curry chronicles

i like these food-type specific threads!

best new thread title

Looking forward to 'pudding ponderings'.
Also I think I'll be having curry tomorrow evening.

my friend gave me two bags, one of 'curry powder' and one of turmeric, I'm not sure how to use either of them

i'm about to write up a report on my fake vietnamese curry experiment

this was a great success and one way for dayo to use up his new bags.

i was thinking about this because i like always order curry at a vietnamese restaurant near me and i want to die every time because it's so good. then i saw the video for this recipe on the nyt website and on one hand i thought, "i could eat that" and on the other hand i thought, "this guy is totally phoning it in, that is so bland-looking." so i cruised through some recipes on the internet and looked at what vegetables i had and did this:

slice and dry-fry one pound of tofu*

start making rice

dice one onion
mince 2 garlic cloves and a 2-inch piece of ginger

cut up the following**:
1 sweet potato
1 zucchini
2 small carrots

you will also need:
1/2-3/4 cup frozen peas
one can of coconut milk
curry powder. i used this http://vietwah.com/Joomla/components/com_virtuemart/shop_image/product/fab54182fc7c87449f726b0e7cb3bec9.jpg
fenugreek
cayenne pepper
soy sauce
fish sauce
brown sugar

heat oil on medium-high heat and drop the onion, garlic, and ginger in. cook until the onion is brown. add *a lot* of curry powder. i started with like 3 tablespoons but i added about 2 more. note, however, my curry powder expired in 2010. do what you feel, but you do need a lot. stir it around for about 10 seconds to toast it. then dump in the cut-up vegetables, coconut milk, and about a cup of water. i also put some fenugreek in. let this simmer until the sweet potatoes are tender.

then add a few drops of fish sauce, a tablespoon of soy sauce, a teaspoon of brown sugar, the tofu, and the peas. add cayenne pepper to taste. mix until its even and cook for a few more minutes, until the peas are thawed and the tofu is heated through. it's done!

*tofu could be fried, baked, or uncooked. dry frying makes it chewy.
**broccoli, potatoes, bell peppers, or green beans would be good?

do i have any idea if this is how it's really made? NO! also most recipes seem to call for lemongrass, which i did not have.

something i need to think about is how i had this curry powder since 2008 and did not use it up. if i'm not going to make my own curry powder every time i need to do more stuff like this to use it fast. another great recipe that uses loads of curry powder is this sri lankan chicken curry. i poach and shred the chicken first instead of using it raw.

Do you know what is a perplexing riddle to me? Of the two House brand Japanese curry roux boxes, JAVA curry weighs 7.8 ozs, and VERMONT curry weighs 8.8 oz. WHY?

I like the idea of these two Japanese curries being named after places in New England and Indonesia for no perceptible reason (VERMONT curry emphasizes apples) ––– it is the unexplained 1 oz weight difference that baffles me.

check ingredients for heavy metals ^_^

I like using mixed "curry powders" when theyre decent Indian brand ones... have to be careful tho, I got some from an actual Indian grocer recently that is meant specifically for a chickpea dish, (it had some unusual things in it like dried mango powder) and OH BY CHRIST IT WAS HOT.

I found one that was labelled "curry mix special" and it has bits of dried curry leaf and bay leaf and whole peppercorns and things all mixed up in it. Very delish. Need to find more.

DUMPLINGS!! diary

trayce was that chaat masala? i keep trying to find that

Yeah I think so! Christ, it was deadly spicy. I'll see if I can work out what brand it was, it came ina little box.

I have 3/4 of those ingredients harbl I will try to make some next time!

mmm curry is the bom. i find when doing curry it is nice to have whole spices on hand for the preparation and make yr own blend for powder or paste. i always some red curry paste i keep frozen in the freezer that is easy enough to make: 1 red onion, some red chiles, a bunch of garlic, cilantro, ginger, lemongrass, soy and fish sauce is the wet side and the dry is coriander, cardamom, and a bit of cumin which you have to grind up after toasting in a dry pan. then blitz it all together to make a paste. this is then used to make a sauce with coconut milk and peanut butter. it's kinda thai tasting tho.

i guess that's kinda the fun of curry as there are many cultures doing their takes on it

i am making an "authentic british east indian adaptation of 'curry'" from my cookbook now

plz to explain authentic british east indian curry, i can't tell what adjectives are modifying what there

haha i didn't know either, that's just what it said. it's just easy chicken curry with onions, ginger, garlic, curry powder, small amt of coconut milk and chopped tomato. i just put some tomatoes in the food processor. it was good! more like a weeknight thing, not fancy. just british.

i got asafetida today, very stinky stuff

i used it in yellow split pea thing and i will use again. just need to find a suitable container to avoid contaminating the rest of the kitchen with its stink.

I like these with the clasp tops

http://www.villagekitchen.com/images_products/bormioli_rocco_fido_glass_canning_183lar.jpg

good for coffee too! and ikea sells cheap ones for a few dollars.

yeah i have a plastic one i used to use for coffee i can throw it into. i need a way to store all of these big bags of stuff i get at the indian store! like cumin seeds, mustard seeds, etc. there should be a box with compartments that close individually and are safe from bugs but i don't think one i want has been invented yet. i don't want all separate containers. my kitchen is all a-clutter.

I find that plastic bags are really bad at keeping smells in, I like glass

now that i think of it that might be the best container i'd be able to find. i keep getting these large bags of whole spices for like 2.99 and can't bear spending twice that on a tiny amount at the grocery store so i have to find some solution to this storage problem. i could just store them in a plastic box for now. when i have my dream house i will have more shelf space.

http://www.flavoursandspices.co.uk/image/cache/data/flavourspics/spice_tin_spices-500x500.jpg

My favorite

http://www.giantunion.com/image/product/1200195_72dpi_Spice_SunBrand_CurryPowder_Madras_12x16oz.jpg

i like the round box idea but i don't think the contents would fit sadly. i think i need 16 oz jars or bigger.
i shouldn't say i don't have enough shelf space because my apt came with these shelves made of cinder blocks and 2x8s but they are full of ingredients already. i'll measure how much of a 32 oz jar the stuff takes up and order some of those sealed jars maybe.

sounds like you need some kind of spice rack!

http://i.imgur.com/bNbJV.png

http://i.imgur.com/XIakt.jpg

My sister made a napkin holder in 7th grad shop class that my parents still use that looks pretty much like that. It has "C+" written on the bottom.

i like the leek and tomato accent to that spice rack

mmmm, now I want curry.
fun wall-mounted spice rack option - $7 metal board from IKEA and magnet-backed containers from dollar store, I pour out a bit from the big bags of spices and store the leftover bags in the cupboard in a tupperware container to keep it fresh-ish

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/photos-ak-ash1/v197/224/57/516053577/n516053577_397272_6285.jpg

no leek accent for me :(

i'll probably try ikea within the next month or so
i'm doing one with chicken, spinach, garam masala, almonds, raisins. curry craze!

