Topic: 3 Hour Curry Base

[curryhell]

?       Medium white cabbage.

that would be 1/4 of this.  would hate to see you put the whole bloody thing in there ;D

[chewytikka]

Hi Chewy,

I've made this base and followed everything as closely as possible i.e. no additions or things left out.

I was wondering about the oil separation part - I've boiled and boiled, in the end for about 2 hours after blending/sieving, and all I get is a sheen of minute oily droplets on top, not the pooling of oil you have on the video.

Have you (or anyone else who's made the base) experienced this?

I know there are threads on oil separation, but I wondered how it might affect this particular base and the dishes created form it, if you cant achieve that pooling oil separation?

I don't want to boil it any more as it's going to end up as a puree, unless i keep topping up with water

Ta

Gary

Hi Gary
Sorry a bit late with this
Seems a bit strange, it not giving up the oil.
All I can think, off the top of my head is it may have needed more water and did you do a rolling boil with a lid on.

As you will stir the oil back in, it won't make that much difference to your final curries.

But if you don't add enough water on the second boil/simmer, you can
actually overcook it and it will go from golden to dark brown.

Just a thought, that after 2 hours of boiling it could be well be knackered.
What does it taste like? A photo would be good.


Hi CCL
Glad you had a result and it would be great to see your pic's
of the final curries.

cheers Chewy

[chewytikka]

Hi bmouthboyo

5ltr Stockpots are Ideal for this
Only simmer right at the end Boyo

Slight Update =

2 Kilos Onions.
200ml any vegetable oil
1 medium carrot.
1 Large bulb of Garlic.
3 inch piece of fresh ginger.
A quarter of medium white cabbage.
1 medium green capsicum.
A handful of fresh coriander+stalks.
1tbsp of Salt.
3 litres tap water
Put a lid on and Boil it up for at least an hour.
____________________
Add quarter of a tube of tomato puree, or Chefs spoon.
2 tbsp of Mixed Powder. ( for a stronger flavoured base)
keep it on a rolling boil for 20-30mins. switch off, let it cool
or put some gloves on and blend.

Now transfer the sauce to a clean stock pot,
(At this stage I pass the sauce through a food mill/sieve, old school) - optional

Add three cups of boiling water, mix well and bring it back to the boil, covered
with the lid slightly tilted. keep it on a rolling boil for 20 mins, a froth will start to appear
and eventually form a scum, skim the scum off at the end and discard.
Turn it down to a final 10 minute simmer.
You will know when the sauce is ready, when the oil separates and starts rising to the surface.

N.B. Make sure you add enough water to get consistency as in the Video.

Mixed powder in the vid :-
2 tsp Madras Curry Powder
2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp Cumin Powder
1 tsp Kashmiri Chilli Powder
0.5 tsp Garam Masala or Kitchen King

Cheers Chewy

[bmouthboyo]

Thanks Chewwy. So to double check:

The initial boil is only an hour? The total time following that guide is about 2 hours. Should I let the initial boil last 2?

Would the equivalent of double concentrated tomato paste to your recipe and video be about 4tbsp straight from the jar?

And lastly when you say add 3 cups do you mean 750ml? which is the rough equivalent in UK cups?

Sorry if I am being overly cautious but I always find it pays to get it as close to the recipe the first time so I know my opinion is relevant.

Thanks

[gary]

Hi Gary
Sorry a bit late with this
Seems a bit strange, it not giving up the oil.
All I can think, off the top of my head is it may have needed more water and did you do a rolling boil with a lid on.

As you will stir the oil back in, it won't make that much difference to your final curries.

But if you don't add enough water on the second boil/simmer, you can
actually overcook it and it will go from golden to dark brown.

Just a thought, that after 2 hours of boiling it could be well be knackered.
What does it taste like? A photo would be good.

[...]

cheers Chewy

Thanks Chewy.

Yes it's gone a fairly dark brown colour now, though I found it a bit darker to start with than a lot of bases I've tried.


7ltr Pot

Might still be usable as it tastes and smell quite nice, quite sweet oniony smelling. Wouldn't like to think I expended all that energy passing it through a sieve for nowt

I think I must have kept boiling rather than letting it simmer at the end - the oil was probably rolling right back into the body of the gravy.

D'oh!

Gary

[curryhell]

From the look and your description of the taste, i would say it is usable, but it's CT's base and he's the expert.  Personally, the only way to tell is get the rest of the kit out and make a curry ;D

[bmouthboyo]

Thanks Chewwy. So to double check:

The initial boil is only an hour? The total time following that guide is about 2 hours. Should I let the initial boil last 2?

Would the equivalent of double concentrated tomato paste to your recipe and video be about 4tbsp straight from the jar?

And lastly when you say add 3 cups do you mean 750ml? which is the rough equivalent in UK cups?

Sorry if I am being overly cautious but I always find it pays to get it as close to the recipe the first time so I know my opinion is relevant.

Thanks

Anyone? Im itching to get this on go but don't want to balls it up lol

[fried]

I found 1h30 to 1h45 enough for the first boil if CT doesn't give you a quick enough answer. You should be able to put a knife through the onions like they were butter.

I found it easiest to use a potato masher to push it through the sieve!

[chewytikka]

Hi Boyo
Just boil your onions till really soft and completely cooked.
Should only take about an hour or it may take longer mate. (variables)

I remember shooting this video one lazy saturday afternoon and
started prep at 3.00pm, did loads of other stuff in the meantime and finished
it off at about 5.45pm. So I titled it a 3 hour base.
I would say 3tbs tom puree would do it. +750 ml of water.
cheers Chewy

[chewytikka]

Thanks Chewy.

Yes it's gone a fairly dark brown colour now, though I found it a bit darker to start with than a lot of bases I've tried.


7ltr Pot

Might still be usable as it tastes and smell quite nice, quite sweet oniony smelling. Wouldn't like to think I expended all that energy passing it through a sieve for nowt

I think I must have kept boiling rather than letting it simmer at the end - the oil was probably rolling right back into the body of the gravy.

D'oh!

Gary

Hi Gary
Still Looks OK
cheers Chewy