Why oh why is my curry always so shit?

[worriermum]

It doesn't matter if it's chicken, beef or lamb...my curries are always thin and acrid, can taste the separate spices - never a delicious blend of spicy flavours. I have all the whole, authentic spices and even blended my own garam masala FFS. I have THREE Madhur Jaffrey cookbooks and follow the recipes religiously. But am still Queen of Crap Curry. I always go for tomato-based curries, and try to avoid cream or coconut: is this my problem? Please, all you Indian cookery experts, share your advice and tips.
ps but my chick pea curry - and only my chick pea curry - is deeevine, if I say so myself

The masala is the sauce, or can be a spice blend like the garam masala.

For a basic meat curry the general method similar. What you need to do is first fry plenty of finely chopped onion if the recipe calls for it,(it helps to bulk and thicken the sauce/masala, as well as adds flavour), this must be done on a low to medium heat as you want the onions to soften and brown, but not burn at all

Then add your wet spices (ginger, chillies, garlic), cook down, add tomatoes, then add the dry/ground spices you are using. Then you cook it for a long, long time, until, as I said the oil used rises to the top of the sauce. Then add the meat, and again cook for a long long time.

If you are using garam masala, it is usually added near the end of the cooking time, to give fragrance as well as extra spicing to the dish. (Make sure you have properly toatsed the spices in your garam masala before grinding them)

Add your herbs - fresh coriander etc at the very end, so they retain their vivid colours in the final dish.

HTH

Chops is right about lemon juice, I think it is better than coconut/cream in a lot of dishes. Works really well with lamb, esp Kheema.

I blitz my onions/spices when they are cooked as the Indian takeaway fella told me, and my curries since have been much much improved.

I find that cooking it slowly over a low heat helps to thinken, de-watery-ise the sauce and blend the spices. But mostly, I'm toooooo impatient

Slightly off topic I do like MOF but a bit disappointed as it really the same as Delias cookery course of 25 years ago which are my staples.
I have a 20 yera old Madjur Jaffrey book I have just dug out I might try the Lamb and Spinach recipe in that.

You can thicken sweet curries with ground almonds too.

• good oil - groundnut or something without flavour
• slow fry onions with a good glug of oil and a couple of cloves/cardamon pod/whole black pepper, use white onions which have been very finely chopped, I seem to get a better result than with red onions
• make a paste - I use tomato puree and add any combination of chilli powder, turmeric, fresh ginger, fresh chillis, garam massala, ground coriander etc, one tsp of salt and one tsp of sugar then some water to bind it all so it's not too powdery
• add this to the onions and cook on low for a while
• add a tin of coconut milk
• add meat
• cook for ages
• add fresh coriander at the end

always a winner.... you can make it mild or spicier...

Reading this thread with interest, am always trying to improve my curry, and would rather use freshly ground herbs.

worriermum this is my chicken madras

2tbsp oil
4 onions
4 peppers
2 chicken breasts
6 chillies
1/2tsp chilli powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1tsp paprika
1/2 batch curry sauce [see below]
salt
1/2 tsp garam masala

1. heat some of the oil,add chicken until it turns white. remove from pan and set aside.
2. heat rest of oil and add chillies,onions and peppers. cook until soft. turn heat down and a few tablespoons of curry sauce and stir.
3. add chilli powder,cumin, coriander and paprika. fry gently stirring all the time.

DO NOT BURN!

1. add rest of curry sauce,chicken and salt. simmer 20-30mins until chicken is done. stir frequently and add a little water if sauce is catching on the bottom of the pan.
2. 10 mins from the end add garam masala.

simmer gently and stir often. the sauce should be nice and thick.

curry sauce

3tbsp oil
2 chopped onions
4 cloves garlic sliced
1 inch root ginger sliced
2 chillies
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
6 tbsp passata

1. heat oil, add onion,garlic,ginger and chillies. stir and cook on low for 15 mins.

dont let it brown too much or burn.

1. add tumeric, cumin and coriander. cook gently for 5 mins AGAIN do not burn. add a few drops of water if worried.
2. remove from the heat and leave to cool.

put 4fl oz cold water in a blender add contents of pan and whizz until smooth. add passata and stir.

1. put back into pan and cook for 20-30mins on a low heat stirring occasionally.

add a little hot water if it catches but it will darken to an orange-brown colour. [consistency is similar to ketchup]

1. put in sealed container in fridge.

there you are, the recipe can be altered if you want more/less chillies etc.

hope this helps, i make it regularly and it is alot of work but the taste is divine

any questions just shout.....

