i'm planning to make my normal batch of saffron but extend the 1st stage "40min" cooking time to something like 3hrs (until i feel the onions are not going to give anymore sweetness).

i've read somewhere CA saying he did this - effectively till the onions go brown from the simmering in the water/oil.

i interpreted stews info (rightly or wrongly) that the pre frying of the onions was not the critical part (see link https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,2664.msg23630.html#msg23630)
but the green chilli, lime and water trick

the other thing i'm going to do is to up the oil to 750ml (i normally only use 250) to get some reclaimed oil for the 1st time.

your 99% right

i had this debate with a very good friend for many years. i had the smokey charcoal and he the propane gas.

both of us agreed the better taste is with the charcoal.

i probably used the charcoal bbq 3 or 4 times a year. I now use my gas bbq at least once a week and more often than not twice a week all year round. i even use it in the rain.

it's a trade off that i've happily traded.

SNS,

response & link much appreciated.

this is a v.important topic to me to crack. when i compare my curry with BIR side by side i am clearly lacking sweetness.

reasonably sweet is difficult to appreciate and compare in words - i guess though that all the bases i've made don't taste what i would say "reasonably sweet". i don't have sugar in tea or coffee so reasonably sweet for me would be like 1 tsp of sugar in a cup of coffee. i don't get this level of sweetness in the bases albeit that i would not want it that sweet in a base say more like 1/2 tsp.

i am intending making my next batch of base (saffron) next week and have been weighing up how to modify the cooking in an attempt to get this extra sweetness. i was thinking of either pre frying the onions (Admin's Jalfrezi and ivangough's AIR experiences) or cooking the onions longer till they become brown and no more sweetness appears forthcoming (a comment previously by CA).

having looked at the "onion" link i am going to go for the "Slow-cook: sweet, mild, limp" approach.

i use white granulated sugar all the time and it's the spice for making the curry that i put it in.

Quotebut I'm sure that sugar (in any form) is not added to a base gravy

SNS,

please if we could push you on this - why are u sure.

i raise this as i'm sceptical that onion can deliver the BIR sweetness (based on frying onions for bbq use). since making ivangough's AIR i now appreciate that salt (amazingly) does play a big part.

i've tried putting sugar in after the base during the frying stage but this just ends up "sickly".

my current sticking plaster is to put sugar into the spice mix - it does work but i'm sure it's BIR convention.

adding to the base would make a lot of sense and i like gary's thoughts on the variability of onions.

In terms of jaggery it sounds a contender. I will check it?s availability out at my local asian store.  If they don?t have it then I would conclude it?s not widely used.

Stew,

many thanks, i'm on base next week so will give it a go.

i'd written the kushi spice mix down some time previously and will now make it and report back.

i'm going to adjust the saffron cooking to check out this "sweetness". i'm not sure whether to fry or just boil longer.

big welcome.

QuoteThe amount of info is amazing

i find the search tool fantastic to read up and get background on all those nagging questions. 

go for the saffron base to start with (simple & good). u can reduce the oil substantially if u feel a need on your 1st go.

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,2271.msg20262.html#msg20262

make a madras using the parker21 method,

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,1454.msg12717.html#msg12717


The site is then your oyster

where do feel this real BIR magic is coming from in the main (compared to what u've done previously) - the water frying trick, frying the base onions or the reclaimed oil.

it's got to be base for me every time.

as josh say's, ease & speed are a big factor for using a base.

as SNS's says, it really depends on where your craving for curry came from. if it's BIR then there is no other way.

i find  "cooking from scratch" for curries difficult to pull off with consistency - one or more of the spices ends up overpowering the rest.

have never had any problems with the 7 day fridge storage in - well quite a few years.

only had food poisoning on 1 occasion in my life - from up an upmarket place and put it down to prawns.

well impressed that i can now increase this storage period with safety margin to say 14 days - although in practise the 4.5l capacity of my pan means that it will be long gone in that time.

I do feel the reheating to be not a good idea down to the toxins and therefore fridge storage the best practical option