Made Chetna's Potato and Pea Curry - Not impressed. Anything better?

[Nachtvlinder]

it's nothing like what you get from an authentic dish at a restaurant where it's not bland and the spices are washed out. Is there a better recipe?

I’ve used this recipe once and it was fine (not at all bland) but increasingly I’ve been using Vegan Richa for curries and sides, and she has this recipe.

The Curry Guys recipes are the best I have tried

Some of these recipes with a whole teaspoon on turmeric powder a regular sized curry is crazy. You are not supposed to taste the turmeric powder - it is there for health benefits and colour. A quarter to third of teaspoon is plenty for a dish to service 4 people. I suspect one of the reasons that the recipes may not taste ‘authentic’ is that people have sensibly reduced salt in the recipes. Salt doesn’t just make food taste of salt, it really brings out other flavours too so less salt will make the dish taste a bit washed out.

It turned out to be a very dull brown colour but when I order it from a takeaway or eaten in a restaurant it's always been yellow, fresher and maybe there's ghee in it and sugar.

I’ve just watched the video and think that it’s a pretty authentic version. I’d miss out the garlic personally and add ground cumin and less coriander but that just how my mother would have made it. When she first put in the salt I was a bit at how little but she did add more after tasting at the end.

But there is a huge difference between Indian home cooking and restaurant food so you’re probably looking more for a recipe like the curry guys one as suggested above.

@karmakameleon The Curry Guy's version is quite similar to what I'd done, but I cooked out the tomato first for a good 10 minutes before adding the potato and pea. Cooked for about 20 minutes till the potato done and it turns out to be a bit brown and boring. Flavour's not so exciting. I used the same amount of spicing with nothing missing.

Not sure what it is then. Generally the two biggest mistakes that people make when cooking Indian food are:

(1) not cooking each stage for long enough, you really want the onions to be browned, the spices cooked through and the tomatoes to be dry but she shows that in the video;

(2) and not enough salt, Indian food needs a ludicrous amount of salt.

(2) and not enough salt, Indian food needs a ludicrous amount of salt.

You are not wrong there!

My friend cooked a curry but did not add any salt. It was so bland!

Generally the two biggest mistakes that people make when cooking Indian food are:

I'd add using tired, old spices instead of ones that have been freshly ground.

How old were your spices, OP?

I do find that cuts down the need for salt too.

Is there a reason that this recipe does not use Garam Masala at the end (or a similar finishing spice blend)?

I think it’s just personal preference. I’ve seen other recipes where it is added but I would only tend to use garam masala in meat dishes.

With the spices I think that the Indian brands are generally better quality and better flavour. I opened a packet that was out of date recently and it still smelt fresh and I was happy with the results but not sure that Schwartz would have lasted so well.

Maddhur Jeffrey’s curry bible or herb veg book.

thank me later.

I grind my own spices in the main and in small quantities - or at least the main ones.

thanks for the info on GM!

@YetAnotherSpartacus My spices are all new and bought from an East Asian store, so I know they weren't old and dusty. I am generally serious about cooking authentically and tend to source dishes over and over again finding the perfect dish. Do you think the restaurant/take away versions are different from homemade?

I find the bags in the Asian grocers to be too big for me … I don’t cook for a large number of people. I buy the bags of unground and use a small hand held grinder to grind maybe a month or so in advance. I also gently roast those meant to be roasted and I make my own onion and garlic pastes in bulk and freeze them. I’m no expert though.

I find my curries are less creamy and salty than restaurant ones. Sometimes they are more runny, too. They are also often less oily. I can’t achieve the complexity and depth of spicing in a really good restaurant curry.

I wonder if the OP might also add a little crushed kasuri methi to her aloo matter at the end?

@YetAnotherSpartacus yes, garam masala and methi added at the end, and cooked off after a few minutes.