Quote from: Secret Santa on December 08, 2007, 07:13 PMYou don't believe me? Well think on this. I make bases, some without ginger and tomato, and some with copious ginger and tomato. Can you tell me logically that you could use both of those bases with the same curry recipe and still make a decent curry?

I'd agree, the level of spices in a base has to be matched to the main recipe or its not going to work. For example Admin's base is strongly spiced and you need very little in the main recipe. The KD base has very little spice in it and so the main recipe needs a lot more.

Last time I made the KD base I boiled the garlic/ginger and onions like in the book. Boiling garlic is a guaranteed way to make everyone leave your house and/or open all the windows! Fry it and add it after boiling the onions!

see https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=2191.0

Mmmm those onion bhajis look great CA. Can you cook them without a deep fat fryer (like in a pan for example?)

Quote from: haldi on December 05, 2007, 08:03 AM
You could see onions,green pepper,canned tomatoes,oil and water.

Hi Haldi, I'm interested to know why they add green pepper. It has very little taste, and its colour must be swamped by the spices and tomato. I don't see why they would do this as peppers are more expensive than onions, so why bother?

Well its not exactly BIR style but its a bit of a laugh...

http://www.kushibalti.co.uk/xmascurry.htm

Sadly I think both CK and Naga Dave make good points. I can't but help wondering if the 'secret' of the taste, if there is one, is that it is something that would contravene H&S rules. Like re-using oil for example.

It also might explain why there are less BIRs (at least anecdotally) that have the 'taste' - they are cleaning up their act, maybe being driven by health concerns perhaps, but the net result is something similar to what we do at home i.e use less oil and don't reuse it.

Quote from: Curry King on December 01, 2007, 06:35 PM
Great pic's, how did it taste compared to what you have tried before?

Hi CK,

At first I was worried as the base tasted totally different from last time. I think that dried fenugreek leaves are pretty powerful and could definitely be tasted in the base - either that or the asafoetida, I'm not sure. The base tasted quite spicy, which I was not expecting as I'd cut down on the amount of spice!

However my fears were groundless as the final Jalfrezi tasted just fine, even better than last time. I used precooked chicken made the night before using the Kushi book recipe for cooking it, and for the Jalfrezi a very simple recipe with Secret Santa's spice mix and using some of the oil from the base for cooking. The taste was great - rich and deep.

Does it compare with my local BIR? Well, I had a takeaway last Sunday and it was not up to the usual standard, the only way I can describe it was as tasting too 'new', not enough depth and flavour. So even the BIR can get it wrong sometimes!  :

And the final result... Chicken Jalfrezi. Yum.



Enough base sauce left over for 4 more of these... 

This is after simmering for about an hour and a half. Had to add water several times and give it a good stir as it gets a bit thick at the bottom of the pan.

Quote from: rdlbooth on November 05, 2007, 07:49 PM
Hi,

Can anyone help me with a recipe to make sweet mango chutney, I am looking for one to make chutney like you get in restaraunts with your popadoms or like Pataks sweet mango chutney.

Thanks

Les

Hi Les,

try this one:

2 large green mangos
1 large piece ginger (8-10cm)
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp sea salt
500ml white vinegar
1Kg demerara sugar

peel and dice the mangos. Peel and crush the garlic and ginger. Put everything in a pan, bring to the boil and simmer until the mango is the consistency you like. Put into sterilised jars, should keep unopened for 6 months or more.