Topic: condensed milk in base gravy

[stetip]

Is the purpose of condensed milk in the base just for sweetness
in the finished dish or is it used to thicken the sauce.
The reason i'm asking is i made a base over the weekend and
added some condensed milk to see what results i would get.
I made a dhansak which was good and a madras which was ok
but the base seemed to thicken up more than i was used to.
I've only made two bases previously and would like some info
regarding this addition.

cheers

Steve

[Stephen Lindsay]

Steve

Condensed milk is not one of the common items found in a base. Indeed some people think that a finished base should not be thick but quite liquid. I don't really use condensed milk in any recipe either, apart from being combined with coconut and ground almonds to make a filling for peshwari naan.

Do you mean you added condensed milk to your curry? If that's the case then the condensed milk could have a thickening effect of the sauce. However the usual way to thicken a sauce is to reduce it down (like they do in contemporary non Indian cookery) to the required consistency.

I've never heard of condensed milk in a Dhansak or Madras but maybe others have?

[stetip]

Steve,
The condensed milk was in the base gravy not the actual curry dish.
The base was thin in texture like thin soup. It just seemed to thicken up quickly
at the frying stage so i had to keep adding more base to maintain the consistency.

steve

[Stephen Lindsay]

Steve

Condensed milk would thicken most things I think - see what it does when combined with sugar to make tablet! It could be having a similar effect on your base but as i said in terms of base ingredients it's a new one to me.

Steve

[jb]

I'm not sure about condensed milk but the recent video footage from CBM confirms that Carnation Evaporated milk is definitely used by at least one BIR chef.

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=8242.0


It's a new gravy ingredient to me,not sure what it's intended purpose is,maybe to add a bit of sweetness just as some chefs add palm sugar(jaggery).

[Curry Barking Mad]

For those who may not be aware of the base gravy used by Shah in some of my previous videos,
he also used Evaporated milk in his base.
Cheers,
Mick

[stetip]

Big penny just dropped. Used condensed milk instead of evaporated milk. New something wasn't quite right.
I will make a new base and scrap this one. Thats why you guys are here to help.
Cheers lads

Steve.

[CardiffCurrylad]

I was speaking to the owner of a take away whilst the meal was being cooked and I asked him what he puts into his base. The reply was identical to the recipe that cbm has videoed. I asked him for a tray of his base to take home to which he obliged and to be honest it did taste really good and yes the carnation milk adds a slight sweetish taste, the base also had a slight kick of the fresh chillies that he added.

[Aussie Mick]

I added some evaporated milk to the base I made at weekend after watching CBM's video.

It certainly adds something. I can't categorically state what. I wouldn't stress if I didn't add any to my next base, but if there is some at hand, I will probably use it again.

Didn't thicken up though. Quite the opposite. Took a lot longer to thicken, or maybe I am making my bases runnier now with more experience...I don't know.

[loveitspicy]

Do we think that maybe the evaporated milk used is to make the base a little more creamier - lets face it - it isnt that sweet to make a huge difference to the sweetness - albeit a little bit - i would agree

Creamier

best, Rich