Probably stupid question about curry

[wisden]

I am making a curry for tonights tea using left over chicken from yesterdays roast. I also have boiled carrots and peas and some roast potatoes left over. Can I just throw those in aswell?

[KnockKnockPenny]

Yep! How are you making your sauce?

[seeker]

I would probably have the potatoes as a separate dish- potatoes in curry can make the texture a bit "grainy". But the veg, certainly.

[wisden]

Just using a curry paste, tinned tomatoes,spices, bit more curry powder, onions mushrooms, bit more curry powder,

Seeker I often do left over boiled potatoes in a curry and it tastes lovely do you not think roast potatoes would taste the same?

[flatpackhamster]

No, I don't think roast potatoes will make a good curry.

If you really want to use them, I would blitz them in a food mixer, then mix together with a bit of gram flour (if you have it) or normal flour (if you haven't), some spices and some chopped onion and fry in veg oil to make bhajis.

[wisden]

Ooh bhajis, never made them before. Are they really that easy?

[flatpackhamster]

Pretty much. When I do onion bhajis, I slice the bhajis in to rings, then I make up a mixture of gram flour, spices and water and mix in the onions until they're slathered in the thick batter.. I bring the oil to the boil in a small non-stick saucepan and drop gobs of the bhajis in for about 2 minutes, then dry them on some kitchen foil.

Make sure not to make them too thick or they won't cook through before the outside burns.

[wisden]

flatpack Now please excuse me being thick (I am not a great cook and telling about htses things as though I was a child) what spices do you use and how much oil do you need in the saucepan?

[wisden]

need telling about these things is what I meant to say.

[Inneedofbrandy]

I put potatoes in curry. I would half them an stick them in 10 minutes before serving since there already cooked.

[flatpackhamster]

wisden

flatpack Now please excuse me being thick (I am not a great cook and telling about htses things as though I was a child) what spices do you use and how much oil do you need in the saucepan?

I would use a teaspoon of paprika, a 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric and a teaspoon of ground coriander or ground cumin. You don't need much turmeric, the colour and flavour go a long way. Add a few grinds of black pepper and a large tablespoon of flour. Add a dash of water, mix very thoroughly, add a dash more until you've got a mixture that is thick, not runny. A bit like thick pancake batter. Then mix your blitzed potatoes. It should give you a mixture which you can form, by hand, in to little patties which you can then fry. If you take a ball of the mixture in your hands, cup them together and squeeze a tiny bit you should have a sort-of-saucer-shaped thing about 3" across and 3/4" thick at its thickest point. That should fry in about 3-4 minutes.

I tend to fill the saucepan to about 2" deep and do the bhajis in small batches. They need to be golden on the outside.

If you like your food hot as well as spicy, add some dried chillies or chilli powder to the mix but it's not necessary.

Inneedofbrandy

I'd agree with you if these were new potatoes, but they're roasted so the flavour of the outside of the potato will overpower everything else.

[wisden]

You are a star flatpack they sound delicious. Thankyou!

[wisden]

Sory quick question, how do I know when the oil is hot enough to put the bhajis in?

[flatpackhamster]

You're welcome. Good luck!

Drop a tiny bit (about 1/2" squared) of the mixture in. It will spit, so watch yourself.

If it browns in about 30-45 seconds, the oil is about right. Anything less and it's too hot. If the oil gets too hot it'll blacken the bhajis, and if it blackens everything you cook will taste of acrid soot. If it's too cold, the oil will soak in to the bhaji instead of crisping the outside.

[wisden]

Aw bless you, thankyou for taking the time to help me out. Very much appreciated

[flatpackhamster]

Let us know how you get on!