Curry - good recipes/what to bung in....

[Bozza]

I notice that a lot of mumsnetters (and interestingly partners) enjoy home-made curries. I made one the other night and was not all that satisfied with it.

I would like ideas for what to put in a veggie (or a veggie with some chicken added) curry. And what do you use to thicken it? I used cream coconut but it turned it a dull grey colour.

Any tried and tested recipes out there? Will also be serving it to DS but he generally enjoys curries including my offering the other night so no problems there.

Have to admit that we usually cheat and use a prepared sauce - Pataks are very good and there are some new ones on the market - dh usually does the cooking in our house so I will have to ask him - we usually do a korma or masala strength one for the kids and we have something a bit spicier - swartz (sp?) do a Bombay potato mix which tastes very good - usually buy naan from local supermarket.

This is the one I make most often. Its lovely made with lamb but you can use anything really. If you are really pushed use a big dollop of Pataks Madras curry paste instead of the spices.

Brown off meat/chicken pieces.

Fry onions, ginger and garlic till VERY soft, add cumin seeds, ground coriander, turmeric, chillies, cardomom seeds. cook till its all soft and fragrant (about 5 mins).

Return meat or add any veggies that you want and stir to coat with onions/spices. Pour in a cupful of stock and boil, season with salt and simmer for about 25 mins. Stir in a dollop of natural yogurt and a slug of double cream. Stir in lemon juice and fresh coriander leaves.

Sometimes I add chickpeas and spinach as well.

I love a vegetarian curry and i put plenty of veg in like carrots, cauliflower, peas and onions. Try this site...they have loads of ideas:-

pub72.ezboard.com/fmamtaskitchenfrm1

Thanks Jaybee and Enid. Could you just clarify examples of what type of veg you use? And do you just fry them or boil them up first?

I love lamb curry but DH professes not to like lamb in any form.

Thanks also Temptress - will try that site.

we also use Pataks curry paste as a base - the balti mix. But I recently made one for ds with no chilli from my 'vegetarian recipes for babies and children' book by Carol Timperley - it was thickened with peanut butter which seemed to work very well, and I was going to try and make a grown up version for us all.
I make a lentil dahl with our curries using a ground up mix of coriander seeds, cumin seeds, garlic, cloves, cardamon pods and a bit of cinnamon stick. I usually add creamed coconut and a bit of turmeric too. It seems to be quite a flavoursome mix of spices.
Looking forward to seeing some more ideas on here!

Actually Temptress - will have to wait until later because I am at work and that site is barred.

whys it barred?

our regular veggie curry is cauliflower or cauli/potato mix. The one for ds was chickpea. I must confess to having a taste for banana curry too...

Dunno they've got some software to prevent access to porn sites etc and sometimes it can be a bit random about what it allows through.

Oh for a moment I thought you meant I had used an addy I wasnt allowed..lol!

We put any veg in our curries, potato, cauliflower, brocolli, carrot, spinach, even put sprouts in the one we made just after Christmas - got to use them up somehow!!
Have used chickpeas and lentils but confess that we usually use tinned ones as we never seem to remember to soak the ones we have in the cupboard.
We do sometimes use spices from scratch but Pataks pastes and sauces usually win.

We had a lovely veggie curry on New Years Day that was a Jamie Oliver one, which he does with lamb in the book (I think its Return Of...) but recommends making with paneer, the Indian cheese, which our friends did. The recipe even tells you how to make the paneer. I will look up the recipe, dh is having a go tomorrow with chicken so it should be around. Paneer and peas it is, which made me laugh - cheesey peas!!!

Bozza, I make thai green vegetable curry sometimes. The recipe is on another thread, will find it in a minute. You can use any veg but baby sweetcorn, mange tout and green beans are nice. You could easily make it quite mild for ds, just use less paste. I've also got a good Nigel Slater mushroom and spinach korma recipe if you want it. I'm not a great spinach fan but it's lovely in this. Agree about the Carol Timperly baby recipe with peanut butter, have cooked that too and it was very nice. Also do vegetable byriani sometimes, it's a dry curry using sweet potatoes so your ds might like it. I've made it sound horrible, it isn't!
Anyway, now I've told you all about these, will go away and get the recipes and post them!

