Topic: 18hr Slow Cooker Curry Base, Double Concentrate

[curryhell]

Excellent piece of work there Chris. Detailed content, timings, pics as well as the rationalle and origins behind it all.  There was a definite gap on the site that you've now plugged and it appears to be delivering good results.  Unfortunately, i have only a baby slow cooker which is adequate just for one.  However, I'm sure there'll be a  few testers to put this little beauty through its paces.  Quality curry gravy with absolute minimal effort (if you leave out the arm ache from the sieving  ;D).  It will be very interesting to see how this thread develops.  Perfect method for those with little time on their hands or a very busy schedule.
A brilliant contribution to the cause mate 

[bamble1976]

hi
E
this site is really frustrating me at the moment.....too much going on and not enough time in the day to try everything

good job.  will give this a try when current base runs out.  finally give the slow cooker a good run!!!

Cheers

barry

[joshallen2k]

Your ideas also helped me understand the contributions the akhani and sieving can make to the end result so thanks

CT or Natterjak - could either of you point me to the thread on the Akhani stock? I've seen references to it here and there, but can't seem to find it.

Thanks!

-- Josh

[natterjak]

Your ideas also helped me understand the contributions the akhani and sieving can make to the end result so thanks

CT or Natterjak - could either of you point me to the thread on the Akhani stock? I've seen references to it here and there, but can't seem to find it.

Thanks!

-- Josh

Hi Josh, I'm not sure there has been a thread as a such. It's been mentioned a couple of times, most recently when we found that Az uses spiced water in his base (in the Zaal lessons thread) and I think it was Chewy who first introduced the term akhani for this whole spice infused water, which I believe is the Bengali word for it. I use it in this recipe as an alternative to dangling a spice ball containing whole spices in the base sauce as it's cooking as I'm trying to max out the ingredients in the space available to produce the maximum yield and keep the liquid level low to achieve a double concentrated finished sauce.  So it's just a way of getting the whole spice flavour into the sauce without using any space in the slow cooker.

[natterjak]

hi
E
this site is really frustrating me at the moment.....too much going on and not enough time in the day to try everything

good job.  will give this a try when current base runs out.  finally give the slow cooker a good run!!!

Cheers

barry

Haha, that's exactly what my inspiration was - the thought of "right, what AM I going to use this slow cooker for?!". In the event it came out so well the first time I tried it again and again and thought I'd post it as the method seems to have some merits and others might want to give it a try. Please let me know how you get on.

[natterjak]

Hi NJ
It's great to see how your currying and your understanding has developed since your few hours of real behind the scenes experience with Az at Fleet.
Can you imagine if you worked along side the team there for a couple of weeks! - The mind boggles.

Just read your OP again and I've got the exact slow cooker tucked away.(30 squid ASDA)

So I'll fill it up later today and there should be a nice aroma for breakfast. ;D
cheers Chewy

You know that lesson at Zaal was worth its weight in gold. Anyone who gets the chance to go and learn from Az should take it.  Seeing, smelling and feeling what the right way of doing things is helps so much over and above reading about it on a forum.

[Razor]

Hi NJ,

What a fantastic post, a real gem amongst some of the best cr0 posts'

I too have experimented with a 'concentrate' base gravy but for slightly different reasons to your good self.  Mine was purely for space saving reasons, just to keep Mrs Razor off my back, whereas your reason was for finding a suitable use for your slow cooker.  It's for a very similar reason, that I've never invested in one, don't think I would get the most from one to be honest.......until now..!

So you have tried and proved this method on a few occasions?, how do you think it compares with your normal base of choice, cooked in the conventional way?

mmmmm, this has got me wondering if a BIR style curry could be cooked in the slow cooker?  Obviously, using all the ingredients that you would usually use normally?  Nah, can't see it, how would you release the oils out of the spices for a start?

Great post mate, keep up the good work

Ray

[gazman1976]

Very good post

It has been mentioned along time ago about cooking the onions properly and I don't think any of us have tried it, I have been in 2 BIR kitchens and I noticed they cook their base early in the morning on a low heat , tons of onions, I believe we should try this and see how it fares

[Salvador Dhali]

Very good post

It has been mentioned along time ago about cooking the onions properly and I don't think any of us have tried it, I have been in 2 BIR kitchens and I noticed they cook their base early in the morning on a low heat , tons of onions, I believe we should try this and see how it fares

It's certainly what Julian recommends in 'The Secret to that Takeaway Curry Taste", and as he says: "I cannot stress enough the importance onions play in BIR cuisine and

[ELW]

Great post natterjak, I enjoyed reading that. I use the very same slowcooker for all kinds of stuff, tough pork shoulder etc. It's brilliant. I think it was whandsy or emin-j who asked in their local about two different pots of base they had on the go, one of them being described as "raw". This led me to do a 1/3 batch(1kg onion) Ashoka base on slow cook. What I found was a slow cook of the blended gravy intensified the flavours in the base, especially coconut, almost to the point of ruining it. Whether it doesn't scale to 1/3 very well I'm not sure but once it's there it's there. I haven't got Julian's book yet & don't know what he covers, but the real "secret" was the base gravy in all it's forms & not a tin of tomatoes. Creating the bir "taste" for me was revealed in the Zaal reports & videos highlighting those initial ingredients & technique. I have acheived it using a number of bases now & again, but  I've still to read of anyone creating bir on a slow/low/long fry method...I hope that can be done somehow, but I can't manage it...top post 

Regards
ELW