Topic: 3 Hour Curry Base

[curryhell]

Nice set of pictures mate.  I too made this base yesterday and was very pleased with the results.  Very tasty base on by itself .  Used it with Razors rogan josh recipe - fabulous ;D.  Will be interesting to hear the results of your side by side comparison. I have a similar experiment planned myelf with a couple of bases. :

[emin-j]

Thanks emin-j.

Do you think the base tasted sweeter than other bases you've tried?

Hi Ramirez,
To be honest I don't think the Base tasted any sweeter than my usual Base but that's not surprising because my usual Base is made with the same ingredients - except the cabbage,however it did have a better Aroma when boiling than most of the Base's I have made and judging by my ten Guests comments last night this is the Base I will be making from now on so well done chewy 
When I put the Base through a fine strainer there was very little fibrous material left in the strainer but I do blitz very well so it's not surprising,so little that I wont bother next time ( I can understand BIR's in the 70's using a food mill or whatever if they put a whole Chicken in with their Base because of the likelyhood of having Bones in the Base  ) but using the Onions whole is a definite.
What I made last night was -

6 Portions Chicken Madras
4 Portions Lamb Korma
10 Portions Bombay Aloo
1   Chicken Jalfrezi
20 Onion Bhajis
10 Portions Pilau Rice
5   Portions Saffron Rice

Cooking from 9.15 am - 6.00pm
I was bloody knackered 

[Ramirez]

To be honest I don't think the Base tasted any sweeter than my usual Base but that's not surprising because my usual Base is made with the same ingredients - except the cabbage,however it did have a better Aroma when boiling than most of the Base's I have made and judging by my ten Guests comments last night this is the Base I will be making from now on so well done chewy 

Thanks. The reason I was asking is that you only cooked for 1.25hrs. The fact it didn't taste sweeter supports the notion that the sweetness that comes from Chewy's base comes from cooking duration, rather than the cooking of onions whole.

6 Portions Chicken Madras
4 Portions Lamb Korma
10 Portions Bombay Aloo
1   Chicken Jalfrezi
20 Onion Bhajis
10 Portions Pilau Rice
5   Portions Saffron Rice

 

Wow - I bet you're knackered. I've never done anything even approaching that! Very impressive.

[emin-j]

Hi Ramirez,
Yes I only cooked the Veg for approx 1.25hrs and by then the Onion was cooked through (but didn't change colour by much) then the Spices etc, then short Boil, followed by Blitzing, continued to simmer then for about another Hour until the Oil separated.

[Razor]

Hi Ram,

Thanks. The reason I was asking is that you only cooked for 1.25hrs. The fact it didn't taste sweeter supports the notion that the sweetness that comes from Chewy's base comes from cooking duration, rather than the cooking of onions whole.

Possibly, but it could be the length of cooking the onions in conjunction with leaving them whole that makes the base sweet?  I guess the only real way to prove it would be to cook the base with the onions whole for three hour, and then cook another base with the onions chopped but also for three hours.

I'm away for a week as from tomorrow, so my 'experimenting' will have to wait I'm afraid

Bloody hell, a whole week without making a curry, I'll be like a crackhead without a fix

Ray

[chewytikka]

Hi All
Some great feedback and photos and thanks for the good reviews

plus you are all making good curries from it. Result

Just one point, if you don't add enough water on the second boil/simmer, you can
actually overcook it and it will go from golden to dark brown.

In a BIR there is plenty water added as its kept over low heat for many hours
during service.

Tip: The right consistency is when it runs off your spoon and leaves the spoon
clean.

cheers Chewy

[emin-j]

Chewy,
Followed your Recipe but even adding enough water to make almost 5ltrs it was on the thickish side and no where  near as thin as the Base in your Photo above,any idea why ?
Lovely Curry's from this Base though 

[chewytikka]

Chewy,
Followed your Recipe but even adding enough water to make almost 5ltrs it was on the thickish side and no where  near as thin as the Base in your Photo above,any idea why ?
Lovely Curry's from this Base though 

Hi emin-j
The restaurant base in the pic is a 20ltr pot and really well thinned with water.

Madmatt's final base pic, looks like it could do with thinning quite a bit.

I can't say, without seeing your base, but if yours looked similar to Matt's, you just need to
add more water.

Here's a pic from the Video
cheers Chewy

[PaulP]

When I made Chewy's base using 2 kg of onions my finished volume was just over 4 litres. That seemed about right to me for the consistency of the finished base.

Cheers,

Paul

[madmatt]

You may be right CT, but at the end of the day, it made a very tasty curry, just like a BIR one.

The more you thin it the less flavour you are left with?