Topic: Kris Dhillon Curry Gravy

[stevej]

thanks

I intend to fill an empty bottle that once contained ground nut oil and store it in a cupboard. Should I refrigerate then?

What are the dangers then of reusing oil. Bacteria?

[Yellow Fingers]

To be on the safe side you should get it in the fridge as soon as it is cool enough to do so.

The main danger is botulinum toxin produced as you say by bacteria. I have a feeling though that if you cook the curries like a restaurant, i.e. full heat from start to finish, the botulinum will be broken down into 'safer' compounds. It might make you ill but it probably won't kill you!

What you really want to watch for is avoiding, as much as is possible, getting the actual base scooped in with the oil as this is yummy stuff for all sorts of bacteria to go to work on. If you scoop before you blend your base this should not be a problem.

If you are ultra worried about this then you should really pass the oil through muslin or something similar before refrigerating.

Needless to say, if I know that I'm the only one that's going to be eating my curries, I studiously ignore all the former advice.?

[Mark J]

I must admit I keep my spiced oil in a cupboard and not the fridge, I have had the same spiced oil on the go now for ~3-4weeks (bearing in mind I recycle it into the next base), if I stop posting to the forum suddenly I guess you can take it as read this wasnt a good idea  ;D

[stevej]

This is what i'm not sure about. If I keep reusing the spice oil at the start of making a base, and then at the end skim it off again, then my spice oil is going to include some very old oil indeed. Is this safe?

PS. I have just completed my first ever BIR curry sauce. I have added pictures in the picture section

[Yellow Fingers]

my spice oil is going to include some very old oil indeed. Is this safe?

Ahh well, there's the rub. Now you know why the restaurants might want to keep this a secret. I have no doubt that this is what is done though.

The difference between doing it at home and doing it at the restaurant however, is that the restaurant will have a higher turnover so the oil shouldn't be left lying around, either in the base or in a separate pot, for as long as it might be at home. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the cases of food poisoning that occur in these establishments are directly down to a batch being left for too long.

Infact it gets worse as the reccommendation on this forum is to reuse the oil you've cooked your curries with. That's an extra layer of potential bodily harm.

But don't the curries taste great!? ?

[George]

I'm no food scientist, but my guess is that it's probably OK to store oil for relatively long periods provided, firstly, that it has not been over-heated to reach smoking temperature (typically over 200C) when dangerous 'radicals' might be released, leading to fears of cancer. The other risk concerns bugs like botulism but I assume these will be killed off if the oil if held at over 100C for a few minutes.

Perhaps it would be prudent to reheat the oil to say 120C for ten minutes every few days.

Regards
George

[pete]

I intend to fill an empty bottle that once contained ground nut oil and store it in a cupboard. Should I refrigerate then?

I put my oil, in an old empty milk carton, and freeze it
I make curries once or twice a fortnight
I've never noticed anything wrong with it

[wormix]

Hi,

I have just made the Kris Dhillon Base, but i am not sure if it went right.  It seemed very thin.  Can anyone tell me how much liquid you should be left with if you follow the recipe exactly?

Cheers

[mike travis]

Hi wormix,  welcome to cr0. Haven`t done KD`s base for ages but the majority of base sauces on here have the consistency of a thinnish soup. Hope this helps you out my friend. Look forward to hearing more from you soon...mike

[ast]

Hi,

I have just made the Kris Dhillon Base, but i am not sure if it went right.  It seemed very thin.  Can anyone tell me how much liquid you should be left with if you follow the recipe exactly?

Cheers

Hi Wormix,

Mike's right.  I make the KD base semi-regularly, and it's pretty thin.  I add a bit more onion and a 400g tin of tomatoes rather than the recommended amounts, so mine might be a bit different than yours.  It also makes a difference how much you reduce/simmer it at stage 3.

If you've frozen it, remember to reduce it a bit longer than the recipes say in order to end up with the right consistency of finished curry.  I made that mistake the first time I froze it and ended up with some pretty watery curries!  :-[

Good luck with it and welcome to cr0.  You've certainly found the right place for collected curry wisdom!

Cheers,

ast