No Such Thing as Too Hot: The Indian/Curry Thread

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > No Such Thing as Too Hot: The Indian/Curry Thread

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

I've make a Chicken Tikka Masala with finely chopped onions (browned first), a plain yogurt base for the spices, and then pureed tomatoes and some heavy cream to finish the sauce. It comes out pretty similar to the restaurant stuff.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2016 02:40

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# ¿ Apr 30, 2024 14:38

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

The best thing you can do is ditch the curry powder, and mix your own curry spices. Turmeric is the spice that will give satay a good color, and it's the primary ingredient in most curries.

I haven't tried this particular recipe, but this looks like a fair one.

# ¿ Sep 13, 2016 15:15

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

If you don't use broth, you won't get such a thin curry in the first place. Chopped/pureed veggies instead of vegetable broth works better for all the types I've ever made.

# ¿ Mar 22, 2017 16:32

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

ProSlayer posted:

I've gotten to the point where I have most of the spices and can make recipes that I find online. What I'm struggling with now is understanding how each spice contributes to a dish, and why some recipes of the same food have more of one spice or different spices versus another.

For example, here are two recipes of a similar dish: potato curry.

https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/potato-curry-recipe/
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/81354/potato-curry/

But one of them uses double the amount of coriander and turmeric, and doesn't use garam masala or mustard seeds. It becomes tough to experiment when there are so many spices in a dish to contribute to the flavor. Like where can I find how mustard seeds, tumeric, coriander, ginger/garlic paste contribute to a dish and when to use more or less?

Garam Masala isn't a "real" spice, it's a blend of other spices, usually turmeric, cumin, paprika, and some other stuff. Different bottles will be completely different blends. That's going to throw you right there, because you're getting turmeric from two places in that dish.

Spicing a dish is kind of the heart of recipe making, so it's not easily explainable in one post. A lot of herbal/seed spices can guide you by their smell. Coriander and mustard seed have grassy, vegetable qualities, cumin and paprika have earthy and savory qualities. Turmeric and ginger don't have as much smell, but have a sharper, hotter taste and a bit of bitterness.

The best way to learn is to experiment. Start your recipe, taste, add some of a spice, taste again and see if you notice a difference. Add another, see how the taste changes. For some spices, a little will go a long way, and some are more forgiving if you overseason. Also, make sure you have enough salt, which helps the other flavors come out.

# ¿ Mar 31, 2019 19:25

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

By curry leaves you mean...? I can think of a dozen different plants that you put in curry, none of which are called "curry", and Fenugreek is just about the only one that uses the leaves as an ingredient.

# ¿ Oct 3, 2019 19:06

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# ¿ Apr 30, 2024 14:38

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

Well look at that, I learned something new. Thanks goons!

# ¿ Oct 3, 2019 20:05

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