I will be your slave ( for a day)

[wagoneer]

If you help me learn about cooking Indian/Pakastani style curry. I will bring on the ingredients, spices and such. I have a basic knowledge.

 

[geogentry]

Hey Wagoneer-

Fresh is the main key.  Well if you want really good curry.  Most curry powder has been sitting somewhere on a shelf in a jar, in a box for too long.  They lose a lot of the oils (which means flavor) while they sit there.

I started learning about Indian cooking some years ago but recently, over the last year, have really intensified my efforts.  When I make any kind of curry I start with the spice seeds, roast em, and then grind them in a pestle.  HUGE difference in taste.  I want to try and make the curry pastes but it's just too hard to find some of the ingredients here in the states - at least where I am currently.  An idea of the harder to find things -   lemongrass, galangal, lime leaves.  I can find them fresh online but do they ever cost a fortune.

When I get down there I will be happy to teach you what I know so far if your still around.  

 

[wagoneer]

Hey thanks Geo I will bring what spices I have SF has a large amount of small Indian/Afgani supply stores. It's just an interest I have and worthy of pursuit. I am hip to roasting and grinding seeds but can always use a point or two.

 

[geogentry]

Most welcome.

Wont make it until the end of January though - hope that works for you. 

Have you got a particular recipe your interested in making?  Do your use a mortar and pestle or one of those mini blenders to do your spices?

Best place I have found for the odd Indian spices is Jet.com.   Dont really know why they carry so many Indian foods and spices they carry but sure am glad they do.  I have found them to be cheaper than most other places.

 

[wagoneer]

Mortar Pestle old wood one

 

[jimindenver]

I was recently shown some curry recipes and while I can not compete with making my own curry, I can show you how to make a recipe I created for the solar ovens.

 

[highdesertranger]

I saw fresh Lemon Grass in the Albertson's in So Ca the other day. there is an Albertson's Blythe. just thought I would throw that out there. highdesertranger

 

[Nelda]

Ah, Adrian,
You had me at the title. LOL

So, aside from that, I want to learn about curry also.

 

[geogentry]

wagoneer
Cool.  I have seen recipes that call for the use of a wood mortar and pestle. And yours is aged.  Nice.  Not sure why a pestle has to be wooden to make the recipe work but I am not that far into that type of cooking - yet.  I have a stone one.

highdesertranger
Good eye!!  When I get there I will need to get supplies in Blythe so I will check and see what they have there.  Thanks.

jimindenver
I am always willing to learn new recipes.  As for making your own curry.  Like I told Wagoneer, Fresh is the key.  The rest is basic cooking.  Curries are basically like Stew is in America.  Every house has their own way of making them.  They use a basic foundation of spices (a lot of which are not used in American dishes) and then make it however they decide it should be.  If you get the basic spices down there really is no wrong way to make them, they may not turn out how you expected - not bad just different.  Making them turn out how you expect every time is just like any skill - practice.  Remember, Grandma made a lot of pies before she started making the ones you will never forget.

Don't have a solar cooker.  I want to make one though.  I read an experiment done in the physics department that allows a solar cooker to be used to make ice at night with no electricity.  Don't really understand all the physics involved - it's enough at this point for me to know if I do Step A correctly then Step B will happen.

 

[geogentry]

Wagoneer

I forgot to include this for you. I get a lot of recipe and ideas from this site for Indian cookery.

https://www.tarladalal.com

--- And for the vegetarians they have a ton of recipes for vegetarians on this site too - you may want to check it out.

 

[Cancan]

Yum favorite meal as a kid curry with major greys mango chutney. I think tamarind would be fun to play around with. You could make a mango salsa with tamarind with your curry.

 

[geogentry]

you could try substituting tamarind for the lime juice in your chutney or using a mixture of the two

 

[ChezCheese:-)]

I used to live in Lahore, Pakistan, studying Urdu. Was married there (first marriage...) and later, after we got divorced here in the US, I ran into him. He said he missed my cooking. I said, hrmmph.

Now, the first thing is that in northern cuisine (both northern India and all of Pakistan), people don't use "curry powder". That is a South Indian thing. In the north, we add spices separately. Sometimes we'll put a bunch of spices together and grind them and add a little water to make a paste, but not most dishes. The only pre-ground powder mix you will find in a Pakistani kitchen is garam masala, and often that is just being used as a sprinkle in the serving dish.

In my experience, the key to authentic flavor is to thoroughly fry the onions. Not wilt 'em, not just golding at the edges: properly and evenly fry them a good medium brown. "Laal-surkh"(red-red) as they say in Urdu.

Another thing is to not overdo the turmeric. Less is more.

 

[steamjam1]

If you help me learn about cooking Indian/Pakastani style curry. I will bring on the ingredients, spices and such. I have a basic knowledge.

Depends on the type of curry. I can make BRC... British Restaurant Curry... So Korma, Masala, etc... I can't do Tandoori only because I don't have a tandoori oven.

