Learning the hard way!!!

[Ali123]

Got my thermomix late yesterday afternoon, and decided to venture forward and make the lemonade, which at the demo, both me and my 2 boys adored. It all got drunk last night needless to say!! So today I decided to have a whole afternoon of getting to know my TM. Made a loaf of bread, some chocolate mousse and the tikka paste, which I had read about a few months ago. It sounded so yummy!! The bread was great, the chocolate mousse was great but the paste was a real disappointment. It was so salty. Had to swallow my pride and send it to the recycling bin as I knew I would never use it. The recipe stated 30g of salt, which I felt was alot, but decided I had to do it by the book. I feel a little deflated now, as instead of saving me money (which I had hoped) it has now cost me alot of money for a product that has now gone to waste. I know it's a learning curve, and next time I will adjust the amount of salt considerably, but does this happen to other TM owners?

[andiesenji]

That sounds like a lot of salt.  That is equivalent to 2 tablespoons (American) of salt. 
This is the amount I use in 6 quarts of water for cooking pasta. 

I haven't looked at that particular recipe  but I do make sambal paste and my recipe only uses half a teaspoon  which is about 2.5 grams.

[Ali123]

Yes, as I was pouring it in I felt it was alot, but thought who am I to know better! I am not known for my culinary skills, hence purchasing a TM! I know everyone has different tastes, but the salty taste was just overpowering. 

[keiramax]

I'm still fairly new at the TM way of cooking.  I always check the reviews on the forum of new recipes before I begin cooking.  That way I can add the tweaks others have suggestion.

I've found salt and sugar seem to be over stated in a lot of recipes.  Also don't bin anything, especially pastes, before checking or asking for help here.  There is so much good advice on how to rescue disasters. 

I would have made another batch of paste minus the salt and mixed the two together - freeze the excess in portion sizes.

 

[andiesenji]

Yes, as I was pouring it in I felt it was alot, but thought who am I to know better! I am not known for my culinary skills, hence purchasing a TM! I know everyone has different tastes, but the salty taste was just overpowering. 

Maybe it was a misprint and should have been   3.0 grams. 

[Cuilidh]

Although it is a bit late now, making a second portion without salt then combining the two is a good suggestion from Keiramax, also checking for any reviews on here can be invaluable.  We alll have teething disasters - mine was not removing kombu (a sea weed) from a bean dish in the Vegetarian Cookbook so I ended up with a sea weed tasting meal.  The recipe failed to say to remove the kombu and as I was new to the TMX and had never used kombu before I ended up with a rather nasty tasting dish.  It also failed to say to either pre-cook the beans or at least pre-soak them - I thought it was odd but I am like you, following a new recipe to the letter ... needless to say, the beans were also very under cooked.  But now I know also to go with my instincts as well as what is in the recipe and (almost) everything turns out edible in the end.

Like anything new and different, cooking with the TMX is a learning curve, don't be discouraged, you'll get to grips with it very quickly.  I'm cooking all sorts of things I had never cooked before because of the TMX and it WILL save you money.  Perhaps not today, or this week, but in a month or so you will start to see the difference.

[Ali123]

Yes, good idea to make another batch minus the salt and combine. I have checked the recipe in several different places and they all say 30g. I was initially not going to bother again., Just thought - that's not nice. Not going to make that again, but I will, and alter it next time to my taste. Thank you all for your help.

[dede]

Don't panic to much about a disaster Ali, we have all been there and some that. I have made some recipes that we really didn't like at all and thought it was such a waste of ingredients. TM or no TM we all have moments like that.
Sometimes it's a bit of a trial and error and you need to follow your instincts.

[CreamPuff63]

yep the 30g is correct. Here is the recipe. Maybe someone who makes it regularly can offer some advice for next time?

[deedub]

I haven't found the tikka paste to be salty & I also follow recipes to the letter. Maybe the scales were acting up? Or it was the type of salt you were using? I think I used the pink Murray river salt, can't remember now....

[Katiej]

Did you make something with the Tikka Paste, like the butter chicken? Was it the end dish that was salty? Perhaps don't add extra salt to the dish you're making with the paste.

Or did you taste the actual paste? I've made the paste but I've never actually tasted it prior to making something with it, if you know what I mean!

I know if I tasted my stock concentrate it would be awfully salty and not very pleasant, but when you add it to recipes in small quantities it's nice.

[Ali123]

I didn't make anything with the tikka paaste, as I had seen a video on you tube where you could just use the paste to cover salmon, which is what I did. Ended up scraping it off the salmon as it was just so salty. It is all trial and error I guess. I am new to it all, so will definately try again. I did use a fresh onion, as I could not get hold of dried, but I don't think that would make it taste as salty as it did. However I will persevere and have another go.Thank you all for your help.

[judydawn]

Ali, why not make 1/2 the recipe next time - that will last you for a while anyway.  I freeze it in 100g packets.

[obbie]

dried onion is usually found in the Asian section at supermarkets, in a small plastic bottle. ( if this helps)

Robyn

[Cornish Cream]

I didn't make anything with the tikka paaste, as I had seen a video on you tube where you could just use the paste to cover salmon, which is what I did. Ended up scraping it off the salmon as it was just so salty. It is all trial and error I guess. I am new to it all, so will definately try again. I did use a fresh onion, as I could not get hold of dried, but I don't think that would make it taste as salty as it did. However I will persevere and have another go.Thank you all for your help.

Ali I use Whitworths Dried Onions in my Tikka Paste.Most of the major supermarkets stock them