Thanks for all the nice comments guys. Much appreciated.

Best regards

Rob

Hello Mike. The vindaloo I had was a bit more generous with the potato and it certainly hadn't been soaked in vinegar beforehand. It was a very nice curry which is why I tried to replicate it. I did find a piece of cassia bark in it but apart from that there was nothing else in the sauce that I could identify and there was absolutely no coriander or methi leaves.

All the best

Rob   

Made a small batch of base on Wednesday using 3 onions. It produced enough for 6 curries but I just made 2 the same day. Starting with my chicken korma and a vindaloo made without methi and coriander. My reason for cooking the vindaloo without methi and coriander was because of a recent takeaway I had that didn't have these ingredients in.

Chicken Korma


Chicken Vindaloo




As a comparison here is the takeaway I had


I have to say the flavours were similar but I imagine the differences are purely down to the variations in the base recipe, mix powders and souring ingredients. My version contained just pre-cooked chicken, boiled potato, G/G paste, tomato puree, mix powder, chilli powder, lemon dressing, base gravy and ketchup.

All the best

Rob 

Thanks for the nice comments guys. The bowl of green was not something I participated in SS.

All the best

Rob

Quote from: dammag on December 24, 2016, 09:57 AM
All looks great but how do you cook rice like that?

Rice cooker?

Thanks,

Damian.

Hi Damien, sorry it's taken a while to reply. I didn't use a rice cooker it was just cooked in a standard non-stick saucepan. First I fry the whole spices in oil until they pop a little bit and then add the rice and keep stirring it until the rice changes colour (it changes to a much more solid white) then add boiling water and salt. For each cup of rice I use 1.4-1.5 cups of water. I stir this once, put on the lid and wait for the water to be absorbed on the lowest flame. Once the water is all gone I turn off the heat and leave it for a few minutes. The rice is sometimes a bit al dente but I normally cool it quickly and leave it in the fridge overnight and just microwave it when I need it. This final heating steams the rice and makes it nice and fluffy but also nicely separated. I've included some pics below.



Hope this helps

Best regards

Rob

Quote from: Sverige on January 20, 2017, 08:49 PM
Interesting Rob. I would never have thought you could make two portions of curry from just one medium onion. BIR chefs seem to use a massive pot of onions with just a small proportion of other veg, so I've always viewed base gravy as mainly onion based with just subtle other flavours coming from the peppers, coriander, etc.

Making a small portion of base will appeal to those who dread spending all day prepping, boiling and portioning out base for the freezer, so I'm sure you'll inspire a few others to try.

Quote from: Stephen Lindsay on January 19, 2017, 08:14 PM
good post Rob!

Thanks guys! My main reason for doing it this way is to enable me to experiment with various variations without losing too much if the idea doesn't work. I find using the smaller quantities doesn't reduce the time it takes to make the base by much but it does save time measuring out and cooling the portions for the freezer.

Best regards

Rob

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL! Here are my first attempts of the new year. Made with a small batch of base which would honestly have made 3 normal sized curries but I decided to go for larger portions tonight. First up was a chicken saag made with fresh spinach followed up by a nice spicy and saucy chicken vindaloo (mine).

Chicken Saag



Chicken Vindaloo




Best regards

Rob

I made a batch of base sauce on Monday and decided on a different approach. Here is the recipe

First stage
1 medium onion chopped
2 TBS sunflower oil
1 TBS G/G paste
1 TBS tomato passata
1 tsp ground turmeric
handful of chopped coriander
half a small carrot
quarter of red pepper
0.5 tsp salt

Heat the oil in a pan on a medium flame then stir fry the G/G paste for 30 seconds. Add the onion, pepper, carrot and salt and saute for about 5 minutes until the onion softens. Add turmeric and mix well then add the tomato passata. Fry for about a minute or two then add boiling water to cover well and turn up the heat. Add the chopped coriander and boil for about an hour. The water level needs to be topped up. Once the onions are totally melted add another 0.5 tsp of turmeric and simmer for about 20 minutes. Give the mixture a quick blend then chop 3 large cloves of garlic. In a small frying pan fry the garlic in sunflower oil until its golden brown then add this to the base and put a little base back in the small frying pan to de-glaze  it. Pour this back into the base. Simmer this again for another 20-30 minutes then blend. Return to the flame on a low heat and wait for the oil bubbles to rise.

On this occasion I put the raw chicken in the base to cook, I did marinade the chicken in a little mix powder with lime juice for about 15 minutes before boiling it in the base.

This is the first time I have used only ground turmeric. In the past i have also used ground cumin  and coriander seed. The resulting flavour was really very neutral and produced the following curries.

Chicken Saag
 

Chicken Vindaloo


The curries both had really good flavour and were certainly different because of the base. I will post the curry recipes at some point too but they really are very simple recipes.

All the best

Rob   

I spent the morning cooking a nice spread for guests yesterday which was enjoyed by all. 3 of the curries had a very mild but good depth of flavour starting with a chicken tikka curry, nice delicate flavoured sauce with the tikka coming through well. This was followed by a chicken tikka saag, a very similar recipe without masala sauce but a little added ground cinnamon and fresh spinach. Up next was a mixed veg curry, dryish but nice delicate spicing and nice precooked vegetables coming through well. After this came some hotter dishes. A chicken tikka pathia full of sweet, sour and fairly hot flavours and a nice spicy and rich chicken tikka vindaloo which to my delight no one else sampled. This all went down well with a big mound of fluffy pilau rice and drinks.

 

Pathia

Vindaloo, tikka curry and Veg curry


All the best and merry Christmas

Rob

I made 3 curries last night and some mushroom fried rice. First was a chicken pathia followed by a chicken madras and finally a chicken saag. I used fresh spinach and I have to say it was jolly tasty.

Midweek results


Chicken Pathia


Chicken Madras


Chicken Saag


All the best

Rob