I must take a photo of my "spice rack" when I get home, which consists of an extra large Decor plastic tub, stuffed to the brim with bottles and packets of various spices and herbs, in a big messy jumble :(

i think i am on my 4th different chicken curry in this book, they have all been successful. this one uses pieces of a whole chicken which i think is a big pain. i bought one already cut up. i don't have the right kind of knife; last time i tried to separate a chicken it took so long. then i watched jacques pepin and julia child doing it on tv and i realized i am just inept.

I started buying whole chickens years ago and slowly got better at cutting them up. I actually time it now and it takes me less than two minutes to do it. Once you figure out the joint structure it gets much easier.

That said I never make curries (or any braised / simmered dishes) from whole ones because I inevitably end up overcooking the white meat. Feel like I'm doing something wrong somewhere.

yeah i'm not sure how this will turn out with the varying sizes of chicken pieces. i could have bought a bunch of thighs or drumsticks. the marinade smells so great though. it's yogurt, ginger, garlic, serrano chiles (5 of them!), ground up whole spices, and cilantro. i'm looking for a cauliflower + frozen peas recipe. i am turning into a curry master.

I had some japanese curry today at a japanese restaurant - I need to find some of those japanese curry cubes

i tried to make a beetroot curry this week and it tasted really good but i guess i didn't cut the beetroot up small enough, because after cooking it for like an hour it still wasn't tender. so i ate a delicious curry of undercooked beetroot. i'll try again when i've got the energy to cut beetroot up really small or when i buy some ready-cooked beetroot.

the chicken worked pretty well. we ate a drumstick and a thigh each so there are still breasts in the fridge (sounds weird), but i cut into them to test doneness and they looked good. but i don't see any reason next time not to just buy drumsticks rather than a whole chicken. the marinade was perfect. hot enough to make my nose run but i like it that way. if anyone is wondering this was yogurt-almond chicken with a spinach sauce from 660 curries.

i also made something like "cayenne-spiked cauliflower," which was predictably pretty hot and very good.

OK so I wanna make a vege korma for dinner. It seems the proper recipe involves creamed cashewnuts, which really, isnt gonna happen - tho I do have a half bag of mixed raw nuts I could use I spose.

But I have green beans, carrots, eggplat, zukes, etc and a can of tomatoes, curry spices and some powdered coconut cream... is there anything special that makes it a korma?

you have probably already cooked dinner (idk what time it is there) but i want to make vegetable korma now too! i just went grocery shopping and got what i needed. i was gonna say i thought it meant cooked in cream/yogurt but wikipedia just said braised in liquid. it's not in my cookbook so i'm gonna try some internet recipes. i got half and half, canned tomatoes, slivered almonds, and i have plain yogurt and various vegetables to use. i was looking at some paneer in whole foods but it was pricey. i might go to the indian store. don't really need it though, it'll have more than enough fatty dairy.

You can make paneer pretty easily if you have time.

yeah i've made it before and found it to be a huge pain. i also have a very small kitchen so i want to keep the number of steps to a minimum.

harbl! Now I want curry!

I have small amts of red and yellow lentils in my freezer that I used like 4 years ago for a soup that it turned out I didn't like. I need something else to do w them.

daal, maybe spinach&mushroom w/ some mustard seeds & served w/ raita?

tonight - RENDANG

what is a really good basic curry recipe for a first-timer? i've never made a proper one before, but i had an amazing tofu curry a couple weeks ago at a french-vietnamese place and want to replicate it. the menu just said "Sautéed tofu & vegetables in coconut curry & Thai basil".

if you want thai curry you can get cans of mae-sri curry paste at asian stores for like $1. the green is very hot but red is safe. you just need a can of coconut milk and some water or vegetable broth and vegetables (e.g., sweet potatoes, green beans, chinese eggplant, red bell peppers, zucchini, cabbage). it has shallots and ginger and stuff in it but i always saute some before i add everything. if it was vietnamese try my made-up recipe above. i get curry a lot at a nearby vietnamese place and i think it tastes pretty close. i think the brand of curry powder is important; i got that at h-mart a while ago and my chinese grocery store has it too.

this is kind of similar to what i do for thai curry but i think the separate coconut cream/curry paste step is not necessary http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/the-temporary-vegetarian-vegan-thai-curry-vegetables/

thanks harbl!

I didnt end up making korma after all, I got too drunk to cook ,hahaha :(

ok i'm making it for you. i think it's gonna be too tomato-ey but i wanted to use less half-and-half. i didn't use a recipe so i get what i deserve.

harbl, I tried to make a vegetable biryani using some biryani paste from a jar, but it was too sour. do you think adding half-and-half would help control the taste?

I'm gonna make one tonight! I will use tomatoes too (maybe only half a can) but I'll add a little stock, and some coconut milk and some yogurt.

lol i know nothing about biryani sorry. you might try yogurt though because half and half would probably curdle.

a red lentil curry with a spice combo that is whole cumin, fennel seeds, mustard seeds, and fenugreek. supposed to have nigella but i didn't have that. also 3 serrano chiles, a tomato, other stuff. cilantro and lime! this is great

might do a biryani next weekend

oh this is what the spice mixture is called http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panch_phoron. i think he left out radhuni because it might be impossible to find here? never heard of it.

harbl! Now I want curry!

― drawn to them like a moth toward a spanakopita (Laurel), Saturday, February 18, 2012 10:45 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

laurel otm itt

i hope i am inspiring everyone to want curry. i have been learning so much about how stuff works together, it's weird! i have been a decent cook for a while but i feel like this curry period has brought unprecedented growth!

like i used to just make up how to do curry and it was like always cumin, coriander, turmeric, maybe cardamom. there's a whole other world out there.

the chicken worked pretty well. we ate a drumstick and a thigh each so there are still breasts in the fridge
--kim tim jim investor (harbl)

ooooooOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo

harblz i made that curry you linked to - it was really good!

