Quote from: pauly58 on February 08, 2013, 06:21 PM
Are they just confident ?

Why would they need to if they're using the same techniques and ingredients they've used 100 times in the past? That's the very epitomy of consistency.

But then, they are churning these things out as a day job, day in day out, week in week out.

Quote from: George on February 08, 2013, 06:11 PMThen I try to recall what I did, after a successful fry-up, and make a few notes. But my 'recipes' don't tend to work again.

Well that's a flaw in your methodology! Solution: improve methodology!

Seriously though, what are the main changes you make? Are they ingredient or technique? I've pretty much adopted the same cooking technique now whatever BIR dish I make and the primary variations are ingredient orientated which I think are much easier to track.

Quote from: George on February 08, 2013, 05:48 PM
Yes, I mean I often fail to recreate the fine flavours I seek, even when I'm trying my hardest to repeating the same approach I used before.

Interesting.

But even more interesting is why you think that might be? Why do you personally think you're not getting repeatable results?

Quote from: BadSeed on February 08, 2013, 12:16 PM
I am just making the base, not the whole thing.

Interesting how you nicely sliced up your onions in there. I just peel mine, top and tail 'em, chop them in half and sling them in!

It's also well worth hanging on to the coriander stalks from a bunch of coriander you've used as garnish for adding to base sauces. You don't want too much coriander leaf as it turns the sauce greenish, whereas stalks don't.

Quote from: Phil [Chaa006] on February 08, 2013, 04:41 PM
I am not entirely convinced that the answers given so far really address PMU's question.

Quote from: spiceyokooko on February 08, 2013, 04:22 PMThat depends on what you mean by adjustment and availability.

Quote from: George on February 08, 2013, 03:53 PM
Can you achieve consistently good results, time after time, when cooking sauce-based dishes?

Yes and no.

Yes when I want to by simply repeating known processes that lead to a known quantity. I can consistently recreate dishes using the same ingredients and techniques that result in a known enjoyable dish.

No, because I'm constantly changing things and deliberately doing something different just to see what the result will be.

I'm currently experimenting on the point at which salt and methi leaves are added to the cooking process. The current results seem to indicate that salt should be added as early as possible and methi leaves after the final batch of base has gone in and the dish is left to simmer. I've never fully understood why methi leaves are added at the same time as the spice mix.

I've also done quite a lot of recent experimentation on the amount of base to use in a single dish and how many ladles (or chef spoons, I use a ladle) of it should be reduced prior to adding the rest. I've been getting some good results (more depth of flavour and complexity) by reducing 3 separate ladles of base over a high heat before adding the remainder. Which means 500ml of base is used rather then 300ml generally recommended. I'm still working on this at the moment.

Quote from: Phall_Me_Up on February 08, 2013, 02:09 PM
Is this particular curry base recipe the best possible one to use for a phall & if not could you please advise on one?

As far as I'm concerned (and I'm sure there are some here who may disagree) pretty much all base gravies are generic and much of a muchness. They're all pretty much made with the same basic ingredients and in the same way. They do vary of course, but the variations are not significant.

Having said that, until you get used to spicing, it's best to stick with one persons base gravy and the corresponding main dishes that go with it. CA's base and corresponding dishes are all good and work well together and as such represent a very good point to start from.

Quote from: Phall_Me_Up on February 08, 2013, 02:09 PM
When you mention the term 'spice mix,' does that consist of specific brands of spices or is there any room for adjustment when taking their availability into consideration?

That depends on what you mean by adjustment and availability. Can you substitute coriander for turmeric? No. Can you substitute Rajah's Turmeric for West End's? Yes. Is Rajah's paprika the same as Shwartz's? Who knows, maybe, maybe not, it depends what country it comes from, whether it's hot or sweet and whether it's smoked or not. Is one brands chilli powder the equivalent of another's? Probably not, there's many varieties of chilli peppers out there it depends entirely on which ones they've used.

As you can see this question depends almost entirely on context and what particular spice you're talking about.

Quote from: gagomes on February 07, 2013, 10:07 PM
Thanks guys. So the double-concentrated tomato puree is what I call tomato paste and comes in those tubes. All good then.

Do give it a try, because you'll get a quite different taste experience using watered down tomato puree cooked in the way I described over simple blended plum tomatoes.

Quote from: George on February 06, 2013, 12:10 PM
I disagree that it's not possible for a book to deliver high quality results. It depends on whether (a) the author really does have great recipes and (b) whether the author is prepared to pass those recipes on, accurately.

I agree.

You can see that from many of the recipes posted on this site. Mostly they're just ingredient lists, they're not recipes, because they don't tell you how to make the dish, merely what ingredients and what quantities of those ingredients go into making it. An ingredient list isn't a recipe and that's why people get such variable results.

How many here really know how to make a simple roux as used in Cajun and Creole cooking? The recipe list is simple - it's equal quantities of fat and flour, but that doesn't tell you how to make it or what different colours there are or what flavours they impart. Likewise a simple bechamel sauce, that's just as simple, it's a roux with warm milk, but making a good bechamel sauce is not easy.

People seem to think all the magic is in the ingredients. It isn't, the ingredient list is the easiest part of the recipe. It's imparting the knowledge and information as to what you do with those ingredients that's the hard part and that's the part so many people either don't bother with or don't explain properly.

I'd actually like to see a book on BIR cookery that focuses almost soley on the cookery techniques in some detail and deliberately only includes a couple of basic recipes to practice those techniques on. Once the fundamental techniques are mastered they can be adapted with equal success to any BIR style recipe you want. But if you can't master or don't understand the basic underlying techniques, it doesn't really matter what recipe you use, it won't be particularly successful.

Welcome 

Yes, BIR style curries aren't exactly the healtiest ways of cooking and they do tend to use fairly large amounts of oil/fat. Healthy and BIR style curries are a bit of a paradox, you can't really create them without using unhealthy quantities of fat. You lose some of that unctuous quality they have.

Nevertheless at the expense of some of the flavour and sweetness fat imparts you can create quite enjoyable BIR style curries with less oil and fat than normal.