The Thai green curry recipe is here, dated 19th July

Mushroom and spinach korma

50g butter
2 onions, peeled, sliced
3 lge cloves garlic
knob of ginger, thumb size, peeled & grated
tsp ground cumin
15 cardomom pods, seeds removed & crushed (PITA, this)
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp chilli powder
2 cinnamon sticks
2 bay leaves
650g assorted mushrooms
50g shelled hazelnuts toasted (didn't bother as didn't have these)
350g leaf spinach, tough stems removed
50g golden sultanas (didn't use either, don't like them)
150g thick natural yoghurt
150g creme fraiche
2 tablespoons coriander leaves

1. Melt butter in deep pan, add onions, garlic & ginger and cook for 5 mins until golden. It is essential not to burn the butter so add oil if it appears to be darkening.

2. Add spices and bay leaves and continue frying, stirring continuously for 2 mins to cook spices.

3. Cut larger mushrooms into pieces, leave smaller ones whole and add mushrooms to pot. Cook til they soften then stir in 225ml water and hazelnuts. Bring to boil, then turn down and simmer for 15 minutes, covered.

4. Meanwhile wash spinach and put, still wet, into saucepan to cook in its own steam. Cook for 2 mins, shaking occasionally, til wilted. Drain and squeeze out water.

5. Stir spinach and sultanas into curry, simmer for couple of mins then mix yoghurt and creme fraiche together and stir into mushrooms, bring almost to the boil. Season to taste and when hot but not boiling, stir in coriander and serve.

I wasn't eating dairy when I made this so used coconut milk instead of creme fraiche and yoghurt and it was great.

Vegetable Biriyani

250g basmati rice, rinsed
sunflower oil
2 lge onions, sliced
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 tsps grated root ginger
250g sweet potato, diced
2 lge carrots, diced
1 tblspn curry paste
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp chilli powder
300ml veg stock
4 ripe tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and diced
175g cauli florets
50g frozen peas
2oz cashew nuts
2 tblspns coriander
2 hardboiled eggs, quartered to serve

1. Bring lge saltd saucepan water to boil, add basmati rice and simmer. cook for 5 mins. Drain, refresh with cold water, drain again. spread on large baking sheet and set aside to dry

2. Heat oil and fry half the onion for 10 mins til crisp and golden, remove and drain on paper towels. Reserve for garnishing.

3. Add remaining oil to pan and fry remaining onion with garlic and ginger for 5 mins. Add potato, carrots and spices and fry for 10 mins til golden.

4. Add veg stock and tomatoes, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 20 mins. Add cauli and peas and and cook for 10 mins or until veg are tender.

5. Stir in rice, cashews, coriander and salt and pepper. Cook, stirring for 3 mins then cover and remove from heat. Leave to stand for 5 mins before serving. Garnish with crispy onions and egg quarters.

Sounds obvious but do all the dicing etc before you start or it's a pain.

two curries I do are below - they're good individually, but great together if you're doing a meal for a number of people:

creamy mushroom curry

cut large onion into large wedges, and fry with packet of chestnut mushrooms (cut if large) and curry paste/powder to taste till veg is soft. Add 1/2 can coconut milk (or 1/3 packet creamed coconut & glass of water) and heat. At this point you can leave to stand if you have the time.
Re heat if necessary, add ground almonds (1/2 packet) 2 table spoons of mango chutney, little lemon juice & sml pot double cream. Bring back to simmer, stir in generous amount of roughly chopped coriander leaves just before serving.

Aubergine with ginger & cardomon

grind up 1tspn of corriander seeds, cumin seads and the seeds from 8-10 cardomon pods. Fry in a little oil. Chop large aubergine into 1" cubes, and grate 1 1/2" of ginger root - add these to the spices & oil and stir till the aubergine is coated (add oil if needed). Ideally leave to stand for an hour or more.
Add 1 1/2 tins chopped tomatoes and 2 tablespoons of mango chutney & bring to a simmer. Simmer gently till aubergine is soft. Stir in large bunch of spinach roughly chopped, and generous amount of corriander leaves then cook for couple of minutes max before serving.

I put a large pot of each on the table (above should do 4-6 adults) and loads of rice & breads and they always go down very well amongst veggies and confirmed carnivours alike.

Carrots, green beans, cauliflower, chick peas, spinach, potato - all work really well. I cook the whole thing for about 25 mins so just chuck them in in the order in which they cook (IYKWIM). Don't bother to fry them off first.