I forgot also to mention I ended up making a veggie korma. Despite adding both coconut milk and some greek yoghurt, it still seemed a little runny and not-sweet. I think it needed thick coconut cream. And obvoiusly needed the pulverised cashews. I'll have to try it again with those additions (and maybe some paneer this time too).

i made a lamb and potato curry recipe from 660 curries yesterday and it came out great except one problem i have had with multiple recipes containing potatoes: they always take much much longer to cook than the recipe says. it said to fry the potato cubes until browned, which i did and i took as long as it said to take, and then you add the potatoes back after the lamb is cooked and cook it all together until the potato is cooked, which said 5-8 minutes. well i cooked them all for an extra 40 minutes after that! the lamb was perfect but the potatoes were still a little crunchy. next time i will steam them before i brown them.

yeah i have that problem with potatoes all the time, too.

made chicken korma last night. it is delish, but i should branch out with my curries.

microwaving potatoes beforehand is always a good idea; i only use raw taters if i chop them into small cubes and fry them in oil (for aloo gobi etc).

soaking the peas for this atm. ive never used roasted coriander seeds before, should be interesting.

i am having the same problem again now making a lentil soup with potatoes in it. i followed all the instructions!

hmm. usually in a soup it's easy to get potatoes to cook through

horseshoe can i have your korma recipe plz?

i like fish curry + i like felicity cloake & this is appropriately fine imo

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2012/mar/29/how-to-cook-perfect-goan-fish-curry

yes! it is madhur jaffrey's recipe; hopefully she will not be mad i posted it on the internet. you heat up 1/4 cup of heavy cream, stir a teaspoon of saffron into it, and set the saffron cream aside for a couple of hours.

the recipe calls for ~5 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs, but i usually do bone-in. it's tastier imo. heat 5 tablespoons vegetable oil in a wide pan, like a dutch oven, over medium high heat. when it's hot, add 12 green cardamom pods, 4 sticks of cinnamon and 6 bay leaves. stir once, and then put as many chicken thighs in as will fit. brown the chicken on both sides (i feel like i always rush this step; it takes a while. your kitchen will smell really good though!) then put it in a bowl and brown the rest of it, putting it all in the bowl when you're done.

once you've browned all the chicken, add 2 medium onions, sliced, to the pan. stir and fry till they're reddish-brown (i tend to rush this step, too...i think it takes a good 8 minutes at least.) add 2 tablespoons grated ginger and 8 cloves minced garlic (well, according to jaffrey, crushed to a pulp), then stir for a minute. then add 1/4 cup whole almonds, 1/4 cup golden raisins, 2 tbsp. coriander and 1 tbsp. cumin. stir once, then return chicken + accumulated juices to the pan. add 1 c. yogurt (whisk it first, to even the consistency), 3 tsp salt and 2 tsp cayenne pepper. Stir and bring to a simmer.

Partially cover and cook over medium for 10 minutes. then raise the heat to high and stir the meat until the sauce thickens and clings to the meat. stir in the saffron cream, 1/2 tsp. garam masala* and 1/2 c of water. cover fully and leave on low heat for a while. the cookbook says 5 minutes, but that never cooks the chicken completely, maybe because it's bone-in? i usually just keep checking to see if the meat is cooked through.

*lately i just use store-bought garam masala, but jaffrey hates it and insists you should grind a bunch of whole spices to make your own. she is very detail-oriented and it can be kind of annoying, but the homemade garam masala is better. let me know if you want the "recipe."

xp

this is not my mom's recipe, obvs, but she requests that i make it on eid + stuff which is the best recommendation of it i can give.

wow that is a hardcore recipe, no wonder the short-cut vegan one i've used has been so disappointing!!!!

haha yeah it's supposed to be for parties and occasions. it is not fucking around.

no reason you couldn't make a vegetarian version but i admit i can't figure out how you would adapt it for vegan cooking, not that i know much about tha.

wow I am doing that recipe next time I get a chance

oh, and when you take the chicken out of the pan, you're supposed to try and leave as many whole spices in the pan as possible.

dayo, it is really simple for the level of deliciousness yielded! it's my go-to dinner party dish.

i think it would veganize pretty easily - i would use fake chicken, so obv i wouldn't get all the pan juices so that would affect the taste, but i'd sub out the heavy cream for either cashew cream or coconut cream or a mix which i think would work pretty well.

oh duh, yeah coconut cream would work great, i think!

and soy yoghurt.

actually, it's probably not so hardcore - the cardamon pods and cinnamon sticks freaked me out, though!

or coconut milk yoghurt.

i thought you meant hardcore as in hardcore fatty, which it is.

haha no, it would take a lot more than 1/2 a cup of cream for me to say that!!

the vegan recipe i use is way fattier probably

dayo, it is really simple for the level of deliciousness yielded! it's my go-to dinner party dish.

― horseshoe, Sunday, April 22, 2012 9:58 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

feel like this is a thing, the 'go-to dinner party dish' (I have a few)

made the horseshoe/jaffrey korma last night, it was just lovely. v diff from restaurant korma I've had & superior, popular w/ my housemates too, kudos & thank you

how would one vegetarianize that korma? just take out the chicken? or do things need reorganizing/supplementing to get maximum flavour?

ogmor! you made my day! so glad it turned out well.

OMG that sounds amazekins. So much dairy, though. ;_; I wonder if you can leave some dairy out if you use the whole ground cashew thing that I've seen in other recps?

horseshoe how many "servings" do u usually get out of that recipe?

i would say a hearty 6 servings, usually.

i think just1n3 suggested cashew cream as a sub for the heavy cream, and on reflection that sounds even better (read:fattier) to me than coconut cream, so maybe that would work out for you, Laurel?

i am just going to post the garam masala "recipe" because why not? and it is really better and then you'll have some potent garam masala in your pantry if you need it.

put 1 tbsp cardamom seeds (some indian groceries sell these separately; you can also de-seed the pods yourself), 1 tsp black peppercorns, 1 tsp whole cloves, 1 tsp black cumin seeds, 1/3 of a nutmeg and 1 stick of cinnamon, broken up, in a coffee grinder and grind as finely as possible. store in a tightly lidded jar, away from heat and light.

make sure you are smart and label the gd jar immediately. i never remember to and then i have a bear of a time finding it when i need to make korma and then i end up re-making the garam masala and have about 5 separate mini-containers of garam masala as a result.

caek/laurel, here is how i would veganize/vegetarianize it -

yes! it is madhur jaffrey's recipe; hopefully she will not be mad i posted it on the internet. you heat up 1/4 cup of heavy cream coconut cream or cashew cream**, stir a teaspoon of saffron into it, and set the saffron cream aside for a couple of hours.

the recipe calls for ~5 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs tofu (frozen and defrosted, pressed) chunks marinated in fake-chicken stock and tamari/soy sauce/braggs liquid aminos, or gardein fake chicken strips. heat 5 tablespoons vegetable oil in a wide pan, like a dutch oven, over medium high heat. when it's hot, add 12 green cardamom pods, 4 sticks of cinnamon and 6 bay leaves. stir once, and then put as many {tofu or fake chicken pieces} in as will fit. brown the {tofu/fake chicken} on both sides (i feel like i always rush this step; it takes a while. your kitchen will smell really good though!) then put it in a bowl and brown the rest of it, putting it all in the bowl when you're done.

once you've browned all the {tofu/fake chicken}, add 2 medium onions, sliced, to the pan. stir and fry till they're reddish-brown (i tend to rush this step, too...i think it takes a good 8 minutes at least.) add 2 tablespoons grated ginger and 8 cloves minced garlic (well, according to jaffrey, crushed to a pulp), then stir for a minute. then add 1/4 cup whole almonds, 1/4 cup golden raisins, 2 tbsp. coriander and 1 tbsp. cumin. stir once, then return {tofu/chicken} add 1 c. SOY or COCONUT yogurt (whisk it first, to even the consistency), 3 tsp salt and 2 tsp cayenne pepper. Stir and bring to a simmer.

