You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I like a good curry and enjoy cooking them quite regularly. I'd probably cook them more often but a struggle to get much variety. I just make it up as I go along, as with most cooking, and it's become a bit formulaic... fry onions and garlic, peppers if we have them, and the same combination of spices and/or curry paste, add other veg and chickpeas/lentils (gf is vegetarian so almost always meat-free), add tinned tomatoes, and usually coconut milk and maybe spinach at the end.
Anyone got any recipe or book recommendations, or general tips, to change things up a bit? We've had paneer a few times but I'm not that keen. Cubing and frying it separately gives it a bit more texture but still bland.
Help, McMoonters Instagram feed keeps making me jealous 😀
*pulls up a chair*
This is excellent
https://www.waterstones.com/book/madhur-jaffreys-ultimate-curry-bible/madhur-jaffrey/9780091874155
For British Indian Restaurant (BIR) style these too are great, they also have Youtube channels.
https://mistyricardo.com/products/indian-restaurant-curry-at-home-volume-1
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B072568TW3/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
We have Madhur Jaffreys Curry Nation book, it was a pound in WH Smith, but liked what we've tried so far. Also Jamie Oliver's yellow curry which I think somebody on here recommended.
This is a great traditional curry.
http://www.thismuslimgirlbakes.com/2016/04/our-house-****stani-chicken-curry.html
This is a great little curry cook book. Nice compact sized book, easy to follow recipes and good mix of different dishes..
Ebay link
The curry secret is a great book by a restraunteur - some really good tips on getting a quality curry like they do in town.
Kris Dhillion I started with that but could never get away with the base sauce.
I've been really impressed with this, more than I thought I would be:
https://www.thespicery.com/currylegend
The mixes it uses are very good and by mixing them you get a lot of combinations. Not your usual curries either.
That the one dad - took a few goes to crack the base.
The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking by Yamuna Devi
Was recommended on an old thread, it is a very detailed and useful guide.
I’ve had a very tasty time with my two Meera Sodha cook books. One of my wife’s favourite things in the world comes from her made in India book (the pistachio chicken curry) and her newer one, fresh India should be a good fit as it’s all vegetarian recipes.
Blend the onions to a puree with a little water. Then fry that.
Then do what you were doing it'll blow your mind.
As said above the curry secret produces great curries but can be time consuming. I have since been using Nisha Katona's book, she of Mowgli restaurant chain, a lot quicker than the curry secret.
As said above the curry secret produces great curries but can be time consuming.
Ay? The whole point of BIR is so that's not time consuming.
This has been well used in the Rider kichen for decades now:
50 Great-Curries - Camellia Panjabi
Solid recipes, delicious food, great regional variety and walks you through some basic fundamental ingredients and cooking methods of Indian cuisine. Have been succesfully adapting the recipes for vegan/veggie requirenents for over a decade, so it owes me nothing.
A few tips:
Semi-roast spuds and/or roast cauliflower make great texture and taste in veggie curries. Don't forget to keep a pouch of tamarind concentrate in the fridge, it makes all the difference to add this (not skip) when/if required. Never underestimate a nice simple tarka dal with good stock and served with a nice rice recipe.
'The best ever Indian cookery book - and the bestselling one in the world...Camellia Panjabi's 50 Great Curries of India has delectable, completely authentic recipes.' Paul Levy, The Observer
'The introduction guides you through the philosophy and history of Indian cooking, the roles of spices and ingredients, and even helps you to decide which curry to cook. The recipes are simply written and the photography is tantalising.' Jamie Magazine
'Alongside curry recipes (all the classics) are bread and rice dishes to make the complete Indian meal.' The Independent
'By a leading expert on Indian cuisine, it's good to see how she teaches you to add taste, aroma and colour to your dishes. Lots of tips and valuable short cuts.' Yes Chef!
Recommended here previously, the Prashad cookbook is excellent. All vegetable curries but fabulous.
Great, loads to check out there, thanks. Looking forward to upping my curry game.
I originally posted this as a venison curry but it was first designed around lamb/mutton. Cooking a good curry depends on your understanding how the spices work together, and the way they behave through the various stages.
