Curries.

[Orfy]

Is any one into making their own curries from scratch?

I make them all the time.

[teddymouse]

do tell how orfy pleaseeeee.
angie

[silky]

Yes I do, and for this evening meal I made Chill con Carne. There is always to much, so half goes into the freezer.

[Orfy]

It depends what type of curry I want to make.

First you take some of this.



For a basic meat curry using yoghurt

Basicaly all the spices to roast and grind into a garam masala.
This will differ dependant on what you want to achieve.
Many people starting out will use a ready mixed one but it's not quite the same.
The smell of those fresh roast ground spices is fabulous.

For a basic meat curry using yoghurt:
I remove the cloves and bark then add the required amount of chillies, ginger and garlic then sweat lots of chopped onions adding a little more ghee if possible. Once softened and coloured I cover with water and simmer for maybe 20 -30 until most of the water is absorbed.
I then remove 3/4 of the onion and blend to a paste adding some a little creamed coconut, ferungreek leaf and curry leaves.

I marinade my meat in lemon juice, yoghurt, and turmeric for an hour plus in the fridge.


I had a bit of my garam masala to the ghee again then sauté the chicken adding a little more yoghurt to stop it drying out. I then had the onion base and the unblended onions back in. I like to add a little palm sugar as well.

Just before serving I like to add a little fresh coriander and ferungreek.

More pictures later.

[madmum]

My hubby makes all our curries from scratch and ,like you makes his own garam masala .thats great but when he cooks up the garlic,and onion base the whole house and even the garden(both are big )smell for days

[wendy]

Yes I do also. As you say makes the house smell lovely. But then I love Indian food.
Wendy

[Dave]

got this off a mate of mine a while ago
it works for me
it is a basic curry gravy mix
CURRY
GARAM MASALA
GROUND CORIANDER
GROUND CUMIN
GROUND GINGER
GROUND NUTMEG
GROUND CINNAMON
GROUND BLACK PEPPER
PAPRIKA
TURMERIC
HOT CHILLI POWDER
GARLIC (OPTIONAL)
2 ONIONS (I USE LARGE ONES)
3tins of TINNED CHOPPED TOMATOES (I USE TESCO VALUE)
Chop the onion (I half it then fine slices) and fry until it just starts to brown
Add a heaped tea spoon of all the above spices (not chilli powder) to a mug of boiling water
Once the onions have been browned
Use a large saucepan- add 2 tins of the tomatoes (and the juice from the other tin) the spices and ¾ of the onion
If you have to use another ½ a mug of boiling water to wash out the mug that will be fine
Then blend it (I use a hand blender)
Then add the remaining drained tomatoes and the rest of the onion then simmer for 5-10 minutes
During this time add the chilli power to taste
Enjoy!!!!!
Extras---Fry some chopped chicken and add this to the mix after the blending stage
Boil some potatoes and add them just before they are cooked if they are over cooked they will fall apart

[Orfy]

I'm sure you are aware but historicaly there are no such things as curries in Indian quisine. If you get a recognisable curry dish it is an import from the UK.

That's not to say you can't get authentic indian dishes over here or make your own.

It get messy in fuguring out where the dish originates because they come over here, got the name and went back over to India to be reauthenticated.

I like to make a Vindaloo which is actualy a dish of potatoes cooked with vinegar. It's a far cry from most of the Vindaloos you get over here.
The majority of authentic indian dishes are also vegiterian and have a loth more liquid.

I find it all very interesting.

One of my favorite spices is green cardamom. It's wonerfully fragrant and I recomend it to all curry cookers.

[Effie]

Put green cardomon in milk puddings - yumm!
Hubby likes to make his own Indian snacks like onion bhajias and I do naan bread (in the bread machine) and mango chutney when they are reduced, it is nothing like the stuff from the supermarkets, it goes best with sliced ham in butties.

I'm hungry now but I already had my tea

[silky]

Many years ago while serving in the Far East, I was informed by an Indian friend that the word curry in their language meant a meal with rice.

[p.penn]

Hi Orfy - I too love cardamon - one of the first curries I had was at a wedding with indian caterers - veg curry - so fragrant - cardamon!

When I was in india a few years ago I just loved the food. Nothing like uk 'indian'. I loved indian takeaways when I left and struggled for a while when I got back!

I want to make a chick pea curry - what do you think ....cumin, coriander, chilli, cardamon...... have I missed anything?

By the way, I have a masala dhabba - looks like you could do with one!

[Orfy]

If you look at the bottom left of my cupboard you'll see one.
I you use way two many spices to survive on the small packets.
I have a pack of imported chick pea masala. I'll let you know what's in it.


I tend to look at what's in the packs then make my own.

[p.penn]

Didn't spot that Orfy! Nil out of 10 for observation there then!

[Orfy]

I've had it around 20 years and once a year I do a random curry from all the spices that have spilled into the bottom.

I couldn't describe the smell that come when I open those doors. It's like walking round a spice market. It reminds me of some of my travels.

[Orfy]

Here's mine.