The site is back up again, Phew!

Onion

Has anyone noticed, the site is down and has been for a few hours. I was going to see if anything was happening. 

Onion

Hi SnS

I have tried something simular at the Selby Game Fair, as you say, it tasted very harsh, but I can't remember what it was.

The universal curry paste was the one I used, By far the best result was the Chicken Bhuna recipe, the one thing I changed in the recipe was the cherry tomatoes, I used slightly larger fresh toms, skin on, other than that I followed it exactly.

Onion

Quote from: smokenspices on June 30, 2008, 04:26 PM

I tasted some of their sample curries (with crackers) and found them to be far too raw and not much different to the pre-made stuff bought at the supermarkets.

Hi SnS

Well all I can say is, the curries I made did not taste raw in any way, they had a mellow sweetness and a smooth creamy texture that coated the mouth, the heat came in slowly without blasting your taste buds into oblivion.

What I was most impressed with was the fact that there are no preservatives in the paste, in fact when you open the jar the aroma is sweet, not harsh, as with some of the Pataks pastes.

Onion

Hi all,

I recently went on to the spices of india website to order some stuff, I noticed some nice recipes there and had a look. Among the ingredients were Mr Hudas basic curry paste and the recipe for the base was very simple, soooo I ordered some and made a Chicken Dhansak and a Chicken Bhuna following the recipe exactly.
I am not one for using bought paste but it sounded good. The results were the best curries I have ever made, in my opinion BIR standard, good smell good taste, without doubt worth a go.

Has anyone else tried it?

Onion

I would willingly pay 50 or 100, having said that, Parker21's thread on the Rajver base is damn close.

Anyway you can count me in.

Onion

Quote from: parker21 on November 24, 2007, 01:54 PM
bearing in mind that this recipe is at the moment unique to this site and this site only!

Hi Gary

I do not subscribe to any other sites.

Onion

Ok here is the follow up using this base and the Madras recipe with mushroom fried rice.

I have to agree with CK, I do believe this is the real deal, I made a king prawn madras. It has as near as dammit the smell and taste of a BIR, the one thing I would change is the amount of salt, I would reduce it to 2 teaspoons in the base sauce, the base as it was did not taste salty at all, however, when it has reduced in the main dish, ( I addad salt to that as well) it was very slightly too salty for me, however, the wife thought it was just right.
As this is only the first go at this base the results are astounding and I beleieve it would be easy to tweak it to your own tastes. All the flavours are there, it has the sweetness, the texture and the moreish bit, nice heat coming through slowly, not smacking you in the mouth.

Thank you Gary, I am in your debt.

Pictures.
1 Pan on the heat
2 Added tomato puree, curry powder, salt, ginger/garlic puree
3 Final reduction and King prawns
4 Yes it is as good as my BIR

Onion

Quote from: Cory Ander on November 23, 2007, 11:26 PM
Great post and pics Onion 

...by the way, "the smell of raw onion....was a bit overpowering"??.....you mean the ones in the pot I take it?  ;D

The smell of onion this morning was a overpowering as well  : just ask the wife!!

Well, I was so excited about making this base, everything seemed right, the technique used was one I had not tried before, this is what happened and how it turned out.

Begin

12 Medium sized onions coarsely chopped
3 Litres water
1 Level dsrt spoon salt
2/3 Pint oil (Yikes!)

I placed this in a 5 litre pot and brought it to the boil, then I reduced the heat and kept it on a gentle boil for 1? hours. The smell of raw onions boiling was a bit overpowering, however, after an hour the smell started to become a lot sweeter and the oil was on the top.

I then added...

2 Green peppers chopped coarsely
4 Fresh large-ish tomatoes quartered and the hard core removed (I did not remove the skins as the base is going to be blended)
1 Small handful of fresh coriander stalks and all.
2? Large tbsp of Rajah mild madras curry powder (My large tablespoons hold 60 grms)
1 Tbsp turmeric
1 Tin of coconut milk

I continued to boil this gently for another 1? hours, then blended.

During this last period of boiling the oil continued to remain separated from the liquid, in the early stages the smell seemed quite close to what I would expect it to smell like. I could not resist tasting the liquid prior to blending, just so I could have an idea of before and after, the consistency was quite thin, the taste was very pleasant and the spices subtle and warm. I was expecting it to taste mainly of coconut, however, it did not, in fact you would not have known it was there.
At this point I pondered on adding some tomato puree but as it was not mentioned in the chefs base recipe I left it out, I would be adding it to a final Madras dish anyway.

Following the blending process, the base consistency was like a runny soup, the taste was still very subtle but now had a bit more body to it, I believe this is what a base should be like, a building block to add other flavours to. The oil emulsified with the liquid during the blending process and has not separated from the base.

I shall be making the Madras recipe this evening, I will post the results.

The pictures are as follows

1 Onions, water, salt and oil
2 The above mixture after 1? hours boiling
3 The addition of spices etc
4 The blended base

Onion