That's fantasic Mark.
Thank you so much, for such a detailed report.
I am glad to see, that I wasn't crazy, and chicken does go into the base.
No one else had been able to confirm this.
I guess the "taste" either comes from the chicken stock he uses, or because he makes in large quantities (which I don't understand, but might have to accept)
The next question to this man could be "how does he make this stock?"
If that is the "taste" then you will have completely solved the riddle.
When I added the chicken jelly to my base, it brought the flavour very close to what I wanted.
Maybe yours (and I'm hoping) will be exact.
Thanks again

If someone was searching for curry information from this group.
How would you search, from Google, to find us?
I can't find us at all.
Maybe there are other forums with information.

Quote from: DARTHPHALL on May 24, 2005, 10:19 AM
100% sure
Cream pieces visible as though they have used some of the water they cooked the Chicken in,does the stock some of you make do the same ??

I'm not sure, but I thought these little pieces of white were ground almond.
I was shown the curry gravy at Bengal Cuisine which contained that

Quote from: Yellow Fingers on May 21, 2005, 07:27 PM
unique unmistakable curry house curry smell

The curry gravy sits in a pot on the stove.
I have never seen it with a lid on.
All the other cooking goes on around it.
Maybe it absorbs the general cooking smell.
I was told, when a chef comes in, to the restauarnt.
First thing he does is turn on tne tandoor.
Next he heats up enough curry gravy, for the evening, and adds the chicken stock (it doesn't go in til then)
He prepares some dhalls (including frying garlic til brown)
He starts the next day's curry gravy.
He prepares the kebabs (on skewers) and tandoori chicken.
He cooks the poppadoms.
If you were doing this at home, it would cause quite a pungent smell.
Maybe that's it

This raises a very important issue
I think what we miss from our curries is not the  "taste" but the "smell"
I have done blind tasting on my family.
I put bought and home made curry into little blue pots.
I got some very confused results.
There was no clear winner

Ok, who's going to be the first member to make a full week on this site?

The new curry base is good but on checking, today it is no closer than we have already been.
Their is definitely no trace of the "taste".
I made it with ten onions, and only put in one teaspoon of garam masala, but it really dominates the outcome.
Mind you, there may be some important instructions to come from Mark.
We have rather jumped the gun.
We made it without full instructions!!
But if we agree we have a good base and, as there are loads of witnessed curries being cooked, we can conclude that the magic is happening elsewhere.
Maybe it's in the precooking of the main ingredients.
Perhaps there is more to that, than meets the eye.
I have used and seen fenugreek used in curries.
There doesn't seem to be anything unusual there.
My kitchen smells like a restaurant now, but I know the REALLY strong smell people talk of.
I wondered if that might be the pre cooking of lamb.
I have never tried that.
Sometimes ,when I'm out on a Sunday,I smell people cooking their Sunday roast.
That smells, in some way, quite similar.

Total time logged in: 2 days, 18 hours and 12 minutes.
What's everyone else?

Quote from: DARTHPHALL on May 21, 2005, 01:49 PM
I`m going to cook a 30 onion version & see once & for all what the real difference is when you cook in large quantities & i`ll get a bigger pot if i have too although i think the one i`ve got is big enough.? I`ll post my results with ingredients & method in one post as not to confuse everybody. ;D ;D

Best of luck,Darth.
My cooker isn't large enough
The grill obstructs a large enough pot.
(My freezer isn't large enough for the result either)
You posted a while back that you felt, frozen bought curries, lost the taste after freezing.
The one's I have frozen, go a bit sloppy, but they still tasted very good (better than mine)
Good luck

Quote from: blade1212 on May 21, 2005, 01:36 PM
Pete, I got this liquid stock from Morrisons.

That's a bit of dissapoining result. I used the 10 onions - I posted the amounts for everything used in this thread.

What final curry did you try ? Give us a x/10 number

I think the base is good, but I was hoping for that extra something we are chasing.
What I really liked was that it didn't have a flavour that I thought was wrong.
Some bases seem too spicy.
Maybe I just need to leave it a day.
I think I may have fallen into the trap of getting too spiced out by the cooking, so I can't judge.
I will save my vindaloo and post tomorrow what I think.