Curry Recipes Online
Curry Base Recipes => Curry Sauce, Curry Base , Curry Gravy Recipes, Secret Curry Base => Topic started by: raygraham on August 18, 2005, 07:35 PM
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Have just made a pot of base sauce from Bruce Edwards Curry House Cookery. Find a copy attached. I found it easy to make and the sauce has an excellent robust taste with more depth than the average sauces on this site. Right from the start it looks like it might be a good sauce just by the variety of ingredients it uses. One of my local take-aways make up their base and it can be seen they use an amount of vegetables in it as does this recipe. After making and tasting I would definately put it into my "one of the best" categories straight away. The only comments I would make is that the amount of Ajwain should be halved at least. I was given some advice that this flavour dominates if a full teaspoon is added so I halved it and the flavour was not overpowering.
Instructions say that a litre of the cooked base should be poured off and a litre of water added to "thin" the base down. I found this too thin so next time will leave the base in an undiluted state even if it does have a more concentrated taste.
I made a Chicken Madras and Bombay Potatoes and for me they were a very close match from one of my local take-outs. After recently making the "Balti Kitchen" base this new one by Bruce Edwards stands out as far superior and I am not surprised as there is so much more going into the sauce right from the start. Has anyone else made any other recipes from this or modified it to any success?
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Did you type that out?
When I posted it, I thought it was enough trouble to scan and resize everything to upload.
Thanks, it's better in this format!
I think Bruce Edwards is one of the best bases.
The ajowan seeds are overpowering.
Most people make some comment on that.
I have several recipes where thyme is used instead of ajowan
They are very similar herbs in smell and flavour.
Restaurants definitely use them both
If you go into any asian shop there are always small bunches of dried thyme about.
Normally somewhere near the fresh coriander, fresh fenugreek and fresh mint.
If you are already adding chicken stock, somewhere along the line,then I think there is little improvement that can be made.
Curry gravies are quite usually thin.
They are evaporated off in the hot oil to almost nothing.
A ladle's worth gets dried out in a minute.
The consistancy of the finished curry is nothing like the consistancy of the curry gravy.
The only recent thing that improves my curries, is the addition of pre fried onions.
Two tablespoons is always a welcome addition.
I fry the onions earlier until they are just starting to catch!
Then I dry them out on kitchen tissue.
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Nice work there Ray. Got this doc file stored away.
PS. I reckon this base and the one posted by MarkJ are about the best - I don't think we can get much better bases than these as I beleive the real secret is in the final dish and the method of cooking it.
Look forward to you sharing your experiments on the final dishes.......
Cheers.
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Hi Pete and Blade,
Yes, It was me! I typed it out from the original but it was thanks to Pete I knew this recipe even existed and from that information I have just made about the best base sauce I have tried to date!
I would encourage anyone on this site to try it!!!
I found the original document posted was a bit hard to follow ( after all it was 1994 ) so I typed a simplyfied version that outlines everything you need to create this superb base sauce.
I found this recipe doesn't require exact measures so don't feel the need to get out the Atomic Scales!
As long as you follow the basic instructions, give or take a gram or two you will end up with a base sauce to be proud of!
To me, the finished base was a bit thin but I take the advice from Pete it is normally like this and can be reduced when cooking. Using a wide based fry pan that allows rapid reduction the sauce can be thickened to a more acceptable level. With advice from site members I also reduced the amount of Ajwain seeds added from 1 tsp to about 1/2 tsp. This was more acceptable and taste was not overpowered by one spice alone.
I haven't tried Mark J's version yet but I am getting the message this is another good tried and tested recipe near to the ultimate!
Will be trying that next!
Thank's for that Mark!
Keep trying folks, we are getting very close to that elusive secret !!
Does anyone have a favourite base sauce they can recommend?
Ray
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Pete's 600ml oil with coconut is probably my favourite
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I tend to make the same standard base, onions, green pepper, carrot, tinned toms, garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, turmeric, tom puree and salt. I then shove in anything else I have to hand fresh corriander, creamed coconut, yellow and red pepper, celery etc.. It comes out similar each time and always produces excellent results.
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I'm going to attempt my first batch of Bruce Edwards' base this weekend and I've been wondering if anyone has considered use the large parsnip shaped white radish known as mooli (sp?) in place of the radishes? I see a lot of it in Asian greengrocers.
Robert
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Hi Robert,
No I haven't tried that option but why not give it a go. And good luck on your first attempt at this one!
I have made Bruce Edwards base and recipes lately and have been very impressed. One change I will make in a future batch is to replace his "curry powder" in the "spice mix" with the Basaar Mix I have discovered recently which is a better quality than most curry powders. Apart from that Bruce's recipe is a tried and tested good quality base.
