Topic: CBM Little India Base Gravy

[Unclefrank]

Cheers CBM much appreciated.

As for the black cardamoms they are a desired taste,well for me they are, i have made dishes with it in spice blends and it just overpowered the dish, but with the amount of ingredients and water in this base they shouldn't be overpowering.

[Curry Barking Mad]

Hi All,
I decided to just quarter the base ingredients so at 20 onions it's still quite a large amount but manageable.

Stage 1,
20 Onions medium size
0.5 a small Potato
1 average sized Carrot
1 tbls of Salt
2 tbls of Garlic/Ginger paste
2 tbls of Veg Ghee
3-4 Coriander stalks
40 ml of Akhni stock
1.5 tspn of Moong Dhal
18 grams of Coconut Block
200 grams of Plum Tomatoes
1.5 tspn of Turmeric

Stage 2 (Akhni stock)
4 Asian Bay Leaves
1x 2.5 inch Cassia Bark
2 Green Cardamon
0.5 Black Cardamon
Pinch of Fennel Seeds
Pinch of Cumin Seeds
300 ml of Water

Stage 3 (Spice/Tomato Fry)
250 ml of Veg Oil
1 tbls of Garlic/Ginger paste
375 ml of Blended Plum Tomatoes
3 tbls of Mix Powder

Baba Mia's Mix Powder
2 parts Coriander Powder
2 parts Cumin Powder
1.5 parts Curry Powder
1.5 parts Turmeric Powder
1 part Garam Masala
0.5 parts Paprika Powder
0.25 parts Chilli Powder 

[haldi]

I made the base, before this last quarter sized base, was posted
Mine was closer to an eighth sized base using 8 onions
It gave a very rich tasting base
The onions, for some reason, came out very sweet
The spice mix is a very good one
It gives a lovely aroma, even before it's cooked
I used the base to make the little India vindaloo

It's very tasty and easily up to a takeaway standard
It's frustrating to not have a comparison

The vindaloo's main flavour comes from the base but the fenugreek gives an interesting background feel
Thanks Mick!!

I've frozen some base for using next weekend
The base on it's own is an acceptable curry sauce

[jb]

This is one I have to try,glad you had some success with it Haldi.It's so frustrating to take all the trouble to make a base only to find it's nothing very special.My only question is did you add any evaporated milk??  It was in the original large scale recipe but it seems to have disappeared from the scaled down version devised by CBM.I wonder has he just forgot that bit??

[emin-j]

Will be adding a small amount of coconut block (20gms) plus a small tin of evaporated milk to my next base,making the Zaal base at the moment with excellent results  :)the Zaal being quite similar to Micks video.

[Curry Barking Mad]

It was in the original large scale recipe but it seems to have disappeared from the scaled down version devised by CBM.I wonder has he just forgot that bit??

Sorry JB,
Just proving I'm human.... ;D
It frustrates me that I cannot modify my own post to correct it.

Anyway add about 80 ml of Carnation at the end when all is mixed together.
Mick

[jb]

It was in the original large scale recipe but it seems to have disappeared from the scaled down version devised by CBM.I wonder has he just forgot that bit??

Sorry JB,
Just proving I'm human.... ;D
It frustrates me that I cannot modify my own post to correct it.

Anyway add about 80 ml of Carnation at the end when all is mixed together.
Mick

Ok Mick no probs I thought it was my old eyes missing something!!

[haldi]

My only question is did you add any evaporated milk??

I put a splash of full fat milk instead
My demo from Bengal Cuisine (that's going back a bit!!) had evaporated milk in
I don't really think it makes a huge impact
A little extra something but no fantastic taste
I've experimented a bit with it and also yoghurt, to no great improvement with anything

But this base without it, aroma and flavour are very strong
Well worth a few hours cooking

[emin-j]

haldi,I believe we are that close now that small additions such as a little coconut block and evaporated milk and we could hit the jackpot  ;D since trying the Zaal base which is very similar to Mick's my curries have been consistently as good or better than local BIR's  flavour,colour, and consistency are near spot on,just want to try the coconut and evaporated milk.

[haldi]

haldi,I believe we are that close now that small additions such as a little coconut block and evaporated milk and we could hit the jackpot  ;D since trying the Zaal base which is very similar to Mick's my curries have been consistently as good or better than local BIR's  flavour,colour, and consistency are near spot on,just want to try the coconut and evaporated milk.

I hope you get a result
I know I can make brilliant curries, but I have lost the belief BIR I can make them at home exactly
Something is just different