Spill your curry secrets

Burt Dagger

Burt Dagger

I’m just here so I don’t get mined
Forum Supporter
I aspire to cook restaurant-grade curries of the basic varieties - tikka masala, butter chicken, your basic Thai red and green. I say aspire because there is still a sizeable gap between expectations and results. I’ve gotten a lot better, but there’s still a je ne sais quoi missing.

What I’ve learned:
- it’s much harder to overdo fish sauce in Thai curries than you think it is
- caramelizing palm sugar is usually worth the time
- coconut sauces love a hardy green like Swiss chard
- cashew cream is indispensable for a good tikka / butter masala. Costco sells a nice bag of unroasted, unsalted
- whole seed cumin is great. Whole coriander seeds add nice taste but are an absolute bugger texturally
- an Indian curry needs a good basmati rice with aromatic spices soaked in. It’s worth skipping the rice cooker and following a stovetop recipe.

Curry aficionados (any genre), would love to know how you’re taking it to the next level. Like I said, I’ve gotten better but I’m still not fooling anyone into thinking they’re eating takeout
 
Use Shan products, in most Asian stores. Prepackaged spice mixes for a wide variety of curries. They add all the spices and goodies in a hermetically sealed bag.

I used to make curries from scratch and a pita having 20 odd different things lying around and they lose their lustre with time so all in 1 does it for me. Some too, are nuclear hot depending on your taste, all are good. I typically make biryanis.

Dave

PS Do not buy the large bag of Costco basmati rice as it is duff, I suspect it’s long grain as the grains are far too short for basmati. I googled best basmati and went thru Amazon
 
Dave Boyle said:
Use Shan products, in most Asian stores. Prepackaged spice mixes for a wide variety of curries. They add all the spices and goodies in a hermetically sealed bag.

I used to make curries from scratch and a pita having 20 odd different things lying around and they lose their lustre with time so all in 1 does it for me. Some too, are nuclear hot depending on your taste, all are good. I typically make biryanis.

Dave

PS Do not buy the large bag of Costco basmati rice as it is duff, I suspect it’s long grain as the grains are far too short for basmati. I googled best basmati and went thru Amazon
Click to expand...
I second the Shan spice mixes. I've used their butter chicken mix a few times and it is really good! I also bought a jar of dried curry leaves and I fry them in ghee and finish with the leaves and ghee.
 
I did a little experimenting with fruits in various Indian curries. Apples, currents, tomatoes and mangos were all good albeit fairly standard. An ingredient which was a smashing success was dried sour cherries. I had high hopes for dried apricots but they turned out to be a real dud.
 
used to make a cherry chutney that was killer on curry
 
I have a jar of lime pickle my limey friend made.

Large chunks of lime (peel on), star anise, cayenne, a little oil and an inordinate amount of salt.

Taking a bite of it will make you wince! My friend describes it as "pleasantly distasteful."

It makes a great accompaniment to a spicy vindaloo curry along with a major grey chutney and some plain yoghurt on the side. I love the extreme contrasts between the heat, sweetness, salt, bitter lime and cool yoghurt.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top