Topic: My first attempt.

[Noll]

Hi all,

Made my first two curries tonight, a Dhansak and a Jalfrezi, both using Mick's recipes.  I have to say, I was delighted with the results, as were my hubby and two invited 'guinea pig' friends.  The compliments were flying.
I am so pleased I found this site, there is so much information, and so much to learn, that I didn't have a clue about before
Biggest surprise?  the base gravy.  Never heard of that, never read about it anywhere, a complete mystery to me.  What a revelation.  It is not in the old book I have, nor have I seen it anywhere in recipes on the internet, but thanks to one of those browsing searches, I found this site, and need search no further.
I made the base yesterday, and completed the two dishes tonight, with such a feeling of accomplishment, I even wanted to pat my own back.
Got the bug now, only trouble is deciding what to try next, with all there is on here, I could happily be busy for years.   

P.S.  Is this the right place for this post?

[gazman1976]

Yes right place to post - well done and enjoy the site

[Razor]

Hi Noll,

Very well done ;D

I take it that you had no trouble in finding your ingredients then?

The next step would be to post up some pictures of your efforts.  cr0 members love nothing more than to view pictures of other members curries.

Great start to your curry Odyssey but the venture has only just begun

Ray

[Ramirez]

Great effort, Noll. Once you become familiar with the process (base, pre-cooked meat, final dish, etc.) it opens a world of opportunities. The worst bit for me, when I was starting, was acquiring all the paraphernalia (as Ray alludes to) - it's not cheap the first time you stock up on everything!

Definitely post some pics when you get the chance! 

[jb]

Hi all,

Made my first two curries tonight, a Dhansak and a Jalfrezi, both using Mick's recipes.  I have to say, I was delighted with the results, as were my hubby and two invited 'guinea pig' friends.  The compliments were flying.
I am so pleased I found this site, there is so much information, and so much to learn, that I didn't have a clue about before
Biggest surprise?  the base gravy.  Never heard of that, never read about it anywhere, a complete mystery to me.  What a revelation.  It is not in the old book I have, nor have I seen it anywhere in recipes on the internet, but thanks to one of those browsing searches, I found this site, and need search no further.
I made the base yesterday, and completed the two dishes tonight, with such a feeling of accomplishment, I even wanted to pat my own back.
Got the bug now, only trouble is deciding what to try next, with all there is on here, I could happily be busy for years.   

P.S.  Is this the right place for this post?

Well done the first attempt is always a bit tricky but the more practice you get the easier it becomes(love some pictures though!!!).

Still makes me smile when I'm in a curry house and ask about the base sauce.Seems they really don't want you to know how they manage to turn out dishes so quickly.Sometimes I get a blank stare as if they haven't a clue what you're talking about.I actually got a 'no chef doesn't use a base sauce all his sauces are cooked to order'....Yeah right

[Noll]

Thanks for the encourage everyone.  I have been able to get a fair selection of the ingredients here, but as my sister is coming out to visit from the UK next month, I'm going to check out the recipes over and over to see what I may need her to bring for me.  I know I'll need her to bring Fenugreek at least.

[Geezah]

Welcome to the website, and congratulations on your first of many successes.

For all those hard to find ingredients I found ebay perfect until I got familiar with local indian stores.

I have bought lots from http://stores.ebay.co.uk/The-Spiceworks?_trksid=p4340.l2568 and would fully recomend them. (i'm in no way affiliated, just impressed on price and service)

[Stephen Lindsay]

Hey Noll great post and as the others have said - whack up a few pics. You are right that none of the old books mention the gravy, because they tend to have home cooking recipes and not BIR food. I think the first indication that the base gravy approach was used by restaurants was in an article by Bruce Edwards, which many of the members here are familiar with. You can get a copy on this site. It has kind of grown from there with Kris Dhillon and a few others starting to share this "secret". This site surpasses them because there is a wealth of different base sauces for you to try. I have spent a few years at a time on one base gravy, e.g. Ashoka BE, and am currently making curries using the Taz Base.

Look forward to seeing more posts from you Noll.