I have been tweeking the KD curry base and found afew things which definitely push it in the right direction
Vegetable ghee
A small amount of thyme
A small bit of lemon with the peel
Dried fenugreek
A little celery
It's interesting that all the above seem to have a stronger smell, rather than taste.
Ironically, if you put these ingredients in, you are heading back to other curry bases already on this site.
Such as Mark J's restaurant base and also Bruce Edwards
I tried adding MSG and got no improvement
That puzzles me because it's so widely used as a flavour enhancer
I must be using it wrong
The packet suggests adding a pinch, five minutes before serving

I bought some msg
It's made by Lotus and comes in a standard pack
I added a small amount (as the packet suggests) to the KD base
I honestly cannot tell any difference
Has anyone else used this stuff on anything with success?
I won't use it again unless someones got a few good ideas

Quote from: parker21 on October 25, 2005, 09:13 AM
but i'm sure that if i can get the full recipe for the base from the chef then it will be even closer.

You have got to do this.
It sounds like you're on good cooking terms already!
I suspect it will confirm ingredients we already know, but maybe there will be that something extra!

Quote from: Mark J on October 29, 2005, 07:25 AM

Quote from: pete on October 28, 2005, 10:04 PM
We may just be missing a herb ingredient

Pete, didnt you find some chef using powdered thyme? Also arjowain has a very herby taste to it

Yes, you're right
It's very easy to go round in circles
I've checked this "tweaked" base this morning
Perhaps Basil wasn't exactly right, but it's so close
There is definitely something herby needed
I'll try thyme instead
I have re read a load of notes and racked my brain
Apart from this herb thing I think there might be MSG in it.
I was checking out this web site
http://www.ific.org/publications/brochures/msgbroch.cfm
I lifted this from the article

Quote
Why is MSG used?

MSG is a flavor enhancer that has been used effectively to bring out the best taste in foods, emphasizing natural flavors. Many researchers also believe that MSG imparts a fifth taste, independent of the four basic tastes of sweet, sour, salty and bitter. This taste, called "umami" in Japan, is described by Americans as savory. Examples of each of these tastes are: Sweet - Sugar, Bitter - Coffee, Savory - Tomato, Sour - Lemon, Salt - Anchovy

Someone else was? talking about this unami, weren't they
Most people think they have a bit of the taste in their curries
Maybe, if added at the right time, this would take it all the way
Perhaps the "taste" is this fifth taste, the article refers to.
This next part may be rubbish, but it's reassuring

Quote
Is MSG safe?

Yes. MSG is one of the most extensively researched substances in the food supply. Numerous international scientific evaluations have been undertaken over many years, involving hundreds of studies. The United States and other governments worldwide support the safety of MSG as used in foods.

Did you know that celery is a high source of msg too?
That's in a lot of reported bases

Quote from: blade1212 on October 28, 2005, 10:07 PM
What about a tiny amout of mint sauce. It is very often used in BIR to make Tikka and Pakora sauces.

Worth a try
I'm "testing" tomorrow
The trouble is that these tests take ages
It's got to be something easily available and cheap

Quote from: curryqueen on October 28, 2005, 07:06 PM
? It's not bad - the only thing I can find wrong with it is that it had too much tomato puree/paste, which was dominating the flavour of the curry.?

This is the regional difference we speak about.
At this place I was shown, it is very tomato flavoured.
I copied exactly what I was shown and mine was as well.
I'm glad it was ok
It's very similar to the Bengal Cuisine recipe, isn't it?
I felt that the Kris Dhillon base was very close but needed some slight tinkering
I still have a small sample from a curry house to compare with
So I made up a fresh KD base
I added some fenugreek
it was ok but still missing something
I added more turmeric
for a moment that seemed to be really good, then it turned back to what it was.
Then I added knorr chicken stock and it ruined it
Nothing like the sample
Too salty as well
It lost all it's brightness
I started again with more kd base
I added some finely sliced lemon
Then 1/2 a teaspoon of Dried Basil
There is a danger of making it italian here
But I'm was very pleased with the result
It's definitely closer
We may just be missing a herb ingredient

Hi Steve e
              they definitely use tins
I had another look around my local Asian shop, trying to find the tomato paste, I cooked with last time.
It wasn't there but there were loads of italian (almost pizza tomato base) tins.
I've just bought an Asda jar of tomato paste
I'll post if it's any good

Quote from: Curry King on October 28, 2005, 06:32 PM
Yeah I might be up for that we would have to see what the interest would be from the rest of the forum?

I would like to see whether we are as good (or bad) as we think we are
We've got to be able to bring a homemade curry along with a restaurant version we want it to be like.
We can't meet in a park so where could we do it?
How about Birmingham?

Quote from: Yellow Fingers on October 27, 2005, 02:26 PM
Another strange thing about reusing the oil is that quite a few people here have seen curries cooked with fresh oil and yet they have still had the 'taste'. So either the reuse of oil is not related to the taste, or one person's idea of the 'taste' must be different to another.

Yes, this puzzles me too
One chef, who gave me recipes, said he used only fresh oil.
But I have never seen a chef, take fresh oil from a bottle, when cooking
They seem to have these ghee pots full of old oil
It is quite surprising how similar all these kitchens seem to be
I would guess that most things that are standard practice in one kitchen, are common in others too.

Quote from: curryqueen on October 27, 2005, 03:44 PM
As soon as you start a curry with this oil then you know it is right, and, of course, if you keep reusing it the smell/aroma intensifies even more.

I shall be using old oil in the next KD base
I'll probably have to use new oil too, but I reckon a restaurant wouldn't throw away any oil left over.
I saw one place using the oil from the deep pan fryer
If you'd use that, what wouldn't you use?
I shall post the results