Nice post Josh. I too think the base is too salty but I also agree this is significantly different base and finals and gets very very close to the 100% mark. Dare I say it, just need the last 1% taste.

I thinking a 2nd visit to the ashoka by Panpot would be tremendous and may clarify and add one or two other key points.

I've now tried a few final dishes with the base. I think the base has massive potential -  ironically I prefer a simplified final version where I don't use the garlic and onion paste - I  may have over salted my onion paste though.

Many thanks panpot.. outstanding base mate.

I found the finals a little oily & salty so I tried the following

2 chef spoons of Ashoka base + 1 tbl tomato puree on medium heat for a min (no oil)
add 1/4 tsp garamsala
add 1 lvl tsp methi
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tbl fresh corriander
4 chef spoons of base

add in that order (total cook time 5 mins)

magnifico.....

OMG that Bunjara onion paste makes the house smell like a BIR - simply awesome smell. It is very salty but hopefully that will disappear during the final dish.

The base looks good but it does smell like it has too much cumin - but again, maybe that comes together in the final.

I'm making one later tonight

PS Thanks... I used tomato puree.

I'm in the process of making the base now. I've just realised I don't know what the tomato paste is.

Puree ? blended tomatoes ?

Help please.. quick :-)

Quote from: JerryM on December 11, 2008, 07:19 AM
Panpot/Jere,

I'd appreciate knowing how much difference there is (can anyone test say curry powder as an example) - i might have to get an additional set of scales.

my scales won't measure accurately below about 40gm. so i used spoon measurement which i feel worked out fine. but i could be missing a trick.

I think it will vary significantly depending on how fine/packed each powdered spice is - so my results will be different from yours.

You could always measure 60g then divide into 4 portions based on physical volume. Should get you 15g bang on.

It would be interesting to have a lookup table in the forum that shows typical spice weights vs volume (1 tbl) listed here.

I'll might give this a stab at the weekend.

Cheers.

Quote from: Unclebuck on November 27, 2008, 10:00 PM


Ingredients:
3 kgs of chopped onions
50 gms Ground Cumin
60 gms  Salt
water to cover the onions
Add 100 gms of Tomato paste
100 gms of the Garlic/Ginger paste
10-20 gms of Chili powder (to taste but he recommended 10 since more can be added when cooking)
15 gms Curry powder
20 gms Turmeric
1 block of Coconut block
250 gms Vegetable margarine (again he uses East End Brand)
250 gms of oil

Panpot, before I make this base.... Are the spice powder measurements meant to be GRS (as weighed on scales) or ML (volume).

eg 15gms Curry Power doesn't equal 1 tbl (15ml) Curry powder.

I want to double check as this is easliy confused.

Thanks.

It works out around 4 tablespoons.

Thank you very very much mate. That is a top class post. I'll be trying these now the quantities are there.

Cheers.

I've got back into using fresh garlic and ginger recently generally. I bought one of those micro plane graters which is brilliant for getting a fine paste.

I always have a garlic bulb in the fridge now and I use a fresh clove whenever i need one - they last a few weeks in the fridge without going off.

I noticed a real difference when using it in Italian pasta sauce - the fresh taste is much better. To be honest my recent curry attempts are really far away from where  I need them to be so garlic and ginger is the least of my problems. I've lost the plot in what I'm doing wrong now - I'm getting worse at this. I need to go back to some old, old recipes & methods to see if I'm really getting worse or I've always been this bad.

Back on topic, I suspect many BIRs would be tempted to use pre-bought pastes - takes ages creating your own in bulk.

Nice work Josh, will be interesting to try out an Ashoka final dish an get your view on that.

too much oil in the final for me. Was there a lot of oil added in the final dish, or did most of it come from the base ?