Being a bit of a curry lover I thought I'd share this one with you. It works well with any of the "tough" cuts, and of course other meats, being originally designed for on the bone lamb/mutton/goat, so lends itself well to venison neck, shoulder, breast, hock/shin, leg, chops or anything else that would normally become burgers. Leave the meat on the bone, chopping the legs into roundel sections, leave the flat ribs on the breast etc. and cut into good-sized chunks.
It's called staff curry, as it's not the sort of thing you'd serve to the diners in your restaurant, but the staff don't mind getting stuck into a big plate of curry and picking the meat off the bones.......
It involves a lot of whole spices as well as the powdered ones, but the base sauce can be tweaked to make your everyday lamb/chicken/pheasant/partridge curry anyway, so your initial layout will give you a cupboard full of spices ready to knock up a curry at home that's as good as any restaurant offering.
There are lots of stages and NO short cuts......sorry!
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 to 1.5 kg on the bone venison
Whole dry spices:
2 Bay leaves
6 black pepper corns, crushed
6 cloves
1" cinnamon stick
4 green cardomum pods bruised/crushed)
2 black cardomums
2 teaspoons whole cumin seeds (Jeera)
1 tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves (curry leaves or methi) powdered by rubbing them between your palms
Whole "wet" spices:
2 medium onions diced as fine as you can or blitzed in a food processor
1 tablespoon garlic paste or a whole bulb skinned, chopped and crushed
2 teaspoons ginger paste or an inch of root ginger finely chopped
2 (or more to taste) fresh green finger chillies, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon tomato puree
1 tin or tetra pack of chopped plum tomatoes, or a carton of passata
Powdered dry spices:
2 teaspoons coriander powder (dhaniya)
1/2 to 1 teaspoon red chilli powder (to taste, but go steady, there's already some heat in this one!)
2 heaped teaspoons garam masala
1 heaped teaspoon salt
1 level teaspoon turmeric (haldi)
Finish/Garnish:
Two or three large ripe tomatoes
Two or three finger chillies, whole
Small bunch of fresh coriander leaves
Stage one:
Preheat oven to 130deg
Use a large flameproof casserole like a Le Creuset. Onto a medium flame and add the oil and the dry spices: cinnamon stick, bay leaves, peppercorns, cardomums, cloves and whole cumin seeds. Let these heat up in the oil and when they start to pop and spatter add the diced onions. Stir these into the oil and let them cook for a couple of minutes. You don't want them to brown, so adjust heat down if necessary. Add the ginger and garlic and keep cooking and stirring over a medium heat for at least another five to eight minutes. Don't let this mixture brown!!!!!
Stage two:
The onions will shrivel and the mixture will "split", with oil bubbling up through the spices. Now add the tomato puree and the turmeric powder, stirring this into the mixture. It'll form a lovely glossy red/golden thick paste. Add the salt and the chopped green chillies and then add the tinned tomatoes/passata a tablespoon or so at a time and keep stirring. As you do so the onion spice mixture will absorb the moisture from the tomatoes and form a smooth thick paste. Once you've put in all the tomatoes add the powdered fenugreek (methi) leaves and let this simmer on a low-medium heat.
Stage three:
In the meantime brown the chunks of meat in a hot wok or skillet. Get it searingly hot and add only a tiny bit of oil. You're looking to sear the outside of the chunks so only do a few at a time. Put them to one side.
Stage four:
Back to your spice mixture. By now the oil should be bubbling back up through the paste. It's this "splitting" that shows the mixture is ready for the next stage. Stir in the powdered coriander, chilli powder and the garam masala, adding a drop of water if necessary to stop it sticking to the pan.
Stage five:
Stir and cook for a minute or so then turn the heat up to high and add the meat. Stir the meat into the spice paste, letting it coat all the surfaces then add enough water to cover the meat. As you do this the spice mixture will absorb all the water and form a thick sauce. Bring this to the boil, stirring to keep it from sticking, before putting the lid on the casserole and put it in the oven.
