Now then, curry. One of my favourite dishes and one of my favourtie subjects. I could go on for hours and sometimes I do. This little article is a summary of about 30 years of trying to unlock the secrets of a decent home made curry that tastes like it came from a shop.
Making a curry has 3 stages and these are:
- Masala.
- Gravy.
- Curry.
1. Masala.
Masala is the spice mix, sometimes disparagingly called curry powder. Each curry chef has their own closely guarded recipe to which other spices can be added depending on the dish. The 5 main ingredients of masala are:
- Cumin
- Coriander
- Paprika
- Turmeric
- Chilli Powder
Now turmeric is a difficult spice, because it stains everything luminous green, so I am careful when I cook with it. And I also like to leave out the chilli powder until I know who I'm cooking for, so that leaves:
- Cumin
- Coriander
- Paprika
Some people go for an equal mix of all three. Others for a 1:2:2 ratio. So I would make up a spoonful of cumin with two spoons of coriander and two of paprika. Or go for cupfuls if you are making a load of curry. Get your spices from your local Asian or World Food shop and you will save loads of money.
2. Gravy
When you go out for a curry they might give you the impression that they have cooked everything from scratch. Well they haven't, every curry chef has a big pot of curry sauce on the go, and it is known a the gravy. Here is my recipe.
Ingredients
- Oil
- 5 Onions
- 4 Tomatoes
- Piece of Ginger about the size of a finger
- Large clove of garlic
- Whole spices
- 2 Bay leaves
- 4 Brown cardamoms
- 2 teaspoon dried methi
- Ground spices
- 5 teaspoons of Masala - see above
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
- Turmeric
- chilli powder
Ginger and garlic are known as the green spices, even though they are not really green. You can do these two ways. The first one is to peel and crush the garlic under the side of you knife; and grate the ginger with a fine grater. The second is to put the ginger and garlic in a blender with a bit of water and whizz them together. Chop the onions roughly, it is all going to get blended in the end so don't be too fussy. Pour oil into a large saucepan until the bottom is just covered. Heat it up and then add the ginger and garlic, if you are using the paste method the water will evaporate quite quickly and you will smell the garlic cooking. Keep stirring. Throw in the onions. Cook them slowly until they just start to brown slightly at the edges. This might take a while, but you should be going for flavour.
Add all the spices. Slightly break the cardamoms under the side of your knife. Add chilli powder to suit your taste. Turmeric is up to you, just dip the end of a teaspoon into a jar and that should be enough. Also add a large pinch of salt. Stir it up so that the onions get coated in the spices and the spices start to toast. Your kitchen should be filling up with curry type smells. Finally chop the tomatoes roughly and throw them in, I usually cut them into eight. Stir them into the mix and get them covered in spices.
Add water until it just covers the mixture. Simmer for about 30 minutes, or 45 minutes if you have the time. Take it off the heat and fish out the bay leaves and the cardamoms. Liquidise the lot either in a blender, or with a stick blender. You can use this in your curry or freeze it for later.
3. Curry
Now you've got your gravy here is a basic curry recipe, similar to a balti that you might get from a shop.
Ingredients
- 1lb (500g) chicken or lamb cut into bite sized pieces
- Half a block of butter
- An onion
- A green pepper
- 2 tomatoes
- Piece of ginger about the size of three fingers
- 5 or 6 cloves of garlic
- 2 or 3 finger chillies
- Milk
- Gravy (see above)
- 5 teaspoons Masala (see above)
- Chilli powder
- 2 teaspoons dried methi
- Salt
Roughly chop the onions, peppers and tomatoes. Prepare the ginger and garlic as for the gravy, either grate the ginger and crush the garlic, or blend it with a bit of water (this is easier). Get a big frying pan or a wok. Melt the butter gently, without burning it. Add the onions and peppers and fry them quickly until the onions just start to turn brown. Add the meat, ginger and garlic. Stir fry (that means keep it moving but don't beat it to death) until the meat is browned. Add the Masala, chilli powder and methi. Prick the finger chillies with the point of a knife and add them too. Stir it all up to coat everything in spice mix and let the spices toast for a while, again it will smell of curry. Add some milk, a little less than half a coffee cup and stir it in. Add some gravy, enough so that the mixture is a thick soup. Now turn the heat up and reduce it until it looks and tastes like curry from a shop.
Serve with your favourite accompaniment, some rice or a shop bought naan bread.