Topic: 100%

[haldi]

Old Oil Curry Gravy & Veg Vindaloo



I have finally made a curry that I am 100% happy with, and I know I could do this exactly again
Here is how it happened: -

Last night, I went out to get some old oil
I was lucky at the first place I called
It was a kebab/KFC style/chip shop
I had an empty one and a half litre container, and asked for some old oil
Happily I was given all I could take, and charged nothing
They wouldn?t accept any money
This oil was really dark, almost black
But it didn?t smell bad
It had a used savoury smell, with no outstanding qualities

Now the mistake I have been making, is to create a curry base with too many spices, but still lacking a subtle but wonderful flavour
In short, this is what we have been describing as the ?taste?
Despite numerous demonstrations, and posts from other people, something was definitely missing.
I respect other people?s views, so those who have achieved their desired curry taste, I say well done.
But until tonight I hadn?t been satisfied

So, now was the easy part
I simply followed a scaled down base recipe, and curry I had seen made

I?ll bore you with the details, but exact quantities are unnecessary
Take ten small onions and roughly chop them
Place in a pot with half the onion?s volume in water
Add 1 peeled garlic clove, 1 rounded teaspoon of salt, 2 level teaspoon of turmeric, one rounded teaspoon of spice mix, and half a tomato
Simmer this for an hour, checking that nothing catches.

Then add 4 desert spoons of old oil, along with the same quantity of new oil
As soon as I had done that, there was an aroma I recognised
BIR magic!
Simmer this pot, on very low, for another two hours, with the lid on
Keep checking, that nothing sticks
After the two hours turn off and leave to ?settle?
Now, scoop as much of the oil out

Blend the onions finely and add about a third of it?s volume in cold water
Simmer this for about an hour until some of the oil separates out
This improves the base flavour

Ok, so now the base is made
Here is the curry I made
It?s a veg vindaloo
(I?m sure that I have posted this recipe before)
This undermines another idea I had
You don?t need to do a fancy precook ingredients, if your curry gravy is right
I just used frozen veg and a left over baked potato (sliced)
I?ve seen BIR?s use frozen and canned veg many times, with no detriment to the finished curry taste
Boiled chicken pieces with turmeric and salt would also do for a precooked ingredient

Heat two tablespoons of salvaged oil for a minute
Add one and a half tablespoons of tomato puree and spread around the pan
Add a pinch of cumin, a pinch of coriander, half a teaspoon of salt and a pinch of dried fenugreek
Stir for another minute
Add two ladles of the curry gravy, and the main ingredients and turn the heat up high for about two minutes
Add a desert spoon of spice mix and cook another two minutes
Add half a desert spoon of tomato puree
Add a little water and another ladle of curry gravy and boil hard for another five minutes.
You may need to add a little more curry gravy or water, to get the right texture.
Serve

Without correct curry gravy this recipe won?t work
You will just have a ?nice? curry
Also, remember that this is a copy, of a certain restaurants base and curry
It?s probable that your local is slightly different
But this shows you how to get that missing underlying flavour
I believe that it is illegal for takeaways/restaurants to dispose of old oil by pouring down the drain.
Someone official comes round and collects it
So if you wanted to get old oil then find somewhere that cooks chips and fried chicken, but not curries
If they made curries, they would be using the old oil themselves
Make sure they don?t cook fish in it
I?ve tried oil like that, and it?s a disgusting result

You cannot make used oil like this
The quantities of chips, fried chicken cooked in it, are simply not practical
Believe me, I have tried
But it should always be possible to get this oil
Places simply want to get rid of the stuff!
I have enough old oil in my freezer, to probably last a year!
The curry gravy is where nearly all the ?technique? lies, and I made it exactly
However, I would add, that I seriously doubt the hygiene and safety of cooking like this
It?s enough to make you cook home-style curries, isn?t it?
I feel so happy at achieving the last hurdle, and yet, a little sad the journey has ended.


 

[Derek Dansak]

never in a million years would i have put the missing taste down to festering old oil.  ;D  i will have to try this to see if its the taste i am looking for. bit sceptical at the moment though.

[Secret Santa]

Haldi I don't doubt that the old oil plays a huge part in getting the old fashioned curry taste but what confuses me is that you are using old oil from a kebab shop? Are you implying that the BIRs used to cook fried chicken etc. in their oil?

[Cory Ander]

Hi Haldi,

Very interesting!  I too am very surprised that the oil is (presumably) not that which has been infused with the colour, flavour and aroma of typical BIR spices!

[PaulP]

It would be great if somebody else could do the same test - though I'm not sure I would want to try the festering oil myself.

I do think Haldi maybe onto something though.

It would be a bit sad if this was the missing 5%!

[SnS]

Interesting post Haldi.

If the oil you used was not infused with BIR spices, why is it not possible that old (well used) oil from a deep fat fryer at home (infused with BIR spices), could be salvaged and re-used to give the same results?

[chriswg]

Hi Haldi

I'm quite new to this forum and to the BIR at home scene, but I also find this hard to believe. If the end result is 100% BIR then that's fantastic but there must be another reason for it. I don't imagine every Indian restaurant goes around to local takeaways asking for leftover chip oil.

It would be interesting to see what type of oil they were using. Commercial oil although dreadfully bad for you from a saturates point of view, does give food a really good taste. For example, I would say it is impossible to replicate a Chip Shop portion of chips at home even though all they use is chopped up Maris Piper potatoes. Maybe the breakthrough wasn't the fact it was old oil, maybe it was just commercial grade saturated / trans fat. Probably the same stuff most of the BIR's use...

I saw a good program about it a while ago, the clip that is most relevant is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfFEBlSD7LU

It is worth investigating and would tie up an awful lot of loose ends, the biggest of which being why cant BIR chefs replicate a BIR curry at home. the answer could be in the oil.

Well spotted Haldi, it could be a breakthrough for everyone if it proves to be true. It would be brilliant if you could find out the type of oil they use. A picture of the container would be extremely useful.

[Curry Barking Mad]

I do believe that Haldi is on to something here, although I too am struggling with the idea of oil from fried chicken and chips, I have tried the same myself, it did change the flavour but not to what I was hoping for, however I do know that oil from cooking a shed load of bhajis goes into some restaurant bases, this really does give "the taste" for me,
The BIR kitchens I have been into use either KTC veg oil or Pride veg oil,(rapeseed oil and anti-foaming agent)
The BIR kitchens I have been into that don't have the taste have not added old bhaji oil to the base,

[haldi]

Are you implying that the BIRs used to cook fried chicken etc. in their oil?

Mainly chips

Hi Haldi,

Very interesting!  I too am very surprised that the oil is (presumably) not that which has been infused with the colour, flavour and aroma of typical BIR spices!

The missing flavour is not any spice, that's why it was so hard to pin down

Interesting post Haldi.

If the oil you used was not infused with BIR spices, why is it not possible that old (well used) oil from a deep fat fryer at home (infused with BIR spices), could be salvaged and re-used to give the same results?

Yes it might be possible but you would need to put through a tremendous amount of fried food

I don't imagine every Indian restaurant goes around to local takeaways asking for leftover chip oil.

That's not what I am saying
I am saying it's their own old oil that goes into the gravy

[joshallen2k]

Haldi, are you saying NOT to use oil that has been used for bhajis? Just chips and chicken?