Topic: 3 Hour Curry Base

[PaulP]

The mind boggles Phil, even thinking about what you described: De-constructing a TA and rebuilding it over a 4 day period whilst avoiding the "wrath of Khan",  adding eggs and what not.

I'm not having a pop but you could get the rubber duck award for the most off-topic post in 2011.

Cheers,

Paul  ;D

[Peripatetic Phil]

I agree that it's off-topic w.r.t. the thread title, but it is a logical continuation of my reply to the observation by Smoothhound :

At that time, it seemed the forum was still in search for that final "5%".  So, I kinda forgot all about it until last week, I thought I'd check back in to see if we'd found that final 5% (convinced nothing will have changed) and by crikey it seems like we're there

to which I replied (in part)

I think, based on yesterday's experience, I can safely say that we have indeed achieved the final 5%

My most recent message was just a follow-up to that, but apologies to your good self and to anyone else who found it annoying.
** Phil (off to the garden to pull up some weeds -- more useful than searching for a rubber duck !).

[Smoothound]

I don't think it will be the same mate.  Just the fact that it is a curry masala will mean it will have a quantity of 'mixed' spices, whereas Kashmiri mirch (chilli) is just chilli powder, albeit, a very superior chilli powder in my opinion.

I think it would be worth your while to seek out some Kashmiri mirch or even order off the net if you're struggling to get hold of it locally.

Hope that helps,

Ray

Thanks Ray, I will hunt some down, but even using the masala blend the curries I made turned out perfect!  As close to BIR as I could ever hope for, and I was convinved the base hadn't worked  :

I made the Madras for myself and the Pudinda Murgh for my other half - we both said that if we had ordered that in a restaurant we would have gone away happy and raved about it the next day.

Chuffed to bits

Afterwards I've got 4 takeaway tubs full of base, which I recon is good for 8 servings.  I am a very happy bunny.  Took a few pics too which I can post up ?

[curryhell]

I made the Madras for myself and the Pudinda Murgh for my other half - we both said that if we had ordered that in a restaurant we would have gone away happy and raved about it the next day.

Chuffed to bits

Afterwards I've got 4 takeaway tubs full of base, which I recon is good for 8 servings.  I am a very happy bunny.  Took a few pics too which I can post up ?

It's always good to hear success stories and when people are 100% happy with their efforts.  It's things like this that make being a member of a forum such as this very satisfying .  Pictures are always appreciated Smoothound.  Post away ;D

[chewytikka]

Hi Smoothound
Excellent, glad you've enjoyed my video recipes and more importantly, that you've
been inspired to cook, and had a good result straight off.

Posting your photo's would be great.
cheers chewy

[Razor]

Hi Smoothound,

I can only agree with CT & CH, it's fantastic that you have a success.  What makes it even more pleasing for me, is that your inspiration came from cr0 members and their recipes.

Absolutely brilliant, well done mate.

Ray

[Fantastic Curry]

New member here. Made this base sauce today and to be quite honest I thought it tasted ok when I finished.
However, after making a vindaloo with it I've realised it's actually quite bitter and doesnt taste nice at all.
It's most definitely the base sauce as well, I 'm convinced the white cabbage is the culprit. Had I left that out
I'm almost certain it would of taste better.
My sauce looked exactly like Chewy's in the video, but less oily. My vindaloo looked like a restaurant curry, but thats where it ended I'm afraid. Bit gutted, spent way more than what a take away cost on ingredients and a hand blender. All in all with washing up again and again, about six hours wasted. I feel like I've done a days work almost, and for nothing. Ah well, not beginners luck here then. Still got bitter taste in my mouth now, over 45 mins ago since eating it.
I do have some base sauce left, and I'm considering adding something to it, like chicken stock maybe, in the hope of making it worth eating. Or maybe it's only fit for the bin.

Well done to all of you that are successful at it though, sure it taste great if done right. Can't for the life of me see where I've gone wrong though and for it to taste that bad.

[ELW]

Hi FC, 2 common sources of bitterness are anything 'burned' & tomato. iF the base tasted ok on its own , you have probably burned the spices or garlic at the start of the dish. I've personally never used cabbage in any base & pretty sure I could leave out carrot also. The base is only 1 component of the finished dish, and as a rule personally, if I dont like the taste of it on its own, its not going to go away in the finished dish. The flavour will only intensify when reduced..don't know your location but the difference in flavours can vary street for my next step by street. Im in Glasgow where the chefs/owners are predominately Punjabi/Pakistani & find the taste here is fairly profound..My own curries are like my restaurants except with the volume down low.I;m looking at oil used for frying pakora /bhajis for use in the base & main dish
Regards
ELW

[PaulP]

I've made this base to spec complete with the cabbage and I couldn't really taste any cabbage in the finished base.

Like ELW says it sounds to me like you've burned something (garlic and or spices) when you cooked your vindaloo.
The base sauce recipes are generally easy to cook but producing the finished curry is where you need to be careful. It does get easier the more you cook.

Good luck with your next attempt.

Cheers,

Paul

[curryhell]

New member here. Made this base sauce today and to be quite honest I thought it tasted ok when I finished.
However, after making a vindaloo with it I've realised it's actually quite bitter and doesnt taste nice at all.
It's most definitely the base sauce as well, I 'm convinced the white cabbage is the culprit. Had I left that out
I'm almost certain it would of taste better.

Hi FC.  Sorry to hear your first attempt seems to have not worked out.  Bases normally improve the next day after cooking.  You need to determine whether it is the base that is bitter or the resultant curry.  The base should only have a slight vegetable soup taste with a hint or more of curry flavour to it.  There shouldn't be any bitterness.  If there is this will just be exagerated when cooking a curry using it.  If the base tastes ok then try cooking a different dish and be extra careful not to burn any of the ingredients.  As for the cabbage, that is very unlikely to be the culprit that caused any bitterness.  Some other members have had the bitterness thing with other curry gravy recipes so you are not the first and probably will not be the last.  Different reasons have been put forward for this taste.  If the base is bitter then i wouldn't waste anymore time trying to disguise it.  Bin it and try doing it again or do it with a different base.  The other current popular bases are CA's, Abdul Mohed's and Taz's (the latter being probably the easiest to make, not that the others are hard).
Let us know how you get on.  Good luck - you will succeed in the end and it will be worth the pain experienced at the beginning