Hi Jerry

Those pictures have got me thinking about the sauce again.

Look at it, it is so think, it has body and a texture to it by the looks of things. The Vindaloo on the right shows what appears to be the sauce being able to hold itself up in ridges and indentations with its own consistency. What do you think gives it that texture? is it a massively reduced sauce with some onion paste added?

Watch Dip's videos for example and his finished dishes are far 'runnier' than that, although he is a serious quick get it in the pan, get it out the door kind of chef.

Cheers

Quote from: parker21 on December 15, 2010, 08:39 PM
hi solar sorry for not replying sooner, the debris in the base could come from a  spice/garlic/tom puree tarka, this is the method told to me by the chef at mouchak, it could also be debris from curry dish making, non-cleaned spoon. having tasted bases in 3 kitchens i know what you mean by the moorishness. if i ever have any vindaloo sauce left from a takeaway from mouchak i add it to  my finished dish and then it smells the kitchen out  just like being in the mouchak kitchen or my car on the 5 mile journey home yum!
hope this helps
regards
gary

Hi Gary

Reply very much appreciated, and very interesting!

Having obtained this curry sauce twice now, I get the feeling the particles / slithers for want of a better word are deliberate. I look into what you said though!

Regards  ;D

Hi DD

If you can be bothered to trawl through this behemoth of a thread: https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4776.0

A few of us tried this base with cabbage in it. Don't think anyone made a second batch though

Just a bit worried you are getting your hopes up a bit high on this cabbage idea though

Have a feeling you will come back to us in a couple of weeks after having tried out the cabbage idea and concluded that it just makes things a little more 'cabbage-y' (that word probably does not exist? ) that's all - don't let me put you off trying it to satisfy your own curiosity - but it is not the magic BIR bullet.

Cheers

cheers

Quote from: JerryM on December 15, 2010, 04:17 PM

Quote from: solarsplace on December 15, 2010, 01:14 PM
Used:

Spiced oil
New base as above
2tsp - g&g (home made)
1tsp - Madras powder
1tsp - Tandoori Masala (CA)
1tsp - JB spice mix
2tsp - Chilli powder
half tsp - Salt
2tsp - Tandoori masala & garlic tom pure mix

solarsplace,

not come across "madras powder" - is it bought or made.

just an observation -there's a lot of spice in that portion of curry - 3 tsp.

Hi Jerry

The Madras powder is this stuff: http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/acatalog/Indian-Food-Rajah-Madras-Curry-PowderMild.html

Not quite sure what to say about the quantity of spice, I guess from other recipes on here such as https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4973.0 as show to JB by a real chef and books etc, it just doesn't strike me as excessive?

JB's Madras there has 3tsp of mix powder? how much do you use generally?

CHeers

Quote from: Derek Dansak on December 15, 2010, 02:54 PM
Hi paul, i feel the cabbage is an important one we should know the answer to, as bir curries give of an aroma that is slightly resembling cabbage , or some other vegetable. its a distinct smell i dont get in my curries. it must be key to the taste, and all good bengual  bir curries have this aroma. It could be fermenting onions ??  i will try the garlic and ginger powder in my spice mix, although i am not sure if its what i am looking for.

Hi DD

What area are you from? - Personally I really feel cabbage is not there in the TA's & BIR's I love here in the Farnham Surrey area.

cheers

Hi Jerry

Been really pleased with my last experiment, which was the standard 40g of the CA base, but using only 2 level tsp of pur?e in the dish. Was clearly using too much before, this is coming so much closer to what is being served in my favourite BIR.

cheers

Quote from: Derek Dansak on December 15, 2010, 01:21 PM
There are so many things i would like to know more about, and if it will lead to much on an improvment on my basic madras sauce. (which i am happy with, but its no where near the standard of my local)
my questions are
1)  does adding garlic powder to spice mix improve it
2) does cabbage in base work well
3) is tarragon an overlooked ingredient
4) is extreme heat needed?
5) is the petes grabi spice oil going to be worth the effort
6) is mint leafs and curry leaf another ingedients i should use more
7) is lemon chunks in the base an improvment
the list goes on. any help on these questions i would like to know.
cheers DD

Hi

Just my opinions, obviouly cannot speak from professional BIR experience:


1) No, not in the spice mix, but yes in the tomatoe puree mix.
2) Tried it, never felt the need to try it again.
3) Don't know.
4) Probably not, although a good gas cooker really helps the process.
5) I think so YES! YES! YES!
6) Don't know.
7) Don't know.

Cheers

Hi

Just thought I would share a little progress made during the weekend.

I have never had the pleasure of being back stage at a BIR, but I have acquired a couple or portions of unadulterated curry sauce from my local, so have been trying to get as close to this as possible: https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4851.0

This weekend I made a single 'tweaked' CA base as previously described in this thread, however I thought I would try the Knorr Stock Pots as someone else mentioned on the site. Unfortunately the local coop did not have any, but they did have Knorr Chicken Stock Cubes. Suggested use being 1 per 490ml. So mixed up 3 in a small amount of hot water and added into the base at the start. Also then realised I had no plain tomato puree only had my tandoori masala puree mix so after thing 'bugger this I'm not going down the bloody shop again today' decided to use that instead.

So what was it like, to put no finer point on it, absolutly stunning the base is so close to the TA's version, very morrish to taste you could have it by itself. In reality you would not really want just a portion of it with some rice, but it was very moorish to say the least. However the aroma was all BIR. When cooled the aroma deminished, but when warmed up to cook with it all came back.

Used it to create the best BIR like generic curry of all my attempts so far.

Used:

Spiced oil
New base as above
2tsp - g&g (home made)
1tsp - Madras powder
1tsp - Tandoori Masala (CA)
1tsp - JB spice mix
2tsp - Chilli powder
half tsp - Salt
2tsp - Tandoori masala & garlic tom pure mix

TBH I astonished myself with the results, the sauce was marvellous, slightly sweet but very savoury at the same time, red, warm and absolutely delicious. Very similar to the results from my current favourite posh BIR with their Madras & Vindaloo dishes.

Asked the wife to taste test some of the sauce when finished, the result was a silent nod and a knowing look - so do you want some of yesterdays warmed up too? - NO - I want this one! was the reply.

Have given a base portion to a colleague of mine who is also a forum member here to see what he makes of it.

Hope some of this experiment and info may be of some interest to you. Cheers.

Quote from: Derek Dansak on December 15, 2010, 12:37 PM
just read that grabbi post by pete, very interesting. it wouldnt suprise me if this is what goes on in some bir kitchens. it would account for the chicken taste in the real bir base i once purchased. any cr0 members tried this technique by pete? is it worth all the effort?

Hi

Chicken taste? not quite sure where you are getting that from?

Apart from that though, I have just made a second batch of the oil myself and my personal opinion is that it is a magnificent discovery and intend to keep using it too!

EDIT: The effort required to make the spice oil is actually very small, the biggest pain in the ass is chopping the onions. Your best bet is to give it a go, the cost is only 2 or 3 pounds. Just be extra careful not to burn the spices at the end or the whole thing will have been a waste of time!

Cheers

Quote from: TasteTester on December 11, 2010, 07:56 PM
... I'm pretty sure this recipe is great. It packs a punch that my previous ones did not...

Hi

Are you sure?

Have you seen the Tikka Group Test results? - https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=5055.0

You may find a more enjoyable recipe there!