Hi CA,

It was more than I was looking for, but a perfect response!

I think it will be great to have all this in one place.  A lot of it I knew (especially about storing/reheating rice), but I don't generally freeze many finished dishes - hardly ever, in fact - and I was nervous about freezing something as "sensitive" as a curry.  Sure there's the convenience aspect, but if the trade-off between taste and convenience isn't firmly still towards the former, I'll just plan accordingly.

I have successfully frozen and used the KD base after stage 2 as she recommends, and the only issue with it that I had was that I didn't adjust the final stage 3 simmering time to account for the extra moisture.  The resulting curries were far too liquid for my taste.  Mind you, I've only done this the one time, so I haven't successfully tested my theory.

Again, thanks for the reply, and you understood perfectly.

Cheers.

Hi Everyone,

I've been searching through the form to find a concise description of how this is best done, but except for the post regarding using a deep muffin tin (which I've now lost again), I haven't found anything close to guidelines.  I know a number of people seem to do it all the time (it's mentioned loads), but what's the best approach and how does it affect the taste of the curry?

I'm going to need to finish off some base/meat that's in the fridge, but my wife's not yet finished hers from the last round, and I've already eaten 3 curries this week, so I'm up for a bit of a break! (blasphemy, I know...)

Thanks in advance,

ast

Gary,

Quick question about this base (and any other one that uses the "fill pot to the top with onions" measurement.  I have to assume that this is referring to whole, peeled onions and not chopped onions.  If it isn't, that's a boatload of chopped onions to fill a 15L pot!

The reason I ask this is I'm trying to figure out roughly what proportions that might be.  Also, for you or anyone else who has made this base, did you just make educated guesses as to the amounts you specify (e.g. 5 onions, etc.), or are these based on proportions given to you by the chef?

Actually, I was wondering something else too... why is there no mention of the chillies, carrot or the coriander in the first description which, I'm assuming, came from the chef?  Are these actually used by Rajver, or were they additions based on personal preference?

Sorry for so many questions, and thanks in advance.

Quote from: George on January 03, 2008, 07:38 PM
SnS

Many thanks for posting the recipes, and so quickly too!

I agree it looks like KD's recipes plus enough changes to introduce an element of doubt. The main changes in the base sauce ingredients are:

1.5 to 2 pints of chicken stock (20% of KD amount and she uses plain water)
1 tsp salt (33% of KD)
1 tin chopped tomatoes (what sized tin?! - useless recipe)
8 tablespoons veg oil (33% of KD)
2 tsp turmeric (66% of KD)
2 tsp paprika (66% of KD)

But he makes up for less salt in the base sauce, with what seems like a huge quantity in the stage 2 recipe. Could a takeaway-sized portion of curry contain as much as 4 tsp salt, plus underlying salt in the base sauce?

Then he says: "half a Jif lemon juice". Does that mean half a complete container?

I agree that, to many people, this item would represent a fair deal, at the price. I just hope he's being honest about having paid to get the recipe friom a curry house. If not, it's a shame that some people would stoop that low to tell such a lie.

Regards
George

Hi George,

Your post made me go back and dig out my KD recipe.  I'm confused by your percentages.

I'm not sure how much 6 onions are supposed to weigh, but I'm guessing that unless they're large-ish, they won't weigh 900g will they?  Seems like this one has less than hers.
Both the salt and the oil are the same for the base sauce, but the turmeric and paprika are actually 200% the amount in the KD recipe I have.  it's also missing the tomato puree.  Not having enough experience with trying different bases yet, I'm not sure how much difference that would make, but as KD doesn't use more turmeric or paprika in her curry recipe, that, plus the potential lesser amount of onions and lack of tomato puree (even if it's only 1 tsp) could be enough to alter the taste.

I agree that the salt is loads more, but then so is the garam masala and cumin.  The chilli amount should make it a madras by the book.  Based on the directions presented, I think it would turn out sorta strange, myself.  After that much simmering at the final curry stage, I think the spices would be well blended, but they certainly wouldn't jump out at you the way I think they do in a typical BIR curry--certainly not if they were fried (dry or paste) as part of making the final curry.

Again, according to the KD book, said amount should make 8 servings of curry (enough for 6-8 people), so I don't think it's a "standard" takeaway size they're going for.  Even with simmering for such a long time, I don't think it would reduce all that much unless it was a pretty hard simmer...

Did you also notice how much difference there is in the cooking times?  I think SnS is right.  It's got to result in some sort of pseudo-base/curry hybrid.  It doesn't factor in any time for cooking the curry part (approx 10 min, KD style), and it only brings the whole lot to the boil initially.

