A bit of a boast this, but was given to me by a friend who is an English chef who had the good fortune to work in one of our local high class Indian restaurants for a few years (and was highly regarded by the owners and patrons).  Anyway if you try this make sure your kitchen door is closed, the extractors on, and the windows are open because it is very smelly, you have been warned  :

THE ULTIMATE CURRY BASE! Version 2 (updated 27/02/07)

(A genuine Indian Restaurant Recipe)

Introduction

This is how the Asian restaurants and take-aways prepare the base for all their curry sauce based dishes.   There are many variations, and it is those variations that make curries individual and set Asian chefs apart (the good, the bad, the tasteless).

The base will be bland when finished, but this belies its flavour burst and flavour depth when combined with other spices and ingredients that make up a specific dish.  So don?t go trying to make biased towards any particular flavour, this is similar to the base sauces all Asian chefs use in their kitchens.

There are no specific measurements as such, so experimentation is recommended until you find the base you want that will make your ultimate curries unique!

The recipe calls for two bases; a vegetable stock and a spice paste, which are made separately and then combined after a period of a few hours (overnight).

Like most Asian food patience is required and plenty of time on your hands for cooking.  You must pay attention to detail, keep your eye on the cooking process (don?t let things burn unless you are specifically asked to do so).

This recipe uses large quantities; sufficient for about 6 litres of base.  You can increase this amount by just increasing the quantities give here, but it is not viable or economic to make a smaller batch.  You should be able to freeze the base without experiencing too much deterioration in texture or taste, but it will definitely not be the same!  Better, if you plan to make some Indian dishes in the same period and then freeze the end products.
Some Golden Rules


Always use wooden or plastic utensils

Always use the highest heat initially and reduce to simmer later

NEVER ever use utensils that have been used for meat when mixing or serving the base sauce, or it will go ?off? almost immediately. Keep each utensil for its own purpose, i.e. meat or vegetable only and make sure you thoroughly wash them in a dishwasher after use

Keep stocks, base in the fridge when not in use, the base should keep for about 5 days from initial production.

Always add stock, or any other liquids like milk or yoghurt, to spices a little at a time to let them absorb it and allow the oil to rise.  Water is rarely used unless combined with other ingredients.

Be aware that one of the reasons for the restaurant taste is that the ingredients are cooked on a high heat in lots oil and with lots of salt; this what explodes the flavours. So don't cut back on these unless you have a dietry requirement.

Never let things burn unless it is required by the recipe; keep your eye on it!

If it doesn?t work, or doesn?t taste right; ditch it and start again.  What is wrong will follow through to the final dish.

Patience is a virtue and economically sound!

Vegetable Stock Base

For this you will need a 22 pint stock pot.  These amounts are only approximations; you do not have to be too accurate and you can experiment with them.

Ingredients

English Onions - Enough to almost fill the pot to about 4cm from top when combined with the other ingredients about 5 kilos (unpeeled weight) will do the job. Don't get hung up about the amount as you can always add onion base pulp later to top up and make it milder.

Capsicums   Four large, colour doesn?t matter, deseeded and quartered.

Garlic   Four to five whole heads, core removed and unpeeled
Mooli   One large root will do, washed and coarsely chopped
Carrots   About five large ones unpeeled, heads removed, coarsely chopped
Leeks   About three large washed ones  sliced (use all the leek)
Ginger   One large root unpeeled, washed, and coarsely chopped
   
20   Bay Leaves (large sizes)
20-25   Green Cardamom lightly crushed (use husk and seeds)
12g   Fennel Seeds
12g   Cloves
12g   Cassia Bark broken up
1 tsp   ground Methi seeds (Fenugreek)
   
400g    Tomato Puree single concentrate (not fresh or tinned or Passata)
115g    Butter Ghee preferred, but veg oil will do
100g    Knorr Vegetable Bouillon catering paste approx weight ? don?t make too strong!
   
1 tsp   Black pepper (use more or less to taste)
1 tblspn   Salt (use more or less to taste)
4 litres   Water (approximately ? see recipe process)

Process

Peel and chop onions in halves
Break up the Garlic heads and remove the stalks but DO NOT PEEL the Garlic cloves
Clean and wash all other vegetables and prepare them as directed

Heat Ghee/oil in pan on a low heat until melted
Add all vegetables, salt, pepper, and spices and mix to coat with oil ? do not fry!
Check salt
Add sufficient water to just cover the onions, no more no less - about 5 litres
Add the vegetable bouillon slowly (and regularly check strength over the whole cooking process)
Mix everything one more time
Turn heat to high
Boil for one hour (keep stirring)
Simmer for a further half-hour (keep stirring)

Allow to cool and keep in the fridge or cool place overnight.
The following day bring stock back to the boil
Remove from heat allow the stock to cool down slightly.
Blend EVERYTHING to a very fine puree; use a stick blender or Magimix, a blender might work.

