HI guys, yeah just to back up what DD said, the base was made in about an hour, that was also the reason for chopping the veg up fiely as it takes quicker. I will post the CTM on the main recipes area so we can keep this area just for the base.
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#22
Curry Base Chat / Re: Experienced members base sauce of choice
August 12, 2009, 04:39 PM
HI all, Glad to hear all the feedback.
He said he has tried just buying normal Garam masala from a shop but it doesnt contain all of the things he puts in his, i have looked at several and they contain some, but not all of what he puts in it, he puts quite a lot of cinnamon sticks in as he says that it gives it a very nice aroma and final taste. I will be finding out various recipes from him in the near future which i will post on here. He also showed me how to make CTM paste which tastes lovely and sweet even when eaten just with a spoon before even being cooked. one thing he did show me when cooking a dish was to start by frying garlic and ginger paste for nearly every dish then adding a little pasata so the following spices didnt burn as he added them. Anyway he wants me to experiment with using the base to make currys and for him to try in oder to give me further guidance. When he put the tray of whole spices in the hot cupboard it was about 60degrees and he has that left on at all times, but i think it stays in there for about 10 hours as it then begins to break up very easily.
He said he has tried just buying normal Garam masala from a shop but it doesnt contain all of the things he puts in his, i have looked at several and they contain some, but not all of what he puts in it, he puts quite a lot of cinnamon sticks in as he says that it gives it a very nice aroma and final taste. I will be finding out various recipes from him in the near future which i will post on here. He also showed me how to make CTM paste which tastes lovely and sweet even when eaten just with a spoon before even being cooked. one thing he did show me when cooking a dish was to start by frying garlic and ginger paste for nearly every dish then adding a little pasata so the following spices didnt burn as he added them. Anyway he wants me to experiment with using the base to make currys and for him to try in oder to give me further guidance. When he put the tray of whole spices in the hot cupboard it was about 60degrees and he has that left on at all times, but i think it stays in there for about 10 hours as it then begins to break up very easily.
#23
Curry Base Chat / Re: Experienced members base sauce of choice
August 11, 2009, 11:17 AM
Last night i spent 4 hours in an inddian restuarant around my local area that has a fantastic reputation. The owner also cooks and has been a friend of mine for many years. After lots of nagging over the years he finally gave mee a few cooking lessons. Here is the base sauce we made up that he regularly uses in his restuarant, I am not 100% sure of the exact amounts of each ingredient but we also made up a smaller batch of the same that i brought home.
VEGETABLES are as follows:
10 onions finely chopped
1 green and 1 red pepper de-seeded and finely chopped
2 carrots finely chopped
1 tin of chopped tomatoes (400g)
firstly we put in 2 tablespoons of oil in a hot stock pot and fried a tablespoon of garlic and ginger paste (65%ginger-35%garlic approx). waited till it went a little bit brown. Then added all the oniions followed by the rest of the veg and half teaspoon of salt. stir then add some water just to cover the top of the veg and stir and leave it till the veg becomes soft. After once the oil rises to the top and the colour begins to turns a little orangey let simmer for a short while then add the spices.
SPICES as follows:
level teaspoon of turmeric,
2 teaspoons of mix spice (own blend of cumin, coriander, standard curry powder and small amount of turmeric for colour),
Half a teaspoon of own special blend of ground spices, this consisted of cinnamon sticks,cumin seeds,kasia bark,fennel seeds,bay leaves,black peppercorns,green cardamon pods,whole cloves. these were all slowly roasted overnight in an oven and then broken up and ground down to a powder. (he called it garam masala).
His reason to add the spices after all the veg had gone soft was because the spices could sink and burn slightly and ruin the gravy.
This was then left to simmer for 5minutes before being taken off the heat and then blended. after blending water was added to make it a bit more watery and any excess oil was removed from the top and used for cooking, the gravy was then heated up again just to mix in the added water and it was then ready, very simple. I'm not sure if this helps anybody but it is the first time i have learnt to make a base and seen it made first hand in a restuarant and i have read so many threads about a "secret ingredient" maybe it could be the hamemade garam masala i described
as i have not yet read about anyone else doing this but adding whole bay leaves and cinnamon sticks whilst cooking aswell as pods and cloves then removing before serving. cheers guys let me knoe how you get on as this is my first post.
VEGETABLES are as follows:
10 onions finely chopped
1 green and 1 red pepper de-seeded and finely chopped
2 carrots finely chopped
1 tin of chopped tomatoes (400g)
firstly we put in 2 tablespoons of oil in a hot stock pot and fried a tablespoon of garlic and ginger paste (65%ginger-35%garlic approx). waited till it went a little bit brown. Then added all the oniions followed by the rest of the veg and half teaspoon of salt. stir then add some water just to cover the top of the veg and stir and leave it till the veg becomes soft. After once the oil rises to the top and the colour begins to turns a little orangey let simmer for a short while then add the spices.
SPICES as follows:
level teaspoon of turmeric,
2 teaspoons of mix spice (own blend of cumin, coriander, standard curry powder and small amount of turmeric for colour),
Half a teaspoon of own special blend of ground spices, this consisted of cinnamon sticks,cumin seeds,kasia bark,fennel seeds,bay leaves,black peppercorns,green cardamon pods,whole cloves. these were all slowly roasted overnight in an oven and then broken up and ground down to a powder. (he called it garam masala).
His reason to add the spices after all the veg had gone soft was because the spices could sink and burn slightly and ruin the gravy.
This was then left to simmer for 5minutes before being taken off the heat and then blended. after blending water was added to make it a bit more watery and any excess oil was removed from the top and used for cooking, the gravy was then heated up again just to mix in the added water and it was then ready, very simple. I'm not sure if this helps anybody but it is the first time i have learnt to make a base and seen it made first hand in a restuarant and i have read so many threads about a "secret ingredient" maybe it could be the hamemade garam masala i described
as i have not yet read about anyone else doing this but adding whole bay leaves and cinnamon sticks whilst cooking aswell as pods and cloves then removing before serving. cheers guys let me knoe how you get on as this is my first post.