Ronnoc,

In summary I am in no doubt the ronnoc base is quality.

Going fwd I would like help on the cooking stage ie technique & spice. say by chatting with the chef (who clearly knows his stuff) on his favourite dish and how to make it.

I outline below the detail behind these thoughts.

My thoughts are very closely aligned with ronnoc?s. I am in no doubt of the quality of the ronnoc base. I also made the korma (the 1st I?ve ever had ? being totally against my up bringing in brum on balties and therefore dedicated to chilli, garlic & tomato). The korma was definitely restaurant quality. I had not used sugar in a curry before and was surprised how it lifted the korma. I used powdered almond which we thought was ok but probably not likely to be as good as creamed coconut which we use for CA?s Chicken Tika Masala. I intend to try the almond in the CTM next time to compare fully (possibly a proportion of each). Due to my level of expertise I found the cooking method difficult (adding dry powders) and would change slightly (add curry powder as paste, add almonds & condensed milk after the base).

Back to the base. I had some parker21 base so 1st made my std madras (gleaned from the various nuggets on the CRO). The method for info (the qty?s are down to preference and suit me) : frying pan on high heat, add oil (1 tbsp), add garlic/ginger paste (2 tbsp), fry until raw smell has gone (this is probably about 1 min and involves stirring and moving the pan off the heat so as not to burn), add spice paste (1 tsp LB?s spice mix, 2 tbsp tom puree, water to make runny paste) and fry until water is almost gone (see other posts termed ?toffee? smell), add ? ladle base (50 to 75ml) and fry again until water almost gone, add 3 ladle of base, add splash of worcester sauce and cook on medium heat for typ 5 mins, not essential but sometimes add some chopped coriander just before the end.

I set about repeating this using the ronnoc base. 1st go - result disappointing (nb ronnoc base is more bland than parker 21). 2nd go repeated but added garam masala (2 pinches) but result was worse (spices no longer in balance). 3rd go repeated std but increased spice mix to 3 tsp. Result was ?essentially? as good as curry made with the parker21 base.

The reason for ?essentially? is:
a) the depth of spice is better in parker21 due to the larger qty of garam masala. I think this is where ronnoc?s chefs experience must takeover at the cooking stage in that he can get the spice mix spot on for the base which I can only do through trial an error over a long period of time. I think the addition of garam masala at the base stage adds depth of spice without anyone spice overpowering at the end of the curry cooking stage.
b) I think the introduction of the celery and cabbage in the ronnoc base added depth and texture. I think the coconut in the parker21 would also benefit the ronnoc base

This leaves me thinking that once a quality base is achieved (both ronnoc and parker21 are) the difference between the bases has little impact on the final curry. It is the technique and spices at the cooking stage which now have to be targeted to achieve the next step change in our abilities.

once again, ronnoc thanks for your help and stick with us.

star anise & garam masala

i've just started using star anise in the garam i make and believe it?s a major improvement. (for info based on KD's but: 1/2 cumin to coriander, no black cardamom, casia instead of cinnamon, addition of mint).

i also tried secret santa's suggestion to add just a little garam almost at the end of cooking and i felt it was worthwhile and now adopted a "pinch" as standard.

i also tried a splash of worcester sauce after adding the bulk of the base sauce. this too has now been adopted as standard.

Adrianavidb, thanks for following up on the ingredients.

i was particularly interested in your view

and it certainly did not incorporate cumin and garam massala

i find that at the cooking stage these add spice "depth" but create an imbalance where one spice overpowers the rest. i found parker21 base very interesting as it adds garam to the base. i am having very good success with this base making madras & CTM (i also having made KD base for yrs but not used the recipes).

this dish sounds very similar to the one i'm trying to find (see post "Sylheti Recipe - anyone got a good one?".

the sylheti does not have the 1/4 chillies in but everything else is the same - brown colour with plenty of sliced garlic that has been fried. i know that the sylheti is based on a bhuna but i'm stuck on as to what else is in it.

hope this helps anyhow.

spot on  recipe, family loved it and said restaurant standard no messing, many thanks to you Cory.

i thought the creamed coconut to be crucial (ie the block type). i also added the leftover marinade from the chicken tikka. i didn't bother with any sugar. i also added chopped coriander about 5 mins before serving and felt this ramped up the flavour (added the garnish as well). i used parker21's "toffee/choking" smell method of cooking the spice mix. i used the parker21 base.

just for info i made a 2nd batch with everything the same except swapping my standard made spice mix for a bought tandoori masala. there was a sever reduction in taste.