How do you cook your currys
- Thread starter rubin1961
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Man of Honour
I usually cook curries from scratch though we have jars of it too for those evenings we're both home late.
Those discussing coriander are all right. It is a garnish and it can go in the sauce, just make sure you don't completely overpower the dish. My wife loves coriander and puts far too much in her otherwise perfectly passable curries.
Those discussing coriander are all right. It is a garnish and it can go in the sauce, just make sure you don't completely overpower the dish. My wife loves coriander and puts far too much in her otherwise perfectly passable curries.
I've been using recipes from a guy on Youtube (search for Al's kitchen). I now make a huge pan of curry base every few months and this is good for maybe 8 or 9 dishes. Once the base is done then curries can be knocked up in around 30 minutes by adding the correct spices and are up there with a lot of the sit down curries I've been for.
He does copies of most of our favorite dishes but I tend to stick with a Madras or a Rogan. My takeaway curry bill is near enough nothing now.
He does copies of most of our favorite dishes but I tend to stick with a Madras or a Rogan. My takeaway curry bill is near enough nothing now.
Soldato
This. They are fantastic and easily the best 'cheats' currys by a country mile.
Associate
My method is practically the same as yours except before I add the onions I fry the cumin seeds, cinamon stick and a whole chill in the oil for about 5 minutes before I add the onions. Other than that it's the same method 
Soldato
Anyone use an aluminium pan to cook their curry in? I'm debating weather to try get hold of one and give it a try. I've heard all the scaremongering stories of using them, not so sure what to believe with that! What sort of pan do you use, any recommendations?
I think the need for a bare aluminium pan for cooking curries is a bit overstated.
I got one from an indian supermarket when I was chasing the BIR taste thing a few years ago, but threw it as I didn't feel like it did anything better than an enamelled cast iron pot which I much prefer to use.
I got one from an indian supermarket when I was chasing the BIR taste thing a few years ago, but threw it as I didn't feel like it did anything better than an enamelled cast iron pot which I much prefer to use.
Soldato
Anyone use an aluminium pan to cook their curry in? I'm debating weather to try get hold of one and give it a try. I've heard all the scaremongering stories of using them, not so sure what to believe with that! What sort of pan do you use, any recommendations?
Was looking into it, but opted for my authentic iron wok from chinese store.
Heats up super quick, cook curry well, stops splashing stuff around and doubles up as a tawa for cooking naan too.
Soldato
Onions, garlic and ginger boiled and blended, seems to be the key to getting a more authentic taste. I sometimes make a base and then use the Pattaks curry paste to fry the meat then add the base, along with peppers, tinned tomato, yoghurt etc. Makes a decent, fast curry imo.
I also make completely from scratch sometimes, but no matter what recipe I try, it always seems to be missing something. I was told it could be due to using Tesco spices, so I even went out and bought fresh seeds a while back, grew my own chillies and peppers and coriander and the fresh ingredients made little difference. There must be some top secret ingredient that BIR use.
I also make completely from scratch sometimes, but no matter what recipe I try, it always seems to be missing something. I was told it could be due to using Tesco spices, so I even went out and bought fresh seeds a while back, grew my own chillies and peppers and coriander and the fresh ingredients made little difference. There must be some top secret ingredient that BIR use.
Soldato
Not the case at all buddy. Key to BIR is a decent base, which you make in advance... I've only recently piloted BIR but is a cool cooking method.
1. Make a big batch of base
2. Freeze it in 250ML portions
3. Knock up any curry in <25 minutes
The only downside, as with all BIR curry is you get the generic taste because every curry is made from the same base... but it's certainly not distasteful, and you obviously have different bases (onion / tomato etc) for different types of dishes.
With normal traditional curries, attention has to be paid to two things in my opinion.
1. The onions - BIR calls for just white onions tossed in and flash fried, whereas to get deep flavours in traditional indian you most of the time need to get them brown so they add tons of flavour to your dish. The curry bases used in restaurants have this pre-done as part of making it, which is why it has a deep onion flavour to the curry base.
