I think we would all agree that even our favourite t/a have their off days and sometimes produce disappointing curry's  but I do wonder if the 'not so tasty' curry's are due to them being made from a new batch of base and the better curry's come from the more ' matured ' base nearer to the bottom of the pot 

Quote from: GeorgeC on July 08, 2012, 03:37 PM

Quote from: chewytikka on August 07, 2011, 08:49 PM
Hi Z.
Welcome to CR0, loads of fun here. ;D

Quote from: Zed666 on August 07, 2011, 07:07 PM
I didnt follow a korma recipe, just threw about 2tbs ground almond, 3tbs sugar, 35g creamed coconut block and a good slug of single cream into the wok along with around 350ml base.

That reads like a BIR/TA Korma recipe to me    Try an old school version, swop the cream for Carnation Milk   
cheers Chewy

That is such an amazing idea!

QuoteDo you use sweetened or just regular?

Carnation condensed milk is already sweetened or you can use evaporated milk but you would need to add sugar 

I recently made a curry in my local t/a but the Chef made my Mrs Chicken Madras first and following the completion of her Curry he placed the pan on a second gas ring on high simmer and this was left for about 2 - 3 mins without stirring.

There is a lot of oil in the c2g base could it be the gravy becomes ' saturated' to the point it will not absorb any more oil 

Hi all,
I have been struggling for months to be able to make a nice flavoursome bhaji but last night I seem to have 'gone up a level' 
What I found was if I leave the sliced onions in the mixing bowl with spice mix,g/g,kashmiri masala paste,aniseed,and a pinch of cumin seed all mixed in and leave it to 'marinate' for a couple of hours then when ready to fry the bhaji add the egg,flour and salt and mix in the bhaji are very good  nice flavour and a good colour inside.

Quote from: natterjak on July 01, 2012, 09:43 AM
Thanks jerry, interesting analytical approach there and even if I don't understand all the fields in your spreadsheet I can see how it would allow you to compare the make up of bases and spot differences in ingredient proportions even without making them. Even so, my experience of making the c2g base was the amount of spices added was significantly higher than other bases such as Ashoka, chewytikkas and my own variation. Maybe we interpreted Julian's video differently, don't know.

Hi NJ, yes the c2g base uses chef spoons of spices,problem for me was my chef spoon is bigger than his 
this lead to a very over spiced base but funny enough I added some star anise whole spice to a  two portion amount of this base and it turned out to be the tastiest curry I have made 

Quote from: 976bar on July 01, 2012, 10:07 AM
I'm not knocking coconut in bases as I have never tried it, but as an observation are you not restricted to the  types of dishes you can make with coconut in the base?

I mean, Madras, Vindaloo, Garlic Chili Chicken etc do not traditionally have coconut in them. Does this not affect the taste of these dishes?

Hi 976bar, yes you're right it does affect the flavour of any final dish,for me I'm still in the 'experimental' stage with base gravies but have found the Zaal my favorite to date.Luckily my family all like coconut but not sure if I will add it to the base next time but for me whole spices are a definite.

Well done 976bar an excellent job,you've earned a well deserved rest  can just imagine what your kitchen looked like   

Hi JerryM,
Made the Zaal Base today (3kg onion etc)  but rather than boil the whole spices in water I loaded my 3'' diameter spice ball with 4 large asian bay (broken in half) 10 green cardamom,3 2" pieces of cinnamon,and 1 2" piece of cassia bark ,I also added a small piece of coconut block during the final simmer.
This evenings curry's were very nice with the coconut block just coming through and a hint of the whole spices in the background,I think in the next base I will halve the amount of coconut block and increase the star anise as I have found that star anise in the right amount gives a very savoury moorish flavour to a curry.

I think your on the right track JerryM , I've been doing similar with whole spices in a spice ball and this has brought me some lovely savoury flavours to the base.
I have found Star Anise and the large Asian Bay leaves to make a noticeable difference in the base gravy but the trick is getting the amount right    I did try the spice ball some time ago but couldn't really taste much difference so didn't bother again until a couple of months ago and upped the whole spices in the base and this time I over did the green cardamom  so to balance it out a bit I added some extra star anise and wow ! what a flavour, honestly I licked the plate !It was that savoury taste without being over spiced that you get in a good BIR curry. I have since bought a larger spice ball and look forward to making my next base, this time less cardamom and more star anise