electronic scales are what you need. dead easy switching from old to new units.
That's what we had, until herself dropped them and didn't tell me ! We still have electronic scales, but these are a much older design that are bi-stable : press once for on (metric), then press again for tare and/or Imperial. Unfortunately it is extremely unpredictable what happens on a second or subsequent press, which is why we bought the more modern set on a trip to Germany. They will have to be replaced a.s.a.p. !
i thought the KD2 base is the same as KD1 - is it the pressure cooker that you are trying out.
No, KD2 involves sauteeing the onions; that is the basic difference, intended to make the smell when they are finally boiled less offensive. The pressure cooker I have used before, and is basically a way of leaving the onions doing something useful (softening) if I want to turn the power off (for example, to go out, as I did today).
More later : going back to start liquidising now and the adding the tomato and turmeric/paprika.
Updated : Stage 3 is quite tricky; you have to fry one teaspoon of turmeric and one teaspoon of paprika with one teaspoon tomato puree and one tablespoon oil; I failed to read the key words "medium heat", and the spices almost certainly cooked too quickly as a result. I shall persevere, even though I could have re-started that stage with very little loss, but of course the tests will no longer be conclusive.
Second update : Well, that was interesting. The first thing to note is that KD2 stage-1 sauce is noticeably different in colour to KD1; it has far more of a milky appearance. After stages 2 & 3, any remaining difference is no longer obvious.
In total, KD's quantities (see above, plus 1,5L water) yielded 54 fl. oz. stage 3 sauce, which I divided into 1 x 3/4 pt for today's chicken thigh curry, and 3 x 14 fl. oz. for chilling or freezing. I didn't bother to reserve any stage-1 sauce for pre-cooking future meals, as there seem so many other ways that it was not worth bothering at this stage.
So this evening I made a chicken thigh madras : 3/4 pt stage 3 sauce, 2 x skinned free-range chicken thighs (I fried the skins yesterday in "essence of curry", and they were wonderful !). 5 tablespoons recycled oil, 2 teaspoons Bassar curry masala, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek, some chopped coriander stalk, a wedge of lemon and a squeeze of lemon juice. In retrospect, less Bassar curry masala would have been better, as there was still considerable heat in the recycled oil. And the squeeze of lemon juice was overkill. Garnished with chopped coriander leaves and served with a stuffed paratha.
Now the punch line : the chicken thighs weren't fully cooked ! But as I'd already poured the gravy over the paratha, I couldn't wait for the chicken to finish cooking, or the paratha would have gone soft, so instead I just ate paratha and curry gravy. It was superb
So without intending to, I really put this recipe to the test : could you eat the sauce effectively by itself (OK, with paratha) ? And the answer was decidedly "yes".
So I have no reservations about recommending KD2 as a base for those who want to avoid the unpleasant smells associated with KD1. But KD2 is more labour intensive, so I suspect I will continue to use KD1 as my base of choice, resurrecting KD2 when and if I need to prepare base when herself is at home (or is expected home the same evening) ! That's it for tonight, most is already washed up, so unless anyone asks any questions I shall stop here. Goodnight, all.
** Phil.
Topic: KD2 base (Read 21361 times)