Partially cover and cook over medium for 10 minutes. then raise the heat to high and stir the {tofu/fake chicken} until the sauce thickens and clings to the meat. stir in the saffron cream, 1/2 tsp. garam masala* and 1/2 c of water. cover fully and leave on low heat for a while. the cookbook says 5 minutes, but that never cooks the chicken completely, maybe because it's bone-in? i usually just keep checking to see if the meat is cooked through.

*lately i just use store-bought garam masala, but jaffrey hates it and insists you should grind a bunch of whole spices to make your own. she is very detail-oriented and it can be kind of annoying, but the homemade garam masala is better. let me know if you want the "recipe."

**soak 1/4 c of raw whole cashews (cashew pieces are too dry) in plenty of cold water overnight. drain and rinse, add to high speed blender with about 1/4 c of water and blend for 5 minutes.

Cashew mixture would probably awesome. Sounds delicious.

That garam masala recp is way simpler than I expected, for some reason.

you could also probably use some veggies as well/in place of tofu, like potatoes and carrots and cauliflower

imo nothing about indian cooking is hard; it's just assembly. sometimes locating ingredients can be hard, depending on where you live (fucking buffalo), but i don't think technique is that difficult.

well i suck at making paneer but that's just me; other people seem to have a fine time

There's absolutely no reason to put vegetables in a perfectly good korma. Get away from that pot.

imo nothing about indian cooking is hard; it's just assembly. sometimes locating ingredients can be hard, depending on where you live (fucking buffalo), but i don't think technique is that difficult.

― horseshoe, Wednesday, April 25, 2012 10:49 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah it's the kind of one-pot cooking that still has some technique that i find v. appealing.

laurel, cashew cream is - no joke - an incredible sub for heavy cream in cooking. if you taste it raw, on its own, it tastes blah, but the consistency and fattiness is perfect for thinks like gratin, soup, korma. you can also use it as a dessert cream by adding vanilla/maple syrup/coconut oil.

if you don't have a high speed blender like a vitamix, a regular food processor or blender is fine if you'll be using it IN something, however it'll be a little gritty if you're using it straight up as a side for dessert.

i like how it's nut-based; that seems perfect for korma because korma is so nutty! i sort of want to try it next time except i love heavy cream. life is so hard,

malaysian versions of korma def use coconut cream or coconut milk, though; that version would be nice, too; i think. cashew cream seems more indian to me.

north indian, i guess.

xxGod it's like Sophie's Choice sometimes.

I've seen multiple cookbooks that use raw cashews in korma sauce, for sure. This seems like a good middle way. Maybe will actually try! Nothing else to do on Sat/Sun.

oh and of course you could use almond cream. same process but replace cashews with almonds (probably blanched almonds). or you can buy MimicCreme.

i roasted the garam masala a little bit, think it grinds better then too. adding it at the 11th hour seemed curious to me, but it was v fragrant, might try this again w/ other curries.

I'm gonna jump on the horseshoe/jaffrey korma bandwagon tonight!

horseshoe I'm so going to make that

Horseshoe korma report: so far, so good--really not too laborious except for the chicky browning, which just means sticking around while assemble all of the other stuff. If I had a heavy roasting pan (I'm thinking all-clad or le creuset), I could have set it over two burners and browned off all six chicky thighs in one go. In my 12" saute pan, three batches were required.

I'm using five pounds of bone-in, skin-on thighs. I figured the skin would make for a better fond and would protect the meat from the high heat of browning. I'll pull the skin off before it goes back in to the sauce. All that chicky skin left a LOT of fat in the pan (I started with 5 Tbsp veg oil, as in the recipe), so I poured off enough to get back to around the 5 Tbsp mark.

In summary: it would appear I am liveblogging horseshoe's chicken korma.

hey guys tonight i want to make a curry chicken salad but every recipe i have found calls for mayonnaise which i hate or yogurt which tera can't have right now. i would like to use Coconut Milk, any ideas? maybe with pecans or almonds and served cold?

Yes I have plans to try a veganized version next week! Xp

i would use almonds and some golden raisins if you have some. coconut milk should work fine. mayo is wtf. i don't think you can mess it up too bad if you just mix the dressing by adding ingredients a little at a time before putting it on the chicken! do you have a food processor?

now i'm thinking about it and i want to make it! but i only have uncooked chicken and don't feel like cooking it now and waiting for it to cool. maybe i'll cook all of it and save some and make it tomorrow.

I think coconut milk would work as a sub for mayo, maybe not as creamy, but you only need a little really. Some of just1n3's cashew cream would probably be awesome too. Pecans beat almonds im(possibly challopsy)o. (xp)

yeah i think i will try the cashew cream, and i do have a food processor, but what should i process for this salad? also i am using thigh meat.

I just chop things up with a knife for chicken salad?

I wonder if mayo-averse folks could kind of get around it psychologically by making your own...? An egg, a bit of dry mustard, a bit of lemon juice, salt, oil...see it as components even after it's emulsified? I dunno. Are creamy salad dressings also a problem?

i will be reporting on the horseshoe korma tomorrow tbh.

i might be able to get down with homemade mayo

Mayos must be pretty bad in the US, everyone seems so against them? I always buy Euro brand whole egg mayos like Thomy Delikatess or S&W.

I mean if you're eating "mayo" thickend with gels and sugary rubbish then of course its going to taste like wallpaper paste.

i just think the mayo taste is weird for curry, even homemade. for the food processor i was thinking could you process a small amount of ginger for it.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8149/6991054070_7ed96cd83d.jpg

this was messy and fun to make, except for chicken browning fail (idk my anodized pan is mysterious sometimes) it was quite easy too. one q i had was when to pull out the bay leaves/cardamom pods/cinnamon; i wound up doing it pretty late in the game and sort of forgot about the pods so then i had to go hunt for them. v. tasty, tangy and spicy and saffron-y. the one thing that threw me was hitting the raisins, they are kind of a textural wtf but the added sweetness is great.

thanks for saving me a plate be right over

i have plenty left! made half meat full sauce which i do for a lot of things like this. you can prob be here by 2:00 a.m., right?

Yeah I rly do not like fruit in my curries. Raisins/pineapple/apple... not for me!

ppl who put raisins in curries should be fired into the sun with a giant slingshot

just my 2c

you're all crazy that's how you know your curry is *decadent*

i never remove the whole spices from korma or anything i'm cooking for that matter

raisins in curry is a delight, you're all crazy

*are a delight

the taste is delightful! unwittingly biting into a slightly plumped raisin is.....weird.

it is like a reconstituted grape!

the almond/raisin/spinach curry i have been making is one of the best things

i am going to make all the harbl curries that have been chronicled itt

it is my new project

everyone owes it to themselves to get 660 curries out of the library

my mum used to make curried sausages that was really just a lol 70s Women's Weekly thing, not really indian at all except for curry powder but it had raisins in it AND apples and I loved it

haha that fits conveniently into how i think of australia idk why. i just had a bunch of wine.