We quite like this one, not much in the way of veg in it mind you. It is from a book called The Korma Sutra, which contains recipies from the Ashoka curry house in Glasgow:-

CHICKEN CHASNI

1 kg chicken fillets
350g onions
1 tbsp veg oil
15g salt (could probably reduce this or leave it out, DH usually makes this for us so it probably all goes in)
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp turmeric
200g mango chutney
225g tomato ketchup (there's your veg )
1/2 litre single cream
1/2 tsp fresh mint
1 tsp lemon juice
1 pinch of powdered red colouring (optional)

Finely chop or puree the onions, place in frying pan and saute in the oil until golden brown. Stir iin the chilli powder, turmeric and salt and mix well.

Chop the chicken fillets into bite-sized chunks. Add the diced chicken to the frying pan and continue to stir until the chicken is sealed.

Stir in the mango chutney, tomato ketchup, mint and lemon and blend well. Simmer on a medium heat for 10 mins, or until the chicken is almost ready.

Now slowly stir in the single cream, lemon juice and food colouring and simmer for a further 2 minutes. Serves 4-6.

I also have a couple of fish curry recipies if you are interested (I know you said chicken and veg). One is Nigella's Thai Seafood and Pumpkin Curry, this is gorgeous, by seafood she just means salmon and prawns and the other is from Nigella's new book, Keralan Fish Curry, this is lovely too using white fish.

easy peasy potato and peas curry - can be made with chopped tomatoes and water to have a more 'soupy' result but I prefer the drier version below:

Heat oil add mustard seeds and cover until they pop, add cumin seeds and a pinch of aesofetida powder if you can find it. Add cubed potatoes (about one and a half cm cubed and can use raw or boiled potatoes). If using raw potatoes, coat well with the oil and cover and leave to cook a bit - giving the pan a good shake every couple of minutes to stop sticking. Add frozen peas, salt, chilli powder or use chopped green chilli and/or black pepper if you prefer, turmeric and a splash of lemon juice.

Mix well and add a couple of tablespoons of water if the mixture is a bit dry. heat thru and serve with fresh coriander as a garnish.

I haven't put quantities cos it depends on how much and how spicy you like it. My 4 yr old ds will eat it with the teeniest amount of chilli powder.

I also make the same curry using frozen veg and add a dollop of creme fraiche just before serving. The potato version doesn't need thickeners as the startch in the potatoes does the job nicely.

Hello - I am hosting a bridal shower (luncheon) on Saturday for about 15 people, and was wondering if anyone had any input on menu. I want variety, but don't know if these items are too unrelated. Menu so far looks like this:

Quiche (veggie, and meat)
Poached salmon with yogurt/dill sauce
Curried chicken salad
Tossed Salad
Green bean salad
croissants
focaccia

wine - red and white
for a "punch" - sangria? bride-to-be loves it, but is it too much of a summer drink?

Cake, fruit platter, choc. covered strawberries, coffee, tea

for hors d'eouvres - cheese platter (baked brie - yum!), vegetable crudite, and the basic hummus/baba ghanouj and pita.

Is this way too much all over the place? (indian, middle eastern, spanish, etc!)

A friend had suggested also making penne with sauteed cherry tomatos - so add italian to the mix!

I meant to make this a new thread! Sorry, I will do so!

Sounds yummy!

After reading this thread I was inspired last night to make a curry! Curries aren't as widespread in the US, Mexican food seems to top our list of "ethnic" foods. Anyway, tried my hand at it and it was pretty yummy! Even DH liked it and he's a very meat and potatoes-type Texan guy.

I used a Masala powdered spice blend, and made it with beef, onions, diced potato, sliced zucchini and chick peas. I sauteed the onions and beef until the onions were golden and beef browned, and then added about a cup red wine and about 1 cup chicken broth. Added the potatoes and let that simmer for a little while. Added the masala and the rest of the veggies and let cook until potatoes were tender and then a bit of mango/lime chutney. As instructed on the package, I stirred in a few spoonfuls of plain yoghurt just before it was finished.

A word of advice that I learned last night the hard way: Mix a bit of the hot mixture into the yoghurt first to warm it up before stirring into the pot. My yoghurt curdled and made strange little bumps and curds throughout the curry. It still tasted very good but was not in the least creamy like it was supposed to be. DH said as long as he didn't look at it it tasted very good, lol!