2. Spices - You can easily nuke a dish, by over toasting the spices. Be careful not to overcook spices when manually roasting... go too far and burn them and you will kill every flavour and have a dish that just tastes odd to say the least.
One thing I like to do, is double up certain ingredients like garlic, where adding more is generally not horrible and can add lots of flavour to the dish. However you don't want to be (or at least be very careful with) adding vast amounts of ingredients like tumeric, fennel seeds, cloves, star anise, as they are very strong flavours.
Other people will probably have different takes on it... but that's my opinion of what matters.
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Great post!
I think you've nailed it in that there's basically two ways in cooking a curry - either taking the time to properly brown onions in spices or using an onion base gravy. You can see the advantage of the onion gravy in that if you're cooking the gravy as a massive batch in advance and then freezing it, you can basically whip up a full curry in about 15 minutes. Properly browning the onions without burning them can easily take 30+ minutes.
Personally I feel like cooking it with properly browning the onions yields a far superior curry - you use less oil so it's lower in calories and the curry tastes fresher overall. I experimented once by making exactly the same curry but using an onion base in one and caramelised onions in the other and the taste difference was significant. It's like having making a black coffee and then having a coffee with milk - all of the taste profile was just duller with the gravy.
I think once you cotton on to the fact that the taste in curries is predominately onion and good spices then it's not that difficult to reverse engineer your favourite types. There's no black art to it, and you don't need a special pan. You can also do a decent tikka/tandoori clone by marinading your meat as normal and just either putting it in your oven on it's highest heat or under the grill at the highest heat. I've not mastered naan yet (I prefer chapatti/roti anyway) but I'd imagine the principles are pretty similar to making napoleon pizza at home.
The disadvantage of this is that your takeaway standards will be raised. You start to resent paying a bunch of money for a cheeky take away when it's not as good as the one you cook. We've gotta drive 25 minutes to get a take away that is better than our own and that's not because our home cooked curries are anything special, it's just that you start to realise that most take away curries aren't very good.
Soldato
I do both. I make the base in a big batch with onions that have been boiled until soft and then blended. Then When I make the curry I brown the onions and add the base after.
Or do you mean brown the onions for the base sauce? I was planning to try this at some point.
As I said above though I follow recipes from BIR forums and have been experimenting for over 10 years and have never been able to perfectly replicate the taste you get from a decent BIR takeaway/restaurant. I have heard mention of them adding MSG, which could be what my homemade curries could be lacking...
Or do you mean brown the onions for the base sauce? I was planning to try this at some point.
As I said above though I follow recipes from BIR forums and have been experimenting for over 10 years and have never been able to perfectly replicate the taste you get from a decent BIR takeaway/restaurant. I have heard mention of them adding MSG, which could be what my homemade curries could be lacking...
Soldato
I have MSG at home and used it occasionally in some dishes, but never comparatively to say "yes this is much better".
In some ways, I don't aspire to cook BIR, as I've mentioned elsewhere the style uses too much oil and carries all the negatives because of that. If you've been cooking for 10 years, no reason to doubt your skills! But on my first few attempts I've done the same, if not better than restaurants.
It could be self bias. Normally when cooking my own food I am heavily critical, often thinking this doesn't taste how I want it, or I aspire for it to be better (natural OCD I have) but then others try it and give other answers and enjoy it.
If I get the time, I maybe will make the Official Indian curry thread or something, so we can all share techniques! A lot of curry discussion spread over a few threads now that deserves to be in one place.
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Soldato
I like to put the onions and garlic in the food processor before I cook them. I also find that garlic powder and onion powder added in gives a nice depth of flavour.
I cook lentil curries usually. Just boil the lentils in water with a bit of tumeric first otherwise you'll get seriously crunchy lentils in your curry!
