Experimenting with Curry

[SirGunslinger]

I'm trying out different curry recipies, and trying to figure out what makes them work. So, what curries do you all like, and do you know any good recipies.

[ScrumYummy]

Just to preface, all of mine are vegetarian. :B And feed 2-4 people.

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Black Bean Curry (indian)

-2 cans of black beans
-3 cups rice
-1 tablespoon Patak indian curry paste

This one is very easy Start the rice. Put the beans in a frying pan on medium heat until it starts to simmer, then turn to low. Mix in the curry paste, and stir occasionally until the rice is done. Serve the beans over the rice =)

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Dr. Dan's Special

-3 cups rice
-16 oz of SUPER-FIRM or baked tofu (or, one package); the pre-cubed tofu works pretty well
-1 tablespoon olive or peanut oil
-2 1/2 cups of broccoli crowns (or, 1 large head of broccoli)
-1/2 cup of carrots
-1/3 cup of unsalted cashews (I usually just grab a handful and throw them in)
-1 can of coconut milk
-1 tablespoon of red thai curry paste

1. Start the rice.

2. Depending on what kind of tofu you use, there are different ways of preparing it. Baked tofu (or the packaged "Tofu-to-Go") you can just slice and toss in; the cubed tofu, just drain and toss in. Any other packaged "floating" tofu, you will need to press prior to cooking: place the block of tofu on a plate, and place a cutting board on top. Press gently to squeeze the water out. Remove access water; slice the tofu into cubes (if it's still pretty soggy, then squeeze it before tossing into the pan).

3. Fry the tofu in the olive/peanut oil on medium-low heat (stirring frequently), until the tofu is relatively browned. As you cook it, you can also add some seasonings to the tofu; I recommend season salt, garlic, or ginger. Once the tofu is approaching a golden color, toss in the veggies and cashews, cover, and turn to low. Stir occasionally.

4. While the rice and vegetables are cooking, open the can of coconut milk, pour it into a mixing bowl and mix it with the curry paste. Mix thoroughly; the resulting mix should be a light coral color (after a few times of cooking this, you'll get a feel for how dark it needs to be according to how spicy you like it--the darker it is, the more spicy).

5. When the rice is almost done, pour the coconut milk/curry mix in with the veggies. Let it simmer for a few minutes, then dump the rice into the veggies and stir (usually takes two spoons ) until the veggies, rice, and sauce are mixed pretty well. Serve.

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I'll post more later. X)!

[SirGunslinger]

I just learned something... I suppose it helps that I simmer the blended ingredients in with the coconut cream first (otherwise I get funky spicey fish smelling salsa =P), and let it sit in the fridge overnight.

[FawkesFyre]

[Daijaga]

Too fancy for me mate. Sorry, but I'm a butter and potatos boy myself.

[Skylah]

I'm from Asia and my country is a multiracial country with malay, chinese, indian and others. We love foods and our food are normally spicy and rich with spices. So here are some curry recipes you can try out but I'm not sure if you can find all the ingredients and spices there tho'..

Malaysian Beef Curry (Beef Rendang)
Ingredients:
Dry spices for the curry powder
4 tbsp coriander
2 tbsp white cumin
10 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
4 whole cardamom
6 black pepper
1 tbsp chili powder (or to taste)
1 tsp turmeric powder

Wet or fresh ingredients for the curry paste
4 stalks lemongrass
2 inches fresh galangal (optional)
2 inches length ginger
8 cloves garlic
15 dried chillies
6 tbsp oil
6 tbsp curry powder (see above)

Meat
4 lbs chuck steak, cubed

Sauce building
2 onions
6 shallots
4 cups coconut milk
1 pound baby red potatoes, scrubbed and cut in half

Flavor finishing
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 kaffir lime leaves
Sugar to taste

Methods:
Toast the spices for the curry powder in a heavy skillet over medium heat for a minute or two - take off the heat when you can smell them. Add the turmeric and then grind them all in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. (Note: If you do not want to round up all the whole spices for this recipe, you can use a blend of their ground counterparts. Don't toast the ground spices.)

