My first curry!

runswithascript

So I've been eating bolongese most days for pretty much a month while I was learning to perfect it to my liking and now that it's done I'd like to move on to a curry.

Which one would you recommend and what exactly goes in it? Will I be buying curry powder or can you make the powder? I've no idea if curry is just a ground plant etc. Noodles or rice? Re: strenght - 6/7 out of 10 or weaker should be fine to start with.

I never got an overpowering taste of coconuts from Thai jars I bought in the supermarket and cooked but twice when I have ordered from DIEP At Home there was a horrible taste of coconuts that put me off.

So what do you think, korma, tikka masala, thai red or green or something else I've never heard of? Please share your recipe.

Ponster

I predict a 5+ page thread

While the bolongese recipe had pretty much the same ingredients in it, 'curry' is going to be a LARGE subject as there is no such thing as one recipe. It's like asking for a recipe for home-made hamburgers.

I personally never put curry power in curries. I use a mix of about 5/6 different spices which I grind, panfry, mix with the sauce and use to marinade the meat.

Best to maybe look up what a curry actually is (on wiki) for example.

WindSock

Personally I prefer to use curry paste instead of powder.

Honey-ec

This is for a Pakistani type curry - I love it as you can kind of forget about it while it's cooking and it's extremely low in fat due to the fact that the chicken cooks in the sauce and there's no coconut milk involved. The heat rating very much depends on how much chilli you add, but on the whole I would consider it quite a mild curry as the yoghurt has a cooling effect.

1.5 chicken fillets per person, diced
Tub natural yoghurt
1 inch piece of ginger
3 cloves garlic
Onion
Red & yellow peppers
Lemon juice
Turmeric
Cumin seed
Ground cumin
Chilli flakes
Salt & pepper

1. Peel the ginger & garlic and crush to a paste in pestle & mortar with a little coarse salt.

2. Combine this with the chicken, yoghurt and all the spices (adjust to your taste but 1 part turmeric & 1 part cumin seed to 3 parts ground cumin is a good guide) in a bowl and leave to marinade for as long as possible.

3. Roughly chop your peppers & onions and fry off in oil until softened, but not coloured. Add the chicken mixture, put on the lid and turn the heat right down. Just let it slow cook away there for a good hour or two - a cast iron "Le Creuset" style casserole dish is the best option for this.

4. About 5 minutes before serving, add the lemon juice.

Serve with rice & naan.

Ponster

This is the recipe I was referring to (from Jamie Oliver)

http://wellfed.typepad.com/well_fed/2005/12/jamie_olivers_c.html


Yes there are a lot of dried spices to purchase.
Yes there is a certain amount of work that goes into it.
Yes there is 2.5 hours of cooking besides the time spent to prepare everything.
Yes it is the greatest curry I have ever produced.


Now if I come home from work and feel like a fast, basic curry then it's just a case of frying some curry paste (never power) in a ittle oil, then added some chicken and cherry tomatoes and some water. Cook until chicken is cooked (15mins) then throw in some yoghurt and coriander.

OldGoat

Your first port of call is http://www.patchapman.co.uk/That is the home of 'The Curry Club' and it will take you through the first faltering steps of curry making. Read and enjoy. Then go to a good curry house to try out what you think will be appealing to you...I like Kinara on the Clontarf Road. Then go shopping for spices.
As for how hot to make a curry is entirly up to yourself. I prefer the highly spiced and fragrent rather then the 'volcanic' with just it's flavour of chilli powder. There is a curry for every pallet out there.
Perfect your rice cooking skills. Well cooked rice makes a curry and poorly cooked rice runes the meal. I add a little garam masala, some cloves and cinnimon and a few cardomon pods to the rice to flavour it. Just like curries there are dozens of rice recipes.
Garam masala is curry powder. It's the basic curry powder made up of 5 or more spices. You can buy garam ready made but you'll find that making your own to taste is much more pleasurable and it will keep fresh for about 12 months. You add the garam to whatever curry you are making and then add the secondary spices to the meal to take the flavour in whatever direction you prefer, hot or mild, fragerant or piquant.

E&OE. No time to edit.
[Salivating]OldGoat

Dizzyblonde

Here's my personal recipe for chicken curry - it's not as posh as the likes of Thai Green curry etc, but everyone who's tried it has loved it

CHICKEN CURRY
Diced chicken fillets (one per person)
3-4 onions
1 Large carrot or 1 red or yellow pepper, sliced
1-2 Cloves of garlic, crushed
1 dessertspoon of flour
3 tablespoons of medium curry powder
1 pint of hot water
1 chicken stock cube
1 Tablespoon of mango chutney
1 Tablespoon of lemon juice
1 Tablespoon of tomato purée
Oil for frying
Fry the onion and carrot or pepper in oil over a low heat until soft. Add the garlic and fry for a minute, then turn up the heat and add the chicken and fry until sealed.
Turn the heat down low and add the curry powder, cook for a few minutes. Sprinkle on the flour and stir until it’s absorbed. Then add the stock and stir well. Add the chutney, tomato puree and lemon juice and bring back to the boil. Simmer for around ½ hour. If it reduces too much, add some hot water, if it’s too thin turn up the heat and it will reduce.
Serve with some mango chutney on the side.

Honey-ec

Just to add, the guy in the Saturday market in Temple Bar is fantastic for buying whole spices. They're fresher and cheaper than the stuff you get in the super market and he really knows his stuff - if you tell him what kind of curry you're making he'll recommend exactly what spices you need for it and in what quantities.

Mountjoy Mugger

Thread of the Day?

How peculiar.

Minder

OldGoat wrote: »

Your first port of call is http://www.patchapman.co.uk/That is the home of 'The Curry Club' and it will take you through the first faltering steps of curry making.

Unfortunately all of Pat Chapmans cookbooks are full of faltering steps - he's made it a feature of his books. First make a spice blend, page 33, then turn it into a paste, page 35. Make a gravy masala page 23; make a stock, page 27. The recipe for the final curry is a list of references to other bits & bobs that makes the whole thing almost unworkable.

The most frustrating part of it is that the results are so good - the curry paste is unlike anything ever scooped out of a jar - hugely aromatic and full of flavour. The curries are well worth the effort, but what an effort - not a meal in a hurry.

OldGoat

Minder wrote: »

Unfortunately all of Pat Chapmans cookbooks are full of faltering steps - he's made it a feature of his books. First make a spice blend, page 33, then turn it into a paste, page 35. Make a gravy masala page 23; make a stock, page 27. The recipe for the final curry is a list of references to other bits & bobs that makes the whole thing almost unworkable.

The most frustrating part of it is that the results are so good - the curry paste is unlike anything ever scooped out of a jar - hugely aromatic and full of flavour. The curries are well worth the effort, but what an effort - not a meal in a hurry.

Each and every time he makes you turn to a different page you start to drool a little more. Never hurry a curry.

runswithascript

Thanks for all the info guys

I'm going to pick up a pestle and mortar and try a few of the suggestions before letting you know how I fare.