Base Gravy for BIR British Indian Restaurant style Curries - How to make base gravy

Base Gravy for BIR British Indian Restaurant style Curries - How to make base gravy
OK guys this is the way I make an awesome Base Gravy for my curries. Slightly unconventional but hey ho everyone makes a base their own way. Now, this is probably one of the most important building blocks to make great curries. My Base is NOT onion water this base has all the flavours required to make a fantastic curry at home. In This day and age knowledge and simplicity of cooking has helped us all evolve!
There a couple of unconventional methods and ingredients used - however, if made this way you will definitely find a pleasing result to kick start your journey in making curries at home.
Enough of the babble - watch how it all comes together - Unconventionally making an awesome Base Gravy for BIR Curries! This method I have used for years and have made thousands of curries.
Now if you are a veggie - don’t make the base this way make with veg stock.
NOTE: 400g TOMATO PUREE NOT 900G AS WORDED ON THE VID. But 900 g is ok for meat dishes - of course it is.
IF YOU ARE MAKING A BASE - NOT FOR YOU - AS A GENERAL BASE - FOR EVERYONE MAKE WITH A GOOD VEG STOCK.
IM A MEAT EATER (MOSTLY) AND THERE AINT ANYONE IN MY HOUSE EATS INDIAN - THANK GOODNESS!
There will be the thumbs down brigade that make a certain way - that's ok - and there will be those that make the same old same old not experimenting stay in the same box - that's ok too. Everyone makes different that's what its all about.
Now when we worked making curries in the business we made 4 different bases.
The base that we made for Korma DID NOT have any coriander or anything green in - therefore no colour change when mass producing Korma dishes.
How you doing - do not forget the Like 👍 + Share have a great day 😉
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ABOUT RIK
Rik's passion is Asian Food, Indian, Chinese and ESPECIALLY Thai. Travelling to Asia in 1995 - started the love affair of Asian cuisine.
Having chopped many a kilo of onions and working up to the pans in Indian (Bangladeshi) and Chinese takeaways and restaurant helped secure a little knowledge.
Living in Thailand for the last 17 years has helped discover and understand delicious Thai and Asian recipes, street foods and ingredients.
Rik likes nothing more than being on a bustling market or looking around street food stalls, being inspired and taking ideas back to the kitchen.
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Don't forget as with all recipes YOU have to taste along the way of cooking - all recipes may need adjusting to your own tastes. All recipes are full working recipes and as a base they are great - tailor to your own taste. Hope you enjoy cooking as much as i do.
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[@SpaceMonkey23101]

It's really interesting to see these techniques that you're sharing. I've never seen curries made in this way. I'm looking forward to giving these methods a go. Thanks very much.

[@allenbrown8158]

Rik I could kiss you I make some great curry sauces and in every one I put tomato sauce in them its a game changer.

[@stephenlittle7534]

Wow. I soo loved making my small batch of base. It lasted for 4 days only. I love making madras chicken. Yummy.

[@BackyardChef]

That's great. Thank you. Best, Rik

[@darlenebradley6756]

Loved this recipe and the extra knife talk! I have a drawer full of fancy knives that cost a lot of money, but my favorites are the ones I bought from The Dollar Tree! I have a stone and sharpen them regularly (learned how to do that from a YT video) and they do everything the expensive ones do. I think a good bit of the quality of a knife rests in the hands of the person using it. I don't have a stick blender, but am in shopping mode. I make a lot of soups that require puree and a stick blender would certainly save time and be simpler than batching in a counter top blender.

[@BackyardChef]

Thank you. Best, Rik

[@RC-Antics-JM]

i always put ketchup in my curry sauces - and sometimes brown sauce. Game changer when i started that

[@BackyardChef]

Yes, agreed. Best, Rik

[@tac5399]

Lovely

[@stephenturton5397]

Can't wait to give this base gravy a try, looks amazing, really nice colour 👍👍

[@BackyardChef]

Thank you. Best, Rik

[@trinitywright7122]

I can only imagine how good this is.

[@BackyardChef]

😊 Thank you. Best, Rik

[@kirsiselei8703]

Great recipe❤. I will definately make this. Thx for showing this recioe👍💕👋🇫🇮

[@BackyardChef]

My pleasure 😊Best, Rik

[@elayjayudny9741]

Thanks so much for this. I’m doing an Indian night for friends on Friday and wanted to include a veggie curry, so I shall use your recipe just without the chicken. By the way, about knives, Ken Hom says he only uses one large sharp cleaver for everything and it hasn’t done him any harm! If you don’t already have a favourite onion Bhaji recipe I can recommend Mridula Baljekar’s . Best wishes from Lynette in Scotland

[@BackyardChef]

Thank you. Best, Rik

[@fernmeadow20]

Wow Rik… I’ve made curries for the last 50 year but never used ketchup just tomato sauce and paste but I’m going to cook along with your video one day and test this out. I love learning new things. I’ll come back at a later date and tell you out of 10 what I think. You can tell I’ve watched a lot of competition cooking shows lol. Luv u… love your vids

[@BackyardChef]

Thank you. Best, Rik

[@btjmrp]

Ketchup is called tomato sauce.

