Topic: Curry Tester's Base Soup + Curry

[JerryM]

Currytester,

i'm going to have to try your base. i still remain sceptical that it?s going to make a difference and trying it is the only way for me to be sure either way.

please if you could jot down what u can remember (i am happy for ball park accepting refinement can be done later).

the reason i'm remain sceptical is the observation on the saffron base

the saffron to me it tastes like a raw oniony garlic sauce very slightly tart and also quite salty

something has gone wrong on your go at it. i think i've made it twice and both times turns out yummy - it's very much edible on its own. agree on your comment on the salt i reduce to 1tsp and i use much less than the spec amount of oil (however next go i am as i intend to reclaim the oil for frying - different experiment)

[SnS]

Hi Currytester

Thanks for you posts.

I'm sure everyone appreciates you efforts, but bear in mind that what we're attempting to reproduce with the base gravy in this section, is the BIR taste of a few decades ago.

I look forwad to seeing your final detailed base recipe (with photos I hope) and perhaps a follow-on recipe for the pathia you've made to go with it.

I would suggest at this stage however, that you leave out instructions on how to store coriander, cook rice, meat, naan, etc (unless you think it is relevant)..... stay with the base soup and pathia only or it'll get messy and confusing.

Regards
SnS

[SnS]

Anybody have any idea where I can get mild chili powder from, the wife doesnt like it hot and paprika hasnt got the same flavour.

Not too hot, but does provide colouring.

http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2espicesofindia%2eco%2euk%2facatalog%2fcontact%2dus%2ehtml&WD=kashmiri&SHOP=%20&PN=Indian%2dFood%2dMDH%2dKashmiri%2dMirch%2ehtml%23aISG049#aISG049

SnS  ;D

[currytester]

Reply to Jerry M

Dont get me wrong the Saffron Base wasnt inedible at all - just that IMHO it wasn't what I could eat a bowl of - everyone's palates are different. FYI I added the extra oil much to wifes disgust and used it for the frying part of the Balti I had on Friday.

IMO the balti I had Friday was not any particular improvement on the one I made the previous week using a different base and without using the curry oil.

But that is only my opinion. Also remember until now my whole family have been very happy with the Balti which we have had once a week for ages now. I have to cook for 7 on most occasions.

[currytester]

Thanks for the tip SnS I will get some ordered.

Here is the recipe in its entirety.

Base Sauce

Use any good recipe for chicken stock if you need one please ask as I have one for everyday and one for chinese dishes.

Roughly 2.5 pts chicken stock - I didnt measure this but  have topped pan to approx level and measured
400g Thinly sliced onions
200g Carrots chopped
20g Garlic Puree bottled from Indian Supermarket
10g Ginger Puree as above
10ml Cumin Ground
10ml Coriander ground
10ml Turmeric powder
10ml Paprika Natco or Rajah if I remember right
1 Large stick celery sliced
250g Butter

1. Turn butter into ghee by gently melting and passing through muslin or tea towelto remove solids.
2. Mic the cumin,coriander,turmeric, and paprike with water to get a nice not too thick paste.
3. Put wok on high heat and add about 180g ghee.
4. Add sliced onions and stir fry until soft about 7 mins
5. Add the chopped carrots and continue to stir fry until you can just see the onions starting to caramellise about 5 mins.
6. Add garlic, ginger and spice mix and stir fry without burning for about 1 min until the smell gets more fragrant.
7. Add celery and stock and bring to the boil.
8. Turn heat down and simmer until celery is softened about 20 mins - you should notice the ghee is now floating on the top.
9. Remove from heat and blitz so there are no lumps remaining.
10. At this stage I split the sauce into 2 pots there was in total 1.25 litres of sauce - I added 80g blitzed chopped tomatoes to one of the pans.
11 Bring both saucepans to boil and simmer until ghee starts to separate add water as necessary to achieve a consistency such that if you dip a spoon in the back it isnt quite coated
12  Remove from heat - you should notice that you get a lot less separation of the ghee.
13. Remove scum from surface if you wish - I didnt as I was a bit rushed

Sauce is complete
I did the taste test when all three sauces were cold. See previous post

