Thursday, September 29, 2005

Curry Monster


I’m a bit of curry monster. Unfortunately I don’t live close to a decent Indian restaurant; the only one in my local town serves up rubbish at inflated prices.

When the curry cravings get too much, I make my own curry. I’ve become quite adept over the years, and I can produce a very good approximation of some of the curry house classics. The only problem is the time consuming nature of preparation. All that roasting/grinding of spices and pureeing of onions takes an eternity.

After some experimentation, I’ve come up with a quick and easy method of producing something which is very tasty, and is certainly a vast improvement on the prepared sauces that come in jars. I make up a blend of fenugreek, coriander, cumin, ginger, paprika and chilli powder, and mix to a smooth paste with a little water. I fry the paste over a medium heat for a minute, stirring vigorously. Then I add two finely chopped onions and four cloves of crushed garlic. This is then fried for ten minutes, stirring frequently. This is known as the ‘bhuna’ method; it causes the spices to cook out properly, release their oils, and lose their harshness. You can tell when the process is complete if the oil has risen to the top of the mixture.

I then add two thirds of a tin of coconut milk, and a tin of chopped tomatoes. I let the mixture simmer for thirty minutes, allowing it to reduce to a fairly thick consistency. I sometimes add a few cardamom pods, which add a nice aromatic fragrance.

This sauce is particularly good with prawns and scallops, and is also very nice with chicken.

Sprinkled with chopped fresh coriander, and served with steamed basmati rice, this is a proper top notch curry experience.

16 comments:

Sniffy said...

Did you ever use "the curry secret" book? It was pretty good for authentic curries. What's your favourite meat?

garfer said...

Yeah, Ive got that. The thing with most of the curry restaurants is that they aren't really serving 'authentic' Indian food.
I don't really care about that, I'm just trying to replicate what the restaurants produce.
My favourite meat is beef. Not so good for currys, but you can't beat proper roast beef with Yorkshires and all the trimmings.

S.I.D. said...

Curry freak here.

My sis married an Indian. He was a bastard and left her but his authentic recipe curries stayed with her.

My favourite Curried tuna. Weird but wonderful.

garfer said...

Curried tuna sounds interesting. I presume it uses the fresh stuff and not the tinned.

S.I.D. said...

Most definitely.

Secret is the toasted caraway seeds right at the start.

Alex M said...

We went for a curry tonight, as it 'appens, to Dhabba in Glasgow. A bit pricey, but man, it's good. >burp<

garfer said...

Jammy bastard! Do you have no appreciation of the deprivations suffered by those isolated in teuchterland?
That comment has ruined my night. God, I could just murder a jalfrezi.

Anonymous said...

And you actually eat this stuff do you?
Rod the Brit

Sniffy said...

I'm having lamb (tikka) jalfrezi tonight.

One of my colleagues is of Pakistani decent. Dropped into her house once and her mum had laid on a MASSIVE spread for us. It was fuckin' ace.

surly girl said...

oh good. so now i'm hungry.

elevenses, anyone?

Unknown said...

Freakingly, last night I made my first foray into the battle of homemade cuzza. You're right about the pain-in-the-arse factor of crushing, grinding and chopping, but by god (or by Krishna, I suppose) it tasted GOOD. I've always been an addict, but now I think I'm turning into a curry ponce. I'm never buying a jar again...

garfer said...

I use an electric coffee grinder for grinding my roasted spices. Saves a lot of work with a mortar and pestle.

Rowan said...

I wish indian was more readily available in my area, it isn't and most ppl detest the smell so much, they won't even try this sort of food. I got hooked while at a vegan's house they let me try samosa and since, I can't get enough. I am not sure what the spices are, but whatever it is, I experience a very deep calm whenever I eat it, as does my husband, and I usually can't be bothered to do anything after I've eaten, just sit and stare into space can keep me content. Maybe it's drugs???? dunno.
Anyhow, I like your recipe there, I think I'll try it.

garroo said...

I have saved the recipe for future use. I'm the curry fucking master, got my technique down to a tee, don't do no mouth burn nor nothing.

Anonymous said...

Do you realise how much of a poof that recipe made you sound?

Anonymous said...

There's no decent Indian restaurant in my area either, so I too have taken the matter into my own hands.
My friends and I have an Indian spice blog going called Naughty Curry.
It's an oasis. You should stop by sometime... we like people who experiment.