Topic: Talked about base sauce with take away owner and chef

[DARTHPHALL]

Correct !!
I got the ingredients for the big batch.I`m going for a 15 onion mix as suggested & i found Passatta in Sainsbury`s today ;D ;D, so in the next few days i`ll report on my result & if its successful in any way i`ll post a thread etc..etc.. .

[Ian S.]

Hi everyone

I made a scaled down version of this base on Friday. It's been sitting in the fridge and I'm going to make a curry up tonight with it.  I followed George's procedure (thanks, George!) but scaled to two pounds of onions - scaled down from the full recipe, not up from George's.  It's given me about four litres of base.

However,  I must have done something wrong somewhere.  It doesn't smell or taste much different from my 'tweaked' KD version at this stage - despite the extra ingredients.  That's not a criticism of the recipe or anything - I was just expecting the celery and pepper to make more of a difference.  Another problem is that despite pureeing for over two minutes (two litres at a time) I haven't managed a very smooth result. I'm wondering if this is because I didn't cook the base for long enough - but I did cook it for the full hour rather than 30 mins before blending.

A very likely explanation is that my blender blades are worn out after three years of use! :  George, how smooth was your puree after 30 mins?

One thing that did happen, though -  after having browned the garlic and ginger, I added the spice paste to the hot oil and wallop! The 'smell' hit me.  Bingo! I thought.  But then it disappeared when I added the onions.  I assumed this was just me getting used to the smell, but it's definitely gone from the base now - it just smells of onions and garlic.

Anyway, proof of the pudding and all that...  I've got a carton of Oxo 'Real Stock' (chicken) liberated from my partner's larder. I didn't get round to making up the proper version this time.  I'll intoduce it bit by bit during the dish stage and see what happens - if it makes the right sort of difference, I'll try adding it to the base.

Ian
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[DARTHPHALL]

On the few occasions i got the smell of my Curries right i browned the fresh Garlic & Ginger, so we may have leaped forward here !!! ;D
I cooking a 15 or 20 onion version in the next day or so  , I will use the water from the cooked chicken as my alternative to stock  .
Ian s  don't give up !!
I had a great difference in taste/smell once i added Green Peppers & Carrots, you could have eaten the base as a curry itself it tasted that good (you were right Curry King!!  ).
& don't forget that mark was specifically told you cant emulate a take-away curry because of the quantity you must cook to achieve the correct flavor/smell .
i`ll force as much ingredients in my large pot as i can & see if a large batch makes any difference at all !!

[George]

A very likely explanation is that my blender blades are worn out after three years of use! :  George, how smooth was your puree after 30 mins?

Ian - after 30 mins simmering my mix was still very chunky because it had lots of roughly chopped onions, carrots, etc in it. But after I put it through my Kenwood Chef liquidizer (not a food prcocessor) for about 2 mins, it was silky smooth.

The taste of my base sauce is much better than anything I made from a KD recipe.

[George]

you could have eaten the base as a curry itself it tasted that good (you were right Curry King!!  ).

I agree. It really is that good, even though the only real test is whether it makes equally good final BIR curries such as Chicken Korma, Lamb Rogon Josh, CTM, Biryani vegetable curry side dish, etc, etc.

[DARTHPHALL]

Which reminds me..hey Mark did you get a Vindalloo/Tindalloo recipe from your chef friend ??

[Mark J]

Not yet, I tend not to have madras/vindaloo etc, I would always ask for a jalrezi extra hot instead

[DARTHPHALL]

OK I`LL MAKE A VINDALLO FROM the recipe`s i have so far & see what happens.

[curryqueen]

Hi all,  I made the 15 onion gravy last night and I have to say that you could definately eat it as it stands now without adding anything at all.   I simmered my onions for longer and also once blitzed I found that I had to simmer for more than 10minutes and then another 5 for the oil to rise to the top.  Apart from that it is looking very promising indeed.  I shall make a vindaloo and report back.

[curryqueen]

It's me again!  Forgot to add that I often add celery and carrots to my base if I have them lurking about and yes, of course green peppers.  The only difference to me with this base is the use of extra turmeric, chilli powder and garam masala.