Curry Recipes Online
Curry Base Recipes => Curry Base Chat => Topic started by: TikkaTai on December 11, 2018, 04:34 AM
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Before joining this site I had found a youtube video of Steve Heaps base gravy & seasoned oil. I have to say the gravy was spot on! The oil though I discarded. When that base ran out I made (yesterday) the updated Glasgow base. I have found recipes using this base hard to find. I used some pre cooked beef. The results were really poor, glad I wasn't feeding anyone else :-\ The curry gravy was really thin, does anyone know how I would thicken it? also, where are the recipes for this base mix hiding? I don't think I'll make it again but have 4 portions in the freezer.
Regards, Tai
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Beef curry is a lot harder to cook in BIR curry than Lamb and Chicken. I struggle to get a good beef curry and don't often try. I use more traditional recipes for beef and to be honest I prefer chicken and lamb curries anyway. If the gravy was just too thin you may just need to cook it down and keep evaporating water out of it. Use it by adding to the pan pre-heated and in small increments.
As for the Glasgow base and associated recipes, I'm not sure having not cooked it, but the members here will tell you of the regional differences between different BIR areas and your in Scotland with this one. My advice is to stick with the other bases. One of Chewtytikka's, or JB's Takeaway. I recently found the Saffron base quite acceptable. I bought Misty Ricardo's ebook and his gravy is good too. There is a whole sub board dedicated to base recipes. I even came up with a hybrid of several different base gravies that worked out pretty well.
I haven't really bothered with matching recipes to particular base gravies and I don't really think this is how it's meant to work. You should be able to make a Chicken Madras using any base gravy. They may not end up exactly the same but they should all be a decent Madras.
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Thanks Livo,
Much appreciated. I'm just cooking off a heap of veggies to have another try, after that I'll stick to chicken and not the Glasgow base. I'll do as you suggested & add small increments to the pan. The Steve Heap recipe came out well as it was much thicker! I will definitely check out Chewy Tikkas & JB's base recipes for my next attempt!
Watery vegetables anyone ::)
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It could be saved by using half of it at a time and adding it in to make another batch of gravy. Just adjust spicing a little bit to make it a decent sort of base. Extra onions and thicken it up a bit. Or you can dump it and go again.
Remember that the typical BIR curry is wetter than an Aussie one. Use less water in the base. You can always dilute it later.
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Thin base is not a problem. Not cooking the curry long enough, is. This is what results in a runny curry, Simply cook your final dish long enough to get to a consistency you like, and forget trying to match the brief cooking time you see in videos from BIR kitchens.
It sounds to me like you're following a recipe which mentions a cooking duration and, entirely reasonably as a beginner, you're sticking with that. Better to throw the cooking time expectation out the window and just cook it to where you're happy with it.
At home, without a high output burner, it's hard to get the spices in a curry cooked properly without extending the cooking time longer, which a thin base helps you achieve. Thicker bases which force you to not cook the curry long enough are a problem imho.
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It could be saved by using half of it at a time and adding it in to make another batch of gravy. Just adjust spicing a little bit to make it a decent sort of base. Extra onions and thicken it up a bit. Or you can dump it and go again.
Nonsense! You're advising him to add his base to another batch of base, or to add extra onions to it? Or "dump it"???
He just needs to use the base he has properly. If you don't know the answer to a question posed, better to stay quiet than to start giving dodgy advice. You're just going to cost the guy time, money and frustration.
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I've successfully done it. Just because you don't agree don't make it wrong. I've also dumped base and it's no great financial strain. Onions and a bit of water. That's the difference between someone who knows how to follow recipes and someone who knows how to cook.
Did you not read my first reply? I gave the exact same advice you have now repeated but without the sprouting about burner output. I then added alternative solutions which if done with a sensible approach are perfectly feasible to anybody capable of mathematical basics and some cooking experience. Did you not read the different cultural expectation between BIR and Australian served? I speak from actual first hand experience here.
I notice you've provided no advice on the question of beef. Enlighten us all.
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No Livo, the difference between someone who knows how to cook and someone who doesn't, is the former doesn't spend hours cooking a base gravy then have to throw it away because they messed up. I've never binned a base gravy, so draw your own conclusions.
I notice you've provided no advice on the question of beef. Enlighten us all.
Have I missed the introduction of a new rule where no one can reply to a thread without answering every question within it, or are you just "sprouting" (sic) ?!
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To me a recipe is not the Bible, It's just a guide. So change it as you wish to get what YOU want.
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To me a recipe is not the Bible, It's just a guide. So change it as you wish to get what YOU want.
Exactly, Les. "Rules (and recipes) are for the guidance of the wise and the blind obedience of fools". Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader CBE, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar, FRAeS, DL may not have used those exact words but he would most certainly have approved and agreed.
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Well I certainly didn't expect to cause any discord with my post!.
As Bowie once sang "We're absolute beginners" so ask stupid questions often & be grateful someone reaches out to help through our early fumblings! We can only get better (you'd hope) ....... If I have to dump it & start again so be it. Its all a learning curve, but also a better learning curve if you have a chance to correct for future curry cooking experiences as Livo suggested.
By the way I'm a she not a he Sverige .. women love & cook curries too :D
Your right Les & thank you .. cooking a curry should be a joy not a bible, just have to have an understanding which I'm working on
Kind regards, Tai
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A dumped base is not a sign of failure. Who said anything about mistakes being the reason for a dumped base? Even if there are mistakes, they always have been, and will continue to be, an integral part of progress. In the kitchen I often paint outside the numbers and blur the lines. How boring it would be to just assemble dishes instead of create taste. I view recipes as hints, guidance, ideas and research. These are essential elements of the design process. There is a difference between a curry kitchen and a sausage factory.
Tikkatai, I assure you that a good look at what you have, and reflection on what you wanted will present solutions. There will always be more than one path to choose so try a couple. Sometimes deliberately trying to make faults will show the best solution. I have done many little micro-cooks for experimental analysis, just to see what happens. There is no harm in trying something and finding it didn't work. There is nothing gained by not trying.
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Your right Les & thank you .. cooking a curry should be a joy not a bible, just have to have an understanding which I'm working on
Kind regards, Tai
You are welcome young lady, And just remember Rome wasn't built in a day, take your time, think about what you are doing, and you will get there, you learn by mistakes. now you go girl. :)