I tweaked my Jalfrezi recipe for this base last night to a point that I'm happy with it.  I've posted it in the Recipes section (with a picture this time, SnS! ):  https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,2326.0.html.

Unless something drastic happens, I don't expect it to change, so I figured it was finished enough to post.

As always, any and all feedback is welcome.

Cheers,

ast

This is my current version of a Jalfrezi.  It is based on merging aspects of all the different Jalfrezi recipes and information I could find both here on the forum as well as on the Web.  It has currently been tested successfully with the Saffron curry base (https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,2271.0.html), but any other mildly-spiced base should work equally well, however you may need to add up to 1 tsp of salt to the final dish.  I make both a chicken and lamb version of this dish, depending on my mood and who it's for, with equally good results.

AST's Chicken/Lamb Jalfrezi

200ml curry base
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cooking onion, chopped
1/4 green pepper, sliced
1/4 red pepper, sliced
1/2 tomato, sliced into 4 wedges
2 tbsp minced garlic (approx 2-4 cloves, depending on their size)
60-80g pre-cooked lamb or chicken
60ml of broth from pre-cooked meat
1 heaped tbsp tomato puree
8 small green chillies, sliced as desired
2 heaped tsp extra hot chilli powder
1/4 tsp amchoor
1 large pinch of dried methi leaves
2 1/4 tsp spice mix (see note 1)
2-3 tsp lemon juice

METHOD

Heat a heavy pan on high heat until hot.  Add the oil to the pan and let it heat to just before smoking.  Add onion, garlic, peppers and chillies and stir-fry until the onion begins to change color.  Add the spice mix and amchoor to the pan and fry, being careful not to burn them, until you can't breathe and then continue to cook them a bit longer, adding a little base if necessary.

Add the curry base and stir to evenly mix the spices and vegetables with the base, ensuring that none of the vegetables stick together and there are no clumps of spice.  Stir in the tomato paste.  When mixed well, add in the pre-cooked meat and broth.  Stir to cover the meat in the sauce, bring back to the boil and reduce the heat to medium.  After about 5 minutes, stir in the dried methi and tomato wedges.  Reduce to desired consistency (approx 5 minutes).

Stir in lemon juice, sprinkle with coriander leaves (freshly chopped or dry) and serve.

Note 1:

Any "restaurant style" spice mix can probably be used here, depending on personal preference.  I have developed my version of this dish using an individual portion of "Haldi's Takeaway" Spice Mix as relayed by Haldi and used by the takeaway where he gets all his demos.  For this dish, you may use:

"Haldi's Takeaway" Spice Mix (Individual Portion)

1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp Madras curry powder
1/4 tsp ground cumin

VARIATIONS

The amount of chillies and chilli powder should be varied to taste.  I've found that this works for me, but when I make it for my guests, I cut the chillies down to 2-3 and use between 1/2 and 3/4 tsp of extra hot chilli powder.

With the Saffron curry base, no additional salt is required.  However, other bases may require the addition of salt to fully bring out the flavor in this dish.  I would not add over 1 tsp, even if the base has no salt at all.

For a drier version of this dish, reduce the amount of curry base used between 50-80ml.

Hi Chef1707,

I've tried both of Curry King's methods for pre-cooking chicken (https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,1232.msg10662.html#msg10662) and lamb (https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php/topic,1915.0.html), and I have to say they were fantastic.  I had previously used the KD methods from her book, but CK's approach wins hands down.

I'm a bit lazy when I make the final curry, and I don't normally do anything but let the meat get to room temperature if it's from the fridge before using in making the final curry dish.  Adding it just after adding the base ensures that it will be warmed through by the time the curry's finished, and it is certainly much faster and more consistent than trying to cook it before the main part of the curry.

It really works the treat, and I think you'll have good luck with it yourself.

Hope this helps,

ast

Sounds yummy, CQ!

Thanks for the recipe.

Ok... enough with the uber-politeness, ok?? ;D  I *did* ask for your (collective forum) opinion.