I cook lentil curries usually. Just boil the lentils in water with a bit of tumeric first otherwise you'll get seriously crunchy lentils in your curry!
authentic curry
This is a little long winded guys but I been doing this a few years now and ist the dogs b. The end result is worth it once you have made the base its a stroll in the park. BTW I don't use the coconut block any more its tastes just as good, but its up to you.
The Revision 3 Melting Base Gravy
This revision of the melting base gravy has been developed to avoid the over cooking of the spiced water and to sweeten the gravy. It is simple to make and you will replicate the taste if the correct ingredients are used and the methods followed accurately.
Recipe makes approx 2 litres of gravy.
The Body Base
600g of Spanish/Dutch Onions when peeled
80g of carrots
1/4 of a green bell pepper
1/4 of a red bell pepper
1 tablespoon of blended garlic
2 teaspoons of blended ginger
200ml of Canola Oil
1 1/2 Level teaspoons of Table Salt
1.5 litres Of Hot Water
100g of tinned plum tomatoes
4 green cardamoms
1 1/2 tablespoons of Mix Powder
1 1/2 teaspoons of garam masala
1 1/2 tablespoons of Tomato Paste
50g of block coconut cream
Method
1. Peel the onions and chop relatively fine, approx 1/2 to 3/4 inch pieces
2. Chop the 1/4 green and red pepper into 1/2 inch pieces.
3. Slice the carrots thinly
4. Add the oil to a pan on a low to medium heat, and allow the oil to start to warm up.
5. Add half of the chopped onions. Sprinkle half of the salt over the top of these.
6. Add the remaining onions, sprinkling the remaining salt over the top again. It is during this stage that the salt will begin to react with the onions.
7. Allow the oil to slowly gain temperature.
8. At the point when the oil is just starting to gently fry the onions, give the onions a stir.
9. Add the garlic, followed by the ginger, and stir in. At this point, approximately 4 minutes should have elapsed since adding the oil to the pan.
10. Add the chopped red and green pepper, green cardamoms and carrot. Stir in and allow to cook.
11. After 20 minutes from adding the oil to the pan, add the water.
12. Place the lid on the pan and turn up the heat to boil the contents. Once boiling, turn down to a simmer and add the plum tomato.
13. Stir in and replace the lid. Cook for 30 minutes.
14. Add the mix powder and garam masala. Do not stir in replace lid.
15. Cook for 10 minutes.
16. Add the tomato paste and block coconut. Stir in and simmer for 20 minutes lid on.
17. Turn off the heat and blend the gravy.
Note 1: the gravy should be the consistency of thin soup.
Note 2: If you wish to view the recipes associated with this base sauce/gravy, click this link. Select Group Memberships from the Networking Menu and select the Melting Base Group and click Join Group.
Here is the recipe for the mix powder.
The mix powder is a combination of spices. The original was far more detailed but has now been refined to the following. Please note that the recipe calls for "Supreme" curry powder and garam masala. Using these products you would totally replicate the takeaway in terms of 100% accuracy. However you may find these difficult to obtain unless you have a really good Asian store close by. The next best brand of these two requirement is "East End" but you will sacrifice the taste slightly. The last ones you could use are "Rajah" products, but the taste will diminish a little further. We have tried all three and can tell the difference, if only marginal, but we had to reproduce equivalent end products.
Note 1: Please ensure all spices and ingredients are fresh.
You will need to mix the following:
All measurements are level teaspoons.
8 teaspoons of turmeric powder
6 teaspoons of Supreme curry powder (must just say curry powder, not Madras powder of anything else).
5 teaspoons of coriander powder
4 teaspoons of cumin powder
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
2 teaspoons of Supreme garam masala
1 teaspoon of ginger powder
Mix all together and store in an airtight contained.
