Curry?

[COTSBOE]

I love to eat it, but I've never tried making it. In fact, without looking up a recipe somewhere I wouldn't even know how to start.

Who's our resident expert?

[marmalade]

Not me.

I tried to make Saag Paneer once, and it turned into brown sludge reminiscent of Godzilla vs, the Smog Monster (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067148/).

[silverwhisper]

i have a recipe, will try to find & post it when i can.

what particular type of curry do you like? my own recipe is highly inauthentic but quite tasty, if i do say so myself.

[BattleNymph]

I make a pretty good yellow curry. I'll see if I can find my recipe in the boxes somewhere. :)

[Hitcher]

To prepare this curry, you make a sauce from vegetables and spices first, then add the meat and stew it. The sauce is then thickened with yoghurt, and the sweetness of the curry is balanced with a little sour lime juice. Takes 30 minutes to prepare, 1-2 hours to cook.

Ingredients
4-6 medium tomatoes
1 medium onion
4 tbsp vegetable oil
1in piece root ginger
2 garlic cloves
1-2 mild green chillies
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp ground turmeric
salt and freshly ground black pepper
100ml/3½fl oz water
1 free-range chicken, jointed into 8 pieces, or 8 thighs and/or drumsticks
2 tbsp yoghurt
1 lime (or lemon)
a small bunch of coriander leaves
cooked rice, to serve

Method
1. To skin the tomatoes, nick the skin of each tomato with the point of a sharp knife, then put the tomatoes in a bowl next to the sink and pour over some very hot water from the kettle to cover. Count to 20, then carefully pour away the water. When the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, peel away the skin, halve the tomatoes, squeeze out most of the pips and juice into an empty bowl, and discard. Chop the flesh roughly and put it down on a plate to one side.
2. Peel and finely chop the onion. Fry the onion in the vegetable oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over low to medium heat for about ten minutes, stirring from time to time so that it turns an even golden brown. Watch carefully to make sure it doesn't burn.
3. Meanwhile, peel and finely chop the ginger and the garlic.
4. Slit the chilli using a sharp knife. Slice the flesh away from the cluster of seeds in the middle. Avoid touching any part of the chilli with your fingers if you can, as it is very easy to get chilli in your eyes, and that will sting. You can use a fork to hold the chilli down or wear rubber gloves. Chop the chilli finely.
5. Measure the ground spices into a teacup. Add the ginger, garlic and chilli to the pan, stir them around and fry for another minute or so. If you want your curry to be hot as well as spicy, include some or all of the chilli seeds. Then add the spices in the cup into the onions. Fry the spices for a minute or two, stirring all the time so that they do not stick. Add some salt and freshly ground black pepper.
6. Pour in the water and the tomatoes, bring to the boil, turn down the heat a little and let the sauce simmer for 5-10 minutes.
7. Add the chicken pieces to the pan and stir them around so they are covered with the sauce. Put the lid on the pan, turn the heat down and let the chicken cook for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Chicken thighs will take longer to cook than breast pieces.
8. Now add the yoghurt to the chicken and stir it in. When the sauce is gently bubbling again, scoop up a little in a teaspoon, blow it cool and taste it. The sauce will probably taste quite sweet because of the tomatoes. Cut the lime in half and squeeze its juice into the sauce. Stir and taste again, and decide whether you want to add the second half.
9. Finally, chop the fresh coriander leaves and sprinkle them on to the curry just before you serve it with the rice.

I should warn you - curry has a very pungent spicy smell while it's cooking, some people can't handle it.

On the side, you'll want some plain yogurt, sliced bananas, roasted peanuts and some chutney - I like a nice mango chutney. Put some on your plate next to the curry, it's really good.

[Hitcher]

BattleNymph, I found a vegetarian curry you might like to try.

Ingredients
4-6 portions cooked rice
dairy or soya natural yoghurt, to serve

For the curry sauce:
6oz green lentils
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 large onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
1-3 tbsp curry powder
1 red and 1 green pepper, stalk and seeds removed, and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 x 14oz cans chopped tomatoes
1 heaped tbsp tomato purée
½ pint vegetable stock (make with a stock cube or bouillon powder)
4oz frozen peas
3 tbsp vegetarian pesto
6oz mushrooms, wiped and quartered
1 zucchini, chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
1. Place the green lentils in a large bowl and pour boiling water over them. Leave to soak for 30 minutes. (Alternatively, buy a tin of pre soaked lentils.) Drain.
2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion and garlic together with the curry powder, until the onions are softening.
3. Add the peppers, carrots and drained green lentils and cook for 5 minutes, stirring all the time. Add the tomatoes, purée, stock, peas and pesto, bring to the boil and simmer until the lentils are tender (about 30 minutes). Add the mushrooms and zucchini and simmer for 5 minutes more.
4. Season to taste.
5. Add a swirl of dairy or soya natural yoghurt and serve with cooked rice.

[COTSBOE]

i have a recipe, will try to find & post it when i can.

what particular type of curry do you like? my own recipe is highly inauthentic but quite tasty, if i do say so myself.


I'm no curry connoisseur...whatever the run of the mill stuff is that they serve in your average local Indian restaurant is fine with me. What sorts of distinctions are there?


Thanks for the recipe, Hitcher.

[Hitcher]

Thanks for the recipe, Hitcher.
You're welcome. Stay away from the vindaloos.

[COTSBOE]

I tried the Chicken Curry recipe this evening (though I substituted pork tenderloin because my wife doesn't know how to read a shopping list...). It turned out relatively well, all things considered.

[Dreamweaver]

I will post a variety of recipes that I have.. i will admit that I have a few different cookbooks devoted to curry.. oh yum

[Dreamweaver]

actually I will give the title of one of my fav curry cookbooks. mangoes & curry leaves. (http://www.amazon.com/Mangoes-Curry-Leaves-Culinary-Subcontinent/dp/1579652522/sr=8-1/qid=1172012126/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-5730414-5618856?ie=UTF8&s=books)

[marmalade]

I made Hitcher's Chicken Curry this weekend with a few modifications ala Chimaera. It turned out really well. Mr. marmalade thought the recipe was a keeper. Next time, I think I'll try it with tilapia or shrimp.

[COTSBOE]

I made Hitcher's Chicken Curry this weekend with a few modifications ala Chimaera. It turned out really well. Mr. marmalade thought the recipe was a keeper. Next time, I think I'll try it with tilapia or shrimp.


That looks delicious.

[COTSBOE]

Chim, I'm trying your Butter Chicken recipe again tomorrow night. It just looks too good to abandon because of one failed attempt.

[COTSBOE]

Okay, maybe if you're around Chim I can save this...

I have the sauce "done" (it's sitting in my food processor right now). It looks perfect; but the taste is too tomato-ey. I added a bit of chili powder to mask it, but don't want to put any more in...and I fear that if I add any more cream it will overwhelm the dish.

Any suggestions?

[COTSBOE]

Thanks, Chim. I got your advice a little late, but it worked out alright. I don't think I had enough tamarind syrup in the sauce, and it probably could have taken a little bit more cream, too. Nevertheless, it was markedly better than the last attempt.