Kev's all in one slow cooker base gravy
(makes 3 litres)

First of all I'm making no claims for originality for the recipe, This is a pick n mix of a few recipes on the site and produces a very flavoursome gravy. Remember the buzz word is "SLOW" this is ideal to leave bubbling overnight or while you are out at work. The object of this posting is to demonstate the art of slow cooking so if you dont fancy my recipe - then try your own favourite recipe and get that unwanted gift out of storage and into use

Vegetables
6 medium onions
1 stick celery
1 medium carrot
1 green bell pepper
2 plum tomatoes (canned or fresh)

Spices (spoon measurements are level)
2 tbs coriander
1 tbs cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 tbs garlic paste
2 tbs ginger paste
1 tsp chilli powder (to taste, in my case 2 tbs) 

extras
2 knorr chicken stock cubes (optional)
1 cup sunflower oil
1 3 litre electric slow cooker

method
1:roughly chop all the veg and put straight into the pot

2:make up around 2 litres of hot stock and add to the pot leaving enough room to add the the rest of the ingredients

3:add the garlic and ginger pastes and stir well

4:mix all the dry spices together with the oil and add to the pot stirring well

5:top up with hot stock if necessary

now switch the cooker to high and forget about it for at least 2 hours after which the vegetables should be soft enough to blitz.

After blitzing turn the cooker to low and leave the gravy to slowly simmer away for at least 3 hours, longer if possible. After a few hours the oil will seperate and rise to the top, I have never had a gravy fail to give up it's oil using this method.

comments
The times are estimates, cook longer if you can, you can't overcook this gravy with long slow cooking. My preference is start the cooking procces late evening and let it simmer overnight.

After final cooking if the gravy has reduced (it should be the consistency of a thin soup as with most bases) top up with more stock or water, obviously the longer you cook the more it will reduce.

The all in one method works very well but if you are a purist, I guess you could cook the veg first then blitz and add the oil/spices after, I havent tried that yet, never had any need to.

Sorry I cant provide and pictures to go with this but if anyone tries this please feel free to upload some pics.

Kev aka brum-57

Produced for members of Curry Recipes Online

anyone see take on the takeaway yesterday? the challenge was to produce a chicken sag balti cheaper, quicker and better tasting than the local balti emporium. the celeb chef was john burton race.

if u missed the show u can still watch it on the bbc website for another 6 days (uk only)

Kev.

anyone use asa in their dishes? christ doesnt it stink lol got some today out of curiosity more than anything - shall be testing it out tomorrow.

Kev.

hi folks - is it possible to freeze mooli (white raddish) I bought a superb specimen from my local lidl's for 50p (bargain!) - about 18" long I used about 4" to make a pot of veggie/chicken stock which I use in my base sauce, now I'm left wondering what to do with the rest of it b4 it goes mankey - any ideas ? (I hate wasting stuff)

Kev.

my kitchen gas hob is pretty feable as far as output is concerned - I've noticed a few members on here using cheap camping stoves to get that extra bit of heat. Now i dont know nowt about these stoves but it seems most of the burners have an output of around 2.3Kw How does that compare to a domestic kitchen stove? Is it worth forking out the hard earned for one of these units? Good for cooking outside in the summer i would have thought

Kev.

Good article on the local swansea rag's website about a BIR owner and an interesting behind the scenes video - I guess this is just a temporary link so enjoy it while it's there.

http://content.thisis.co.uk/south_wales07/cookeryclass.wmv

Kev.

I have noticed there are 2 distinct type of coriander seed -

1 - round light brownish seed
2 - oval greenish seed

The round seeds I believe originate from Russia and are of very poor quality imo
The oval seeds are pukka Indian seeds and are far superior (wonderful aroma)

so watch what u buy - I ended up with a load of the poor quality seed bought from an online spice store, now I only buy spices from my local asian grocer. Look on the packet "produce of India" are the magic words.

Kev.

Dont pay a fortune for a small bottle of "hot" chilli sauce - make your own extra hot version instead

Hot Chilli Sauce

Ingredients
whole dried extra hot red (bird) chillies
clear distiled vinegar

Method
simplicity itself - just throw the chillies into a blender or spice mill with a small amount of vinegar and pulse - I add just enough vinegar to make a stiff paste but if you prefer a pourable sauce just add more vinegar.

Easy huh

I'm never without this stuff - instant heat! cheap and lasts forever

Kev.

This is my take on a old Pat Chapman recipe, basically I've jacked up the chilli level, added a bit of garlic and rounded off the measurements of the minor ingredients to my own taste. - all spoon measurements are heaped.


Extra Hot Curry Paste

6 tbs extra hot (bird) chilli powder
4 tbs coriander
4 tsp cummin
4 tsp garam masala (any will do but Pat's hot GM works well in this)
3 tsp turmeric
2 tsp ground fenugreek seed
2 tsp ground fennel seed
2 tsp ginger powder
2 tsp garlic granuals
2 tsp english mustard powder

5 fl oz clear distilled vinegar
9 fl oz water
6 fl oz veggy oil (I use rapeseed oil)

Method
mix the spices together, add the water and vinegar mix well and leave for around 10 minutes.
Heat the oil then add the spice mixture, reduce the heat and stir fry for around 15 minutes, dont wander off and do something else as the spices will burn then the whole batch will be ruined. If the paste looks to be drying out add some more oil and continue frying.
After around 15 minutes there should be signs of the oil seperating, when this happens the paste is done.
Bottle the paste in a sterilised jar cap off the paste with a little warm oil

Done

I have been using this recipe for a few years now, if you like it hot this paste is for you.

Kev.

hi all - one thing I have noticed in most of the recipes on here is the addition of the base gravy to the main recipe in small quanties and warm - I never do this I chuck the lot in :O what is the reasoning behind this method ?

Cheers - Kev.