[@thaisstone5192]

@@btjmrp Not in America.

[@pixie3760]

I could almost smell this. It looks amazing. I'm going to try the tomato too, sounds really interesting . Lets go❗❗

[@BackyardChef]

Hope you enjoy. Thank you. Best, Rik

[@Chris-ut6eq]

Wow, whole new way of making curry to me. I like to make batches and use later so I'll have to figure out how to scale this down to a one person household, but trial and error is fine. There can be bad curries, but usually it's just a matter of slightly more or less desirable. I'll have to re-watch this a few times and scale things back to about 2-3quart (USA still uses ancient British measures), but love to make 6-10servings (2k-4kml) and freeze anything not needed that day.

[@BackyardChef]

Thank you, Best, Rik

[@stephenhill3861]

Wow very nice 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧

[@BackyardChef]

A good base gravy - not 100% BIR like my other video - but as you say very nice, Thank you

[@Calcouk]

Slice of pan loaf and a few spoons of base gravy .. the chef's lunch done! Now back to work.

[@BackyardChef]

Sounds great! Best, Rik

[@johnraisbeck9756]

Amazing! Never realized how it was made!

[@BackyardChef]

John there is another base gravy on here too! Just search base gravy. Best, Rik

[@johnraisbeck9756]

@@BackyardChef will do and thank you!

[@TheJellyBabyxxxx]

Loved watching your video! I use tomato ketchup in all my homemade Asian sauces. It's fab in Chinese sauces. It's a game changer & never too bitter. Then top up with some tomato puree, depending on the sauce I'm making. I don't use tomato puree in Chinese sauces. In Chinese sauces I often add some pineapple juice instead of sugar. I never liked sickly sweet & sour or very sweet chilli sauce. So, as pineapple adds flavour too, I only need the juice of an average tin for home cooking size. Add 2 generous dessert spoons of tomato ketchup & it never fails. No need for compressed palm sugar. I can't stand it in cooking. If I need to add a bit more sugar, a bit of normal granulated sugar is fine.

[@BackyardChef]

Sounds great! Well done you! Thank you. Best, Rik

[@richcurtis813]

Great! I'm going to do a smaller batch with a few chicken wings. Never used ketchup in a base, but plenty of times in dishes, so looking forward to see what that's like too👍

[@BackyardChef]

Ketchup is a fantastic cooking ingredient that people get hung up on. If tried it works in a lot of things. There are many that hate it

[@deirdrelewis1454]

OK I’m used to making Cape Malay curries, never had BIR curries so I’ll have to try making one. I definitely don’t use a stock base in mine.

[@BackyardChef]

No you wont. Only the bir way. Best, Rik

[@Eris123451]

I still remember when I used to go to our local takeaway and if we were really lucky and their mum was helping out and we'd get a proper curry to die for; living in Oldham and at 67 I can still remember when the curries here were absolutely lovely. These days not really so much and they all taste pretty much the same no matter what you order. We've gone off them a bit to be honest.

[@BackyardChef]

Times change. All the old guys have moved on - all the younger ones think they can cook. The industry as we knew it is fading. Thank you. Best, Rik

[@Eris123451]

@@BackyardChef You as well.

[@ekramrazaq7883]

Cool video! We make the same about if grabby every day here but probably use half the amount of tomato’s maybe just one can so ours is slightly more bland and yellow. How does this affect the taste of the more coconut dishes like korma?

[@BackyardChef]

Hey Ekram how you doing mate thanks for dropping in. For all curries its excellent as i think you would know that. Tikka Massala perfect - Korma The taste of korma not really effected sugar coconut carnation cream whatever colour wise YES it can be a little less yellow but if a tad turmeric is used (only a tad) it changes and there is always a dip of yellow colour when all the carnation or cream is added there are working ways around everything! I will make a Korma in the next few weeks now we have started with this part of the channel. Now i will confess i have always hated making Korma - love eating it! Where as Madras et etc i love making. Use 400g Tom Puree Not 900 as indicated - big typo there! sorry about that but thanks for bringing my attention to it. much appreciated. There are some spelling mistakes on there too! Still learning.

[@BackyardChef]

Ekram ive just cooked a Korma sauce now with it being Chefs spoon Coconut flour, level chefs spoon sugar carnation milk and about 1/2 a ladle of base it was a yellow but a slight orange (if being honest) - knock down the tomato puree to 400g if making for the takeaway. Should be OK

[@dlsolof]

It’s hard to watch this when you’re hungry 🤤

[@BackyardChef]

Noodles?

[@dlsolof]

@@BackyardChef noodles?

