Any good recipes to go with this base?

Quote from: 976bar on October 05, 2012, 09:11 PM

Quote from: chillihothot on October 05, 2012, 08:59 PM
Interesting, thankyou. Spices are most certainly cooked (fried, but not burned) before adding any puree.
The base recipe I got from a Taz mod (the rick stein one I believe). Having tried other bases this one was the one I enjoy the most.

What I 'm experiencing isnt a "rawness" as such, but like Phil says, that lack of maturity/smoothness.

Don't get me wrong I'm very happy with where I'm at by and large, its more about the finer tuning now that gets really tricky.

Ok, but I am failing to understand here, how Rick Stein has inspired you to a BIR base somehow.... maybe I have missed something from the cooker of Fish.....

I wouldnt say Rick Stein inspired me, no, but he was mentioned in a thread from Taz where I got the recipe (cant find it), and I have got good results with it so far. If you have any other suggestions for good bases I'm happy to try them.

Frank,
I am really curious to try this technique now. How long is your overall cook time for the base?

Hopefully my online order (Ghee and Mr Naga) will come tomorrow, so I can start. Cant wait.

Interesting, thankyou. Spices are most certainly cooked (fried, but not burned) before adding any puree.
The base recipe I got from a Taz mod (the rick stein one I believe). Having tried other bases this one was the one I enjoy the most.

What I 'm experiencing isnt a "rawness" as such, but like Phil says, that lack of maturity/smoothness.

Don't get me wrong I'm very happy with where I'm at by and large, its more about the finer tuning now that gets really tricky.

I went to Jewel in the crown last month, which I enjoyed. However I found they lack a bit of punch, and their non specialities eg Vindaloo, were not good.

Phil, I shall try step 5 as suggested, which I have missed out actually. As far as adding in those dried chillis I've done with/without and this certainly improves the flavour, as long as I don't add too much.

Frank, are you suggesting that leaving the base to sit for a while to mature, improves the flavour? Can I conclude that from your experiments?

So I think the plan of action is:
1) cook it for longer, again, after cooking, until oil comes through.
2) following #1 let it cool and rest at room temperature, preferably for at least half a day before freezing.

My curry base is all those plus tinned tomatos, and those big red dried chillis. I think its Taz's base (not entirely sure)?

I'm very fond of the base actually, but in the finished curry theres that aged-ness missing, it tastes...too fresh, but not in a good way more in a immature way.

I tend to only cook base for an hour, so I'm thinking maybe 3 hours and let it cool through to settle, before freezing.

Thoughts? Similar problems?

Somewhere in my head there is my dream curry, I've eaten it before but I can't remember where, but its somewhere when I was a lot younger. Because I wasn't into cooking when I was younger I never made a note of it. What memories I do have apart from having a light head from a few cobras is that the there was this perfect balance and synergy of smell, texture and aroma. Smooth - yes, Vibrant - yes, Tangy - sometimes, Aromatic - definately. I've been working backwards from this memory.

Originally I was seeking out that vibrant taste, so I really piled in the spices, and I got vibrant but also a bit unsettling and raw and overwhelming. Overcompensation was easy to do because it seemed logical, a real blast to the palate.

Seeking a more older, mature taste (bit still vibrant) I finally added less spice and the savouriness came through. I had been thinking about spice in the wrong way, its not the only driver for flavour.

To acheive tang I add in cold fresh lemon juice at the last minute. This worked well for me. But again, lessons to learn when to use it, as appropriate. In seeking my dream curry, and trying to combine all these attributes my curry identity had become confused.

And also I still felt it was still a bit "raw", so I decided to cook my base for an extra hour, and let it settle, to get the smoothness. Maybe I should let it cook all day, and then let it rest till room temperature.

So far this is where I'm at: seeking that refined, smooth aspect. If I can get this right, I'm very very close to that elusive curry.

Boscombe has nothing decent in the way of curry, in fact its horrendous for curry. However there is a decent, cheap and friendly Thai place there (or was 4 years ago when I was there).

Can I use Masala mix out of a packet as a replacement for the CA curry base? I am missing sweet paprika.

I agree, this is a very good place. Happy but cloudy memories.