________________________________________
Chicken Madras: Hot
Cooked in a hot, spicy sauce
10 pieces of pre-cooked chicken
350ml of pre-simmering melting base gravy
1 tablespoon of melted ghee
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons of tinned tomato paste/puree
1 teaspoon of mix powder
1 1/2 teaspoon of Hot chilli powder
1 tablespoon of chopped coriander leaves/ or 1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon of dried methi leaves/ or ½ teaspoon fenugreek powder
1 teaspoon of tandoori powder
Method:
1. Add the melted ghee and oil to your pan set between low and medium heat. Allow the pan temperature and ghee to equalise.
2. Add the minced garlic. Keep stirring scraping and shaking the pan and cook the garlic until it turns golden. (This is critical, if undercooked you will impart a raw garlic flavour and if overcooked obviously a burnt taste but more so a bitter taste). Remove from heat.
3. Add the tomato paste (We would advise the first few times to water the paste down a touch with a teaspoon of water mixing in well before adding to the pan. This will make it easier to combine with the garlic and ghee and will not noticeably affect the flavour). Return to the heat and stir in well with the edge of the spoon. (Keep stirring until the tomato paste extrudes colour into the ghee)
4. Add the chilli and tandoori powder and stir round for a few seconds.
5. Add the mix powder and methi and stir around for 10 seconds, shaking the pan contents in a forward and backwards motion.
6. Add half of the melting base gravy/sauce and turn the heat up full. Keep stirring until boiling occurs.
7. Add the pre-cooked chicken. After about 30 seconds add the remainder of the melting base gravy/sauce.
8. You should now keep folding in the contents from the outside of the pan to the centre to balance the heat and keep stirring.
9. After about 3 minutes add the finely chopped coriander.
Natural evaporation should thicken your curry which should be ready in about 6 minutes. However if the curry is thickening too early add a touch more gravy/sauce or if the curry is not thickening leave to thicken.
Finally serve and garnish with a touch more coriander.
This is a little long winded guys but I been doing this a few years now and ist the dogs b. The end result is worth it once you have made the base its a stroll in the park. BTW I don't use the coconut block any more its tastes just as good, but its up to you.
The Revision 3 Melting Base Gravy
This revision of the melting base gravy has been developed to avoid the over cooking of the spiced water and to sweeten the gravy. It is simple to make and you will replicate the taste if the correct ingredients are used and the methods followed accurately.
Recipe makes approx 2 litres of gravy.
The Body Base
600g of Spanish/Dutch Onions when peeled
80g of carrots
1/4 of a green bell pepper
1/4 of a red bell pepper
1 tablespoon of blended garlic
2 teaspoons of blended ginger
200ml of Canola Oil
1 1/2 Level teaspoons of Table Salt
1.5 litres Of Hot Water
100g of tinned plum tomatoes
4 green cardamoms
1 1/2 tablespoons of Mix Powder
1 1/2 teaspoons of garam masala
1 1/2 tablespoons of Tomato Paste
50g of block coconut cream
Method
1. Peel the onions and chop relatively fine, approx 1/2 to 3/4 inch pieces
2. Chop the 1/4 green and red pepper into 1/2 inch pieces.
3. Slice the carrots thinly
4. Add the oil to a pan on a low to medium heat, and allow the oil to start to warm up.
5. Add half of the chopped onions. Sprinkle half of the salt over the top of these.
6. Add the remaining onions, sprinkling the remaining salt over the top again. It is during this stage that the salt will begin to react with the onions.
7. Allow the oil to slowly gain temperature.
8. At the point when the oil is just starting to gently fry the onions, give the onions a stir.
9. Add the garlic, followed by the ginger, and stir in. At this point, approximately 4 minutes should have elapsed since adding the oil to the pan.
10. Add the chopped red and green pepper, green cardamoms and carrot. Stir in and allow to cook.
11. After 20 minutes from adding the oil to the pan, add the water.
12. Place the lid on the pan and turn up the heat to boil the contents. Once boiling, turn down to a simmer and add the plum tomato.
