It occurred to me that, if we can get the base sauce right, and can master the techniques for curry-making, then we can start inventing our own house specials. We can do this simply by taking a traditional Indian dish, using its spices etc, and replacing the onions garlic and ginger with our own base gravy. I would guess this is what happens in BIR's and possibly how a lot of the 'standards' originated.

Just a thought.

A8

Hello All,

Over the Christmas, I had my folks round for curries. I made six different types of curry and some where better than others, but all were very well received. I made 1kg of rice a ton of onion bahgees, plus the yella sauce that goes with them. There were also home-made naans and some Kulfi. Nobody liked the kulfi as I put too many nuts in it, but the KD recipe still worked. The poppadoms were the only thing bought in.

When I looked at the amount of grub that I'd been able to produce single-handed, I realised that this could only have been done using the shortcuts of BIR cooking. I was totally knackerd and now appreciate that there's a hell of a lot of graft that goes into your average takeaway, even with the shortcuts. They're bloody cheap at half the price.

Anyway what I learned was:

I think I'll give the mooli a miss from my next base as this tends to add a bitterness that has to be compensated for with sugar, leaving a slightly sweet-and-sour taste.

The only time I got near to 'that smell' was with my rice - I wonder if that's where it comes from.

I tried a few different base recipes, and all the results were very similar, so I concluded that, it's unlikely that there's a missing magic ingredient . The  illusive BIR taste is probably down to technique so I look forward to seeing Chilli Prawn's video

The most important thing I learned was that I should record what I'm doing. This way, if it turns out well, I can replicate it and if it doesn't, I wont make the same mistake twice. Sounds obvious but I tend to forget to do this when I'm cooking. I made some fantastic rice, but can't remember the exact spice mix.

Having too many variables on the go in one recipe make it impossible to know what the significance of each change is, so try and stick with a recipe and change only one thing at a time.

I tried making two curries, one using spice mix and the other using curry powder and it was debatable which was best. I think I spoiled the curry powder one by adding fenugreek, which was already in the powder. I'm always tempted to overdo this particular spice as it has a curry smell ( like curry powder) and I associate this smell with a good curry. Overuse of it can, in my opinion, give a woody taste.

I tried frying spices, versus just putting them into the base. Again, not sure which was best, but as I used spice mix in one and curry powder in the other, I couldn't make a proper judgement anyway (too may variables).

So there's my latest ramblings. I'm not anywhere near being there yet, but still enjoying trying.

A8

Has anyone tried using powdered ginger and garlic in the base, in place of the fresh stuff. This must be a common shortcut in the trade.

I used some powdered garlic to rescue a madras and it ended up tasting very pleasant.

After8

Hell Me again,

Just made two curries lats night - one Madras and one korma. I more or less follwed the KD spice recommendations, but added creamed coconut to the korma. It was by far the best of the two, not too sweet. I skimped on the oil with the madras and I think that may have made a difference.

The spices in the Kris Dillon recipes are just lobbed into the sauce, as opposed to frying them in oil first, and I wonder if this makes a difference. I've always been happy to avoid frying them first, as I don't want to burn them and spoil the dish. Bruce Edwards says fry them first, but there always seems to be a pepper in there which may absorb some of the heat. This doesn't seem rigth, especially for a smooth Madras.

Be interested to hear your thoughts. If frying them is best, then perhaps there is somewhere on the site that tells you how to do this without burning them.

See what you make of this:

I was up the west end of Newcastle today, which is where the shops are that supply the Indian restaurants. In the shop I visited, the spices were available in a variety of sizes, the, the biggest being huge 5KG sacks.

The only spices available in this large size were: coriander; chill; cumin; currypower (madras) and that was it.

This must give us a good idea of what's being used by the trade. A five KG bag is massive, probably about 3/4 of the size of a pillow. That's a lot of chilli man!

This is my first proper post, and its bit of a a daft one, but I'll say it anyway.

I've just made up a batch of base, using the KD recipe and method, mainly because it gives the amounts of onions in weight, and it's worked for me before. I've incorporated the spices and stuff from the Darth base, because it comes top in the pole and the results were very pleasing - the base tasted nice on it's own and I have no doubt I will be able to make some good curries with it, so that's already a result as far as I'm concerned.

Anyway, at no point did it have that same smell as an Indian restaurant (you know the one). I live about 1/2 mile from a take away, and 'the smell' usually wafts over at about 4.30 PM, long before it's open to the punters, which is when it seems to die down. This suggests to me that, if there is a key ingredient that I'm missing, then it must go in during the 'preparation, rather than when the action starts later in the evening. I reasoned, if it's a spice, then someone would have recognised it. I'm taking a wild guess that its some sort of vegetable being cooked in during the base stage.

I've also noticed, when at my Mam's for sunday lunch, that the mashed turnip has a smell slightly similar to the elusive restaurant smell, not identical, but closer than anything to come out of my kitchen. So I wonder, is there turnip, or some relative like mooli, in the base.

Seasonal salutations from the North East of England,

Just joined today, after having surfed around the site for a while. I've been encouraged by  my latest efforts, using the Kris Dillon book as these are the first edible curries I've made. I've never had any luck with Pat Chapman's books in the past.

I'm going to make another batch using the KD boiled onion/garlic/ginger mix, but will add some extra stuff, based on ideas I've picked up from this site.

Will look forward to posting. See you all around.

After8