I made this at the weekend, and it was 2 steps back for me. it was sickly sweet , far to oily , and a horid texture. nothing like the madras at my 2 favourite bir. If you like battered sausages and fried mars bars then it might be your thing.

I could not work with a base that is this oily. the oil just deep fries everything. i can understand why some members like this taste, as its very sweet.    the 2 bir chefs i know, use far less oil. the texture of there madras is in a different league to this.   

The only good thing about the base is the spicing, i really liked that ratio of coriander tumeric, and cumin, spot on.
If i am in the minority on this view, then its time for me to leave this project. in a nice way ! i dont mean any disrespect to anyone, as we all have our own likes and dislikes. especially with food. Its good some people have had positive results.  how many members would prefer to seek another base ?   

ok thanks

ok i have made the base to the letter. i love the huge amount of oil content. its like no other base i have made (in terms of oil) .

(1)when i make the 1st curry do i add the 1st lot of base and reduce down to almost nothing ( a crust ) or do you need to stop it totally drying out.

2) should the temperature be at high from start to finish?
3) is the cooking time about 10  mins or less?
4) is the aim to reduce the 2nd lot of base as much as the 1 st lot ?
cheers DD

yes i agree, with the keep it simple plan. i am going to follow it to the letter as solarspace has done. then comment on its weaknesses. i will be bloddy suprised if its anything like the hot slightly sour/sweet  madras  they serve at my local. i purchased one yesterday, and its got a great underlying flavour of meat stock and slight soupyness. hard to beat

i plan on trying the taz base this week. if anyone has a tried and tested madras recipe to go with it please post it. otherwise i will experiment with the typical madras recipes we all seem to use, with the taz mix powder.  Then i will try the DD spice mix, which  i have used since the age of the dinosaurs ! Nice to see some agreement at this early stage ! makes a change   

so which madras recipe do people recomend for the taz base?  it sounds like a good contender for the madras group test. i plan on making that taz base next week

i carefully observer the evaporation stage in a bir. and basically they just blitz it with tons of bubbles coming through the base until its reduced. there was little technique involved , accept knowing when to stop! 

yes lets move to that thread for all the discussions . of which there will be many   

good question, i expect we will all want to stick to our own tried and tested spice mixes to start with. but in time we might modify them a bit. then we can bounce ideas off each other. if we agree on a base 1st, this will simplify things. I have never been totally happy with copying the spice mix from my local. although it does work well.  Once we agree on a base that works for the group, we can try different spice mixes from different members. might be a good learning experience.

hi, yes i too had considered that. in the end, its down to who is taking part, if we go down road of electing an existing base, or creating a new one. I expect it will be clearer when we know who is going to be involved. I am going to post a possible contender for a base, but will keep an open mind on this one. whats the general concensus on the taz base ?  i still have not tried that one.