Topic: Concentrated base Gravy?

[PhilUK]

I keep wondering why base sauces have to have so much liquid in them-I realise that in a BIR environment, they have the luxury of having a big pot of the stuff on the stove top, and of course they have the turnover so they don't have to freeze the stuff like most of us mere mortals do.
My thinking is that a base sauce for domestic use could be made with a much reduced quantity of water in. This as I see it would  the following benefit of taking up far less storage space in freezer.
All you would have to do is thin the base to required thickness using either hot water, or better still veg/chicken stock-In fact a lot of base sauces have quite a thin consistency which has to be reduced in many cases by simmering at the cooking stage-with a thicker base you wouldn't need to reduce.
you could theoretically make a base sauce paste?
Any thoughts on this folks?
Phil

[Stephen Lindsay]

I think Razor did a post on something similar?

[coogan]

hi,

Can't see why not, food for thought.

Bon idea

[Ramirez]

Here's Ray's thread.

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=5189.0

[Masala Mark]

Hi Phil,

Here in Australia it is very different, I've been in two restaurants, still in one of them and had a couple of chefs out to my place for some lessons.

None of them use gravies the consistency I see in the vids/recipes on the site. And none of them use just one gravy to make all their dishes either. This could be due to these being restaurants where you dine in and have a small takeaway market compared to pure takeaways perhaps in the UK. Our curry market here is nothing like the UK.

All of them use very thick pastes which water is then added to at the dish making stage. This provides a concentrate gravy/gravies which take less room in the fridge, and for us at home in the freezer.

Stock is not added per se, however the pre-cooked meat(chicken/lamb/beef) when added does have some of the cooking liquid with it, so there is some additional flavor that comes through from that being added.

And being a smaller quantity when defrosting and having less water amount in it, does unfreeze a lot quicker.

Regards,
Mark

[PhilUK]

well thanks guys- question answered,looks like the concentrated base has already been done by razor-who seems to have a good reputation on here!
So thats me sorted, slow cooked concentrated base next time-cant wait!
Phil

[moezus]

Also in Australia, when you mention an Indian Takeaway it's commonly associated with Indian Takeaways found in the food courts of shopping malls. Never had a good curry from a shopping mall. Appears as though it's just huge batches of different curries cooked the traditional way and stored in the fridge. When the shop opens each morning they grab it out of the fridge, microwave it then pour into a large stainless steel dish at the shop front.

Doesn't look the best during lunch time rush when they run out of a particular curry and someone comes out from the kitchen with a just microwaved plastic bucket full of curry and pours it out into the container in the shop front.

[Razor]

Hi PhilUK,

looks like the concentrated base has already been done by razor-who seems to have a good reputation on here!

Lol, maybe Phil, but only one here  ;D ;D ;D

Good luck though, I'd be very interested to know how you get on.  It's a little trickier to cook the concentrated base but not too difficult.  I think it also makes it a little sweeter too, which for me is a good thing.

Keep us posted Phil, and photo's would be great too.

Ray

[Ramirez]

None of them use gravies the consistency I see in the vids/recipes on the site. And none of them use just one gravy to make all their dishes either. This could be due to these being restaurants where you dine in and have a small takeaway market compared to pure takeaways perhaps in the UK. Our curry market here is nothing like the UK.

How do you feel the quality compares between the UK and Australia?

[Masala Mark]

Unfortunately I can't comment on something I haven't tried, not having been to the UK for more then a flight change through Heathrow.

What I have attempted to make from various site recipes and vids is very different to what is served here in Australia.

I can however cook the dishes from the restaurant at home and have it come out the same as in the restaurant. For me, I don't need to try anything else now, very similar to the member who went to the Ashoka and got their recipes and spent time in the kitchen, for him he found what he was after and able to recreate.