Spiced Oil

[natterjak]

This is a recipe to make oil infused with curry flavours which can then be used whenever you cook a curry main dish - just use in place of your normal oil.  I'll say up front the real credit for this recipe belongs to forum member IFindForu, as it has been developed from the recipe he already posted for pre-cooked chicken (here: https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=7611.0)

You may wonder if it's worth going to the trouble of making a spiced oil such as this, given you could easily just use plain veg oil or used bhaji oil as some do.  It has to be left to you to decide, but IMHO using this oil has lifted my curries to a new level and gives a fantastic BIR-like aroma and flavour to the dish.  I'm not going to claim it's "the taste" because I never quite know what people mean by that, but it's good enough to make this an essential part of my curry routine.

Ingredients (yield is around 4litres of oil but of course you could scale down if you wish)
- 3 large onions finely sliced
- 3 salad tomatoes (normal tomatoes) cut into eight pieces each
- 4.5 litres vegetable or sunflower oil
- 6 asian bay leaves torn into pieces
- 4 pieces of cassia bark about 2 inches long
- 10 green cardamons crushed with the back of a spoon to open them a little
- Three quarters of a chef's spoon garlic and ginger paste (50/50)
- 1 rounded chef's spoon mix powder (your favourite blend)
- 1 rounded tablespoon tomato puree
- 2 rounded teaspoon salt
- optional: 6 cloves of garlic peeled and lightly crushed

Some pics....

3 large onions finely sliced and 3 tomatoes cut pirate-style (pieces of eight!)


Whole spices

Method
First heat 1 cup (150ml) of oil in a large high sided stockpot (I used a 6 litre pot) on a high hob heat (max on my electric halogen hob) and when hot add the whole spices to fry for around three mins.  The cassia should have tiny bubbles coming from it and the asian bay leaves should have a hint of brown about them before you move onto the next stage.


Frying the whole spices

Add the garlic and ginger paste and fry till the water evaporates from it and the colour starts to change.  You're not looking for browning as such but at least some slight darkening to signal the raw flavours have gone.  Now add the onions and tomatoes and keep the heat up on full unless your hob is making the ingredients catch on the base of the pan.  Add the salt at this stage (it helps break down the onions)


Someone ordered noodles? (starting to fry the onions and toms)

Fry very well.... on my electric hob this takes 15 mins during which time you'll see the onions go through the various stages of softening and then going translucent, then starting to brown and finally becoming a kind of mush where much of the water is gone... The tomatoes should have melted away so only the odd bit of tomato skin hints at their presence.... see pics:


Frying, but not ready yet


more or less there, just a bit more

Now add the tomato puree and mixed powder and keep frying for a further two mins... it should look like this:


Well fried onions with mixed powder and tom puree added

As this will start to stick after a couple of mins, add half a cup (70 or 80ml) water and then reduce down again for a further few mins.  At this stage you want to get everything as well fried as you can without burning.

Now... either add the remaining oil with the garlic and bring up to a low simmer on the hob OR transfer the spices / onion mix to a slow cooker and add the rest of the oil and garlic then bring up to a boil on High heat setting then simmer on low. Tip: preheat the slow cooker on HIGH for 20 mins while you're frying the onions, etc..

I have only ever cooked the final stage of this recipe using a slow cooker and find that although it will take around 90 mins on high to get the oil to the boil, the nice very low controllable simmer you get when you switch down to low is ideal for a long cook to fully infuse the spices into the oil without burning the onions.  I would imagine when cooking on the hob it will be hard to get the simmer low enough to ensure nothing burns, as you are essentially deep frying for a long time.


The oil frying at a low simmer in the slow cooker on LOW with garlic floating

In the slow cooker once simmering, stir every hour and after three hours when the onion residue at the bottom of the pan is dark brown and the oil is a rich ruby red, the oil is done.  Squash the garlic cloves after 90 to 120 mins and the soft innards should come out into the oil.  On the hob you would have to observe and adjust timings according to your judgement.


Filtering will take a while, be patient

When cooked, allow to settle and cool then filter through a funnel lined with a coffee filter paper.  The first time I made this I used muslin cloth but it didn't filter finely enough and the oil was cloudy.  It's important to get it clear and I filter twice (use a new filter paper on the second time) to get the oil fully clear.


slow cooker residue, discard once you separate all the oil


The end product, rich savory and delicious oil - totally BIR!

There is some wastage along the way so the yield will be around 3.9 litres of oil from 4.5l to start with.  That's a lot of spiced oil so I keep it in lock'n'lock tubs in the freezer (1.3l and 2.6l) and just scoop some into a beaker in the fridge, enough to last me a couple of weeks at a time.  The oil when frozen has a jelly-like consistency and will melt quickly:


Easy to scoop the oil, ice cream style, from a frozen tub full

I hope a few of you will try this, I think it's a reliable method and the results are excellent, but interested in feedback as always!

[jb]

A very good post Natterjak.I was always skeptical about the whole spiced oil thing.However I still have some spiced oil in my fridge(probably about a month old now but still looks ok),I have to say I cannot resist the urge just to have a sniff every time I pass by,just pure BIR smell and taste,quite a magic ingredient actually.The only thing I would add to your recipe would be a teaspoon or so of panch poran it does give my oil an extra layer of flavour.

[curryhell]

Good work Chris.  I can understand why you use IFFU's pre-cooked chicken recipe as a base.  It produces excellent chicken with the BIR smell and taste.  I kept the stock from my last chicken cook and will be adding it to my next base.  I think JB's idea of a tsp of panch phoran will lift it even further.  If you haven't tried CBM's method of precooking spuds and veg, do so. The smell and taste is spot on.  I may just have to give this a go :

[natterjak]

Thanks guys, Panch phoran would be a good addition I'm sure. Yes CH I have also used this approach to precook potatoes for Bombay aloo (adding water not oil after the first frying stage). Works great and gets all the right flavours into the spuds.

[Naga]

I don't know how I managed to miss this thread first time around. Thanks for posting the link in the other thread, NJ - I'll definitely try your recipe very soon as I've just exhausted my last batch of spiced oil.

[RubyDoo]

Thank you for highlighting this Natterjak. I have seen it before but then forgot about it!! I will give this a go when time permits and compare with the Bahji Oil I currently use, then 'report back'. 

Good example of members helping each other out and sharing experiences AND recipes etc.   

[uclown2002]

Anyone else tried this?

If so, what is the verdict?

Time consuming if not a reasonable improvement.

[Wickerman]

I haven't tried the above recipe but have on a few occasion made CA's spiced oil, and in all honestly couldn't detect a great deal of difference.
I was also warned about the danger of  Botulism if kept any longer than a week in the fridge.(not my words).
I must say i was surprised at how well it froze.

[Kashmiri Bob]

Reckon natterjack

[goncalo]

Filtering will take a while, be patient

When cooked, allow to settle and cool then filter through a funnel lined with a coffee filter paper.  The first time I made this I used muslin cloth but it didn't filter finely enough and the oil was cloudy.  It's important to get it clear and I filter twice (use a new filter paper on the second time) to get the oil fully clear.

You must have an awful lot of patience. Every time I used coffee filter, there would always be micro-stuff causing the pores to clog and then no oil would pass. I suppose the trick might be to use a muslin cloth before the coffee filter, but by now I have lost my faith in the "spiced oil" a little. The extra work is rarely worth the effort.