13. Stir in and replace the lid. Cook for 30 minutes.
14. Add the mix powder and garam masala. Do not stir in replace lid.
15. Cook for 10 minutes.
16. Add the tomato paste and block coconut. Stir in and simmer for 20 minutes lid on.
17. Turn off the heat and blend the gravy.
Note 1: the gravy should be the consistency of thin soup.
Note 2: If you wish to view the recipes associated with this base sauce/gravy, click this link. Select Group Memberships from the Networking Menu and select the Melting Base Group and click Join Group.
Here is the recipe for the mix powder.
The mix powder is a combination of spices. The original was far more detailed but has now been refined to the following. Please note that the recipe calls for "Supreme" curry powder and garam masala. Using these products you would totally replicate the takeaway in terms of 100% accuracy. However you may find these difficult to obtain unless you have a really good Asian store close by. The next best brand of these two requirement is "East End" but you will sacrifice the taste slightly. The last ones you could use are "Rajah" products, but the taste will diminish a little further. We have tried all three and can tell the difference, if only marginal, but we had to reproduce equivalent end products.
Note 1: Please ensure all spices and ingredients are fresh.
You will need to mix the following:
All measurements are level teaspoons.
8 teaspoons of turmeric powder
6 teaspoons of Supreme curry powder (must just say curry powder, not Madras powder of anything else).
5 teaspoons of coriander powder
4 teaspoons of cumin powder
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
2 teaspoons of Supreme garam masala
1 teaspoon of ginger powder
Mix all together and store in an airtight contained.
________________________________________
Chicken Madras: Hot
Cooked in a hot, spicy sauce
10 pieces of pre-cooked chicken
350ml of pre-simmering melting base gravy
1 tablespoon of melted ghee
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons of tinned tomato paste/puree
1 teaspoon of mix powder
1 1/2 teaspoon of Hot chilli powder
1 tablespoon of chopped coriander leaves/ or 1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon of dried methi leaves/ or ½ teaspoon fenugreek powder
1 teaspoon of tandoori powder
Method:
1. Add the melted ghee and oil to your pan set between low and medium heat. Allow the pan temperature and ghee to equalise.
2. Add the minced garlic. Keep stirring scraping and shaking the pan and cook the garlic until it turns golden. (This is critical, if undercooked you will impart a raw garlic flavour and if overcooked obviously a burnt taste but more so a bitter taste). Remove from heat.
3. Add the tomato paste (We would advise the first few times to water the paste down a touch with a teaspoon of water mixing in well before adding to the pan. This will make it easier to combine with the garlic and ghee and will not noticeably affect the flavour). Return to the heat and stir in well with the edge of the spoon. (Keep stirring until the tomato paste extrudes colour into the ghee)
4. Add the chilli and tandoori powder and stir round for a few seconds.
5. Add the mix powder and methi and stir around for 10 seconds, shaking the pan contents in a forward and backwards motion.
6. Add half of the melting base gravy/sauce and turn the heat up full. Keep stirring until boiling occurs.
7. Add the pre-cooked chicken. After about 30 seconds add the remainder of the melting base gravy/sauce.
8. You should now keep folding in the contents from the outside of the pan to the centre to balance the heat and keep stirring.
9. After about 3 minutes add the finely chopped coriander.
Natural evaporation should thicken your curry which should be ready in about 6 minutes. However if the curry is thickening too early add a touch more gravy/sauce or if the curry is not thickening leave to thicken.
Finally serve and garnish with a touch more coriander.
Man of Honour
Looks like a good recipe. Is it based on anything from the BIR forums?
Soldato
I always find these recipes a bit odd, when it asks to put in curry powder, along with a load of other spices that are all present in the curry powder..
I think the gravy portion of that recipe isnt far off the one I use, but without the canola oil, carrots and cardamoms. I'll have to give this a try when I next make a batch.
I think the gravy portion of that recipe isnt far off the one I use, but without the canola oil, carrots and cardamoms. I'll have to give this a try when I next make a batch.
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