Remove the outer tough leaves from the lemongrass and slice finely. Peel the galangal and slice it as finely as you can. Peel and slice the ginger and garlic as well. In a food processor or mortar and pestle, blend lemongrass, galangal, ginger, garlic, chilies and some oil. This may seem like a lot of chilies, but this dish soaks up the heat and unless you are extremely sensitive to hot foods, this won't be too much. I ended up tossing in a whole handful more near the end because it wasn't hot enough.

Add spice mix and beef and toss.

Cook the onions slowly in a little oil until golden - about 20 minutes. Really take your time with these and do not let them brown. Let them slowly sweat until translucent.

Add the meat over low heat, cover and cook for 15 minutes. You don't want to sear the meat or brown it in this recipe. The toasted spices will give it that roasted taste.

Put in crockpot with halved potatoes, coconut milk, lime leaves and soy sauce and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8, or overnight. Leave lid off at the end to reduce the sauce a little if you wish. Taste and adjust flavors with soy sauce and sugar. Serve with rice or rice noodles.

Indian Fish Curry
Ingredients:
5 tomatoes diced
6-18 pieces fish marinated in garlic+ginger juice
2 small lebanese brinjals cut into lengths and prefried in hot oil
6 small onions (red)+ 3 pips garlic diced
2 green chillies cut into half
curry leaves washed
1 lime ball of tamarind made into paste with 1/2 cup hot water
3 tbsps full fish curry powder
2 tbsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
(add curry powder, chilli powder and cumin seeds together and mix into a paste with 1/4 cup water)
1 lvl tsp mustard seeds
1 lvl tsp fenugreek
1 lvl tsp cumin seeds and fennel seeds

Method:
Heat oil in pan and add garlic+onions+chilli+spices till brown. Add curry paste and stir to combine. Add in tamarind paste+salt (to taste) and allow to simmer for awhile. Add in diced tomatoes and wait for the mixture to boil. (Add extra water if necessary). When aromatic, add fish and cook for 15 minutes. Stir in brinjals and simmer till flavours are incorporated. Be careful not to stir the curry too vigorously as not to break up the pieces of fish/ mash the tomatoe pieces.

Green Chicken Curry
Ingredients:
2 tbsp cooking oil
2 tbsp green curry paste
3 cups coconut milk
4 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
2 small red chilies, sliced
1½ tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp sugar
500 grams chicken breast, sliced
30 grams pea eggplants
4 round eggplants, quartered
2 tbsp fresh basil leaves

Method:
Heat the oil in a wok. Add the curry paste and stir-fry for about one minute. Add coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves, chilies, fish sauce and sugar. Bring coconut milk to the boil. Add chicken, eggplants and pea eggplants. Simmer until the chicken is cooked. Add basil leaves. Serve with steamed rice.

Good luck

[SirGunslinger]

Nice! Most of my cooking is Continental or Mediterranean style, so I wanted to try something different. Unfortnately, the first batch I made I put in to much coconut cream and it came out kind of soupy (I can call it Curry Lamb Stew? O.o). I'm going to try again tomorrow or Saturday.

Which part of Asia are you from Skylah?

[Skylah]

I'm from Malaysia.

Do you know that you can subtitute the coconut milk with fresh milk or yogurt?

If you don't, well know you know

[SirGunslinger]

Fresh Milk is easy to get, but for some reason, whole yogurt is a pain to find (need to get it at a middle eastern market). I might try using yogurt insdead of canned coconut milk, because I bet it will taste quite a bit better.

Thank you for the information, hopefully I can put it to use this weekend. Grrr... your picture is distracting... bouncey bouncey

[Skylah]

..can coconut milk? oh thats a no no.. to make a tasty delicious curry you have to use fresh coconut milk, if you cant find any fresh coconut milk then I suggest you go with the yogurt, even fresh milk will taste better than any can coconut milk.