Topic: An ALL NEW curry base from Australia..

[ivangough]

Recipe deleted..New recipe below.

[Tamala]

Welcome to crO ivangough and thanks for sharing your recipe with us, which is interesting. 

Just some quick observations, if I may.  225g is about one medium/large onion isnt it?  The quanity of spices (over 17 teaspoons?) seems like a shed load of spices for such a small amount of onions and veg?  Are you sure your quanities are correct?

It makes me shudder to think what this base might taste like with 1tsp of nutmeg and/or 3 tsp of cardamon powder and/or 1tsp of white pepper in it (given the small amount of veg).  Presumably you've tried it?  What does it taste like?  What types of curry would you say its suited to?  With 2 tsp of chilli powder, it must be bloody hot ones!

[JerryM]

ivangough,

really really good post  ;D. am sure all will find it very interesting.

i'm certainly going to have to give it a go - i particularly like the sort of slow roasting of the onions till brown

i am certain that the "3TSP CARDAMOM POWDER" should be coriander powder everything else sits fine with me.

the raw cashews are especially interesting (the family love them).

[ivangough]

Hmm...You might be right guys, somewhere I got it wrong, so I deleted the recipe at the top. Here's the original full version of the recipe. We made it at the chefs house and I watched the whole process, and tasted the great results! For this version, the chef used a fairly large stockpot! And yes, the cooking times are right. This took almost 6 hours to prepare and cook, but we had enough base for a couple of months worth of meals! TSP = Teaspoon, TBLS = Tablespoon.

CURRY BASE
1. PUT WATER AND A DASH OF VEG OIL IN A POT. BRING TO  A SLOW BOIL AND ADD 2.5 Kg PEELED & CHOPPED ONIONS, 3 CHOPPED GREEN CHILLI (NO SEEDS) AND A HALF INCH PIECE CHOPPED GINGER, ABOUT 1 THUMBS WORTH. (WATER NOT QUITE COVERING ONIONS.) BOIL FOR 1HR WITH LID ON.
2. STRAIN IN SEIVE AND PUREE THE ONION MIX.
3. HEAT 700ML OIL IN A STOCKPOT OVER MED/HIGH HEAT, THEN ADD 3/4-1TBLS MINCED GARLIC, 4 GREEN CARDAMOM PODS, 5 BAY LEAVES, 3 PIECES CASSIA BARK, 4 CLOVES. STIR THE POT, AND DO NOT LET THE SPICES STICK! AFTER A MINUTE OR SO ADD ONION PUREE IN BATCHES AND PUT LID ON. USE HIGH HEAT WHILE ADDING ONIONS, THEN LOWER HEAT TO SIMMER. WATCH OUT, IT WILL SPLATTER! THE MAIN IDEA HERE IS TO KEEP THE OIL HOT, SO YOU'RE FRYING THE ONION MIX, NOT BOILING IT. AS ALWAYS, DURING THE REST OF THE COOKING FROM HERE ON, MAKE SURE YOU ARE REGULARLY STIRRING THE POT, AND THAT NOTHING IS BURNING!
4. STIR AND SIMMER 3/4 HOUR THEN ADD 1.5 TBLS SALT TO POT.
5. COOK FURTHER 1 1/2 HOURS TILL ONIONS GO BROWN. WHILE THIS IS COOKING, PREPARE THE PASTE IN THE NEXT STEP..
6. MIX THESE TOGETHER IN A BOWL..125g TOMATO PASTE, 1-2TSP CHILLI POWDER, 1.5 TBLS TURMERIC, 1TSP NUTMEG, 1/2 TSP SWEET PAPRIKA, 3 TSP CARDAMOM POWDER, 2 1/4 TBLS CUMMIN POWDER, 1 TSP GROUND WHITE PEPPER, 1/2 TSP CINNAMON POWDER. THE CHEF TOLD ME THAT HE USES MORE CUMMIN, AND LESS CARDAMOM, THAN SOME OTHER INDIAN CHEFS. YOU MAY TRY TO VARY THESE 2 SPICE AMOUNTS FOR DIFFERENT RESULTS. THIS CHEF SAID THE CUMMIN AMOUNT SHOULD BE ROUGHLY 3 TIMES THE CARDAMOM AMOUNT, AND HE DIDN'T USE ANY CORIANDER POWDER. WHEN YOUR 1 1/2 HOURS IS UP, ADD THIS PASTE TO YOUR POT.
7. SIMMER FURTHER 15 MINUTES
8. (OPTIONAL STEP) ADD MILK TO 100G CRUSHED UNSALTED RAW CASHEWS. (WILL MAKE A MILKY CONSISTENCY.) THEN ADD THIS MIXTURE TO POT. THIS WILL SLIGHTLY SWEETEN YOUR BASE.
9. SIMMER FURTHER 10 MINUTES AND YOUR DONE! TASTE AND ADD A LITTLE MORE SALT IF NEEDED.

[Tamala]

Thanks for the correction iangough.  Yes, 2.5kg of onions is very different than 225g for the same quantity of spices!  Didnt you have green pepper in your first post too?  What is the tomato paste?  Is it the runny stuff from a can (puree) or do you really mean the paste (the thick stuff)?

everything else sits fine with me.

Over 17 teaspoons of ground spices (plus whole spices) to 225g of onion, plus half a green pepper, "sits fine" with you Jerry?  Please tell us you're joking?!   

[ivangough]

Hey all..

Yes there is green chilli in the recipe, but not green pepper as I know it. Here in Australia we have green chillis around 10-15 cm long, but they may be called "green peppers" elsewhere in the world. Also the tomato paste is a thick paste here, not Puree or "Passata" as I think it's called overseas.

Ivan.

[SnS]

Just a litle point here guys.

An Australian metric tbsp (tablespoon) = 20ml (not the 15ml used in UK)

An Australian metric tsp (teaspoon) = 5 ml (same as UK)

Perhaps you can clarify please ivangough.

SnS 

[ivangough]

I thought Australian tablespoons were the same as the overseas counterpart, but perhaps not!

No, this is not a joke either. Just a recipe a kind chef cooked in for me at his house. Let me explain.. I have a local indian that I ate at many times. I asked to meet the chef there, and hassled him for some tips and he was kind enough to invite me to his house, where he cooks for his family on his days off. I told him I knew about "curry base" but had no idea how to make it, so he cooked it on front of me and I wrote the recipe down as he went along. He was quite happy to share the "secret" of curry base, but quick to add that every chef he knows makes it slightly differently.

I hope that explains things a little better!

[ivangough]

Hey Bangla..

I agree in part but I should add at this point that it's quite similar to base made in the UK. I think you should try it and see, as I think it's worth the effort. Also I am, just for reference, keen to see what the main differences are between Australian and UK restaurant bases and curries. I have had both many times, and can taste differences, but not the huge differences some have found.

Cheers.

Edit.. Perhaps it may be worth having a separate section for recipes from other parts of the world? Just a thought..

[Roti]

Edit.. Perhaps it may be worth having a separate section for recipes from other parts of the world? Just a thought..

Good suggestion, but I wouldnt worry too much about it.  Most people are quite capable of sifting through and finding what interests them most.  Only idiots arent and they can always go (back) to another site.