Re: Jif lemon, yes, that's gotta be half a container.  They're roughly lemon sized bottles of lemon juice (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jif_(lemon_juice)).  I've never seen them outside the US, but I used to use them occasionally for making cocktails, etc. when I lived there.

Maybe since whoever is selling this recipe paid for the KD book and that's supposed to be based on her restaurant, he can get away with saying he paid to get the recipe from a curry house.  Maybe it really is a curry house recipe, but I don't think they'd end up selling much of it--except maybe between 3-5am here in Dublin on Thursday-Saturday nights! ;D

Welcome to the gang, Lorien!

There's a bunch of really great people on this forum and loads of collected wisdom, so I think you've found the right place.  I know I've learned a few tricks in just a couple of weeks that have helped a lot.

Cheers,

ast (Andrew)

SNS,

I'm also very much looking forward to what you find out.  I know a couple of owners here, but not all that well.  Next time I go back to my fave place in town, I'm taking my notebook and my camera.  At the very least, I'll have pictures of the finished dish.  Best case, the chef I talked to before will be there, and I can see what I can find out too.

I think whatever you come up with can be used as a comparison/contrast with anyone else's experiences to see what things are common and which ones are more likely to vary from place to place.

Best of luck on Saturday!

Quote from: Bobby Bhuna on January 03, 2008, 04:58 PM
Theres a set Sabatiers rrp 140 for 50 quid in tkmax atm. Are they good?

We have a few of their smaller knives.  I personally like them, and would buy a bunch more of their longer (~5" blade) utility knives to use for sharp knives at the table if I could find them.  The place where I bought the one doesn't seem to carry the particular model anymore.   They seem to hold an edge reasonably well, and they've normal enough handles.  Some of the more "designer" knives don't fit my hands very well, and some I wouldn't take if someone gave me--and these cost about ?100+/each!

Thanks for all the additional info.

SS:  Your base is on my short list to try.  It looks promising.

BB:  Based on what I found today, I'm inclined to agree with you.  Still might try it once to be sure, however.

Quote from: parker21 on January 03, 2008, 02:56 PM
hi ast you must have known
just logged on and read your posting very good and i am pleased that peeps are getting the results using the method i posted. what i was going to say was rather than putting more chilli powder in change to a really hot one like TRS extra hot chilli powder or ask in a local asian store.or fry a couple of really hot chillies in the oil and sauce then remove,i would go for green chillies though as i think the reds tend to be bittererer.oops!
well done again with the pictures. would love to post something but abit useless at things like that at mo. and i am on stupid dialup a the mo also. but just waiting for broadband modem to turn up so maybe soon.

keep up the good work ast

regards
gary

Thanks Gary.

I need to do a proper shopping trip to an Indian Grocer in the near future.  I'll have a look out for the TRS extra hot powder.  I'd also been thinking of making an Habanero paste to add, or throwing in some of any one of the really hot chilli sauces I have just to see what would happen.    Could be interesting, or it could kill me.

I've seen people fry the chillies in oil before to make chilli oil (and then eaten the resulting dishes--not Indian though), but I always want to cry when they throw them in the bin afterwards.  Still, if you want a subtle and smooth chilli taste, it's the way to go.  Might be good to make a big batch to have on hand.  Could also be interesting to use chilli oil for the curries as you suggest, but in addition to any "normal" fiery ingredients.

Maybe there will be additional experiments after all!  ;D

Bummer about the dialup.

Quote from: Admin on January 03, 2008, 02:41 PM
Can i say they are some of the best pictures in terms of quality i have seen on the website.
What camera are you using i must get one immediatly.

Thanks for that.

These were taken with my Canon 300D and the Canon 35mm f/2.0 prime lens.  I had it set to aperture priority and needed to use f/2.0 for most of the shots because I didn't want to use the flash (I hate the one on the camera, and I haven't splashed out for the proper bounce flash yet--probably wouldn't have worked with the range hood in the way anyway).  ISO was set to 400 with a few shots adjusting the exposure down a step or two.  WB was set to Fluro lighting.

I really needed more light and about f/8 or f/11, but I couldn't get clear pictures with the default shutter speed.  That's why parts of the pans, etc. are in focus and others are not.  I was also quite close to the pans so that they'd fill the frame, meaning that your focal length is going to be pretty precise on your focal point.

When we get around to redoing the kitchen, I'm going to put in better lighting.  What's here is a bit crap, and not designed for tall people.  I can't even stand at the sink without my head creating a shadow where I'm trying to work! 

Quote from: Admin on January 03, 2008, 02:41 PM
Curry looks superb by the way.

Cheers.  Mighty tasty too!