Ill trade ya... Ill teach you how to make BRC if your a carpenter and can teach me how to cut wood straight!.. :-D

 

[Dingfelder]

Any hints for the less adventurous? I bought one of those big jars of curry powder and have no idea how much or how little to use to make a quick and lazy curry for a person or three.

 

[John61CT]

There are thousands of different curries, both mixed blends and from scratch, from many hundreds of different tribes and ethnic groups across dozens of countries

Recipes all over the web, I have no idea what's stopping you.

But here's a basic start, assuming you're not vegetarian and have a basic curry mix hispanic / jamaican / or US version of "Indian" curry.

Supermarkets these days have jars of liquid pre-made gravy, some with dry as well, Aldi's are really good.

Basically just like making taco meat or chilli.

Cook your pot of rice and / or have your flatbread ready, wheat flour tortillas will do.

_____
Chop up your animal flesh and fry it up nice and brown, in oil if not fatty meat.

Add some diced potatoes if you're stretching the meat budget, pre-cooked is fine at the end, or just cook the stew longer if they start raw.

With plenty of black pepper, some red chili / cayenne too if you like spicy. Toss in chopped onions maybe crushed garlic too, keep stirring, then turn it down to a simmer.

Toss in the dry mix / curry powder, maybe a tablespoon per half pound of meat, to taste really.

If the mix has ginger, great to add more, ideally fresh.

If you got a jar style, add the gravy part maybe 5min after you've been frying up the dry spices.

Coriander seed ground up fresh with a pepper mill adds some fresh zing.

______
Advanced:

Some styles use tomatoes, some coconut based, basically read the ingredients and add more / fresher versions of whatever's already in there.

Read from-scratch recipes, visit your local Asian groceries for the individual spices, experiment!

_____
Add-on's:

Veggies are often great in the stew, or serve them on the side for contrast.

At least some sliced cucumber or crunchy greens.

A bit of mango chutney, or yogurt with some mint on the side makes it extra special.

_____
Serve:
Eat with lots of rice, or scoop up with the flatbread.

Handing out rollups to the crowd works without dishes (think tacos), a bit of rice to soak up the gravy and stretch the filling out, a couple pounds of meat can fill up thirty hungry campers.

Juice or lemon water to drink.

As you get used to spicy crank it up, fry fresh chopped chilis up with the meat from the beginning, great headrush of endorphins.

 

[John61CT]

More advanced article but interesting background about Bengalis

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/world-asia-india-44681034

 

[WILD@HEART]

More advanced article but interesting background about Bengalis

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/world-asia-india-44681034

thanks!

 

[WILD@HEART]

There are thousands of different curries, both mixed blends and from scratch, from many hundreds of different tribes and ethnic groups across dozens of countries

Recipes all over the web, I have no idea what's stopping you.

But here's a basic start, assuming you're not vegetarian and have a basic curry mix hispanic / jamaican / or US version of "Indian" curry.

Supermarkets these days have jars of liquid pre-made gravy, some with dry as well, Aldi's are really good.

Basically just like making taco meat or chilli.

Cook your pot of rice and / or have your flatbread ready, wheat flour tortillas will do.

_____
Chop up your animal flesh and fry it up nice and brown, in oil if not fatty meat.

Add some diced potatoes if you're stretching the meat budget, pre-cooked is fine at the end, or just cook the stew longer if they start raw.

With plenty of black pepper, some red chili / cayenne too if you like spicy. Toss in chopped onions maybe crushed garlic too, keep stirring, then turn it down to a simmer.

Toss in the dry mix / curry powder, maybe a tablespoon per half pound of meat, to taste really.

If the mix has ginger, great to add more, ideally fresh.

If you got a jar style, add the gravy part maybe 5min after you've been frying up the dry spices.

Coriander seed ground up fresh with a pepper mill adds some fresh zing.

______
Advanced:

Some styles use tomatoes, some coconut based, basically read the ingredients and add more / fresher versions of whatever's already in there.

Read from-scratch recipes, visit your local Asian groceries for the individual spices, experiment!

_____
Add-on's:

Veggies are often great in the stew, or serve them on the side for contrast.

At least some sliced cucumber or crunchy greens.

A bit of mango chutney, or yogurt with some mint on the side makes it extra special.

_____
Serve:
Eat with lots of rice, or scoop up with the flatbread.

Handing out rollups to the crowd works without dishes (think tacos), a bit of rice to soak up the gravy and stretch the filling out, a couple pounds of meat can fill up thirty hungry campers.

Juice or lemon water to drink.

As you get used to spicy crank it up, fry fresh chopped chilis up with the meat from the beginning, great headrush of endorphins.

Spicy yum

 

[Dingfelder]

Thanks. It's the proportions I'm curious about. I know that there a million things to add to a curry. The "tablespoon to half pound of meat" was what I needed as a very basic guideline. However, I still need to know how much liquid to add per tablespoon or other measuring unit, in order to make a palatable sauce.