Topic: Foul!

[The Griff]

Hi all, (first post).

I'm no connoisseur, just trying to knock up an acceptable CTM. I've played around with Gordon Ramsey's vid version and am producing something that's sort of OK for me for the time being. Still experimenting.


However, 3 times now I've tried the base-type method just for a one off curry (didn't want to waste a lot of ingredients), but it always produces a foul odour - I believe it's to do with the garlic mostly and maybe the ginger too - that doesn't happen when I fry garlic+ginger with the onions in the Ramsey type method.  No matter what I do with it afterwards; after adding tomatoes, and putting it into any amount of fried spices, the foul odour and *taste*, the like of which I've never encountered, remains.

What's happening to me? Is it supposed to do this if you boil rather than fry it? I've never detected anything remotely like this smell and flavour in BIR CTM.

This is what I did for the base- type concoction:

Some veg oil in pan
Added 1 chopped red onion and some salt
Fried for a bit until partially caramelised (I've tried this to different extents)
Added 1 clove of freshly crushed garlic mashed up with a 3/4'' piece of root ginger and some water.
+ chopped green chilli
covered with water, brought to boil and simmered for 1 hour.
Then added tin of tomatoes and coriander and boiled for 15 mins before adding to the pan with oil, cooked spices, cream etc.

Halfway through the first hour the smell from hell arrives.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Kris Dhillon has also reported that some people find the smell offensive, which is why she introduced a modified base in her most recent book.  For myself, I don't find the smell offensive at all, and I certainly don't end up with a foul odour or taste -- it is simply transient while the base is being prepared.  I would recommend you look at the KD1 base, and at KD1/PT for information on subsequent spicing, and see if you can identify how what you are doing is different from what Kris originally recommended.

Oh, and also take a look at JerryM's commentary on the difference between Kris's KD1 base and her new (KD2/NCS) version.

** Phil.

[George]

Some veg oil in pan
Added 1 chopped red onion and some salt
Fried for a bit until partially caramelised (I've tried this to different extents)
Added 1 clove of freshly crushed garlic mashed up with a 3/4'' piece of root ginger and some water.
+ chopped green chilli
covered with water, brought to boil and simmered for 1 hour.

Halfway through the first hour the smell from hell arrives.

I frequently use a similar approach and have never picked up an unpleasant aroma, let alone taste. The resultant base tastes really good. I don't add a green chilli, though. Perhaps it's the chilli. Neither would I simmer the base for much more than 30 minutes. I regard over-cooking as neither desirable or necessary.

Also try lightly frying the garlic and ginger before adding any water.

[Razor]

Hi Griff,

I can honestly say that I've not encountered any foul smell, even when just boiling up everything from the out set!

Some have reported that oil can produce this aroma, that is, if the oil is of poor quality or that it is old, it can ruin a base and any resultant dish made with it.

Generally, frying off the veg first before adding the water, usually eliminates any unpleasant smells.

Sorry to not be of much help mate

Ray

[The Griff]

OK, thank you gentlemen. I suppose if I hit it with enough spices at some point in the boiling process it might do something, although I'd be surprised if it'd completely knocked it on the head. It's just so different to what happens with frying. I use ordinary supermarket veg oil BTW. I did use Ramsey's recommendation of ground nut for his method originally, but didn't make much difference to me and I since I heard about cooling the onions before adding spices, I couldn't see the point of a higher smoking point (or whatever it is) oil.

Giving the garlic and ginger a frying head start along with the onions sounds like an idea.

Thanks again.

[The Griff]

Motivated by laziness (as always) I tried something different this time...

Onions, garlic, ginger, chilli and some water into a blender.
Some oil in the pan and in went blended mixture along with a shed load of spices and....the raw chicken (hence the pre-blending) . I can report that the spices adequately masked the odour of which I've previously complained. Thanks for the suggestion! Fwiw, after 3/4 hr I then threw in some blended tomatoes and cooked for another 1/4 hr. Added it to pan with another instalment of spices etc. and it was OK.  But I'm still finding that cooking one-offs the result is better. I'm wondering whether it's all these fancy pastes I've seen used that make the difference in a BIR because the stewed out flavours of the base never seem to add anything much for me other than convenience in cooking large quantities of onions, garlic and ginger.
I do realise this heresy is based on complete ignorance and a fair amount of incompetence.  ;D But for the time being I'll just be trying bases every now and then in the spirit of experiment.