Quote from: Cory Ander on January 25, 2008, 02:15 PM
If anything, I'd say the sauce looks a bit thick and stodgey...maybe it's been cooked too long and has congealed?

It may have cooked too long; I don't really remember.  Bear in mind that the container has just come out of the fridge, so it's possible that it has congealed a little.  However, the one thing I absolutely can't stand is a runny curry. 

I can't recall the last curry I had out that didn't stay on top of the rice rather than running off of it, so maybe it's different expectations again.  I need to start eating them out again to see if the alzheimer's hasn't kicked in, though.

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To my mind, the sauce should be nicely flocculated and not congealed.

Yeah, I'd agree with that too.  Maybe I am cooking them too long.  I'll try and time it next time just to see.

Thanks for the feedback!

Cheers,

ast

Welcome, MarkyP!

You've found the right place for that, for sure.  The problem I have now is how to *stop* making curry! ;D

Cheers,

ast

Results of Madras Test with Vindaloo Recipe:

Wanted to post this as I finished off my wife's mild madras from last night for lunch today.  Everything was done as per recipe except I used 1/4 tsp of the extra hot chilli powder and none of the chopped, green chillies.  You'll probably want 1/2 tsp for a "real" madras, but there was a slightly noticeable trace of heat.  It was plenty spicy for my wife, however.

I used 3 tbsp of oil since I wasn't sure how well my boiling experiment would work to ensure that there was enough oil to mix the spices and create the proper amount in the finished curry.  Here's what it looked like after it came out of the fridge:


Cory's earlier comments about "not enough oil" and end curries being "too dry looking" got me wondering.  Here's a 1:1 zoom of the original image where it's in focus showing the consistency of both the resulting curry and giving an indication of the amount of oil.  Opinions?


With exception of the few that I made with the frozen base without boiling, this is pretty consistent with how they look in the container.  Once they're presented in the plate, the oil's not quite so obvious for some reason.

I also attempted to make a Jalfrezi following the same basic recipe, but added about 1/5-1/4 green pepper, sliced into strips, then halved and 1/2 of a tomato, cut into 4 pieces, 3 tsp of tomato puree instead of 2 (figuring it was supposed to be more tomato-y) and sliced two of the green chillies length-wise.  I used 3/4 tsp of extra hot chilli powder.

What I wasn't sure about was adding lemon juice.  It wasn't for me, so I didn't taste as I went all that much.  One of the recipes on this site said "yea" and the other said "nay", so I didn't put it in, however I felt that it was missing something.  From your experience, is this the only thing I would've left out?

Oh... you'll have to forgive the large chunks of garlic in the above.  I had to have my wife chop some while I was making curries, and she doesn't chop quite as finely as I do.

If I can just fix the missing jalfrezi ingredient, that makes at least a madras/vindaloo and jalfrezi recipes to go with the Saffron base.  I also adapted the KD peas & mushrooms veggie side as well, but I need to revise the quantities for the amount of base somewhat.  I'll post it when I next make it as it turned out pretty tasty too.

Anyone else adapted any other curries to this base?

ast

Quote from: Cory Ander on January 25, 2008, 11:31 AM

Quote from: ast on January 25, 2008, 11:19 AM
That's exactly right, SnS.  Re-blending never occurred to me, and it would be a RPITA if you needed to do that every time you took the stuff out of the freezer.

Perhaps AST; I do as you did and simply reheat it 

Just to be clear, do you re-boil/re-simmer for a period of time, or do you just "warm" it?  (Genuinely curious, not trying to antagonize...)

I said 90-95% because without a side-by-side comparison of look/taste/smell/finished curries with fresh vs. re-boiled, I won't be able to say for sure.  I figured it was a safe guess based on what I remembered.

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I also don't really recall any cries of "not enough oil" prompted by the pictures of the finished curries either.

To my mind, most pictures depict curries that are too dry and insufficiently oily (compared to a typical BIR curry that is)

Interesting.  My results seem pretty close to what I remember to getting in restaurants, and the resulting oily plates look about right too.  I intend to somehow start doing side-by-side comparisons from some different places to verify it, though.  The last takeaway dish I got (that Lamb Lal Maas) certainly wasn't overly oily or "wet", but maybe that was a function of what it was.

