I wouldn't worry about using bare aluminium for pots and pans. The current advice says don't store acidic food in bare aluminium but for cooking with it there is no problem.

Paul

I agree UF, when I made ifindforu's base last night a lot of ingredients are listed in chef spoons or parts of.

I was assuming 1 chef spoon = 4 tablespoons.

This could lead to big errors if wrong.

Cheers,

Paul

Quote from: andymac on January 06, 2012, 10:28 AM
Hi All
Can anybody guide me to the spice mix receipe, everyone is refering to it, but where do i find it?
Many thanks
Andy Mac

Hi Andy, spice mix link is here:

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=7635.0

To make it to spec you do need a specific curry powder and garam masala.

Cheers,

Paul

I finally got to eat some of this last night at about 11:30.

It was my first chance to try the spice mix and matching base recipe together in a curry and I wasn't disappointed. The base came out at about 4.5 litres but it should probably have been closer to 5 litres to get the required consistency. I also felt like it could have done with a bit more cooking before use but I was running out of time.

I made a basic chicken curry and was very happy with the results. Some points to note that I've learnt:

Ifindforu says to check the taste of the base at the end and adjust seasoning etc. if you need to. In this case I added a little single cream which seemed to sit well with the flavours. But to be honest this tasting and adjusting the base is a new concept to me as I've usually just followed recipes to spec when it comes to base sauces. This is probably an important point as ingredients will vary each time a base is cooked.

When I last made chewytikka's base I was very impressed with the gravy after sieving it. I intended to sieve every base I made after that but I was running out of time last night and couldn't be bothered. I think this base would greatly benefit from being sieved and probably also from having some surface scum removing during cooking.

Finally I think I'm guilty of changing base recipes too often. There is a lot to be said for sticking with one, getting to know and tweak it to your taste. But I'll try to stick with this one for a while.

I think quality and BIR wise this base was up there with the best on cr0 and the excellent spice mix really lifted things for me.

Thanks to Terry (ifindforu) for providing the information.

Cheers,

Paul

Hi nagaking, welcome to cr0. Lots of fun and games here 

Paul

Well CH, base is pretty much made and tastes good so I hope I've got enough time to get around to making a quick curry later. So much to do, so many things to clean......... 

I saw the doctor last night and my blood pressure is too high. On his advice I've ordered a home BP test kit and will test myself over the next few weeks and report back to the doc. My only hope to avoid medication is to lower my sodium and increase my potassium levels so I'm going to have to get some lo-salt (or equivalent) instead of saxo ordinary salt and eat more food containing potassium. As it is I'm already a bit careful about eating salt.

I'm not writing this looking for sympathy but rather to see of anybody has tried using lo-salt (or similar) products in their BIR dishes and how it tastes?

Cheers

Paul

Great Post CH, I'm looking forward to the results. I should have the results of the full IFFU test tonight or tomorrow. Last night the 4.5 litre solid block of stage 1 base was defrosting. I just need to do the tomatoes, garlic, ginger and spice thing tonight (baghar) and get it all blended and cooked for a while.

Cheers,

Paul

Hi Whandsy, I dunno really, about adding most water later. When I tried dipuraja's base I followed his method of minimum water and allowing water to stew out of the veg. I can't really say it made much difference to the final taste.

I think you don't want to add so much water initially that you end up with a really thin finished base. You should work the other way round and cook a thicker base and add more water when it's all blended and mostly cooked judging by the thickness.

Happy experimenting!

Paul

See this thread:

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=7635.0

It reveals the breakdown of spices for a BIR mix powder that includes Eastern Star curry powder.
You are correct it only comes in 10kg containers.

It makes we wonder if other manufacturers produce a better curry powder that is only available in catering sizes. For example Rajah Madras Gold curry powder is only available in 10kg containers.

Cheers,

Paul