The Official Homemade Curry Thread

[Cooperman]

Some good looking recipes in this thread but I would say that to make a good Indian curry you only need to master the technique of making a good base with some general cooking tips.

If you're making a curry with a rich tomato base (bhuna, karahi) you want to go with this method:

• Get all your vegetables together in a ratio similar to this: 1 large onion, 1 tbsp minced garlic, 1 tbsp minced ginger, 2 capsicum chilli peppers, 2 bell peppers and 2 tomatoes diced.
  • Add them all in a pan with about 150ml of water and simmer for a 5-6 minutes to let them soften.
    • Add ghee or vegetable oil and keep simmering for a minute
      • Add 1 tbsp garam masala, worth investing in an expensive brand if you don't make it yourself.
        • Turn the heat up to the max and keep stirring for 8-10 minutes until you get a glossy finish. Most important step!
          • Back to a simmer and add some water until you get the desired consistency
          
          That's good for about 500g of meat or vegetarian equivalent. I'd cook anything else separately to preserve the taste of the curry. If you're making chicken, bake it on an oven rack after marinating in yoghurt and garam masala for a tandoori effect.
          
          If you want to add anything else (pickle, garlic, coriander) add it at the end for a stronger flavour.

• • • • • 
          
          Making the base is my problem as I've lost patience with it.

 

[BanosSwan]

This is a great curry cookbook

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B072568TW3/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

And these are expensive, but my mother bought some for my father for his birthday, they keep some for me to taste and the results are phenomenal.

https://www.notonthehighstreet.com/thespicery/product/friday-night-curry-three-month-subscription?referredBy=search

 

[Cooperman]

CM did you try the Burmese pork recipe I posted on your thread on the other site?

Well if anyone's interested

Ginger
Chiili
Garlic
Tumeric
One onion diced, you can use more up to you
Tin chopped Toms
mushrooms

You can use powder or fresh spices, personally nicer with fresh

Chop up chilli, ginger and garlic, I dont use measured amounts and fry off with diced onion, add mushrooms and continue to cook add tumeric if powdered and cook off, cover with water and bring to the boil, add tinned toms and diced pork and bring back to boil, turn heat down and simmer until, pork cooked and juice has reduced down.

For the rice, slice one onion and gently fry, add rice and when cooked stir in fresh coriander

Been making almost 30 years, never had a complaint

A nice little rice recipe that goes with many meals is called pillafi (not sure of the spelling)
Gently fry off a sliced onion
and 1 or 2 handfulls of vermicelli pasta, scrunch it in so it breaks into bits, add rice (I always use basmati) then add chicken stock(instead of water).

As a general rule of thumb for basmati rice I use 1 and 3/4 cup of water/stock to every cup full of rice, when youve brought the rice to boil, turn flame/heat down to lowest setting and seal the pan, i.e wrap pan lid in a tea towel, cook for 12 minutes, turn heat of and let rice absorb any remaining water then fluff up, works a treat

This is on the menu for tonight
Will report back.

 

[Ebo]

If you don’t fancy having a go at making your own naan breads you can do this with shop bought ones so that they are similar to what you get in a restaurant.

Warm a frying pan (no oil) put the naan on with a small knob of butter on top. When the bread starts to bubble / puff whack the pan into a hot oven. Take out after 5 mins and serve.

There are plenty of good naan recipes on YouTube if you fancy having a go. Very easy to make

 

[Sherpa]

You certainly don't need any ready made sauces or pastes. It can all be done with fresh original ingredients.

Onions, garlic, coriander, fennel, star anise, cumin, tumeric chopped chillis, paprika, pepper, tomatoes, mushrooms, butter, meat (chicken).

mix it all up and experiment. Try adding limes and/or yoghurt.

The best way to guarantee a belter is to cook it 18-24 hours before you want to eat it, to get the flavour of the spices into the meat.

 

[Cooperman]

CM did you try the Burmese pork recipe I posted on your thread on the other site?

Update on this... scored an extremely respectable 38 out of 40 in our Come Dine With Me scoreboard. Made pretty much as per the recipe although I did go with two onions, a tad of paprika and some fresh coriander at the end.

 

[Epaul]

CM did you try the Burmese pork recipe I posted on your thread on the other site?

Update on this... scored an extremely respectable 38 out of 40 in our Come Dine With Me scoreboard. Made pretty much as per the recipe although I did go with two onions, a tad of paprika and some fresh coriander at the end.

Well glad you enjoyed, happy with that score, never considered paprika in it, might have to give that a try, yes to the corriander although I generally put it through the rice. As for the quantities no doubt 2 onions are fine, I never measure when making it

 

[Cooperman]

Update on this... scored an extremely respectable 38 out of 40 in our Come Dine With Me scoreboard. Made pretty much as per the recipe although I did go with two onions, a tad of paprika and some fresh coriander at the end.

