I seek the knowledge of a Curry Master.

[General Ludd]

I've been wanting to learn how to cook good curry for a while now. I've tried a few recipes from a couple cook books I have, but they always turn out bland and have no kick or flavour. So I've started experimenting on my own and improvising as I go along.


I was a bit short on groceries tonight, but I had enough to try making a base curry sauce. I used chopped plum tomatos for the base with liberal amounts of garlic and freshly grated ginger, along with some chopped Shallots and ground Cayenne, Cinamon, and Cumin.

It turned out pretty good - nice flavour and a bit of a kick to it, but it was still missing alot, I can tell. First, I would rather of used large tomatos and peeled them (and perhaps grilled them) and a bit of freshly squeezed lemon juice would of been nice, too. Since this was just an experiment, I didn't put anything in the sauce, but I'm thinking some tofu (substitute for paneer, to keep it vegan) and some nice crisp peppers would do good. I have alot of trouble finding good peppers, though. Grocery stores seem to be limited to boring ol' bell peppers and similiar things. But I'm sure if I knew what to ask around for, I could find it. Any suggestions for a good pepper to use?

And herbs. I have no idea about what herbs would be good in a curry. Cilantro is all I can think of, but that's a bit dominating and not really suitable for the rest of the ingrediants, I think. Suggestions?


Ideas for spiced-rice are also welcome.

[st_swithin]

Fenugreek and fresh cilantro (coriander) add a nice bit o' flavour to the curry. I'd go easy on the garlic and ginger if you still want to taste the curry. Coconut milk in very, very small amounts is good, but balance it with something less sweet, otherwise you end up with a dessert.

Saffron for the rice if you're feeling like you need to spend money, or a tiny bit of salt, tomato, and leek if not.

[GePap]

Well, kick wise, can't you find any fresh cillies (specially ones common in india?) and use a bi of them?

[The Mad Monk]

Garam Masala is the base of all good indian cooking.

[molly bloom]

Always use fresh spices- if you're going to use cumin, then get cumin seeds, roast them until they start to give off that lovely smokey perfume, then take them off the heat and grind them. Same with mustard seeds, and coriander seeds.

Turmeric for that deep yellow colour, but not too much as it can taste acrid. But never use it as a substitute for saffron.

Asafoetida used sparingly will give depth to the other flavours.

If you're going to make a curry with a milk or coconut milk thickened sauce, then make sure you steep the meat or chicken or vegetables in the spiced milk for at least 4 hours beforehand, or preferably overnight. Same with using tamarind or pomegranate juice- it helps the meat cook, and you'll get lovely tender morsels rather than dry chunks.

For herbs, then you can't go wrong with coriander/cilantro- it has that distinctive sligtly sopay taste and smell, and adds a wonderful fresh green colour to the dish. In the sauce, you could certainly put kaffir lime leaves, either whole, fresh, or dried, or ground, depending on the dish you're making.

Garam masala should also be made freshly, then stored in an airtight container in a cool dry place. It should be added to the dish just before serving, or at a late stage in the cooking. It can also be added to cold dishes, such as raitas.

If you'd like a few vegetarian/vegan recipes, let me know- Parsi Green Curry is very tasty, as is the Keralan dish Perakku. Nine Gem Rice, a Mughal dish, should satisfy your desire for a tasty rice dish, but requires a little more time in preparation and cooking.

I can certainly recommend 'Indian Vegetarian Cookery' by Jack Santa Maria, and Madhur Jaffery has also written a book on Eastern vegetarian cooking, covering the cuisines of several Asian countries.

[st_swithin]

The spice you put in Turkish coffee - green cardamom - that's pretty good too, but you can't use too much or it'll overpower everything else.

[Sarxis]

I've got a big bottle of curry, and I have no clue what to do with it.

Probably just throw it away. (not a cook)

[aaglo]

My suggestions:

Add some cayenne pepper
Add some sugar (no, I'm not kidding)
Add some coconut milk

[Bosh]

Bah! The only real curries are SE Asian. They're sooooo much better, especially ones with diced pineapple and mango, coconut milk, peanuts, lots of potatoes, bamboo shoots and maybe some basil...

[MikeH]

Here's the method I use for an indian (kinda/ish not really) curry, not exactly authentic but tastes great.

To start with get the spices (Cumin, Coriander, chilli, turmeric as a minimum. Either experiment with a mix yourself or get a recipe book for proportions. I have a fairly good idea of how large a pour of each I need... As Molly says fresh spices roughly crushed yourself work much better) Cook them in hot oil until they start to go black.

Add loads of really finely chopped onions, cook that until it's basically a mush of onion and spices. Now add meat (if you want meat in it) brown that off in the hot oil (should pick up the colour from the turmeric in the spices as well). Turn the heat down a little bit and add fresh chilli and garlic. (I'd suggest 1 clove of garlic per person).

Add whatever veg you want (peppers, mushrooms etc) stir around for a bit.

At this point you need something to make the sauce. If you want tomato base add some tomato. I'd go for a lot of tomato puree, lemon juice (vinegar if you haven't got any but it's not as good) and something sweet. Honey is great, sugar if you haven't got anything better.

At that point I might chuck in a few cardomom pods and a few cloves, depending on how I feel. don't eat those though.

Right before serving add a load of fresh chopped coriander.

Serve with Basmati rice, makes a lot of difference. I use brown basmati these days which is even better.

[Cruddy]

"Kah'r'ee" (Hindi; Verb; To eat)

Yep, it's a Hindu word, bastardized by us Brits.

All good suggestions here - Garam Masala is a blend of spices all ready mixed. The basics are Coriander seeds ground up (fresh coriander leaves are a herb a little like parseley in flavour), cumin seeds again ground up, and chilli powder (ground red chillis).

What I generally do is slice some onions and garlic and add spices to that. You can do it the other way round - cooking reduces the flavour of the spices but some dishes are better for it.

What else? Mustard seeds can add a different texture, although they're a bit like mini-popcorn - tend to blow up and leap out the pan.

So, my advice - get a tin of garam masala and a few other spices (the yellow colour is tumeric - earthy flavour but a stain like a Bhuddist monk's robe) and experiment along these lines.

Maybe one day you'll feel confident enough to try cooking Ra'an - 2 days work.

Finally, yoghurt. Natural, unflavoured yoghurt, thickens up sauces and helps take a little of the fire from the chilli.

Chilli for heat - if you don't like hot curries, don't add the chilli.

[Rogan Josh]

The secret to Indian cooking is to start by cooking the spices in a little oil before you add anything else.

[General Ludd]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

About the sugar: That's why i put cinamon in, to make it sweet without being sugary.


Are fresh spices are to find? The grocery stores I've looked in usually have a very limited amount... but I never really bothered looking at all the different kinds they have. (aside from parsley and cilantro)

[Rogan Josh]

I don't know where you live, but in Europe you can buy the spices already mixed together in a paste form - look for curry pastes in your local store. It is a cheat, but they are not expensive (one jar lasts for ages) and it makes really nice curries with no effort at all - just fry the past, chuck in the ingrediants (meat & veggies), maybe some cream and viola.

[General Ludd]

Yeah, I've had curry pastes before. I want to cook my own though, and the pastes are never quite what I want anyways.

EDIT: And there's no comparison once you've tasted real curry, cooked in an indian restaurant.