You don't need to add cream or coconut milk to get a creamy consistency - add a dollop of natural yoghurt at the end of cooking (literally as you turn the pot off). Stir in and serve immediately. It adds creaminess and a bit of sourness so you don't need to add lemon juice.

Btw, I use dried spices, not fresh, and it's fine. I sweat a finely chopped onion, then add a tin of chopped tomatoes plus spices (half tsp each salt and chilli, quarter tsp each garlic, ginger, turmeric and cumin). Simmer until all combined (about ten minutes - it'll look mushy and lovely), then add raw chopped meat or fish and continue to simmer until cooked (five mins max for fish, ten or so for chicken, when I generally use thigh meat rather than breast) adding a splash of water if it looks a bit thick. Turn off and add yoghurt as described above.

Never fails. I learnt it from my mum, and she's Indian!

Hope that helps.

Do you always cook from recipes, or do you have a basic recipe in your head? If so, what is it please?

Thanks for all the good tips above. If we can agree on a basic MN recipe for good curry, I can follow and report back

if it's acrid, you may have the heat too high and be burning the spices.

i have a few recipes i use as staples.

after a while, you know which spices go well with particular meats, pulses or veg and can experiment a bit.

This is my easiest and tastiest curry:

Chicken Dhansak

1 tablespoons groundnut or vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic
3cm ginger, chopped
1 red chilli
½ bunch coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon chilli powder
4 chicken breasts chopped into pieces
1 x 400g can tinned tomatoes
200ml chicken stock
150g red lentils
salt and pepper

Firstly make the curry paste by putting all the paste ingredients into a blender and blitzing until smooth. Heat a wok or deep frying pan and throw in the paste. Stir fry for 2 minutes.
Add the chicken to the pan and continue to stir fry until the chicken is coated in the paste and begins to go slightly golden. Pour over the tomatoes, stock and lentils, give a good stir and cook slowly for 30 minutes. You want the sauce to be thickened and reduced and the lentils to be plump and soft. Season with salt and pepper.

www.amazon.co.uk/Cradle-Flavor-Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore/dp/0393054772

You need Anjum Anand's Indian Food Made Easy. It is fantasic - we eat from it at least once as week - have never had a bad recipe.

Mmm my mouth is watering just thinking about them - may have to make one for sunday

this is great, as i started making curries recently, but never really got them as tasty as i wanted

The two key tips I picked up from spending time in the kitchen of some Kerala home stays are:

• use more oil than you are mentally prepared for;
• and mash onions, garlic and ginger into a paste before frying them (blitzing works too)

Improved my curries no end

a few things:

• only use whole spices, never powdered (some will need to be ground when you use them)
• don't use too much turmeric
• fresh ginger, never powdered
• try and get some shallots from your local pakistani/indian grocers, so much better than onions
• fresh chili, not powder
• cinnamon, cloves, mustard seed, bay leaves, lime leaves and curry leaves should stay whole; cumin, coriander, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, black pepper should be ground; lemongrass and cardamom should be bruised but whole
• shallots (or onions), garlic, chili and ginger should be blended or pestled together
• always fry the spice paste until fragrant in a decent quantity of oil before adding any meat or veg
• coconut milk makes a curry. If you do add water, it shouldn't be in greater quantity than the coconut milk.

Right, am all enthused now. I'm going to follow Aristocat's recipe, and then stir in either a bit of yoghurt or lemon juice at the end. (Am I right in thinking that if I add both, the lemon juice will curdle the yoghurt? ). Then I'll try Mirroball's and see if I can crack either recipe.

Any other wouldbe good curry makers out there want to join me so we can compare notes?

Thanks so much to you all for the advice and tips - am going to faithfully follow each and every one over the next few curry attempts.

Whoops, slow upload again - just saw all the other recipes. Thank you, thank you for the recipes and tips - am going to experiment with all of them.

What exactly do we mean by "blitz'? Fry onions, ginger, garlic and then put through a blender? Sorry, as I said - I need things spelled out here

Worrie, i stick all mine in the small bowl of the magimix food processor, or just use the hand blender. Honestly the Dhansak recipe i posted is the easiest 'from' scratch curry i have ever made. Many require different spices at different times which i am too lazy busy for

Sorry, didn't answer your Q - mine go in raw

i can;t imagine the coconut milk in anything other than a thai green curry..

Jamaican cooking uses a lot of coconut milk, I made Levi Roots Fish Pie last week, it has coconut milk and lime and is gorgeous.

that sounds good , actually.. do you have a recipe.?