Re-Claimed Oil, is it worth it?

[raygraham]

Hi All,

As an experiment today I decided to make a batch of re-claimed oil using the base sauce from the Balti Kitchen Video.
I have had a bit of trouble getting sufficient oil from a standard base so thought of using an amount of cooked base and an amount of oil to generate spicy oil specifically for use.
As you are probably aware I quite like the Balti Kitch recipes and have had a lot of success with them but wanted to see if anything could be added with the use of re-claimed oil. It does miss that elusive taste but don't they all!
Perhaps this is a way of injecting the missing ingredient into the sauce!

I made the base as per the recipe below.

STAGE ONE

2 ? Lbs Onions, peeled and roughly chopped
1 Bulb Garlic, peeled and separated into cloves
1 Dessertspoon Salt
2 ozs Ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
2 Tbsps Vegetable Oil
2 ? Pts Water

METHOD

Put Ginger and Garlic Cloves into a blender with 1 cup of the water.
Blend for 30 secs.
Put Onions in a large heavy pan. Add Garlic, Ginger puree.
Add the Oil, Salt and remaining water.
Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
When cool blend a little at a time until it is a smooth creamy texture (important!).
Ladle off TWO cupfuls and set to one side. ( Used in pre-cooking method ).

STAGE TWO

INGREDIENTS

1 Small Tin ChoppedTomatoes (200 gms)
1 Cup Vegetable Oil
1 Tbsp Tomato Puree
1 Dessertspoon Paprika
1 Tbsp Turmeric
1 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
1 Dessertspoon Garam Masala

METHOD

Into the Onion Mix add the Tomatoes, Oil, Turmeric and Tomato Puree.
Place back on heat and bring to the boil. Add Paprika, Black Pepper and Garam Masala.
Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.
Remove any residue that rises to the surface and stir frequently.

........................The resultant sauce is a little more spicy than most with Garam Masala and Pepper so felt it would produce an oil with an equally spicy depth.

I ladled about 400 mls of sauce into a wide frying pan along with a handful of fresh chopped Coriander. To this was added an equal amount of Vegetable Oil and the resulting mix simmered and stirred for about 15 mins.

The oil was easy to spoon off if you tilted the frying pan and became dark, sweet and smokey tasting.
It's smell was an instant reminder of how a BIR smells as you first walk through the door so I knew I had got somewhere near what I was after.
The taste of the oil on it's own is spicy, smokey but with a sweetness ( maybe the Garlic ) that is hard to describe.

I then used this oil as per the recipes to make a CTM and a Chicken Balti and the results were remarkable to say the least.

The only difference to what I would normally do is the addition of the re-claimed oil in place of the fresh Veg oil the recipe demands, everything else being the same.
The difference in taste is so marked it is hard to believe that just this alteration can make such a difference to a dish but it does.

I discarded the base sauce I had used but felt if I added more oil to it I could easily have made a further supply of oil from the same pan of sauce.
I ended up with about 300 mls of clear dark oil without too much base in it as it was very easily separated.

I had some pics to show but don't know how to get them onto the site any more! Any ideas?

Having read a few postings where folk have experimented in re-claimed oil I can now back up their claims with my own findings.

This oil I am sure is a key in the search for the elusive taste of the BIR curry. I have tasted some pretty uneventful dishes in my time but the ones with the "taste" stand out a mile and I believe these are the ones from restaurants using re-claimed oil.

Maybe they generate the oil from using the mild base sauce as the catalyst ( just guessing! ), so this way any curry mild or hot can be made from it.

One thing I am now more sure of I shall be using this method again as the difference is so remarkable and that much nearer to the taste we all strive to achieve. It may not give an exact replica of the taste we want but I am so pleased I tried this as I am that much nearer to the goal and can only recommend others give it a go.

Regards

Ray

[Yellow Fingers]

Hi Ray

I'm not sure what you are saying here. Are you claiming that the skimmed oil is better because of the extra spices, or are you saying that you just haven't used reclaimed oil before? Or something else perhaps?

[DARTHPHALL]

Judging by the colour of the Oil from my local BIR they do not re-use it.
As their Oil is a rich golden colour as opposed to the dark ruby of re-cooked Oil, that is why i don't use Oil in the first stage base Curry Gravy.
Also Ive seen some pictures of Curries made by members & their local BIR`s & have to say if i bought a Curry with as much Oil i would not be pleased.
I have tried re-using & see why members like using it, for it is a quick & cheap way to get a good depth of taste, i personally prefer my 99.9% clone recipe as it has a depth of flavor Ive never matched with any recipe i`ve tried in the last 5-6 years with very little...Light OLIVE Oil ... purists please believe me you can use it !! .
Im in for it now DARTHPHALL..... .....

[Ian J]

I think you may have something here Ray.

I've just made a 2nd batch of the Balti Kitcken Base and used reclaimed oil; I think that even though a lot is skimmed off the flavour goes with the oil.

And what is left dilutes the flavour of the spices.

My findings are here:

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=635.msg5957#msg5957

[raygraham]

I'm not sure what you are saying here. Are you claiming that the skimmed oil is better because of the extra spices, or are you saying that you just haven't used reclaimed oil before? Or something else perhaps?

Hi YF,

I am sorry if I haven't been too clear about things but I had been in the kitchen all day ( the wife's away! ), messing about with curry base's, different recipes, generally making the place look like a tip? and using a few ideas from the site.

All that "Curry Overload" followed by a couple of hours with "Stella" may have caused me to ramble a bit so I do apologise for that.

