Topic: Anyone tried Julian's base yet?

[stevejet66]

Phil exactley, a ready prepared curry sauce, they change in colour if the chef addes red chilli powder/tom puree in to the pan to make it richer, redder/simmer longer to make it darker, this is what im trying to explain its a curry all done finished, its added to a pan to get heat hot for you to takeaway or eat in, go to any takeaway and ask for a curry sauce nothing added , youll see what i mean!

[Peripatetic Phil]

Phil exactley, a ready prepared curry sauce, they change in colour if the chef addes red chilli powder/tom puree in to the pan to make it richer, redder/simmer longer to make it darker, this is what im trying to explain its a curry all done finished, its added to a pan to get heat hot for you to takeaway or eat in, go to any takeaway and ask for a curry sauce nothing added , youll see what i mean!

Yes, I'm very willing to believe that that is now often the case.  Whether it can yield the flavour that some of us are seeking (which dates back to the 60s/70s) I am uncertain, but I am certainly willing to accept that the technique may now be widely used.  From a logistical point of view, it makes perfect sense; but as to whether it can replicate or better the flavour that can be achieved by adding fresh spices to the final dish I reserve judgement.

** Phil.

[stevejet66]

 This is why im aiming for a cassarole style sauce like we would make a beef stew, even a vegitable stew with oxo and gravy granuals is lovely when its finished now its time to experiment with some of those asian veggies you see in the asian supermarkets youde never dream of cooking, we know onions/ carrots/parsins/leeks etc are part of the british stew. so its something they use  we would need to experiment with,

[Kashmiri Bob]

A few pics from making my last batch of c2go base.  The first pic is completion of the first pressure cooking stage, prior to addition of the powdered spices, etc. 



Below shows some of the oily residue taken from the bottom of the pan.  There were significant amounts of this.  Roughly, half an inch in depth covering two thirds of the bottom of the pan.  This residue (described in Julians book) I would suggest is a type of intensely caramelized onion sauce/oil/bunjarra, intrinsic to the base, and this adds sweetness and depth to the taste in the finished curry. 



Finished base; I did add some more water as the consistency was a little too thick this time.



Rob 

 

[emin-j]

Some weeks ago I was lucky enough to be invited onto the kitchen of my local t/a and watched them cook a chicken madras and was surprised to see no spice or salt added to the dish  When I asked the chef about this he said 'everything is in the gravy,nothing extra is needed'  he also used no oil at the start of the curry and instead used a chef's spoon of base and fried this down before starting with the g/g etc etc.
I asked if I could make my lamb madras and he agreed,I started with a small amount of veg oil plus added about a heaped teaspoon of mix powder ( to his disapproval  ;D ) when finished I tasted both and my curry was best  ;D
Whether this 'all in the base' is a relatively recent practice I don't know but it might explain why t/a curry's seem to be
lacking in flavour compared to even a year ago 

[curryhell]

Some weeks ago I was lucky enough to be invited onto the kitchen of my local t/a and watched them cook a chicken madras and was surprised to see no spice or salt added to the dish  When I asked the chef about this he said 'everything is in the gravy,nothing extra is needed' 

What kind of shiting practice is this?   

I started with a small amount of veg oil plus added about a heaped teaspoon of mix powder ( to his disapproval  ;D ) when finished I tasted both and my curry was best  ;D

Why doesn't that surprise me  ;D

Whether this 'all in the base' is a relatively recent practice I don't know but it might explain why t/a curry's seem to be lacking in flavour compared to even a year ago 

Indeed this could explain a lot.  Thank god I learned to cook curry properly before this "curry in a hurry" approach takes over.  Can you wonder at dishes taste very similar??

[emin-j]

Hi CH  the chef did say ' most of their customers don't like their curry's too spicy' 
When the chef See's me come in he comes to the counter and shakes my hand  then adds extra spice to my curry's  ;D
Perhaps we should start a new section ' Traditional BIR' 

[stevejet66]

emin-j
This was the same approach i witnessed, and ive only ever been in 3 or 4 of kitchens over 30 years, and that was at a push! in 1996 i managed to get in the madina kitchen wednesfield/wolverhampton (now gone) and expected all the drums to be rolling as he was cooking, No didnt happen! pan/base/chicken/masala/corriandor/done. same as the rose of bengal high street bloxwich.

[Peripatetic Phil]

pan/base/chicken/masala/corriandor/done. same as the rose of bengal high street bloxwich.

Is it possible that "masala" was not garam masala but what most on here call "spice mix" or "mix powder" ?  That would be close to the Kris Dhillon methodology.

** Phil.

[natterjak]

Hi chaps, please bear in mind this section of the forum is specifically for posting recipes for curry base sauce, not for discussion threads about base sauce. There is a forum section for discussions about base sauce recipes, it is here: http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?board=82.0

Keeping threads separated like this helps us all find stuff more easily in the future. Thanks very much.