Well glad you enjoyed, happy with that score, never considered paprika in it, might have to give that a try, yes to the corriander although I generally put it through the rice. As for the quantities no doubt 2 onions are fine, I never measure when making it

Two 10's from the lads and two 9's from the ladies of the house. It will definitely be on the menu again.

 

[Jackfath]

A very quick thai curry.

Put a jar of thai paste in a large pan and heat.
Add tin of coconut milk.
Add packet of coconut cream.
Chop and add one large onion.
Chop and add chicken. Or what ever you want in terms of protein.
I also put mushrooms in.
Cover and simmer for around an hour.
Add some chilli flakes or fresh chilli if you want it super spicy.
Serve with rice if you want.

 

[Ebo]

I do like fried rice with my curry, but if you don't want to run the risk of getting a stomach bug due to the cooling time of the rice you can use those packets of tilda rice from the supermarket which are fragrant. The lemon one is nice so is the coriander and lime one. Fry in a little butter or ghee, add alemon slice and a few slices of caramelised onion to serve.

If you are doing your own fried rice you need to cool the rice as quickly as possible, don't let it cool over a legnth of time to room temp otherwse you might get ill. What I do is once cooked, rinse under a cold tap as that will cool the rice very quickly. Drain and then fry the rice.

 

[Jackfath]

I do like fried rice with my curry, but if you don't want to run the risk of getting a stomach bug due to the cooling time of the rice you can use those packets of tilda rice from the supermarket which are fragrant. The lemon one is nice so is the coriander and lime one. Fry in a little butter or ghee, add alemon slice and a few slices of caramelised onion to serve.

If you are doing your own fried rice you need to cool the rice as quickly as possible, don't let it cool over a legnth of time to room temp otherwse you might get ill. What I do is once cooked, rinse under a cold tap as that will cool the rice very quickly. Drain and then fry the rice.

What is the oil they use in the Chinese to get the flavour in their fried rice?

 

[Ebo]

I do like fried rice with my curry, but if you don't want to run the risk of getting a stomach bug due to the cooling time of the rice you can use those packets of tilda rice from the supermarket which are fragrant. The lemon one is nice so is the coriander and lime one. Fry in a little butter or ghee, add alemon slice and a few slices of caramelised onion to serve.

If you are doing your own fried rice you need to cool the rice as quickly as possible, don't let it cool over a legnth of time to room temp otherwse you might get ill. What I do is once cooked, rinse under a cold tap as that will cool the rice very quickly. Drain and then fry the rice.

What is the oil they use in the Chinese to get the flavour in their fried rice?

I'm not sure, maybe rapeseed oil or peanut oil. The flavour is usually from either a fish or plum sauce which cooks off very quickly in the wok.
With the Tilda packets they are infused with oil so you'll only need a little butter or ghee in the pan and a little more melted butter to drizzle over the top to serve.

 

[Cooperman]

I do like fried rice with my curry, but if you don't want to run the risk of getting a stomach bug due to the cooling time of the rice you can use those packets of tilda rice from the supermarket which are fragrant. The lemon one is nice so is the coriander and lime one. Fry in a little butter or ghee, add alemon slice and a few slices of caramelised onion to serve.

If you are doing your own fried rice you need to cool the rice as quickly as possible, don't let it cool over a legnth of time to room temp otherwse you might get ill. What I do is once cooked, rinse under a cold tap as that will cool the rice very quickly. Drain and then fry the rice.

I once ate cold fried rice (previous nights Chinese) out of the fridge and it wiped me out for several weeks. I remember it well as it coincided with France 98 much of which I watched from bed.

 

[Ebo]

I do like fried rice with my curry, but if you don't want to run the risk of getting a stomach bug due to the cooling time of the rice you can use those packets of tilda rice from the supermarket which are fragrant. The lemon one is nice so is the coriander and lime one. Fry in a little butter or ghee, add alemon slice and a few slices of caramelised onion to serve.

If you are doing your own fried rice you need to cool the rice as quickly as possible, don't let it cool over a legnth of time to room temp otherwse you might get ill. What I do is once cooked, rinse under a cold tap as that will cool the rice very quickly. Drain and then fry the rice.

I once ate cold fried rice (previous nights Chinese) out of the fridge and it wiped me out for several weeks. I remember it well as it coincided with France 98 much of which I watched from bed.

Yes you have to be very very careful as rice when cooled down very slowly manifests a lot of bugs. If cooled down very quickly with cold water it can be stored in the fridge for use the next day.

 

[Cooperman]

I once ate cold fried rice (previous nights Chinese) out of the fridge and it wiped me out for several weeks. I remember it well as it coincided with France 98 much of which I watched from bed.

Yes you have to be very very careful as rice when cooled down very slowly manifests a lot of bugs. If cooled down very quickly with cold water it can be stored in the fridge for use the next day.

My plight wasn't helped by the fact that I ate it cold. A three minute blast in the microwave may have nuked the bugs but I didn't even give it an opportunity to do so.