What I am saying isn't anything particularly? new and I am not laying claim to any revelations. The use of re-claimed oil has been tried and tested on this site and discussed at length. Pete has spent a lot of time with re-claimed oil and I have simply taken the step to try it myself.
I had free reign in the kitchen for a whole day ( sheer luxury!! ), so what better than to use it to my advantage.
It's one thing to deliberate and post comments on the site from the comfort of an armchair but another to actually get in the kitchen and do the business, and it's more fun!
So,sleeves rolled up in I went!

I have never used re-claimed oil before and I have reservations if many B.I.R's use it on a regular basis. I must say I have never seen any of mine actively re-claiming oil it but they do ladle oil into the cooking pan from a big pot near the cooker and not from a bottle or drum so I assume this might have something to do with it.

I decided to experiment on a "suck it and see" basis but instead of re-claiming oil from the finished dish would use the base instead. Not particularly revolutionary but I thought it could be a way of generating a larger amount of oil than I had been able to do.

I decided to use an amount of base sauce as a catalyst for the oil and put a disproportionately large amount into the base then cook it. That gave me more oil to play with whereas before I could only skim off a spoonful or so.
The resultant oil is indeed ruby red, has a very curry-house smell about it and is beautifully spicy.
The fact I used a base sauce (Balti Kitch) that has a fair bit of spicing in it worked well.
I would imagine, although I haven't tried it, that the K.D. base would not work as well as it doesn't contain many spices.

I can see why members of the site then use this as the cooking medium in their curries as it does impart a flavour that stands out in the dish. It has the smokieness we associate with the missing taste of the BIR so I can see why it is used by some in their cooking.

Like you Darth I don't like oily food so I didn't use too much in the final dish. I made a CTM and the last thing that needs is oil swimming on top.
I used about a cooks spoonfull per two portion dish ( 2-3 TBSPS ) and the oil incorporated into the sauce and didn't float on top.
Needless to say the base I used to generate the oil went down the sink and not round my coronary arteries!!

Even using this smallish amount made a marked difference so "yes" YF I am saying the skimmed oil is better due to the spicing it has picked up from the base.

Health isn't something on the BIR chefs mind so I am not surprised many curries come with a layer of oil on top. If it impart's that flavour then so what about the health consequences! There are not any BIR's I know who use Olive Oil in their food ( don't see much in asian shops! ), but I don't think using it would drastically alter the taste and it is the "healthy option" of course.

So in conclusion this experiment worked for me.
Re-claimed oil with it's additional spicing and taste adds an extra depth to a curry dish. Whether this is the "secret" we are all searching for I don't know. However, I do think it takes us closer to an answer, would recommend others give it a go at least once and I for one will be using this method again.

Regards

Ray

[raygraham]

Me again!,

And another thing. If the re-claimed oil used comes from the base sauce it can be used in any strength of curry from Korma to Phall as it isn't "chilie" hot enough to spoil the milder dishes.

So there!!

Ray

[pete]

The vast majority of oil does, come from the base sauce
Only small amounts from finished curries goes back in
They have a pot on the stove, where they have ladled the salvaged oil into
For a long time I mistook this as fresh
When you heat this old oil up, the aroma is unmistakeably BIR
It stinks lovely!

[DeeDee]

I posted this before on another thread but I want to shout it out again!

My wife made me realize that there is one massive difference between the oil that we could reclaim and the oil that a restaurant could reclaim given that there is a short shelf life to the oil.  Basically ...

In any given 24 hour period they will cook a bumload more curries than we could ever do and therefore could reuse the oil faster and in more curries.  They could clearly reap the rewards of reclaiming for flavor far better than us.

Frigzample, I just did a big meal over the weekend and made four dishes at once.  That was a big deal for me but is only one tabler's worth of dishes for your average restaurant. Think about how many tables get served a night in a good BIR? Fifteen? More?

We can't replicate that ... unless we churn out the same number of dishes as they do IN THE SAME TIME FRAME ... hence the ever elusive flavor ...

Comments?

DeeDee

PS. Piccies of weekend major meal to follow ...

PPS. If this has already been covered I apologize .... :-)

[George]

My wife made me realize that there is one massive difference between the oil that we could reclaim and the oil that a restaurant could reclaim given that there is a short shelf life to the oil.  Basically ...

I agree that it could take us much longer to build up the level of flavour in the oil because of insignificant activity at home, compared to a busy BIR. But I don't think there's any limit to how long you can keep the oil, as long as it's reheated every 3-4 days, and kept in a fridge, as I recently suggested. Reheat to 150C for 20 mins. A lower temp for a shorter time would probably be adequate, too. I don't think any oil will evaporate at 150C but some of the 'flavour' might. I don't know, and should practice what I preach, to find out.

Regards
George

[pete]

Hi Dee Dee
                I think you are correct
You won't be able to get your curries exactly the same
But I think you can get extremely close
I'm not boasting, but I think I am now at that stage
I have spent, goodness knows how long, experimenting with given, and calculated recipes.
I have talked to many chefs and read everything available about BIR
I have been in quite a few restaurant kitchens too, and seen them prepare the food.
I don't think there is much more to learn except specific recipes for specified meals
I have still a few gaps in information, that I would love to fill
One is, seeing the curry gravy made start to finish
The other is seeing the precooked meat and veg done (I do rate the Kushi book for this)
I now accept what can, and can't be done
I also think that we (on this site) are the experts for making BIR at home