Well, here's the verdict.!
So, after a day's experimenting with this base, and again, I stress that it's NOT the c2go base but a variation of it, I made a good old Chicken tikka madras.
Once the first ladle of base sauce went in, I couldn't believe how quickly it reduced down. It virtually just turned to oil within minutes. I quickly added my next ladle (about 100ml) and this time, it mixed well with all the other ingredients. Heat on high, with lid on, I carried on cooking the sauce.
I got this to reduce to about half again, then added a further 100ml of the base. The smell was great but I was also worried about, spice overload.
I gave it another minute or so, then knocked off the heat.
Whilst the sauce was relaxing, I grilled a batch of blades chicken tikka (I'd forgotten how good this is). Whilst the chicken was under the grill, I stepped outside to regain my sense of smell. If anybody could have seen me, they would have phoned the funny farm. I was breathing in and out of my nose like a raging bull on heat
Anyhoo, the tikka was done. I put the sauce back on a low light, just to heat it through, and added the tikka. I took it off immediately, and served on a bed of plain boiled basmati rice.
The reason I didn't give the chicken any further cooking in the sauce was because I didn't want ANY other flavours permeating the sauce.
On my first taste, my initial thought was that it wasn't as sweet as I'd hoped it would be. However, after a couple of mouthfulls, I no longer thought that, as there was a lovely sweetness coming through after each swallow. Then, the heat took over from the madras and it almost obstructed what it was that I was looking for. Luckily, I could still appreciate the sauce for what it was.
I guess my final thoughts with regards to this base is, It's not a break through in terms of "it stands out from any other base that you could possibly try" but it is a good base. The taste of the final dish was almost identical to what I usually make using Chewy's base and my spice mix, which unfortunately, throws up more questions than answers. Is my spice mix too powerful to be able to pick out other flavours individually? Is the base gravy all that important as long as it has the key ingredients, onions, garlic, ginger and minimal spices?
I suppose that the next test would be to try this base with a milder dish or even a simpler mixed powder?
The real acid test would be to make the c2g base to exact spec, including the seasoned oil?
Overall, a very usable base, very easy to make, no major break through I'm afraid, well not as yet.
I'm going to have another go tomorrow, after the base has matured for a day and my senses have returned to normal, and perhaps do a basic curry?
Many thanks for sticking with me on this one, I only wished that I could have brought you something more encouraging.
Ray
