Homemade Curry. What do you use?

[Apial]

Absolutely, using individual spices.

Don't know if still available, but these books attempt to reproduce restaurant-style curries, RJ is in both, Patia only in the 1st:

The Curry Club's Indian restaurant Cookbook- Pat Chapman

The Curry Secret (Indian Restaurant Cookery At Home)- Kris Dhillon

The Curry Secret is available on the Kindle and it is highly recommended.

 

[Dieselman]

Next doors Dog.

 

[ChrisA]

Indian Groceries from Spices of India

Start from scratch with plenty of onion, ginger and garlic. Throw in a load of fresh Coriander leaves near the end.

There are some excellent products from the above link

 

[ChrisA]

Serves:
4

Preparation Time:
30 Minutes.

Cooking Time:
1 Hour

Ingredients:
500g Boneless Chicken (cut into small cubes)
2 Medium Onions (300g)
8-10g Ginger
3 Medium Garlic Cloves
4 cherry tomatoes
1/2 Small Green Pepper
6 tbsp Veg/Olive Oil
1/2 tsp Turmeric
6 tsp (40g) Universal Curry Paste
1/2 tsp Chilli Powder
3-4 Green Cardamom
2 Bay Leaves (optional)
Fresh Coriander

Instructions:
Stage 1 - Puree:

1. Cut 1 onion and the tomatoes into 1/4 s, and chop the green pepper, ginger (peeled), 1 garlic clove, green chilli (if using) and a little coriander.

2. Put the above in a small sauce pan together with 4 tbsp oil, 1/2 tsp turmeric, salt and cup of warm water (around 200/ 250 ml) and cover with lid.

3. Gently boil the vegetables until soft (approximately 15-20 mins), stirring occasionally.

4. When cooked place in a blender to make into puree.

Stage 2 - Curry:

1. Heat 2 tbsp of oil (moderate heat) in a medium sized sauce pan.

2. Add 2 crushed garlic cloves, cardamom and the bay leaves (if using) and slowly fry until the garlic is golden.

3. Add rest of the onions (finely sliced) with salt and cook to soften (stirring regularly).

4. Add Mr Huda's Universal Curry Paste, chilli powder and the rest of the chopped tomatoes and cook for 1-2 mins (stirring continuously).

5. Add the chicken and the puree with a little warm water (around 100/125 ml), bring to boil and leave to simmer gently 15 - 20 minutes.

6. Once cooking is nearly over add the chopped coriander and leave the curry to settle for 10-15 minutes. Before serving, remove the bay leaves and any excess oil.

Tips: If you wish to make the dish spicier simply add extra chilli powder when adding the curry paste:

3 teaspoons of chilli powder = Madras strength
5 teaspoons of chilli powder = Vindaloo strength


I substitute the veg oil with sesame oil for that toasted flavour

 

[Londonscottish]

For a good green chicken curry I use Bill Granger's recipe (from Bill Granger's Everyday Asian).

For red (prawn) curry I'm about to try the Jamie Oliver recipe.

In both cases you make the sauce from scratch.

 

[fredT]

my curry method

I'm not a big fan of recipes, I do like this.

Essentials: onions, garlic, ginger, ground cumin and coriander, chilli (fresh/powder/dried/flakes), salt, pepper

Then I add some, or all if you like, of the following: lemon juice, cloves, cardamom pods, cinnamon, curry leaves, turmeric, fennel seeds, star anise (careful, can be overpowering and gets bit sickly imho). I also like curry powder and garam masala so sometimes this goes in (both of these are a mix off different spices fyi)


Fry onions first for a few min then add garlic/ginger and spices and fry off for another few minutes. Fry in whatever fat you have to hand.

For a meat curry I add canned tomatoes, and for a fish curry I generally add canned coconut milk.

Plain rice for me normally as its only there to soak up the sauce, and I normally cant be ****d to make anything more elaborate. Cooking curry for me is normally cause I want something quick and easy. But pilau is easy enough to do as well, and saffron rice is stunning!

Tips.
Fresh coriander leaves finishes off your curry nicely.
You can buy minced garlic/ginger in jars. They keep well in the fridge and are great for a super quick curry.
Thai fish sauce is nice in fish curries
Careful when frying spices if you burn them you have to bin it and start over.
You can buy about a million other different spices to play around with, and the best place to buy is a Indian cash and carry/supermarket.


Curry is the easiest thing to cook. With a bit of practice following the above will be better then 99% of take-away curries.


Oh and invest in a couple of these for your spices. Makes it much easier to get all your spices out in one go!

 

[ChrisA]

For a really quick and tasty curry, Tesco ready made Chicken Tikka Masala, throw in a Wok, add your own extra spices and enjoy

 

[Dieselman]

For a really quick and tasty curry, Tesco ready made Chicken Tikka Masala, throw in a Wok, add your own extra spices and enjoy

Why use a Wok...can't you operate a microwave?

 

[ChrisA]

Why use a Wok...can't you operate a microwave?

Just a bit awkward throwing in the fresh coriander and chili's

 

[craig1912]

Some good recipes here

The Curry Guy - Great Curry Recipes Blog - Great Indian Food Recipes by The Curry Guy!

 

[developer]

Never had a curry in me lif.