Looks fiendishly hot! I did a turkey leftovers curry with tomato soup, browned garlic, coconut and lime. Was pretty nice. Like a tikka masala sauce but more coconuty and less tomatoey.

Quote from: Stephen Lindsay on December 30, 2008, 01:57 PM
I'm not sure about potatoes costing less than onions, but can see why they could add bulk (potato also used as a thickener in other types of cooking, e.g. soups). I'm wondering about what the minimum ingredients would be for a decent base, with the flavours being added to individual curries at the cooking / assembling stage. I like the idea of maybe experimenting with a base that has only onions, garlic, ginger and water.

What do you think?

I think you'd want spices in there. A strong spice flavour is difficult to obtain (i find) and it seems to me that is why spices are used at every stage (base, precooked meat, onion paste, finished dish). I see the fact that spices, onions, garlic, ginger and tomatoes are cooked in mulitiple different ways as being important to the depth of flavour.
The ashoka banjura was important in realizing this, as well as using both tomato puree, fresh tomatoes and ketchup in one dish.

I got this one, though i paid ?4.20 just before xmas 
I've used these before and they work fine. Doesnt need to be a stand-by.
Just dont use it for too long in one go or the motor will overheat. Same as the other blender i got that cost ?20.
Too cool it down between blends of a big base sauce put it in the freezer for a few mins.

How about making a 'curry oil horde' haldi? Whenever you make a base or curry or anything similar to indian food, spoon off some oil into a jug. Also do this with curries you've bought from a takeaway. Then you'll have a tasty jug of oil that's got depth of flavour from an assortment of ingredients.
I did the same a while back but with oil from meaty dishes, not curries. It works well. I'm gonna start a curry one when i get home after xmas. Maybe starting it off with oil used to fry bhajis is the best way to start.
I agree that spiced oil is important

Quote from: JerryM on December 09, 2008, 07:13 AM

Quote from: SKAZE on December 08, 2008, 11:01 PM
Hi everyone, ive been using just normal italian tom puree out of a tin, is there a certain type i should look out for?

NO. any will do. the white tower for example is clearly a premium brand and tastes spot on. it's very hard to distinguish if at all any difference in the final dish though. i just use asda or sainsbury own brand.

I find sainsburys as good/the same as white tower as are other supermarket brands i imagine. I avoid tomato products from poland and ones in convenience shops as the quality is disastrous.
A small tin from sainsburys makes about 10 curries and costs 24p.

I've seen double portions of the same curry cooked in a few places. This seems fine as it doesnt totally overcrowd the pan. Cooking single portions would be preferential though i'm pretty sure.
I've seen a triple portion in one pan and that looked dodgy. The heat intensity was lame and it was like warming up a soup rather than blazing a curry. I imagine a discerning customer would notice the difference.

Quote from: Secret Santa on December 03, 2008, 09:59 PM
If you are just looking for heat try pureed green chillis. You can add them at the frying stage or, to keep a hint of the rawness, put in when adding the base sauce (or both!).

Both sounds very good!
Dont just use a hot chilli powder, the taste wont be so good.

i dont think there's any point in buying white tower. It's no different to average stuff. They just buy it because it's big and cheap.
Freezing puree sounds like a less than ideal method considering the availability and cost of it. Surely using as few frozen ingredients as possible is what you want for a curry

Quote from: Panpot on December 06, 2008, 02:58 PM
At last I am back home and can begin to Post recipes and add photographs and if someone can help the sound files. I have the onion and cumin gently cooking as I type for the base, Ive never anticipated so much in my cooking. Will be preparing the Pakora later between posts so lots ahead and hopefully all of it done by tonight.

Excellent. Good luck with it and fingers crossed!

Fresh. The bottled stuff doesnt really taste like the real stuff! Also hand chopped is better than using a garlic press. Those presses do strange things to garlic. They separate it into 'garlic juice' and 'garlic matter', which is not what you're after when making a puree. I've found a blender is better than a press.