Topic: The Balti Kitchen DVD?s ? 1st Attempt at The Base

[raygraham]

I can only presume that the flavours were diluted by the oil and by skimming it off I was also taking out the flavour.

Hi Ian,

That's interesting! Perhaps the oil carries more flavour than we give it credit for.

You say three hours was about the time you cooked it for. This is more than double what the recipe suggests, so wonder if this made a difference, can't see it should though.
How much oil did you use in the base in the first place? Was it what the recipe suggested? And how much oil did you "skim off" ?
In the DVD they suggest skimming off the FROTH and not OIL so maybe the oil needs to remain!

I can't see why it should have been so bland or anything you might have done wrong. I suppose it just shows you how two batches made the same can turn out so differently! That's life!

Ray

[pete]

When I got my latest curry gravy sample, I froze a portion of it.
Accidentally, I got some of the oil on my hands
My fingers stunk for two days after (and I do wash my hands!)
It's really very strong stuff
They boil their gravy for hours before skimming the oil.
One interesting thing was mentioned
When I asked for the sample, they said "do you want it heated?"
That infers that the curry gravy sits cold on the stove
It's probably, a myth from my Pat Chapman books, but I thought it bubbled away all evening

[raygraham]

Hi Pete,

So are we coming to a conclusion that the spiced re-claimed oil is tantamount to achieving the BIR flavour and smell although agreed not the most healthy or sterile product to put into a curry it seems to play a vital part.

The oil I got off the base was indeed powerful in both taste and smell and would not have been suprised if the smell would have stayed on my fingers for a good while either.

Ray

[Mark J]

Ive seen the base bubbling away on the pot, only on a very low simmer though

[pete]

Ive seen the base bubbling away on the pot, only on a very low simmer though

Hi Mark
? ? ? ? ? perhaps they turn it off on a slow night, or maybe, different places do different things.
I never get an instant curry when I order
I always wait at least ten minutes
How long do you wait, on average?

[Mark J]

At this place 5-10 mins, usually around the 5 if they have noone else in

[traveller]

I have watched these DVDs (thanks to Ray - thank you again!!) and they really give a nice step by step description of the recipes.  it is nice to be able to compare what we cook to the recipe.
I made the base sauce for the first time yesterday.  It was very tasty on its own - hard to believe that black pepper can add so much flavor and warmth to the dish.  Its great!  Simple to make and doesnt have a boiled onion smell since it is cooked with the lid on.  The thing I did differently was heat the oil first adn add the onions for 1 minute on a low heat and then I added the other ingredients.  Took away a tiny bit of rawness from the onion but they were still totally white and not even translucent in that time.
Today I made the CTM without the chicken as I am not a fan of any meat.  Basically I heated the base and added fenugreek leaves (dried) to it as that is what I have noticed in the restaurants.  I may try a bit of mint sauce in it next time once i get it from the store.  I then added the cream and cooked it up a bit.  The result - a very smooth beautiful tikka masala sauce!!!  I didnt add the coloring so my sauce was more orangish instead of nice and red.  The sauce was very tasty and just like I have had at restaurants.  Now here is something interesting, I used oil that I had fried in one time, for my base sauce.  it gave it the restaurant smell right away!!  Do you think restaurants put the leftover spiced, reclaimed oil back into the base sauce that is cooking for the next day?? Wouldnt that add more depth and flavor to the base sauce and that way any reclaimed oil wouldnt get spoiled or wasted?
Just an idea...my base sauce had that "pungent", strong restaurant smell just from using oil I had fried my gulab jamun in!!

[pete]

Hi paast 10
                The whole old oil thing, is definitely an important part, of many BIR's flavour.
The poppadoms I bought, the other day, had this "bouquet" too
It makes you wonder what oil wouldn't be re used
The poppadoms must be cooked in a deep pan fryer
So after frying them, the oil must become part of the curry gravy
Maybe nothing is ever thrown away

[raygraham]

Hi Payal,

Nice to hear you had some success with your first attempt at a CTM.

As you have just made a base and final dish from this video would you say it has been a useful experience as many newcomers to this site might be interested in your comments?
I personnally found it a good starter for me as it shows you the whole process which you can replicate and can actually "see" what the result should look like.

The addition of the Mint Sauce I think is essential to it so don't miss that out if you can. The pre-prepared Chicken also has Mint mixed in the marinade so will also add to the taste although I appreciate you don't eat much meat yourself.

Try the addition of some block Coconut as well, it gives it a nice lift.
I noted you added Fenugreek and might try this myself, but I do find it quite powerful so caution is needed here!

This re-used oil seems to be coming up again and again and I think definately takes the finished result up to a different level.

Ray

[traveller]

These discs are absolutely the best place for a newbie to start!!  The curry base is very simple to make and tastes good on its own.  This is the first restaurant style curry base I attempted.  The DVD was very motivating too!
I will get the mint sauce this weekend and give the CTM a try with it when I make it with chicken.  I think putting the mint in the chicken tikka and then adding it to the curry will tie the flavors together.  Yes, you need to be very careful with the dried methi!  I added a bit and let it cook up and then added more - there was too much methi taste in it then!  But I didnt mind it too much - but next time time will use much less.  It takes time for the methi flavor to infuse into the CTM so better to add little and cook it. I tasted it soon after adding it and didnt taste it at that time and added more.  But a few of the CTMs I have had in england had dried methi in it for sure.
I cant explain the creaminess of the CTM sauce - like nothing I ever cooked before!!  It was velvety almost.  I have added cream before to many gravies but never got a result like this before.
This is a great place to start for anyone interested in making a BIR style curry!!!