660 curries is at my local library! i will get it tomorrow! yay!

ew ew EW my mum used to make the same apple/sausage curry and i HATED it so much

;_;

Yeah that exact kind of aus curry - keens powder with apples and sultanas in curried sausages or chicken wqith a bit of tomato. Blech. Hated it all my life. When I had real curries with like, coconut milk and paneer and things it was a revalation.

I love real curries too

I made the horseshoe/jaffrey curry and tried to live blog but I failed on shit like:

Oh whoops I said that I started with 5 lbs of bone-in, skin-on thighs and said it was 6 thighs but oops can't count it was 10!

No wonder browning in batches took a bit.

Also in the future will drain off ALL THE OILS before proceeding with onion browning why b/c it was too much oilies.

All the rest I followed to a T except adding the 1/2 cup H20; I had enough oilies after simmering down to clinginess that no need for that shit.

But end result was awesome; will make again minus excessive oilies.

(FWIW I do think doing the browning with skin on makes for bestest fond and ergo awesome result even w/o 5 Tbs oil for onion frying--just a pan coating would do fine)

(also oop should have used bigger pan for 10 chick thighs than my 12" straight-side pan but oh well shit was pain in the ass to maneuver but DELICIOUS)

madhur jaffrey was on the new girl the other night!

savory fruits is a thing guys, I want all the raisins in my curry ! !

I really didn't notice the raisins in the final product; they all kind of broke down into saucey deliciousness.

I found a south asian supermarket today that had a ton of stuff, just bags and bags of spices, garam masala ground up and also pre-bagged ready to be ground, way cool, I want to make all the curries now

yeah it is pretty helpful to have one around, it would be too expensive or bland otherwise! i gotta get another coffee grinder, i keep saying. mortar and pestle is such a pain sometimes. i also have a curry chicken salad experiment to report on but i'm tired now. later.

I also couldn't find saffron and asked the cashier if he had saffron and he said yeah, how many grams and I said uh, a teaspoon, and he went and got some saffron from behind the counter, it comes in 1/2 a gram and 1 gram capsules, possibly larger idk. felt like I was buying drugs

haha maybe too many indian grandmas were pilfering saffron from his store

yeah they sell them in capsules at the store I go to as well...well, more like vials but yeah, def druglike

how much did it cost dayo

it was $5 for one gram, $3 for 1/2 a gram

oh man my mom has a sweet saffron connect. she smuggled a million pounds of it from kashmir when she first moved here. (don't tell anyone!) she could prob hook y'all up.

I have a vision of your mom on a plane wearing a really heavy coat

tbh i think her mom replenished her supply circa 1989

$5 / g seems pretty reasonable

€7/g the only place i've found it in munich. i bought 0.125g.

my best friend in high school returned every year from visiting fam in iran w/ a huge jar of saffron which they wld hurl carefree into p much everything. if cumin was that expensive ppl wld think it was The Most Incredible Substance Of All Time

just made the chicken korma a la horseshoe - can't wait to try!

man that was really good. I don't even need the chicken I don't think - just mixing the sauce with rice is delicious by itself

yay!

i picked up cardamom pods last week, with this recipe in mind. i just need soy yoghurt and cinnamon sticks and i'm good to go!

cardamom pods are so pungent, it's great! and it's cool to hear them pop on the skillet

Oooh I love cardamom. On a less savory note, I like grinding up the seeds with mortar & pestle and using them in an orange cake. SO GOOD.

I'm wondering if I'll ever invest in a spice grinder. bought ground coriander and already have ground cumin, but they go 'off' or 'flat' eventually!

I think you can use a cheap coffee grinder if you want? I like using whole cumin seeds in curries.

yeah we use an old Krups coffee grinder for our spices, works perfectly.

i got a second coffee grinder for that purpose a few weeks ago but it's better than my old one so i want to switch them out. how do i get old coffee taste out of the old one?

I remember WmC saying something about using (uncooked) rice? I never really understood what he meant by that, but maybe chopping up some rice in there will clean it out?!

clean w/ white vinegar? bleach in the sun?

I have a blade grinder I guess I was just being silly and worrying about mixing up flavors of spices and letting residual flavors get into new batches of spice, I should stop being so silly and go find it and use it!

our garage (where we do all of our stir-frying) still smells like the chicken and the spices, the fried cinnamon stick smell is really nice and pleasant!

Yeah, if I'm switching between coffee and spices I'll grind a 1/4 cup of cheap rice to powder and discard it, then wipe the inside of the grinder thoroughly with a tissue. That seems to get residual stuff out pretty well.

i am making the horseshoe korma right now

not sure this veganized vers is gonna be all that successful

p.s. i think maybe i don't like saffron ? :/

the smell of the saffron in the cream while i was prepping everything else was making me real queasy. i forgot the same thing happened the one and only other time i cooked with saffron.

I dunno if I could taste the saffron in the final product

I think it'll probably be fine! imo the yogurt/cream was just there to thicken up the final sauce, really. the flavor lifting is done by all the spices

and goddamn i am grateful i at least halved the cayenne - it's really spicy to me!!

i had to keep adding more and more coconut milk (probably half a can in the end) bc there wasn't enough sauce (no pan juices)

i also added cauliflower

also i accidentally got decorticated cardamom instead of pods, so i subbed 2 tsp of the seeds for the 12 pods

dayo! if you couldn't taste the saffron you didn't put enough saffron in! nb i might overdo it a little on the saffron. one time i served this dish to an indian lady and she was like, whoa, saffron much?

seeds instead of pods should be fine, i would think.

haha I think I was just thinking of the price of it as I was measuring it. I 'fluffed' it up so that less would fill more of the teaspoon measure! I should probably do it by weight to keep me honest.

i think this is missing a lot without the chicken pan juices/fat. it tastes ok, but not to my liking. pretty sure ytth will like it though, which is good bc i made a HUGE pan of it!!!

i'm going out for dinner

do vegans use MSG?

probably! but i haven't

i did a wine tasting course for work years ago and they made us drink water+msg

it was truly revolting

haha - well MSG can do a lot to make up for missing protein juices, ime

wondering if a bit of miso paste might not do something as well

fwiw ytth DID really like the korma - he's eating the leftovers for dinner tonight. so clearly it was just my taste buds.