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I've seen similar sorts of things happening in many places on the site.

What do you mean AST? 

I guess that came out wrong.  What I meant was encouraging, but constructive, feedback to things people have posted.  I think that's the essential benefit of having a forum.  I meant it as a good thing, CA!

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What am I missing here?

Nothing mate!  Just a little patience and knowledge it seems! Stick with it! 

Sorry if it sounded like I wasn't being patient enough.  Again, that wasn't the intent.  As far as sticking with it, no danger of that not happening.  I'm hooked on this "curries at home" business!

Quote from: Cory Ander on January 25, 2008, 10:21 AM
The "conventional wisdom" seems to be that the curry base, once frozen, should be defrosted, re-blended and reheated, prior to reuse, to preseserve something like it's original texture and consistency.

Hi Cory.  Thanks for that.  I guess it's because I'm a newbie to all this, but I must've missed out on picking up that part of the "conventional wisdom" somewhere...   Where should I have looked that I obviously didn't to pick this up?

Quote from: smokenspices on January 25, 2008, 10:56 AM
I don't think Ast re-blended it. Just reheated to get the oil to separate again.

That's exactly right, SnS.  Re-blending never occurred to me, and it would be a RPITA if you needed to do that every time you took the stuff out of the freezer.

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Of course this would not be a problem for those who prefer to remove the oil before freezing the gravy.

Again, maybe it's just that I don't know what I'm talking about because I'm new at this, but to me, if the oil's required to make the base, then it's there for a reason and shouldn't be removed.  If it is necessary to remove copious amounts of oil from a finished base, then, again, to me, it seems like that the initial amount of oil used should be reduced.

If the proportion of oil/base is correct, then it should positively contribute to the creation of the overall curry and be "just right" in the finished dish.  The curry preparation methods (sauteeing onions/garlic, etc. and frying the spices) naturally require some sort of liquid to facilitate the proper cooking, but I found that the minimal amount SnS originally specified in his Madras interpretation of what the Saffron chef did more than adequate to provide enough oil in the finished curries I made with the fresh base.

I also don't really recall any cries of "not enough oil" prompted by the pictures of the finished curries either.  If that was the case, I would've hoped to get some constructive criticism/feedback so that my curries would improve.  I've seen similar sorts of things happening in many places on the site.

I fail to see what the overall benefit to removing the oil before freezing could possibly be.  It seems to me that it is necessary for it to be in suspension within the curry base for it to do the right thing, as any oil added during the final curry creation process would not react in the same way.

What am I missing here?

Cheers for all the replies while I was typing this.  I can't keep up with you guys! ;D

ast

Hi Everyone,

Wanted to provide a quick update on the freezing issue.  I confirmed last night that if you want to get the best results from the frozen Saffron base, it is essential that you bring it to the boil again and let it simmer on medium heat for about 10-15 min.

I did this last night with the last 1.2L that I had in the freezer after having disappointing results with the last few curries getting too dry before the oil really started separating.  After boiling, I did have a fresh layer of scum on top of the oil that must be scraped off, but the oil was then stirred back into the base and it looked roughly the same as it did when it was initially made.

Making curries with the re-boiled base went much more like it did with the fresh base as well.  I won't say that it was 100% the same, but I think it was at least in the 90-95% range.  The curries tasted better and more of the oil came out of the base the way it should too.

I suggest that the updated recipe also include this information as a note for using the base after it's been frozen so people can get the best possible results.  Also, does anyone have any idea approximately how long a re-boiled base would keep in the fridge?  That information may also be a useful addition to the final recipe.

Hope this helps,

ast

P.S.  Here's a picture of the base after it was re-boiled and cooling with the scum removed.  Note:  the scum covered nearly the entire surface of the oil, so make sure you get it all without removing too much of the oil in the process.

I did this before our guests arrived, so I didn't have a chance to take any pictures of the finished curries.  However, they looked much more like they were supposed to and seemed to taste the part. I'll post more about this separately.