Quote from: ifindforu on October 30, 2005, 11:34 AM
I bileve the mixture you seen them put in to the tikka masala is the marinade from making chicken tikka

Or could it be a blend of various ingredients which it's convenient to add at one stage, rather than taking a bit of this and a bit of that, which would take longer for a kitchen in a hurry on a Friday night? If so, it goes into the 'secret mix' category, a bit like some people say for the spices added to base sauce by the master chef but perhaps not known to others in the kitchen.

Regards
George

Quote from: Curry King on October 30, 2005, 01:06 PM

Quote from: ifindforu on October 29, 2005, 10:31 PM
I use to work in a take away

Nice one, any chance you can give us all some tips  ;D

I'm sure there are many different variations of base sauce from restaurant to restaurant, even though the final dishes all taste similar. Could you please tell us the recipe (ingredients and method) for the base sauce whcih your place used?

Regards
George

Midge

Just so I'm sure we're talking about the same 'basic curry' thing, by basic curry sauce, I/we mean the huge pot of gravy/soup stuff which sits on the stove at most BIRs, and forms the starting point for most curries which they make. It speeds things up.

There has been a recent resurgence of interest here in the basic curry sauce from a popular old book called 'The Curry Secret' by Kris Dhillon. Some people might say 'KD'. The recipe is here on the site, together with other summarised lists of other 'leading' recipes for basic sauce, which people have rated quite highly. For example, I rated one by MarkJ which started out at 30 onions but I scaled it back to about 4 onions.

All the threads within this 'curry sauce' section of the site are about the basic curry sauce. You also need a 'stage 2' recipe, e.g. Chicken Madras. Just browse around and you will find the recipes.

You could start here: https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=550.0


Regards
George

Midge

I've never been to Newcastle, let alone had a curry there but here are some thoughts:

>I am from Newcastle, UK and I have noticed a difference
>from the currys in different areas.

Do you mean different areas of the UK? Or different parts of the world, as you go on to draw comparisons with curries in the USA. If the latter, do bear in mind that this forum is primarily about the unique style (apart from Newcastle perhaps) of British Indian restaurant (BIR) curries.

>So I was wondering if anyone has an EXCELLENT
>North East Basic Curry Sauce Recipe.

No harm in asking, but our basic premise appears to be that most BIR curries are the same, so we're looking for pretty much one recipe. There may be a difference or a nuance about 'North East Basic Curry Sauce Recipe' but we haven't got to that stage yet!

>The currys in Newcastle are about 80% Sauce and 20% vegetables or Chicken etc.
This sounds pretty much like most of the curries I've had in any BIR throughout the UK, so are they really all that different?

>You will never find a dry curry in Newcastle, ever.
Some selected dishes are dry in BIRs and I would expect to find those in Newcastle too.

>The sauces are AMAZING!!!
Yes, that's why we're searching to come up with as many recipes as possible.

>I live in the USA now and most currys are DRY!
>and WAY below par compared to Curries Back home.

I've never had a decent BIR-style curry in the USA.

>SO does anyone have a basic curry sauce like the one I am looking for
There are several on this site and they are quite easy to find. In fact it's what the majority of all the thousands of postings are about.

>Has anyone done a poll yet? if not can you all recommend probably the
> BEST basic curry Sauce recipe there is, one which is just like one
>you would get in a take away?!

Again, that's pretty much what this site is about. Do check it out.

Good luck
Regards
George

Quote from: Yellow Fingers on October 28, 2005, 02:21 PM
As a matter of interest how does everyone dispose of unwanted oil? I add washing liquid to it, to emulsify it, and flush it down the loo. I feel guilty adding oil to the sewer system but I don't know how else to dispose of it. Any suggestions?

Good point! I often wonder where sink waste ends up and, moreover, how everything is cleaned up for potential re-use as water, if that's what happens! I have always tipped bleach, ink, weed killer, foor cleaner, turps, white spirit and surplus (diluted) paint down the sink, for a start, together with cooking oil, of course.

Payal - perhaps the safety concerns are lower when you only heat oil to a lower temperature, e.g, to prepare a base sauce or 'stage 2' curry. Perhaps it's safer to re-use the oil then, You'd think the health and safety people would be aware of oil re-use in BIRs and would have stopped it, if there was any threat to public health. There again, rock concerts and discos aren't good for long term hearing, but the authorities don't do much about it.

Regards
George

I don't know if any of these fears are justified, or whether we need to be concerned, but please see:

http://www.balavi.com/Eng/content_article/a000030.html

...and loads of other warnings found by a google search on "cooking oil reuse"

Regards
George

Payal

Please clarify!
In your first sentence you say: "I bought fresh methi..it gives an amazing flavor when cooked."

In your last sentence you say: "Fresh, it didnt give much flavor..."

Do you mean that straight from the shops or ground:
- fresh methi has no flavour or aroma, but
- the same fresh methi gives an amazing flavour after it is cooked, whereas
- dried methi smells straight away and after it is cooked.

Regards
George

Quote from: Yellow Fingers on October 14, 2005, 03:14 PM
I went to Tesco today and they have started to stock fresh methi, palak, and other veg. The methi leaves are about the size of a new penny. I tried some and it tasted like grass. I'm amazed that it can become such a useful herb/spice when dried. I can't imagine it being very nice when used fresh though, even in a curry!
There was an asian lady next to me casting her eye over the methi, she gave it a brief look, squashed a bit in her fingers and sniffed it, then walked away. I don't know if that's just because it wasn't fresh or what?

This fits with my own non-observation. As mentioned, I scattered fenugreek seeds across open ground last summer and waited until something appeared which smelled like fenugreek. But nothing did smell like fenugreek, or anything much, and I didn't know which leaf shape I was looking for. I'm amazed that fresh fenugreek could smell of nothing, whilst dried fenugreek is so pungent.

Also, where has the  Kushi Balti book got to?

Regards
George

Quote from: Ader1 on October 20, 2005, 05:03 PM
...I have been using the Dhillon base and it's pretty good but not quite there I think. I saw somehwere that someone added a little sugar and lemon juice to this and it was said to be even better. 

But how can you know how good any DIY base sauce really is? I suggest there are only two methods of assessing it:
(a)  If you have a control sample of a genuine BIR base sauce at home, and can compare your base sauce with that, or
(b) if it results in a really good curry at the end of the day, after you've added lots more ingredients at 'stage 2'.

I made a superb base sauce from this forum, thanks to markJ., It tasted so good, you could consume it like a fine soup. But that's not the point really. It's only as good as the curries it will produce.

Regards
George

I thought I'd open this poll after I suggested that too many curries are bad for you, and woodpecker21 took a different view. What do you think?

Regards
George