2 months off this thread! but it was hot and i wasn't cooking much complicated stuff.

made a really easy madhur jaffrey recipe for ground lamb curry last night. i can't find the blog it was on that had copied the recipe but it was just:
hunk of ginger, small red onion, 5 garlic cloves in food processor and browned in frying pan
add 1 t cumin seeds, 1 t coriander seeds, (actually i fried those in the hot oil before cooking the other stuff so they went in first) 1/2 t turmeric, 1/2 t cayenne
add 1 chopped tomato, 1/2 cup plain yogurt
let that all cook for a minute
add 1 lb ground lamb
while that's cooking a couple diced green chiles and garam masala
then like a cup of frozen peas
when it's all cooked through it's done

i think that's what the recipe said!
i had also boiled some potatoes so instead of rice i mashed them a little and put the curry on top

Whoah, spooky revive: I just loaded this entire thread and re-read it this morning while craving curry (bit gang-over).

i have a daal related question, i hope it is okay to use this thread for daal related questions

that question is 'what is the deal with oily toor daal'

Oily Toor Dal
Here the dal has been treated with edible oil . This is done to increase the shelf life of dal. By not using a chemical preservative, the natural goodness of dal is secured.

what's not to get?

wouldn't the shelf life of dal be like a year or two to begin with? i'd be leary of increasing a shelf life like that

I'm roasting tomatoes right now with garlic, thyme and rosemary, for the minced lamb with cauliflower and potatoes I'm going to attempt to make tonight! I'm using this spice mix called Kitchen King and add roasted jalapeños. Any tips or ideas?

Should I make a curry spice mix myself? I have garam masala, cumin, coriander, ginger and even a yellow curry mix, but I was given the Kitchen King mixture by the guy who ran the hotel we last were staying in and he highly recommended it.

try the kitchen king and add stuff to it if you think it needs something. does it say what's in it? i would guess most spice mixes have those spices you listed in them anyway.

made some dal (urad) last night with a new thing of asafetida and for some reason it added no flavor whatever. stinks like a motherfucker though.

Kitchen King has coriander, cumin, chili, turmeric, black pepper, cloves, fenugreek leaves, salt, nutmeg, dry ginger, cardamom seeds, cinnamon, bay leaf, fennel, caraway, mustard, garlic flakes, onion flakes, mace, and green cardamon.

I guess my main concern is which curry best compliments a tomato based sauce? I'm not working from a recipe, just hunches.

rosemary in tomato sauce? that *really* isn't gonna take to adding Indian spices imo.

and xpost: as far as i know asafoetida works akin to salt in that it isn't supposed to add flavor but brings out/heightens flavors that are there

also it's supposed to curb flatulence iirc

Asafoetida does have a taste reminiscent of mild onion or leek but you have to use quite a lot to get much of an impact.

your favourite daal recipes?

this one is so simple and deeeeeeeeeelicious

http://www.cookingindex.com/recipes/62386/lentils-with-garlic-onion-madhur-jaffrey.htm

do you make that with green lentils?

I've made it with red lentils and green lentils, turns out great both ways.

thanking you

:D

my library has 660 Curries available for loan AND a couple of Madhur Jaffrey books

guess where I'm going at lunchtime :D

london

PAKISTAN

finally got 660 Curries --- gonna cook up a nice curry this weekend imo

bimla's chicken curry (madhur jaffrey) was incredibly delicious

however upon further digestion I think I will avoid 3-onion curries from now on. sadface.

i'm gonna make the madhur jaffrey ground lamb curry again this week

^ this
also i need to report about a yogurt curry i made. it was very easy and i put together some recipes from the internet. cut up chicken breast and marinated in: 1-1/5 cups greek yogurt, 1 hot green pepper + a few garlic cloves + half a small onion minced in food processor, cumin, coriander, turmeric, and paprika. i let it sit for like a half hour in the fridge and then just dumped it all into a skillet until the chicken cooked.

I love yogurt curries, I used to make a chicken tikka masala that was like that except u brown chix in oven first and then add back into sauce. Same ingredients plus tomatoes. Really good.

i can't find this recipe i made a long time ago (like 7+ years ago) for yogurt curry chicken kebabs. so i improvised w/ greek yogurt, lime juice, serrano chile, onion, garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, paprika, turmeric, and cayenne. i think that's everything. it's perfect.

yes

Who's got a favourite recipe for a curry with a LOT of hot fresh chilli but that's also got a ton of aromatic subtlety to it? Happy with wet, dry, meat, fish, lentils, anything. It's been too long since I made anything at all with fresh chilli.

Thai curries are made with (usu) fresh ingredients (lemongrass, chiles, galangal, ginger, kafir lime leaves) and Indian style curries as far as i are based on dried spices. of course you can throw chiles into any dish. my fave curry that i haven't made from scratch in a long time is Sri Lankan which uses lots of dried spices (a fair bit of fenugreek which sort of stands out in a warming and nice way in the dish), tamarind, a little tomato and coconut milk. if you're interested i'll dig out the recipe. and Sri Lankan curry is supposed to be one of the spiciest/hottest curries so adding chiles to it is a great idea. esp, if like me you like these kinda things

yes please! I was thinking of Indian curries but I would love to try a Sri Lankan curry.

ooooh I am a big fan of Sri Lankan curries. Heavy on the coconut milk, kind of like southeast asian meets southern indian. Fresh curry leaves are U&K, imo; luckily I can get those pretty easily around here. I have a Sri Lankan cookbook called "Rice and Curry" and it is great!

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sri-lankan-chicken-curry/detail.aspx this is great

man that looks good

Anything with a coconut milk and cardamom combo is off to a great start as far as I'm concerned.

I have a Madhur Jaffrey curry and kebab book and my favorite one by far is a singaporean shrimp curry - curry leaves, tamarind, tomato, coconut milk, and lots of fennel and fenugreek seeds - which sounds a lot like some of the sri lankan ones.

that sri lankan recipe does look good. haven't come up with my olde recipe that i hope i'll find. it had fresh chopped tomatoes instead of paste, and the recipe included the spices being individually toasted and ground and didn't call for curry powder iirc. my favorite part of making this aside from eating (i useda make it with monkfish before the price skyrocketed) was the toasted/ground fennugreek scent would stick around for days and i loved it. i'll look for it harder tomorrow even though hrbl's looks fine and dandy

i meant "chili powder" (which seems incongruous for a curry recipe) not curry powder

gonna make this super simple dish in a bit here. http://www.mysrilankanrecipe.com/dhal-curry/. along with some basmati and a veg tbd

o_m those lentils look awesome
madhur jaffrey hamburger curry is a new staple for me but i'm gonna up the hotness/curriness in my recipe

Had curry from 2 sources this week.
Curried Goat at the official opening of Jamaica Joe's. Nice stuff. Slowly working through the menu there.
Had me wondering where they get goat from since they source locally. Also now how long each goat lasts, though its presumably one main cut. So what happens to the rest of the carcass?
Anyway tasted great.

