QuoteWhere did that line of thought come from. It is exactly what they do

the line of thought is just as Bobby said. i phone my TA order and go and pick it up. there is less than 20 mins to cook it and bag it along with doing other orders

i'm ok on the 3 mins - probably faster on the big burners.

very quick update (busy night in Europe)

jalfrezi was fantastic.

Stew,

it's all lined up for tonight before the big match.

even spotted the timing for the chillies and lime.

your original post on the jalfrezi has been a real inspiration for me over the last few days - much appreciated

i tried the vinegar (8hr marinade) but found it overpowered and probably over cooked it. i think the simmer for 10 mins will be my next go.

i'm using pataks tikka paste with 1 tbsp of tandoori masala and 4 tbsp of yogurt as a quick mid week fix to CA's real mccoy. it works well.

i've had an astonishing turn of luck.

i've produce my best go at the saffron base yet. it's no longer a soup. it's very Moorish and on a blind fold test would swear (although i've never tasted the real) it's a BIR base. i say this as it tastes almost a BIR finished curry and u could imagine a quick fry and a few spices turning it into what we crave for.

i believe the recipe is essential as spec. only the finish point or last part of the cooking has changed from the way i've interpreted it in the past.

i did add red pepper in addition to green pepper. i also added cardamom (7 in total - they float on top at the point of blending and can be easily removed - i then added them back in to carry through to final cooking - personal choice). i used the full spec of salt (only used 1 tsp in the past). i also used pre boiled onion from my onion boiling sessions.

all of the above may have made a difference but not a step difference.

at the end of the "Simmer vigorously (almost a boil) uncovered for about 30 minutes stirring occasionally." stage i've never found the oil to separate - even boiling for a little longer and have simple switched off the cooker. it normally has a yellow appearance.

this time i had put a little extra oil in with the intent on reclaiming it for use at the cooking stage. i used 600ml c/w 500ml spec.

i thought for a while that previous experience was going to hold up and no oil would show. in fact it took 2 hrs before the oil started to appear. this yielded 250ml of reclaim. i left the base overnight and thought i would try to follow BIR technique so reheated ~1.5 hrs and reclaimed again yielding 450ml in total. i found the reclaim easier on the reheat.

during this 3.5 hrs additional cooking the base flavour changed. there was no extra sweetness but it changed from a sort of soup to what i would call a base. it now tastes Moorish and looks the business.

I think it was this Moorish taste that I was searching for and not sweetness. I now need to cook with it to be sure.

I?ve attached pics. 1st is old pic of rajver LH and saffron RH. The 2nd is the oil reclaim saffron

have added pic of the 5hr boil

SNS/Haldi,

thoughts are much appreciated - i am now convinced option "A" (fry onion in base) and "C" (adding some other ingredient in the base) are BIR No No's following my onion boiling sessions and oil reclaim on latest base make.

amazingly i've got KTC olive oil (never looked at the brand before) that i use in none curry cooking. i will buy the veg oil equivalent to make sure i'm not missing anything by using sunflower oil (asda).

intriguing - the level of the water/oil - i am now convinced this has a big part to play in the sweetness - a 200gm/400ml onion/water boil produces more sweetness than a 200gm/1000ml boil

(explained in "A must in an indian curry") https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,2672.msg23743.html#msg23743

QuoteSweetness can be added at the curry stage .... if required

i like very much the idea of slow cooking onions at the start of the cooking stage (as described in the simple madras and proven by Bobby).

this does not sit well in terms of BIR practise. i am happy to adopt the practise but would appreciate thoughts on how it fits with BIR practise and getting that added sweetness at the curry stage. at the mo i add sugar to my spice mix and this works well as a sticking plaster - but again not BIR technique.

the oil reclaim i've completed in my latest saffron base has taken me completely by surprise and i will add details in the saffron post - it's the best base i've produced and definitely BIR Moorish. I may have dropped my quest for more sweetness as a result ? will need to cook with it to prove for sure.

it's all the members who deserve any praise.

by everyone reading the posts and adding their constructive thoughts we are our collectively much more inspirational much more likely to eventually get to the BIR taste we crave.

back to business

i boiled the last onion for 5 hrs. i used 1 litre of water as i thought all this boiling would make 400ml dry up long before the end. in fact i had to add further small quantities during the period.

observations:
1) after 2 hrs liquid was no where near as sweet as when the 400ml of water was used
2) after 3 hrs no real change
3) after 5 hrs the onion had started to break up into a mush and there was very little liquid remaining. the liquid and onion mush both tasted sweet.

as this point u would think that if u boiled a base longer than say 2 hrs it would become sweeter.

i don't believe this to be the case. i have just made a batch of saffron base using in place of the fresh onion all the test batches of onion. i am aiming to reclaim oil on this base and have as a result boiled/simmered the base for an extra 3 hrs on top of the normal cooking period.

the sweetness is no different to the saffron bases i've made previously.

the base incidentally is the best i've made to date (closest to what i believe to be BIR base). i think the extra oil, extra salt (actually the as spec 3 tsp), cardamom and extra cooking time have made the jump closer to BIR base. i think in reality i've probably better interpreted the making of the base more a kin to BIR. will post more details in the saffron post.

conclusions:
1) the ratio of liquid to onion is crucial to amount of sweetness
2) the longer boiling (greater than 2hrs) does not produce extra sweetness
3) the cooking technique has a big part to play (oil reclaim)

the mccormick's does not seem on the face of it too far out - my rajah hot madras curry powder (which i really really rate) has ingredients: coriander seeds, turmeric, cumin, salt, bengal gram, chilli, yellow mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, fennel seeds, garlic, bay leaves.

i think u should try to get some rajah or natco online - i find a big difference between the spice from my local superstore ie ASDA compared to that at my local Asian store.

Billycat,

well pleased u?re enjoying the site.

if you like chicken tikka masala then u can't go wrong with Curry Kings and Corry Anders tikka. i use evaporated milk instead of cream.

link https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,539.0.html
https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1555.msg13736#msg13736