For the Patia - serves 2 or 3

1/2 Green Bell Pepper finely chopped
2 Breasts chicken roughly 1" squares
10 closed cup mushrooms thickly sliced
About 70g Ghee
2 tsp Double concentrate Tom Puree
2 tsp special spice mix - I will post below again but its same as another post on this board
1/2 tsp Extra Hot Chili powder - adjust this to suit your own known tastes
Cooks Pinch of Methi - probably just over 1/2 tsp
2 Cooks pinches fine sea salt - probably around a tsp
2.5 Tbls sugar - sweeten to own taste
2.5 Tbls Lemon Juice - mine was from a bottle once again to taste.
Good handful of coarsely chopped coriander leaf fresh or frozen

1. Put chicken in pot and add boiling water to just cover.
2. Bring chicken to boil and turn down to simmer for only 3 mins then remove from heat - set aside
3. Heat wok and add ghee and bell pepper
4. Stir fry for about 4 mins so that pepper is just about cooked
5. Add sliced mushrooms and stir fry 2 mins
6. Add Tom Puree and stir fry 30 secs
7. Add special spice mix and stir fry for 30 secs
8. Added 3 Ladles of base sauce and brought to boil
9. Turn down to simmering and add chicken reserving water
10. Add Methi, chili powder, Salt, Sugar and lemon juice and stir in - taste and adjust as required
11. Adjust sauce consistency using the water from the chicken.
12. Add chopped coriander just before serving and stir in well.

Serve with Lemon wedges with a garnish of coriander leaf, naan bread and choice of rice.

Special Mix

4 tsp ground coriander
3.5 tsp turmeric
2.5 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp Rajah Hot Madras curry powder

[currytester]

SnS,

I cant remember what curry tasted like 20 years ago unfortunately however what i do remember is that sharwoods at  that time produced a tandoori mix which when mixed with lemon juice and yoghurt tasted just like the real thing - but they stopped selling it probably ten years ago. It always was a firm favourite at summer barbies.

The taste I am trying to achieve is one that suits me, tastes as good if not better than anything that can be bought from a takeaway or restaurant and is definitely BIR standard.

[SnS]

Nice post Currytaster.

Looks like there may well be another good base option here.

There appears to be proportionally a lot of carrot. Is this measurement correct?

Also you mentioned in your original post about using potatoes (being cheap), but there is no mention here. Did you not use any?

Just checking 

SnS  ;D

[Tamala]

I dunno sns, you always seem to come across as being a little too sarcastic?

[SnS]

I dunno sns, you always seem to come across as being a little too sarcastic?

No sarcasm intended. Sincere questions Tamala.

200g of carrot to 400g of onion does appear excessive.

from currytester's orignal post

So lets look at the soup first.

Quantity of Onions
Quantity of Carrots
Quantity of Potatoes

Tomatoes - if i wanted a slightly different flavour to the soup.

Just confirming that he hadn't left them out of the recipe as he appeared to be quite sure that these were to be the main ingredients.
 

[currytester]

With reference to the carrots SnS the proportion used was 2:1 and yes I didnt use any potatoes.

In my initial post I described a "vegetable soup" but when I checked through the bases very few actually used them (potatoes)as a sweeping statement I would say now "Onion Soup".

I then went and checked through a whole heap of cookery books comparing probably 2 dozen "Onion Soup" recipes but particularly one using carrots. I upped the quantities of onions and carrots to a level where I felt the flavour would be the best without overpowering the onions or spices I did take the carrots to the extreme because of the vegetable soup comment.

When I use up my current bases (I've run out of containers and freezer room) I will try another experiment but next time dropping the carrots down and adding other vegetables which will compliment the onions.

After the success of the initial experiment I am fairly certain that providing you dont add vegetables that overpower the onions you will be able to produce a decent base sauce. I must admit after all the posts and disparagements from members no one was more surprised than me when the theory worked.

I was asked whether I was going  to use green pepper in the mix I will give some reasons why not in a second and was also asked about using garam masala.

My view on the curry base is quite simple - it is a base sauce and should be used like a roux. You add the other ingredients to it to create the flavour of sauce you want. Adding green pepper at the start to an "Onion Soup" would detract and not enhance the flavour. Change the flavour it would I agree but it is not recognized as one of the ingredients that go with onions and carrots. (If you buy a book called The Cooks Companion by Stephanie Alexander you will see what goes with what- its recommended reading for applicants to Masterchef) Garam Masala - there are so many different recipes with differing proportions.
You could say that in the final curry the special spice mix could be called garam massala. Its a bit like chinese 5 spice mix there are loads of different formulas and recipes. BY virtue of the fact that both of these are spice mixes I prefer to add the spices individually or in a group that I know works. I have never had any successful curries made using a off the shelf garam masala.