Also had my weekly indian vegetarian which was chickpea based this week. & came home with a large pot for next few days feed.

this is really good, and fast! https://ministryofcurry.com/chicken-karahi/
you may want to use less kashmiri chili powder. it's not too hot as is. a substitute would be a much smaller amount of cayenne.
i used chicken breast because that's what i wanted to use up. i thought it would get too dry compared to thighs but it's perfect. these are cheap shitty grocery store chicken breasts, cut in large chunks.

maybe 1/2 teaspoon cayenne would taste equivalent. pretty hot.

this has become my go-to curry recipe
makes a ton of sauce, can stretch to a few days of leftovers by adding more chicken and/or veg if desired

https://www.theflavorbender.com/sri-lankan-chicken-curry/

that looks nice! i love that curry leaf flavor.

yeah it’s really good

the recipes on this site are great great great
http://maunikagowardhan.co.uk/cook-in-a-curry/

these suggestions all look extremely promising, will experiment. I keep fkn around w/ peanut butter as a base making pseudo-satays and the peanut+coconut combination is proving too powerful for me to resist, I can't go back to tomatoes

i got one of those boxed chicken masala mixes from the indian store and i'm about to make it, while my homemade naan dough rises. good luck usa me

update: a little weird. recipe wants you to use a cup of oil (i did not) and up to 3 cups of water. i just used 1 cup of water, but it has too much salt in it. it is also quite spicy but that's ok. i got 2 of these boxes so i have 3 more packets. i would do some more improvisations next time, such as add vegetables like potatoes, cauliflower, peas, chickpeas, idk.

is it something where they want you to cook it for a lot longer so the oil/water boils off? What you're describing reminds of the box recipe on this fish curry box mix ... I think I did what you did, or maybe something similar, and it wasn't what it was supposed to be, I'm pretty sure.

i would have thought so but no, it gives you times like "10 minutes" and i was using a big saute pan with a lot of surface area. i was thinking it might thicken because it contains corn starch but it must have only been a trace amount. and i was using cut-up chicken breast so i didn't want to cook it too long.

i'm not familiar with this masala mix, but the more you cook and stir cornstarch the more likely you are to lose the thickening power. the thickened product will get watery as the network which the starch causes to form breaks. personally i would just make the sauce by hydrating the spice mix and making a slurry, then slowly add that to the simmering water/fat while whisking and finding out how thick it ends up. and cook everything else separately and add it to the sauce. seems that would be more foolproof? sorry for completely unasked-for opinion!

no--that does make sense, but i wouldn't want to cook the meat and then coat it in stuff. i think it's just meant for lazy people. i will try the slurry when i use it with chickpeas though, since they'll already be cooked.

This person's videos have been a revalation for me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV38aaJSlTE&t=222s

The base technique there of ghee, frying off seeds, then onion, then spices, then tomato, is (I'm assured by my indian coworkers) basically the base for any curry. Ive tried it with toor dal, and as a base for saag, and it made such a freaking difference doing it properly.

Its a PITA having so many different packets of spices and seeds though. And they cook everything in pressure cookers so its hard to know how long to cook dal/lentils for.

Oh and watch the mustard seeds. One time I poured wayyyy too many in and also burnt them and the taste was bitter and horrid :(

trayce can you paste link to the video with a space in it to stop the autoembed? "an error occurred"

i am in the middle of rearranging/jarring all my various spices and seeds and it's a mess. i had too many bags in the cabinets.

The base technique there of ghee, frying off seeds, then onion, then spices, then tomato, is (I'm assured by my indian coworkers) basically the base for any curry.

Without being able to see the video I can at least agree with that statement! I did an Indian cuisine cooking class a couple of months ago and the one useful thing was the chef showing us 3 ways of bringing out spice flavors: bloom in ghee (for curry sauce), add to a liquid & simmer (dal), and...I forgot the third one but it must have involved the rice because that's the other thing we made.

Anyway the curry was boring as. She admitted it was just a "base" to be tailored by regional & family preferences.

can vouch for meera sodha's books as great curry recipe tomes; made in india is a bit better than her purely-veg fresh india, and has lots of great veg recipes too.

The base technique there of ghee, frying off seeds, then onion, then spices, then tomato, is (I'm assured by my indian coworkers) basically the base for any curry.

this is pretty much how every curry i make or attempt begins, cannot make any claims for their authenticity but they are often really nice! (Onion section is often a slurry of blitzed onions/garlic/ginger)

Eep I never came back to see the link hadnt worked!

http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=L32CGVxvdVE

Or look up Swasthi's Recipes on YT.

i made chicken tikka masala and a spinach-onion pilaf both from 660 curries

the sauce for the tikka masala was a bit too sweet. i did make my own mistake by putting in one can of tomatoes instead of one CUP of tomatoes. but it has raisins in it (blended up with everything). the marinade is very good. i added lemon juice. pilaf is good, would make again. probably try a different CTK recipe next time but not bad or anything.

CTM obv
the raisininess is not a bad combo with the hotness of the marinade, it's growing on me

chana masala, i questioned the 660 curries recipe because it had raw onions added at the end. i don't mind the act of eating raw onions but i don't like the aftermath. no thanks. so i went to the old standby smitten kitchen (a madhur jaffrey copy). it has 1 tablespoon of amchur and lemon juice but i need more sweet/sourness. some recipes have anardana, dried pomegranate seeds. i will get the anardana, soon.

I've never tried it with anardana, sounds interesting

I went and made chicken tikka masala for the first time last night. The flavor wasn’t quite right but the texture was perfect and I enjoyed it. Could have been sweeter, actually. Think maybe because I used diluted tomato paste instead of puree/sauce but idk

The new David Chang on netflix has a curry episode that is very good. It's the only episode of the new series that I probably will watch.

xpost raisins!

madhur jaffrey ground lamb and peas curry. i believe i have made it 100 times now and it never fails.

That is a stone cold classic. Haven’t made it in a while but will now.

kheema matar! ive also made various versions of that like a million times

i got the anardana at the chinese store i visited for the first time today, had a very random assortment of indian ingredients. plus more amchur powder.

Threw out a whole, unopened packet of amchur powder last night bc full of MOTHS. THE WASTE.

i have looked for amchur powder at three different Indian grocery stores and haven't found shit, so I bought the pomegranate powder and am about to make another large batch of chana masala because i have a 4 lb bag of dried garbanzos that aren't going to cook themselves

That seems weird that three places would not have had it. In demand!

I don't really know what sort of packaging I am looking for and I haven't asked for help either -- nor did I google to see what packages look like.

wait i just googled -- it's the same as asofoetida powder?!!?!?

no not the same thing, right?!
i am confused
even after googling i don't think i have seen amchur powder in the stores i have shopped in and they are for sure the sort of places that would have such a thing.

it is NOT lol

it has a very unassuming appearance and should come in a bag. every indian store should have it. i can mail some to you?!?

i'm going to make chana masala tonight too. maybe a naan.

i'm probably just looking in the wrong place -- i should have googled to see what it looks like after i failed to find it the first time but here i am!

wrong place in the store i mean

when i bought it in an indian store in london it was actually just labeled mango powder instead. You should ask at the counter, they might have it in a weird bulk bag.

i found amchur powder last weekend hanging out near asafoetida and other spice type things. i had never tasted it before—pretty cool stuff!

after hearing about the moth incident i'd advise against buying bulk. could mess up your whole pantry. = unasked-for $.02
xpost

i think bulk means by the pound in this context

i was just thinking it not being packed in a commercial container. I've never had pantry moths. Is this a common thing?

i had them once about 10 years ago because they got into a bag of pumpkin seeds. then i realized they were elsewhere. a lot of vacuuming up moths and throwing out food.

reporting back about the anardana: tasty but i should look for the powdered form. these are the actual seeds and they were not grindable with mortar and pestle.