[@BackyardChef]

@@dlsolof quick dish with noodles

[@andrewmitchell8859]

Rik when I do bolognese sauce I always smash it with Tomato ketchup secret ingredient, world of difference 😊👍🏻

[@BackyardChef]

Agreed! One of the best ingredients in the kitchen and all those who say it isn't don't know how to cook. Well done! Thank you. Best, Rik

[@coolerkin]

I usually use blended tinned tomatoes.... I may try the tommy k but 900gms is not a lot considering you're making 25 litres of base gravy

[@BackyardChef]

Thank you. Best. Rik

[@lemonloungebarrestaurant5885]

I use AL,S kitchen method, very different mate

[@BackyardChef]

Up to you. No probs. Thank you. Best. Rik

[@gdlivo3353]

I'm in the middle of making a 1:10 quantity (1.5 kg onions with everything else scaled by a ratio of 10 as well). I'll post pictures in the other place. In the absence of your actual dish videos at this point, I'll make a standard Chicken Madras and a basic curry lamb dish (not sure what yet) a mixed vegetable curry and a Bombay Aloo. I'm looking forward to yet another set of BIR dishes to play with. Thanks for posting your videos.

[@BackyardChef]

Awesome - Just remember this is NOT a veggie base. Its my base i prefer for my curries - but it does make an awesome Chicken Madras along with all the ingredients in the curry obviously.

[@BackyardChef]

There will be a 100% bir base as i was taught 30 yrs ago on the site next!

[@gdlivo3353]

@@BackyardChef Yep. I'm not a veggie so it's fine. Looks the goods to me. Just doing some pre cooked chicken and lamb now.

[@BackyardChef]

@@gdlivo3353 I have just posted a standard bir base as well now - so if you waould like to compare that is up to you. I prefer mine for my meat curries. It has a fuller flavour when i cook. That is subjective though. Hope it turns out ok - waiting to here the results!

[@gdlivo3353]

@@BackyardChefHi Chef. I've been a bit delayed. More of the usual stuff happened today. Well, it wasn't really all that usual. It happens every time and I rarely ever get through a whole curry cook start to finish in a day. I didn't really start till 10.00 am and let's just say there were a few interruptions. Anyway, I've got your Base Gravy and Mixed Powder ready to go. I've done 1.5 kg of MR's pre-cooked chicken breast fillet and about a kg of his pre-cooked lamb (leg steaks picked up cheap this arvo). Tomorrow night's dinner will definitely be worth the delay. I'm looking forward to it and it gives me time to do my own naan instead of using toasters from the supermarket. i haven't had a good curry night for a while so this is a real treat. I've been growing my own Chillis over summer and I have heaps on the ripen. I have about 20 varieties including a few Indians so I'm going to do some experimentation. Purple Naga Jolokia, Rajah, Lal Mirch, Bayadgi, Mettupalayam, and about 4 differently sourced Kashmiri to try. I wont get to try them all tomorrow but the next week looks good. The Naga Jolokias are very tasty but they have a nasty bite if you touch the wrong places after handling them. I learnt that lesson pretty quick.

[@gdlivo3353]

Hey Rik, I managed to buy a Thai made Kiwi Brand knife yesterday. Same shape as the one you're using. Really cheap and a brilliant knife. I'll be back in the city in a few weeks and I've located a shop that stocks these even cheaper still. I'll be buying a few. I also made a few more curries with this base. Really good even though I took the shortcut of using spice pastes.

[@BackyardChef]

Good all round I say Greg. I Will be making a curry today with this base. The only thing with the cheaper knives - if you use them for a long time and sharpen regularly the blades do tend to change shape. That is with a lot of use obviously. I have a few of the same knife to be fair - and they go through their paces.

[@gdlivo3353]

@@BackyardChef You can go through a lot of $4 knives in place of 1 that cost you over $100 though can't you? I just like the feel of it as its nice and light and chopping onion doesn't seem like a lot of work. I've warned my wife as she hates sharp knives.

[@BackyardChef]

@@gdlivo3353 High Quality are usually high quality and a bit thicker on the blade. The cheaper ones are easier to use if cutting a large amount of onions. As you say Greg you can go through a lot of cheap knives and over a long period of time before it amounts to the one expensive knife.

[@ijmc68]

Hi Rik, just a quick question regarding scaling down. I’ve got a 8 litre pot so I’m guessing that equates to roughly 8 kg of onions. So do I just roughly half all the rest of the ingredients?

[@BackyardChef]

Hi Ian sorry for the late reply time difference (Thailand) - that will be a very good starting point - That will work!

[@ijmc68]

@@BackyardChef Thanks Rik. I think you mentioned in one of your videos that someone had emailed you. Would it be easier if I emailed you with any further questions?

[@BackyardChef]

@@ijmc68 I dont have an issue either way Ian - no problems

[@ijmc68]

@@BackyardChef Thanks Rik. Where do I find your email address?

[@BackyardChef]

@@ijmc68 Ian click on the about button on the main home page - that will open up and then scroll down only a little way its says email - you have to click on it to show you are not a robot etc

[@cancelmipeggy]

Put a piece of bread hanging out of your mouth when cutting onions.. I stops the spray from reaching your eyes

[@BackyardChef]

Thank you. Best, Rik