Alex,

And I'm grateful, sir!  Anyone who wants a Glasgow BIR need look no further. Between this and the Ashoka recipes, I'm in heaven to be honest.  My problem for today is to bag the base up for the freezer or keep cooking!

Martin

 JB,

Nice! Reassuring as it looks like mine! I chopped the onions more so that may have sped up the process? Cooked the onions for an hour, added everything else then a hour, blended then another hour.

I used a mandolin (and swimming goggles to protect my eyes!) to chop them quickly!
It was strange to make a base with no pepper/carrot/cabbage etc.  you could practically have the base on its own, lol!

They were! 

Hi ELW,

Yes, the content is a bit like the TAZ base, particularly with the use of cumin seeds.  I used that a while back, but it is much runnier than this and so requires loads of reducing.  Think TAZ base, but quicker!  ;D

Tonight I could simply add more base as I saw fit without worrying about diluting the mix, etc - so much easier!

I hope you try it and it works for you - can't wait for the other recipes to get posted as I'm having to wing it a bit using my current knowledge to make dishes up.  The fact that the family LOVED them can only be an indicator of how much influence this base plays in the final dish.  To be honest this method is hard to mess up!



Martin

Rob,

Sorry if I came across as a bit 'pushy' but from experience I see loads of users questioning recipes on here that they've never tried but have made up 100's of other bases (that don't work for them) and complain that the latest one isn't similar to other bases that didn't work for them - no logic!  Great that you will try it exactly.  To be honest my results were a bit oily but that's what Glasgow curries are like.  If someone reduced the oil then it would probably change the end result. We would then have another 'expert' who's posted 1,000,000 posts but is still here looking for their perfect curry, and thinks this one isn't that good.....despite not trying it correctly. 

If I have a point here it's that if you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got.

Sorry, I'm excited that I've found the base I was looking for, so I don't want anyone to tweak it without trying it.

Let us all know how it goes for you!

Martin

Rubydoo,

Don't dwell, just cook!

If you analyze and compare to what you normally do, you'll end up straying to what you always get.

I normally use the Shah base with my own adaptations - a more watery, traditional base.  I normally add 350ml of base and reduce to cook out the spices, etc. Not a regular here but I have worked in TA and have cooked at home for 20 years. 

Remember that this base includes the spices and is cooked for THREE HOURS.  If that doesn't cook spice I don't know what will!  The sauce is thicker but is practically the end result when it gets added - remember you are only adding tomato paste, methi and garlic/ginger to start - no powders.  This reduces the time.  I added about 200-250ml of base as there was much less reducing so the base goes a lot further than a watery one.

At the risk of being critical, I see loads of 'experienced' cooks on here that analyze to death and make changes to a recipe before even trying it.  I presume that these people are still looking for their perfect curry yet don't try the new recipe actually offered?!?!!?  I admit this process is different from the main but I urge you to try it. 

Remember also that this is a GLASGOW takeaway recipe and so may not replicate what you are after somewhere else - for me, this is a terrific base that produces the results I want.  If I adapted it I would not have got the results I got.  Only now can I decide to change things.  That said, I doubt I would.

Regards

Martin

Rob,

I made a half portion so used 1L of oil (!).  I nearly filled a 7L pressure cooker with the finished base and used about 200-250ml per curry (no need for 350ml as there is much less reducing.  With that in mind I think there is about 3-4 TBS per portion. 

Bear in mind that for BIR taste you need oil to cook the spices, be it in the base of the main dish.  If you compromise on anything, including the oil, you WILL compromise the final taste.

I'd rather eat half a 'proper' curry than eat a full one that hasn't had the spices cooked out !

Purely to experiment, if I was to do it with less oil, I'd try with 600ml for a half portion.  If it doesn't taste as good I could possibly recover this by adding oil at the cooking stage.

MAKE IT PROPERLY FIRST SO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO BENCHMARK ANY ALTERATIONS FROM THE ORIGINAL!!!!  IF YOU DON'T TRY THE ORIGINAL RECIPE YOU CAN'T REALLY COMMENT ON HOW GOOD OR BAD THIS BASE IS.

Hope that helps!

Martin

I knocked these curries up in half the normal time using BigBoaby1's Glasgow Takeaway Base...

The beauty of this base recipe is that if you want more sauce, just add it - due to the spicing being mainly in the base, you aren't diluting the finished dish! 

I felt the Do Piaza was a little dry looking and added some more base after this photo was taken

The Korma took literally seconds to make and was the nicest my daughter has ever had (and we've eaten them all over the world!)

Martin

The photos.  Please move if some are in the wrong place, I'm not an expert at this and had to e-mail the photos to myself to get them smaller in file size!

Okay,

I made up a half portion of this base today and, frankly, am utterly delighted.  I first thought, 'heavy on the oil' but it has turned out brilliant and tonight I made it into Chicken Curry (from the recipe provided by Bigboaby1)  The base is more like a finished curry in terms of taste and thickness, subtle tones of cream, slightly sweet and cumin in comparison to others.  When I was cooking I noticed how quickly the sauce 'looked ready' so very early on.  Due to the method, not adding powders that need oil, etc, the dish was finished quicker than normal...perhaps twice as quick. The wife liked that point!  I made:

Chicken Curry - pretty much exactly what I am after, better than anything I've tried before and I have been around the block!
Prawn Madras - I basically added chilli paste and lemon juice to the basic curry recipe
Chicken Chasni - used a chasni mix and cream
Chicken Korma - Base + cream + coconut cream....about 1 minute, honest!

This recipe very much replicates what I have had in Glasgow and I am not intending to change a thing with this recipe....100% replication - not even a subtle element missing.

PLEASE DO NOT ADJUST THIS RECIPE UNTIL YOU HAVE TRIED IT ONCE AS I OFTEN SEE COMMENTED ON OTHER RECIPES - MAKE EXACTLY TO THE LETTER AND TRY IT BEFORE YOU START DECIDING TO CHANGE THINGS!!!!

Photos of the base prep and finished curries imminent, if I can get the files small enough!!!!