who believes future breakthroughs lie with recipe refinement ?? or new bases ?

[Peripatetic Phil]

I think getting a base to the right thin-ness is an under estimated factor. in fact i am sure my best curries are when the base is just the right thin-ness. anyone else find this?

Absolutely.  Consistency is (almost) everything : neither too thin nor too thick.
** Phil.

[Razor]

I agree, consistancy is crucial to a good base, and the resultant dish. 

So, what is the correct viscosity/consistancy that we should be looking at.  Describing it as 'soup like' can be a bit miss-leading unless we know exactly which soup and brand, hot/cold.

Any thoughts?

Ray

[Peripatetic Phil]

So, what is the correct viscosity/consistancy that we should be looking at.  Describing it as 'soup like' can be a bit miss-leading unless we know exactly which soup and brand, hot/cold.

I don't even know in what units viscosity is measured, although I am sure Wikipaedia would tell me    But how one would go about measuring it in a domestic kitchen is another matter completely.  I suspect it is rather like cooking rice : with sufficient experience, you just know how much water it needs, and I think the same is true for the viscosity of the base and the viscosity of the finished curry.  The only way in which I think we might manage to communicate to each other our preferred viscosity is to consciously think, as we make the base or the curry, which common liquid would feel much the same when stirred, and then use that as the analogy.  At the moment, and sitting in front of the computer rather than stirring curry in the kitchen, my feeling is that the closest I can visualise is warm motor oil.

** Phil.

[Derek Dansak]

i hope its tastier than warm motor oil  ;D 

[solarsplace]

Hi

The viscosity of warm motor oil is too thick in my humble opinion. A suggestion from my colleague is Heinz cream of tomato soup as a likeness to correct consistency 

Cheers

[Peripatetic Phil]

The viscosity of warm motor oil is too thick in my humble opinion.

Ah, but how warm ?

A suggestion from my colleague is Heinz cream of tomato soup as a likeness to correct consistency

Thinks : is it worth investing in a tin of Heinz cream of tomato soup in order to validate this hypothesis  :

[chriswg]

Im moving office next week back to one of my favourite restaurants - Zaffrons. If you live near Farnborough give them a go.

Anyway, Yogi, the owner, is a very friendly chap and is usually happy for me to chat to his chef. I imagine I'll be going there regularly so any questions that need asking I'll ask.

Lets crack the Madras, everything else should fall into place.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Farnborough (Hants), Chris, or Farnborough (Kent) ?
** Phil.

[Vindaloo-crazy]

Consistency. When you empty a ladle full of base it runs like liquid and doesn't leave much residue in the ladle?

[Peripatetic Phil]

Ah, my "warm engine oil" was an approximation to the viscosity of the finished sauce, not the base sauce; the spices add considerable body ...

** Phil.