Quote from: George on April 16, 2013, 02:46 PM
You're suggesting that a base gravy with carrots and green pepper tastes the same as one without? Regardless of one's preference, it seems so unlikely.

More likely that when other ingredients and spices are added to it and it gets cooked out the absence of carrots and green pepper won't be noticed.

Quote from: failsafe on April 16, 2013, 01:07 PMHard to say what it tasted like because never tasted one before. To me it looked like a rather thick like soup and wasn't sure if I should have added a bit more water to thin it. But decided against it in the end. 

What you've produced looks fine.

I wouldn't worry too much about being slightly over in your quantities I rarely measure things to the precise gram when making base sauce. Neither would I worry about thickness at this stage, you can always thing it slightly when you come to cook with it if you need to. And I wouldn't worry about what it tastes like either, these are base sauces, they will taste like weak onion soup.

Quote from: goncalo on April 16, 2013, 02:57 PM
I'm dying to find a decent ragu/bolognese sauce/enhanced olive oil recipe. Any advice?

I use a slightly modified Elizabeth David ragu recipe and the keys to a good bolognese in my opinion are minced chicken livers in with the beef simmered with a star anise and a small swirl of cream or milk at the end of cooking.

Quote from: DalPuri on April 15, 2013, 11:20 AMAs for the gram, I would definitely want to roast it to bring the flavour out, but to roast the whole/split gram or to roast it powdered??     I think i prefer the latter.

I've tried roasting gram powder too but again didn't notice much change in terms of flavour although it did obviously have an impact on colour.

One thing I was thinking about with regards to gram flour is what effect it might have on flavour if you were to use it in a roux a la Cajun/Creole cookery at the start of a dish? Instead of starting out frying in oil, make a gram flour roux and fry spices in that? I know the Cajuns swear by their roux's for Gumbo's and at the end of the day Gumbo's aren't a 100 miles away from Curry's. Different ingredients and spices certainly.

Quote from: DalPuri on April 14, 2013, 09:43 PMAlso its a common component of basic curry powder which i wouldn't have thought is there just for thickening. (a filler possibly?)

Yes, I've noticed it features in many curry powders but I always assumed it was there as a filler/thickener as I've played about with gram flour in spice mixes before and noticed thicker sauces but no additional flavour.

But I'll try it again and pay more attention

I'm really interested in hearing how this mix powder turns out.

Regarding Paprika, I'd say it's there predominantly for colour, it just doesn't add a lot in terms of flavour in the quantities generally used in mix powders. Used in large quantities obviously it does.

Turmeric is used a lot because it's cheap and and aid to digestion I suspect.

With regards to your mix powder, I'd probably make Coriander and Cumin the two largest components followed by ground fenugreek. I'd make those 3 represent 1/2 - 2/3rds the entire quantity. Coriander I think has to be the largest component followed by Cumin and then fenugreek. Perhaps in a 4:2:1, or 3:2:1 ratio.

Presumably the gram flour is there for thickening?

The remainder I'd make up from turmeric, mustard seeds, curry leaf powder and asafoetida, with the latter being the smallest component of the lot as it's quite powerful.

That's probably where I'd start from.

Quote from: wurge on April 14, 2013, 06:56 PMI simply wondered if anyone could suggest a meal from what I had available.

The mistake you made was not initially listing onions as an available ingredient. It's pretty hard to produce a decent Indian dish without onions, yes it's possible but would have been hard with the ingredients you listed.

With onions it's a different ball-game and you'd have had a lot more answers I suspect.

Quote from: Axe on April 14, 2013, 05:08 PMIf they do use marrowfat, i'll have to put it on the to try list.

I don't think that particular dish specifically calls for Marrowfat peas, as any pea will do but I think it would work quite well with Marrowfat peas big fat juicy blighters that they are

Isn't pease pudding and mushy peas generally made with Marrowfats?

Quote from: Axe on April 14, 2013, 04:02 PMI have to ask though, what dish do you make that uses marrowfat peas?

I can't speak for other people but Mattar Paneer is one I'd make with them.

You generally use Amchoor (unripe ground mango powder) when you want a souring agent or something to add a sour flavour, perhaps to counteract sweetness.

You could try adding some to your Tandoori or Tikka spice mix.