Topic: Base from Zaal Restaurant in Fleet

[Les]

Is there a actual written recipe for this base? If so I must have missed it, could someone point me in the right direction If not, Is it possible for someone to do one? When time permits

Les

[Whandsy]

Is there a actual written recipe for this base? If so I must have missed it, could someone point me in the right direction If not, Is it possible for someone to do one? When time permits

Les

Do you mean the recipe thats on the 1st page of this thread

W

[Les]

Do you mean the recipe thats on the 1st page of this thread

W

Thanks W
Yep, I missed it, Thought it would be written as a normal recipe :

Les

[curryhell]

It was too late yesterday to post my results on my Zaal base.  After a hard day in the kitchen it was time to head off to the pub before returning  home later to enjoy the fruits of my labours .  Having been pottering around in the kitchen for some 6 hours off and on, I was totally intoxicated with curry smells to the extent that my senses were well and truly blunted by the end of the session.
My senses have all but recovered now and the house has that familiar restaurant  smell to it. Hardly surprising given yesterday

[mr.mojorisin]

looking great CH

this base is next on my list, once i've used up the 16 portions of Chewys 3 hour base currently residing in my freezer

[curryhell]

It certainly works well and tastes great, but there are many others on here that are equally as good, just like the one in your freezer.  The base is only part of the jigsaw IMHO.  As long as it's half decent, right consistency, right taste (don't ask me to define that one  ) it's then down to what you do with it.  That's what really counts ;D.  Obviously, variations in ingredients will affect the final result, sometimes considerably, sometimes with little impact.  IMO, no matter good the base, it won't provide you with a BIR curry with that smell and taste if the final dish isn't cooked right.  You'll end up with just another home made curry.

[Cory Ander]

The base is only part of the jigsaw, as we all know.  As long as it's half decent, right consistency, right taste (don't ask me to define that one  ) it's then down to what you do with it.  That's what really counts ;D.  But i think now, most of us on here are well aware of that :-X

I think you should choose your words more wisely CH.  You sometimes seem to be speaking on behalf of too many people! 

I, for one, think that it is MUCH more to do with the base than you portray! 

Having said that, it really depends on which yardstick you are using to measure your curries against.....

[curryhell]

The base is only part of the jigsaw, as we all know.  As long as it's half decent, right consistency, right taste (don't ask me to define that one  ) it's then down to what you do with it.  That's what really counts ;D.  But i think now, most of us on here are well aware of that :-X

I think you should choose your words more wisely CH.  You sometimes seem to be speaking on behalf of too many people! 

I, for one, think that it is MUCH more to do with the base than you portray! 

Having said that, it really depends on which yardstick you are using to measure your curries against.....

Point taken CA and post amended :.  And i agree base has huge potential to impact on finished dishes.  But IMO, mastering the technique is paramount and any good base will help you to do this.  Playing with bases will just result in going round in circles, as some people have done until the basics are second nature.  As for yardstick, everybody has their own, mine will obviously be my local BIR's and what they produce.  It's what i like and it's all i want to replicate, until i find something better of course  ;D

[Cory Ander]

Here's what I think (for what it's worth):

The base is paramount to achieving the fundamental background BIR taste and smell.  I don't believe a decent BIR curry will be made without a good base.

"Proper cooking" of the spices (some might say "singing" - to extract their volatile oils) is paramount to achieving the fundamental taste and smell.  I don't believe a decent BIR curry will be made without it.

The use of ancillary ingredients (e.g. capsicum, garlic, ginger, tomato paste, dried fenugreek, fresh coriander, salt.....stock?) just adds nuances (and readily recognisable tastes and flavours) to the BIR taste and smell.

The problem for me, I am absolutely certain, is that if you put my curries alongside the best BIR curries of the 1970s and 1980s, they would pale in comparison (though my wife disagrees..I just asked her!).  But I know it's true.

To me, it is true, that this forum has been more focused on the base.  "Technique", though often mentioned, has never been well (if at all) defined (in my opinion).

I am glad to see that you (the, so called, 'Fantastic Five" have put an emphasis on this).

To be honest, it has always been there and, obviously so, it has always been important to cook the spices optimally (whether cooking traditional Indian or BIR dishes).

And, to be fair, it has been mentioned often.  In fact, to give credit to Andy (of RCR fame), he repeatedly pushed the importance of "fusing" the spices with the tomato puree at the early stages of cooking.  Similarly, Pat Chapman has always emphasised the importance of the "bhoona" process (i.e. frying of powdered spices).  Perhaps not enough emphasis has been placed on this for newcomers to easily grasp and appreciate (sorry if that sounds degoratory, I don't mean it to be so).

[George]

Having been pottering around in the kitchen for some 6 hours off and on, I was totally intoxicated with curry smells to the extent that my senses were well and truly blunted by the end of the session.

The above point has often been made in the past and I'm sure it has much validity. You were in the kitchen at Fleet for a good few hours, with many more dishes being cooked. When you sat down to enjoy the dishes you'd prepared, did you feel that your senses were "well and truly blunted" then? Perhaps that's why somebody said you were all a bit speechless, when you sat down to eat.