Leave to stand for one hour while you cook the spice mix.

Spice Base

This must be prepared tyhe day before i.e. while the stock is cooking, and left overnight to infuse. The following day both mixes are combined slowly to produce the final base product.  You will need a large pan, e.g. the one used for the stock.

Ingredients

40g   Garam Masala powder
40g   Mild Curry powder
40g   Coriander powder
40g   Cumin powder
40g   Paprika powder
40g   Turmeric powder
20g   Chilli powder (standard mild - not hot)
20g   Cayenne powder (optional this will make the final base hotter)
   
250 ml   Oil 1 - Vegetable or groundnut oil marinating
   
Extra oil   Oil 2 ? frying, Sufficient for about half an inch in a large pan

Process

Mix all spices together with the Oil 1 and leave to stand overnight.  Do not refrigerate

Pour sufficient of the Oil number 2 to cover the bottom of the pan to a depth of about half and inch or 1-2 centimetres.

If the spice mixture or spice/stock mixture start to catch or stick, then remove the pan from the heat immediately and keep stirring until the mixture has cooled.  Then return the pan to the low heat.

Heat oil on low flame and when hot add all of the spice paste
Reduce heat to very low
Cook/fuse for about 5 minutes stirring continually.  You should see the mixture separate and start to gloop.
Do not allow sticking or burning as this will completely ruin the paste, if it does ditch it and start again.

Then - on medieum heat

Add about ? litre of stock puree and stir in and allow the oil to rise
Add another ? litre, stir and allow oil to rise
Do this until all of the puree has been added
You must keep stirring this mixture all the time during this process

Then

Cook the mixture on a very low heat for one and a half hours.  Check it is not sticking and stir regularly.

The curry base is now ready to use.  It should be a very smooth sauce infused with lots of oil and taste very bland.  Note the oil should rise to the surface and protect the sauce.

You can store the base in a fridge for about 5 days, and it may be frozen for up to 6 months

When using the base, heat it up first before you start making the curry dishes. Keep it warm throughout all the cooking.

REMEMBER - DO NOT CONTAMINATE THE SAUCE BY USING IMPLEMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN OR ARE BEING USED FOR MEAT PRODUCTS.

You use the base as follows.  Heat a lot of oil in a pan until smoking, add your meat, add spices required by the recipe, add any tomato base/puree if required, and then add a small amount of base.  Add water (not my preference) or milk or yoghurt to thin out the sauce to required consistency.

Happy Cooking

C P

For what its worth, here is my two penny worth.  This recipe was given to me by the chef at the very first Tandoori restaurant in UK (it was simply called the Tandoori and was on Fulham road).  Anyway here goes.

The amounts are variable and down to your experimentation.  You will note that it is not dissimilar to the other recipes posted.

Thin yoghurt (home made Asian style is the best or use good quality LIVE yoghurt thinned with milk)

1 cup of thin yoghurt
1 teaspoon of mint jelly (sweet not vinegar)
1/2 teaspoon DRIED chopped mint leaves
1 teaspoon sugar (sweetener powder also works very well)
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
Haldi (turmeric) to suit, but this is a fad created by the BIRs!

Beat the living daylights out of the mixture and store in the fridge at least for one hour; the longer the better.

Happy cooking
CP

Thanks all you curry heads; it is nice to be welcomed and good to know that there is a lot of expertise out there.  Of course I am willing to share what knowledge I have; why not?  It can only lead to a better understanding of this quite complex food and how it can be a healthy addition to our diet.  I am just about to kick off a run for orders (takes about 2-3 days!) so i will be brief.  I would like to say, however, that I feel that the most important knowledge to share is techniques and knowledge of how spices etc., interact.  I started to write a book with a few Asian friends many years back that concentrated on this rather than recipes.  If anyone is interested perhaps we can create a topic solely dedicated to this, and this way newbies and oldies alike can improve their knowledge.  After all it is mostly technique that makes the meal, not so much the contents; think of it as a chemical process  .  Anyway, thanks again I shall return once I have got this smelly base done ready for the final cooking.