Also Darthphall's 99.999999999999999999999% base is queing up for a trial when I can find a bit of space in the freezer.
Ray
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... One change I will make in a future batch is to replace his "curry powder" in the "spice mix" with the Basaar Mix I have discovered recently which is a better quality than most curry powders ...
Yes, following up on Curry Canuck's (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1127.msg9882#msg9882) reply to my earlier posting, I looked up Bruce's recipe, and was staggered to find that he includes "curry powder" amongst the ingredients : Bruce Edwards Curry Base
Spice Mixture
7 parts Ground Coriander
7 parts Turmeric
5 parts ground Cumin
4 parts Curry Powder
4 parts Paprika (optional)
Given the immense variability that exists amongst so-called "curry powders", and that I don't know a single person from the Indian sub-continent who admits to using "curry powder", I did feel that it cast some doubt on the authenticity of the recipe ...
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yes, we do not use such thing as "curry powder" in northern India. Ther eis no such thing there. Maybe in south india they use Madras curry powder but i dont know for sure as i am from north India.
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Hi Chaa006,
A chef who showed me how to make the restaurant base said they never use curry powder, every spice is put in seperate. We do have a number of members who have also seen and been told BIR base recipes that do have curry powder in, so I would have thought it depends on the chef. I think a lot of this maybe because 90% of your average BIR's are actualy run by people from Bangladesh rather than authentic Indian chefs.
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Guys-just printed the bruce edwards stuff-GREAT! Can't wait to try it! One question....do you REALLY have to ladle of the oil & ghee at the end & replace with fresh? Surely the oil will have taken on a great colour/flavour?
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I think that this step is basically personal preference - based on previous experiences with the recipe .When I make this base I reserve 50% of the oil in order to preserve the taste . Experiment a little and see what you prefer . :)
CC
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;)
Thanks for the replies! Sorry...being a but thick here! The way i read it you take out (ladle) the oil & ADD fresh oil/ghee (the same amount)-BACK IN TO THE SAUCE-this to me seems daft or am i mis-reading it/missing something??!
Chris
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:)Ok...re-read it now & see you put oil BACK in curry after it's been blended THEN do tarka. Doesnot say anything on the recipe about skimming oil off finished sauce? Guys/gals-would you skim off? As Approx 4 tablespoons goes in each curry would think some/nearly all should be skimmed off??!
Chris
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Guys/gals-would you skim off? As Approx 4 tablespoons goes in each curry would think some/nearly all should be skimmed off??!
Almost always. The only exception is when re-heating a previous day's curry, which I do by heating some ghee in a wok, throwing in the leftover curry, and then adding a little water or stock if it looks too dry; in those circumstances (and assuming you don't use too much ghee !), then I find that the added ghee helps to give the curry a nice glossy look without adding unwanted greasiness.
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After all this chat of Bruce Edwards, I was looking a his recipies on the site. Has anyone tried his curry house cookery base recently? Is it good?
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Alright Bobby,
From what I remember the base is very good, I think there are two though and it is the second, revised base to go for.
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hi bobby, i think this is a great base! if you like the "THE MADRAS 100% CLONE" you will like this... there quite similar if making a madras. UB.
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Alright Bobby,
From what I remember the base is very good, I think there are two though and it is the second, revised base to go for.
Thanks CK, any chance of a link? I'm having trouble finding it! Thanks in advance, BB.
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Hi Bobby,
This is it:
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=108.0;attach=27;image (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=108.0;attach=27;image)
It is also in the word doc at posted by Ray at the start of this thread.
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and that's the revised one is it?
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Also, what kind of Raddishes is he talking about? Surely not Mooli raddishes is he uses 6 large raddishes!
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Hi!
I have done it a couple of times and every time turned out really well, I havent done it recently because there are too many bases where to choose from and the tarka make things more complicated but I think it is quite good and worth trying.
I used the small red radishes
Regards
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For what reason is the paprika optional?
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Most likely colour I would suggest plus a slight variation in flavour
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Sorry Guys I'm a new comer with totally no patience. I'm jumping straight in with Bruce's Base, but on reading it I cant find out at what point of the completing curry, is the meat added.
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Sorry Guys I'm a new comer with totally no patience. I'm jumping straight in with Bruce's Base, but on reading it I cant find out at what point of the completing curry, is the meat added.
Mate see here
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1848.0
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Sorry Guys I'm a new comer with totally no patience. I'm jumping straight in with Bruce's Base, but on reading it I cant find out at what point of the completing curry, is the meat added.
Mate see here
http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1848.0
Cheers bud that looks extremely helpful.