ml portions (3 litres)
As for the tomato paste, don't worry too much if it looks a little thinner than mine, it happens to me too. It depends on the brand of tomatoes, although I can't think why it should?
Finally, yes, the base does have a high oil content but it works out at 20ml of oil per portion of base. Adding this to say 4 tbs of oil included with your final dish, gives you an overall oil content of 5.33 tbs of oil. Quite high, but very much BIR. In fairness, I did design the base to release a fair bit of oil during the final dish cooking stage because, I spoon out the excess and save for my next curry. I think it was Secret Santa that described this oil as "curry gold" and it certainly is!
Hope that explains a few things Trucker but if you do find it too oily (the base that is) extend the final simmer until you see the oil float to the top of the base, and spoon off. Next time, just add enough oil to suit your taste.
Ray
