Tell me the secret of a great curry

[PurpleSky300]

So, I love curry and for years, I’ve been trying all kinds of recipes for my favourites (jalfrezi, karahi, ceylon) – BIR-style ones on YouTube, cheat’s gourmet powders and blends, random things from Internet blogs, you name it.

They’re never terrible but they’re never fantastic. Every time I come away thinking “meh” – it’s a bit bitter, or too tomatoey, or lacking sweetness and nowhere near the quality you’d get in a restaurant. So what’s the secret to getting it right consistently? I’m following recipes but maybe I’m not fully understanding what the ingredients ‘do’?

I add sultanas to my curries to give some sweetness. Definitely agree with cooking the onions for a very long time.

I use this website now, really simple and tasty recipes

https://www.authenticpunjabee.com/
Give Bee a follow on Instagram as lovely stories and posts as well.

OK, so I will slow cook the onions for my next curry.

But are people saying that ALL recipes turn out better if the onions are slow cooked, for example, soup?

For PP, tej patta is bay leaf.

But Indian bay leaves are different from those we associate with Mediterranean countries.

https://makeastirr.com/indian-bay-leaf-teja-patta/

With the onions what size do you chop them to? I read a website one that suggested that larger rather than smaller was best because the cut surface area was smaller thus releasing less sulphuric acid and meaning they were sweeter. This suggested that you then pop these in a processor to make a paste.

@midlifecrash , tej patta is bay leaf

I pretty much agree with all the posts.
My contrbution is: go easy on the spices you find overpowering (cloves and cumin), and be liberal with the ones you love. Be generous with the ginger and garlic.
Buy whole spices and grind them. I use a lot of different ones including hing (asafoetida).

@SunnieShine , onions are best cooked slowly for stews and curries. I don't make or eat soup, so don't know.

@YetAnotherSpartacus , I chop them quite thinly and into maybe .75 - 1.00 cm squares

Thank you 😀 I'm looking forward to tastier curry and stew this autumn.

@SunnieShine, any stew I make will have carrot, celery and an allium in it, even if I don't fry the base.
The celery sweetens when cooked. Leeks or spring onions don't need frying. Boiled onion isn't very nice, neither are boiled mushrooms.

How do I stop the spices making my curries gritty. I'm okish at getting the flavours ok but always find I can feel the spices.

Fat is the transport/vehicle for flavour and salt is a glamour enhancer and this is why ALL the delicious foods contain liberal amounts of these. There is a greatseries on Netflix called something like salt fat heat and it's very interesting.

Grind you own spices. But buy them in small batches as they can loose their taste
I'll reiterate the onion cooking
Use decent cook books ( I use Madhur Jaffreys )
I've lived in India where the food is exquisite and nothing like 99% of the homogenous rubbish served in restaurants and takeaways
Home cooked Indian food is far superior

@Plump82 , grind the spices finely in a pestle and mortar

I second this.

I've found The Spicery excellent for providing fresh herbs and spices and I'm now much better at making breads such as puris as well by following their recipes (except for dosas - I'm rubbish at them and would welcome any tips).

The other thing I've found is that slicing onions into half-moons rather than cubes helps. They melt down a lot better (especially with a pinch of salt).
So I halve each onion and then slice them as thinly as possible.

And a PP (@Simonjt ?) said brown people are magic.
This is true
I lived in hospital accommodation for a while and a colleague there used to make a curry with just onions, potatoes, tinned tomatoes and a few pinches of spices from his spice tin (masala dabba?).
Best thing I ever tasted and I could not replicate it.

(Edited for spelling - hope I've got it right now)

I know tej patta is called bay leaf, but it is a different plant (cassia leaf?) I can never find it

Curry leaves are one part of the answer. The other tip I got from master chef. It was to layer the flavours, ie, add the seasoning in stages leave it to cook for an hour, then add more. It really works and gives a much deeper curry tang.

Oh gosh yes. Should have also mentioned if using meat to keep it on the bone. Adds depth of flavour and you can use less salt. Again, my family never cooks with just chicken breast. And even lamb will often have some of the bone left on it.

@midlifecrash , Cinnamomum tamala - Wikipedia

I use lovage if I don't have curry leaves, and ajwain seeds if I have no lovage

I've lived in India where the food is exquisite and nothing like 99% of the homogenous rubbish served in restaurants and takeaways

Most "Indian" restaurants and takeaways in the UK aren't actually Indian though. They are owned and run by Bangladeshis or Pakistanis.

"But are people saying that ALL recipes turn out better if the onions are slow cooked, for example, soup?"

I saw Gordon Ramsey make a veg and bean soup once where he really browned the onions, carrots and other veg.
I tried that soup and followed it exactly and it was one of the best soups I'd ever had. Now I always make veg and bean soups like that.

But are people saying that ALL recipes turn out better if the onions are slow cooked..?
Onions fried quickly over a high heat are smelly and horrible, so the answer is probably yes.

Everyone else is bang on re: onions

Use more ginger and garlic than you think (for a batch cook I would use a whole bulb of garlic and the equivalent size of ginger). Fresh is best but the Cofresh bags of frozen garlic & ginger is a pretty good substitute if you want to speed things up a little

Just spent an hour frying 1kg of onions, thinking I'd have enough for a few dishes. I would have, but ate half of them straight from the pan. They are so delicious.
How well do they freeze? ( if I can stop myself eating them all!)

Yes you can freeze them. Its even better if you cook the tomatoes in and then freeze. Then the whole curry base is ready for when you need it.