Currytester,

details of yesterday's efforts on the base cooking. it kept me going all day off and on.

i'm glad u included the times for frying otherwise i'd have been lost. i thought times were spot on. the stock tasted pretty good with 1 carcase and didn't fancy ruining the good taste with a bought stock cube so did not add. i ended up making the ghee myself.

i like to make a base by basically throwing all into the pot and leave it cook. this method was a marathon for me and would probably have to admit that it's too much effort for my weekday curry making. i think if u could use a stock cube then this would alleviate much of the effort.

i found the ghee a bit messy and struggled with the amount of sat fat compared to oil. i noticed a vegetable ghee in the supermarket (no cholesterol) and this would again alleviate much of my concerns.

something was a little too strong in the taste for me and i am pretty sure it was the ghee (i'm not used to it). so if this could be reduced or switched then i would be all in favour.

i did not add any extra water at step 11 and not sure that i should (consistency seemed good). there was no separation of ghee at step 12 but i did remove a fair amount of scum at step 13.

surprising to me i could not detect the celery. i would increase the bulk veg % by increasing the onions to say 600g. i think this would help to perhaps soften the taste of the ghee (or alternatively reduce the amount of ghee).

so in summary as i said earlier - this base has a totally different taste "delux" from the saffron (from which it's based). to me i don't feel it will have that much effect on the final curry though - based on my experiences to date which suggest that a base either does or doesn?t make the threshold. once the threshold's past then the impact is down to the spices at frying and the frying technique.

have starved myself all day in prep for trying my std madras with both bases for a side by side comparison.

pictures of base

1) frying onion & carrot
2) onion & carrot finished
3) frying complete and chicken stock
4) the finished base

Currytester,

a brief update (will add full details and pics later).

have the base made (3pts finished base). have also made the saffron alongside. have tasted both hot & cold and find them not much dissimilar in terms of a base.

headline would be that both pass the threshold for me. the currytester base is certainly a "delux" but requires a lot more effort.

will make my std madras curry sauce tonight to gauge the taste (this is the only real test for me - proof in the eating).

Argonaut,

almost a snap.

i started 78 and never looked back. i too don't go for creamy curries although i do now make CTM (curry kings) regularly due to family repeat requests.

if u change your mind on cream with steak i have a pucka steak diane recipe.

madras and bhuna are also my sort of dish although my fav is garlic chicken (syhlati)

you?re going have to leave that deep fryer alone or all that good work on the low fat will be to waste. ;D

it's good to see u posting when u can. the site just doesn?t seem the same when your not there.

i too don't believe the BIRs use worcester sauce - it's hopefully a stop gap for me.

i have already reached my aim of producing a decent curry to eat midweek whilst retaining my craving for the real BIR/TA experience.

in a side by side comparison i'm still short - on sweetness and smokey flavour.

domi has helped enormously in opening my eyes to smoked paprika - La Chinata at Sainsbury (which is now in general cooking use typ paella) - this puts a sticking plaster over the smokey flavour. i've put sugar into my spice mix which is helping on the "caramelised" sweetness front. just adding sugar does not work.

i'm currently looking into new pan (black iron), reclaimed oil, and wok burner.

until then the worcester sauce remains a real lifeline - somehow pulling the sweetness and smokey flavour together.

pls CA not familiar with Parsi - could u outline a bit.

Argonaut,

sorry if i did not explain my initial post enough.

1) u need to select a base. try either the rajver or saffron 1st. both are very good. the rajver has coconut in but u wouldn't know

2) at the cooking or frying stage is when the spice is controlled. i use a 50:50 mix, spice mix:curry powder (1 tsp ea per 200ml portion). i use LB for the spice mix and vary the curry powder to suit the dish. given u are after quite a lot of spice i would be tempted to try either garam masala or one of chris303's masala's

PART 2 (FAT Free)

i got thrown off computer last night by kids hence the delay.

given u've been on the curries a while u obviously appreciate they are very healthy in terms of the ingredients (except for ghee)

the health factor dropped a lot with the introduction of the BIR (this is an important term as it distinguishes from authentic cooking which is totally different). the BIR for me did 2 two very important things: it mellowed the spices to suit those who had been brought up on potato and added oil.

i got to know a BIR chef a while ago and we talked much about how i could keep my cholesterol down whilst maintaining unrestricted access to his fantastic curries.

there is no happy ending. u just can't adapt a BIR curry to low fat without loosing the BIR tag & taste.

yes of course there is a lot u can do to reduce the fat (and i mean saturated fat - this is the only fat anyone needs to be concerned with) but the taste will change.

the chef did cut down on the oil for me and the appearance was completely different. the taste was no where near as good but it sorted my need. the taste however was good enough.

so in short follow chris303 and currytester's sticking plasters which will work ie i never use cream only evaporated milk (sat fat 6% as opposed to at least 80% for cream).

the main target is as u've pointed out - the oil. use a low sat fat oil ie sunflower (11% sat fat) or olive oil (14% sat fat but 60% mono unsats which are good for u). so in terms of base saffron asks for 500ml (33 tbsp) - i use 6 tbsp.


in summary curries are not the ideal place to cut fat out. there are much more easy targets (choc bars, crisps, chips, cheese, eggs, full cream milk, ice cream). read the labels on everything u eat. aim for 17gm of sat fat on a normal day and this will leave u never having a weight problem and plenty of slack for several of those fantastic curries.

QuoteI would rather has a curry that attacks the taste buds with an explosion of different tastes, than one that just cries 'hot'

i still recomend u try the parker21 madras. don't swop the garam though (for LB spice mix) as this will give u what i call, "depth of spice where no one spice overpowers the rest"

Chris303's balti masala spice mix is also very good.

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,2465.0.html

rallim,

i'd go along with what u say. it sounds right and i feel would taste right. i find making marinades from scratch a bit of a bug bear and not really convenient - hence i only tend to make tikka for the weekend and make do with broiled chicken the rest of the time.

i might just buy a small jar on the qt :-X

Argonaut,

there are 2 separate topics here i think.

one is - what recipe should i go for that spicy (u can control how hot it is buy adjusting amount of chilli u put into the base and the spice mix at frying stage)

my staple is madras and i like parker21's (also woodpecker21) madras recipe (link below). nb i swop the garam masala for LB's spice mix

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


https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,2444.0.html

would recommend u make the rajver base also - its top notch

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,720.0.html


i'll post No 2 later (fat free)

Currytester,

am i ok to make the stock as: one chicken carcase, two carrots, one onion, 10 peppercorns, 4 bay leaves, simmer 2 hrs time (nb i will have to put 1 anise just the same as adrian does).