Topic: made me some JB base gravy ! anyone else tried it?

[Derek Dansak]

Made the JB base gravy and the jb madras to go with it. I was very pleased with the gravy, but the madras was very average. Anyone else had this experience?  can anyone recomend a better recipe to go with the jb base gravy?   
     I will be continuing to experiment with this gravy to see if it beats my favourites which are

1) ashoka
2) safron
3) original kris dillon

[haldi]

I made this
It gives a good curry result
But it didn't really close the gap I was hoping
The lemon didn't dominate the flavour (that was worrying me)
The only other base, I know with lemon, was a Bruce Edwards Curry Club base
I reckon JB's base has to go hand in hand with this particular chef's curry cooking methods

The chef turned out to be Abdul
and it was a little odd that his book recipe didn't exactly match what he showed JB
And JB wasn't shown the bagaar method either (I think)
Am I right, here?
At the end of the day I suppose the curry is created in the pan
Any good chef, could create a masterpiece, with many of the bases on this site
That comes with professional experience

[Derek Dansak]

Hi haldi
   That abdul guy gets everywhere !  Interesting that it came from him though.
     On a more serious note i got much better results on night two, when i used my own prefered spice mix, and stuck to my own techniques and methods. The JB madras recipe seemed to be the problem on night one. The base is very very good. The lemony zest mostly disappears into the background in the final dish, and works better than simply adding a tsp of lemon juice. Which is what i used to do.
         Haldi, i would urge you to give this base a second chance.
    I would strongly disagree that this base be matched to his method only.  I used a common cr0 method we all use, and results were well above average.
     I feel abdul has provided us with a great base.  But failed to complete the picture with a good madras recipe. I am sure cr0 members can use there skill to improve on abduls madras recipe, by playing around with what they know already.  Good luck !

[ELW]

  I will be continuing to experiment with this gravy to see if it beats my favourites which are

1) ashoka

Hi Derek Dansak, I had been looking at jb's report and recipies recently, with the idea of trying a new one. Are you scaling down the Ashoka base or do you have loads left from a full batch? I've been trying to get the best I can from this base for a while  from a 1/3 scale. I'm finding the coconut overpowering on a 1/3 batch. Cooking it all day slowly turned it burnt orange very quickly and only intensified the coconut flavour in the dish. Did you add water at all to the blended gravy, in the pot after blending or when using? I think my scaling down or thinning with water may be turning this base into something it shouldn't be   

Thanks
ELW

[Derek Dansak]

hi elw , no i actually scaled up the ashoka base gravy to make it last all year !!!. , I always follow everything to the letter. The coconut quantity is not clearly specified so i used quality cocnut block . i kept the amount reasonable, so it just adds tecture not too much flavour.  Dont overdo the coconut it should be noticable but subtle in the final gravy.  The cooking time is not long. I never cook any base gravy for long, it just overcomplicates things. 
   The ashoka gravy should be thick, so little water is needed.  Its a thick gravy compared to many.  Dont reduce the salt or cumin either.  hope this helps
     

[ELW]

hi elw , no i actually scaled up the ashoka base gravy to make it last all year !!!. , I always follow everything to the letter. The coconut quantity is not clearly specified so i used quality cocnut block . i kept the amount reasonable, so it just adds tecture not too much flavour.  Dont overdo the coconut it should be noticable but subtle in the final gravy.  The cooking time is not long. I never cook any base gravy for long, it just overcomplicates things. 
   The ashoka gravy should be thick, so little water is needed.  Its a thick gravy compared to many.  Dont reduce the salt or cumin either.  hope this helps
     

Thanks DD, the 1/3 batch is my third attempt at this base. I boiled 1st day & slow cooked the blended all the next day, after reading a members post regarding this. Ikg onions & 1/3 coconut block produced a very strong flavour. The recipie specs. 1 x block coconut for 3kg onions which was described as like the  ktc size block.  1/2 batch tasted much better last time, but without the long cook. Thanks for your help. I'll keep at this one for a while
ELW