I hadn't read that post, very interesting!

The more I am thinking about the smell and taste of this version of base the more I am believing the key lies with the correct blend of whole spices or garam masala.

I think this could actually become quite an interesting discovery for me and a new stepping stone as I had hit a bit of a wall up until making this base.  I will have to do a bit of experimenting and will also try reclaiming oil on the next batch, providing this batch goes down well  ;D

Del

Cheers Jerry, I will bare the extra puree in mind when I come to cooking.

Oh, and by the way I brought one of those spice balls and used it for the first time in this base for the whole spices, what a fantastic bit of kit, cheers for the tip

Del

Hi guys,

Thought I would share a few pics of my new pans from http://www.catering-suppliers.com

I went for a big 30cm and a smaller 24cm found here

A little expensive but they are very heavy and feel very robust.  I havent tested them yet so can't give them a full review but I will report back once I have.

Here are the pics;

30cm....




24cm....




Cheers

Del

@ Jerry,

Well I made the base Sunday afternoon and I have got to say it was the best smelling & tasting base I have cooked to date.

I haven't cooked many on the site, the few I have are SnS 2008, SnS Saffron, Ashoka and KD's and in my opinion this gives the best flavour and tasted very similar to my local's base sauce.

I think the ground fennel seed does a lot for the taste, I assume this ingredient is the major player as the other bases I have tried haven't included it.

I do wonder though, does it need 200g or so of blended plum tomatoes in there too?  Have you tried adding tomato Jerry?  I will however reserve judgement until I use it in a final dish at some point this week!

I followed the recipe as listed however there were a couple of tweaks....

- I used 150ml of oil

- The initial 300ml of water didn't go anywhere near covering the veg in the pot, infact I couldn't even see the water in the bottom when I poured it in so I filled it until the veg was covered.  This took it to the 2.5L mark in the pot.

- I simmered initially for 1.5 hrs

- After blending the level was down to approx 1.9L so I topped it back up to 3L (adding 1.1L)

- After an hour level was back down to about 1.9L again, I topped it up to about 2.1L expecting to split into 7 300ml portions, however when dished out it split into 8 300ml portions (obviously the pot markers are not that accurate).

So, on to the pics;


1.) Initial boiling the ingredients


2.) After blending


3.) Completed and dished up


4.) close-up


5.) Comparison with sample of my locals restaurants base.  Although the taste is very close, I assume my local adds tomato, hence the darker/red colouring and slight difference in taste.

I can't wait to try this one in a final dish as I have a lot of hope.  I could quite easily eat it on its own, which in my opinion is a good sign.

So initially Jerry, thanks very much for this recipe and I will report back soon!

Cheers

Del

Hi Jerry,

Finally going to get round to making some more base this weekend and im going to give yours a whirl!

Just wondering though, when you say fennel is this fennel seeds? And also chilli I presume that is chilli powder not fresh chilli.

Cheers

Del

I have always used measuring spoons measuring 1/2, tsp, 1 tsp, desert spoon and tblsp.

Believe it or not I got them from a xmas cracker years ago!  You may be lucky this year

Made this tonight, very nice! cheers for the recipe!

Del

Quote from: Panpot on September 07, 2009, 02:57 PM
Hi dellydel, I have been away for some time so forgive me if I ask what you mean by the Ashoka Hype, have I missed something that through my absence was not cleared up?

Hi Panpot!  What I meant was I haven't had chance to produce any curries for a while, the last I did produce were when you first came back from the Ashoka restaurant and posted all those recipes which were very much "in the spot-light" of the forum!  I enjoyed producing those curries but never felt they were quite like my local, I feel the taste of the base is the factor.

Cheers

Del

Thanks guys!  That spice ball looks fantastic!

Cheers

Del

Thanks jerry, unfortunatley my curry making has taken a back seat since the hype of the Ashoka recipes, however I am looking at getting back into it, I will try this one next I think 

Where can I find a muslim bag, would they have them at a local Indian grocers?

Cheers

Del