Huh, the stuff I found was already powdered/pulverized.

yeah, i forgot to check when i was at the indian store and saw this at the chinese store (indian brand) and grabbed it not thinking too hard about it. i'm sure the indian store has the powdered form.

this look intersting, will try soon https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017746-meera-sodhas-chicken-curry
my mistake reading the comments but idiots are arguing about how "authentic" it is. i will paste in case ppl get paywalled (i don't pay & don't understand why the recipes sometimes work for me and sometimes don't).

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons unsalted butter or ghee
1 tablespoon neutral oil, like canola
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 cinnamon sticks, approximately 2 inches long
2 large white or yellow onions, peeled and finely chopped
1 2 1/2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated or minced
6 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
2 green cayenne or jalapeño peppers, stemmed, seeded and cut into half-moons
Kosher salt, to taste
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons puréed tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
3 tablespoons whole-milk yogurt, plus 1 cup to serve with the meal
1 ¾ to 2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch chunks
3 tablespoons slivered almonds
1 teaspoon garam masala
Pinch ground cayenne pepper, or to taste.

PREPARATION
Melt the butter or ghee in the oil in a large Dutch oven set over medium heat, and when it is hot and shimmering, add the cumin seeds and cinnamon sticks. Cook for a minute or two, stirring often, to intensify their flavors, then add the onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they are golden, approximately 15 to 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, put the ginger, garlic and peppers into a mortar and pestle with a pinch of salt, and smash them together into a coarse paste. (You can also do this on a cutting board, with a knife.)
Add the paste to the onions, and cook for 2 minutes or so, then pour in the tomatoes, and stir. Allow to cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes, then add the tomato paste, ground cumin, ground turmeric and another pinch of salt, and stir to combine.
Add the yogurt slowly to the mixture, using a wooden spoon to whisk it into the sauce. It may be quite thick. When it begins to bubble, add the chicken. Lower the heat, put the lid on the Dutch oven and allow the curry to cook gently for 30 minutes or so, or until the chicken is cooked through. Add the almonds and the garam masala, along with a pinch of cayenne, and cook for 5 minutes more or so. Serve with basmati rice or naan, and the additional yogurt.

i am missing BIR-style indian food a lot, so i've become a big fan of this guy http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC95tDLezE8WD3p3tBRBVjfw

true BIR-style because everything he makes starts with the same gravy, which he keeps in the freezer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbW2NyoXVts

i would like to can a curry base like that. there aren't any recipes in the standard tested canning sources so i need to convert a spaghetti sauce recipe or something.

cute channel lol. he'd benefit from a pressure cooker for this task imo!

meera sodha is fantastic, her books are wonderful and in constant use in this house

mr veg accidentally bought an 8 pack of canned chickpeas (instead of black beans)

so i’ve been exploring “660 Curries” chickpea curries chapter & picking ones to try.

this week will be chickpeas in coconut sauce

AND, most excitingly, finally acquired fresh curry leaves at an asian market today for the first time ever — have never been able to find them so v excited to up my curry game now

i love 660 curries. iirc the chana masala recipe was a bit complicated? i may not rc though. but there are a lot of good, simple ones out in the universe. and curry leaves are awesome!

harbl do u know this blog?

https://myheartbeets.com/recipe-index/#all

got instant pot recently and was thinking of trying a chana tn

i found that blog when i was looking for IP recipes!

i have this one bookmarked which means i probably cooked it tho it would have been in the blurry early pandemic days and i can't say i remember it. https://myheartbeets.com/instant-pot-green-chicken-curry-hariyali-chicken/

i think i had curry with curry leaves for the first time, like, last winter? revelatory

xxxxp: re: chickpeas, i made the confit tandoori chickpeas seen here the other night - https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/jul/11/yotam-ottolenghi-chickpea-recipes-confit-tandoori-polenta-chips-parmesan-braise - and they were so so good, and so so easy. just throw everything in the pot and chuck it in the oven. like, don't even fry anything beforehand. big recommend.

oh that recipe looks good

otm that look awesome

let me take this opportunity to say that terminators of endearment makes me smile every single time i see it

I love fresh curry leaves but sometimes they are hard to find--they do freeze well so stock up when you can!

i got a huge bunch for like 3 bucks! i am keeping a few stalks fresh in the fridge for now & then stripped the rest of the leaves & put in the freezer

xxpost lol thx cad!

yes vg i like that blog, just made lentil and spinach dal from it. and i found my chana masala post upthread:

chana masala, i questioned the 660 curries recipe because it had raw onions added at the end. i don't mind the act of eating raw onions but i don't like the aftermath. no thanks. so i went to the old standby smitten kitchen (a madhur jaffrey copy). it has 1 tablespoon of amchur and lemon juice but i need more sweet/sourness. some recipes have anardana, dried pomegranate seeds. i will get the anardana, soon.

― forensic plumber (harbl), Wednesday, February 26, 2020 6:21 PM (ten months ago)

the chickpeas w coconut sauce was very very delicious and so quick to make! delicious way to use up canned chickpeas

am going to do up a vindaloo this week bc i havent had one in so long (like decades)

curries are the best! also i kinda love not having to chop a ton of veg or buy a ton of ingredients. once you have your spice situation set up, its a fkn breeze i love ir

omg i am so on the curry train

i made a tomato biryani tonight that wasn’t even with exact ingredients bc i couldnt be arsed but turned out amaaazimg anyway AND a chicken & spinach & garam masala curry w almonds & raisins and my third eye is completely open omg

have made the chicken spinach raisin almond one, there is a recipe in 660 curries. very good.

that’s the one i made! :D

:)

i was thinking i might try to cook all 660 curries, with no deadline. if i tried to do it in like a year i'd be curried out.

i’m working my way through the majority of his chapter on chicken curries, in no particular order

its amazing how many of these you can make if you remember to stock up on almonds, spinach & yogurt!

Love Babish, loved Cardoz (RIP)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuXyLBeQ8-w

oh, i watched his previous episodes (i believe these were with babish, there was a bread one?). i remembered he had died, didn't know from covid. RIP.

yes, the bread one was, they just said

"one of my hated ingredients is curry powder" YES

He's definitely done one with Babish before - I think it *was breads, there's a reference in this one to the curries being suitable to be eaten with sides other than bread. Always love a good makhani recipe, though making that would definitely leave me very conscious of how unhealthy it is!

xp