Topic: Spiced Oil & the Curry2Go Ebook

[prawnsalad]

Having watched several of the Public YouTube videos including the base gravy tutorial I think they're all excellent however I felt a bit down when he mentioned how important spiced oil in the base is seeing as he makes his as a by-product of Onion Bhajis.

I once tried a method from here which was basically the same as making base with more oil and reducing it right down with a few other spices then draining the oil, sadly it took ages and made little difference.

So could anyone who has bought the book briefly say if he mentions an easier method? Obviously I it needs to have the same effect as Bhaji oil.

If there's a working alternative I will buy it straight away otherwise probably not.

Thanks..

[Whandsy]

Having watched several of the Public YouTube videos including the base gravy tutorial I think they're all excellent however I felt a bit down when he mentioned how important spiced oil in the base is seeing as he makes his as a by-product of Onion Bhajis.

I once tried a method from here which was basically the same as making base with more oil and reducing it right down with a few other spices then draining the oil, sadly it took ages and made little difference.

So could anyone who has bought the book briefly say if he mentions an easier method? Obviously I it needs to have the same effect as Bhaji oil.

If there's a working alternative I will buy it straight away otherwise probably not.

Thanks..

Sorry prawnsalad, still bhaji oil as per youtube video

W

[haldi]

Having watched several of the Public YouTube videos including the base gravy tutorial I think they're all excellent however I felt a bit down when he mentioned how important spiced oil in the base is seeing as he makes his as a by-product of Onion Bhajis.

I've mentioned this oil many times, and it is very important
I made curries 100% exact, using old oil I got from a Kebab/Chip shop
Getting oil from an unknown source is a very silly idea
It was an act of desperation which luckily panned out
I can't make oil like that at home
It's not just what you put through it
It's the fact the fryer is on for hours empty, with the sediment slowly cooking

[George]

I've mentioned this oil many times, and it is very important

If you're right - and you may well be - then it sounds like a real show-stopper, like it really is non-viable to make BIR curries at home, to quite the same standard, unless you spend a lot of time and money cooking hundreds of onion bhajis and/or other high-volume fried items passing through BIRs and/or other takeaways. Perhaps there really is no substitute.

[Micky Tikka]

I'm hoping its not an essential because theres only so much room in my freezer onion bhajis ,gravy's, chicken ,
mini magnums

[curryhell]

I'm hoping its not an essential because theres only so much room in my freezer onion bhajis ,gravy's, chicken ,
mini magnums

I let you know later Michael when i've cooked a dish with my vat of Julian's gravy,just cooling now, minus spiced oil.  I've no doubt i'll be missing one layer of flavour due to its omission but the impact will IMHO only be marginal and will not affect adversely the overall quality of the gravy, providing i did everything else right of course  ;D.  From the many writings on here one can discern that it's not always used by BIR's, but i can appreciate the frustration of people who know that their local  recycles oil which provides an additonal layer of flavour to the final taste of dishes.  How can you replicate that when god knows what has been cooked in it over christ knows what period of time before it obviously move into a curry gravy .  I'll just have to settle for 99% success then  ;D

[haldi]

I let you know later Michael when i've cooked a dish with my vat of Julian's gravy,just cooling now, minus spiced oil.

I'm cooking the 3 litre version, minus spiced oil, too
Instructions miss times for cooking this base
I'm waiting for that "vinegar" smell
2 and a half hours in and no sign yet
Fingers crossed it works out, or it's just another base

[chewytikka]

Hi prawnsalad
LOL ;D Oh No, Old Bhaji oil again, absolute nonsense.
Really bad practice, H&S issues and will add nothing of value to your base gravy.

Old Bhaji oil, A Complete Red Herring.
Convincing novices that they have to do this to get the BIR taste is untrue and criminal IMHO.

True Bengali spiced oil on the other hand, has value, as does Bengali spiced water.

Be interesting to here other members views on how much of this c2g ebook is original information
or just stuff that's been compiled and rewritten from others, especially cR0 threads and existing "undercover" publications and videos.

I was amazed to read one review, where they say out of 119 pages, 100 of them
are a biography/history of the author. - Crikey, that's some preface.

c2g is very plausible in his videos for beginners and I think he also believe's his own hype.
He may burst into song at some stage, X factor, Britains got Talent style  ;D ;D only kidding  ;D

cheers Chewy

[curryhell]

I let you know later Michael when i've cooked a dish with my vat of Julian's gravy,just cooling now, minus spiced oil.

I'm cooking the 3 litre version, minus spiced oil, too
Instructions miss times for cooking this base
I'm waiting for that "vinegar" smell
2 and a half hours in and no sign yet
Fingers crossed it works out, or it's just another base

That was my plan too to wait for the "smell".  But as i was in the kitchen i decided to make use of my time and precook some chicken using ifindforu's recipe, which by the way turned out better than the first time.  Needless to say i had no chance of smelling much with the kitchen full of that superb aroma of the whole spice in with the chicken.
From the boil i cooked it for three hours before adding spices.  If i'd have waited for the smell i'd have been there all night.  I tasted the veg after this time and the liquor and the level of sweetness was quite amazing.   This is masked once in the cooked base though but obviously will play a large part once the curry cooking begins.  I intend to do a quick phall with it and see how it compares to my zaal base.  I have high hopes for the technique used though based on the taste of just the veg after cooking :.  Will be interesting to hear the results from the pressure cooking chefs. CT's gravy must have this taste already as he employs the pressure cook method.  Do you notice any distinct smell at the end stage of cooking CT?

[Ramirez]

LOL ;D Oh No, Old Bhaji oil again, absolute nonsense.

I tend to agree with you. In the past I've tried seasoned oil in the base and it just gets lost and makes no discernible difference. I know others have also had a similar experience. In the final dish it would make a difference, but Julian doesn't specify the use of seasoned oil in the recipes for the final dishes.

I was amazed to read one review, where they say out of 119 pages, 100 of them
are a biography/history of the author. - Crikey, that's some preface.

There is a lot of non-recipe-related material (how he came to have his own business, etc.) but it's certainly not quite as bad as that. It's an interesting read.