Stage six:
Cook for at least two and a half to three hours. Check it occasionally to make sure it hasn't dried out, adding a drop more water if it has. It needs a long low heat to get all the flavour out of the bones and break down the connective tissues and sinews in the cheap cuts. Once again, the oil will all separate and rise to the top of the mixture. Check to see whether the meat is tender- it should be "falling off the bone"
Stage seven:
Skim the excess oil from the top of the curry if you wish. Taste the curry and add extra garam masala powder to taste. Then add the large ripe tomatoes cut into quarters, a good handful of chopped fresh coriander and the extra green chillies to garnish. Back into the oven for another ten minutes.
Finally, serve with more chopped coriander leaves.
We tend to put this in the middle of the table on a large server and eat it with naan or better still big thick roti (chappatis)
Malvern Rider - the Pathia recipe in that book is one of my favourite curries ever 🙂
I'm an Anjum Anand fan. Nice rounded curries.
Sweet potato and cauliflower using a jar of Thai green paste and coconut milk (with onions mushrooms peppers etc). Surprisingly good.
^ that’s not really a recipe though - it’s basically a ‘tip it out of a jar’ job.
CaptainFlashheart
Member
This is excellenthttps://www.waterstones.com/book/madhur-jaffreys-ultimate-curry-bible/madhur-jaffrey/9780091874155 /blockquote>
Another vote for this book, it's not just India that produces great curries. The ingredients list is usually fairly accessible, too, which helps.
For general Indian food this cookbook is excellent and a personal favourite: http://maunikagowardhan.co.uk/books/indian-kitchen/
For strictly vegan Indian food this cookbook's pretty good, although I'll admit I'll often swap in non-vegan ingredients at times: Vegan Richa's Indian Kitchen ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vegan-Richas-Indian-Kitchen-Traditional/dp/1941252095)
Yes it's a jar. But we have dozens of whole spices in the larder, which we grind to make other curries and dishes on a regular basis. Like many of the recipes above. And when we've just got half an hour to knock something up we do the Tesco green Thai and we always look forward to eating it.
Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery and her Eastern Vegetarian Cooking are great books. Charmaine Solomon's The Complete Asian Cookbook is also a hit here
Hopefully these Instagram links will work
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpcg493FPih/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BoR1xYBFz69/
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn_1WlllDwO/
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn_1Mallmir/
Yes it’s a jar. But we have dozens of whole spices in the larder, which we grind to make other curries and dishes on a regular
basis. Like many of the recipes above. And when we’ve just got half an hour to knock
something up we do the Tesco green Thai and we always
look forward to eating
it.
Fair enough, just saying it isn’t a recipe.
That's reminded me of this site which has loads of options.
https://www.harighotra.co.uk/indian-recipes/time/indian-recipes-in-under-30-minutes
The books we use a lot are Made in India by Meera Sodha, Hand over Fist (The Aagrah Cookbook) and The Hairy Bikers Great Curries.
A real mix through those three with plenty of variety depending how brave you are feeling. Don't dismiss the Hairy Bikers one, there are some gems in that book.
Atul Kochhar has an excellent curry book, with curries from all over - India, Africa, the Caribbean etc. None are too difficult, and there's a huge amount of variety. Highly recommended.
https://www.littlebrown.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9780716022558
An Indian Housewife's Recipe Book by Laxmi Khurana has been our go to curry book for the last 20 years. We've killed one copy ,are currently using a threadbare one and have a spare on the shelf for when it dies.
The link is for the ebook but can be had for a few quid via Amazon.
my tip for a good curry beyond the copious amounts of fresh ginger and garlic, is find your local India shop selling spices (and big bags of basmati rice). None that hugely over priced dried out schwartz floor sweepings garbage. The cardomom pods from our local shop is so strong it's like a medicinal decongestant and it's so much cheaper it must work out at about the 10th the price.
McMoonter, your Instagram was partly what inspired this thread! Would love to hear some of the recipes behind them, even if it's just from brief description from what's in your head.
It's hard to know where to start with the suggestions on this thread. Can I cheekily ask anyone who's willing to post their favourite recipe out from whatever they've recommended on here? Would make a great resource for everyone. I'll go buy some of these books, but I can't buy all of them!
+1 The Curry Secret, so long as you don't mind the house stinking of onions for a while. It's all about batch of curry sauce (onion based) that you use as the base for the dishes and the batch is more economical to make loads of and store. It's basically what a lot of British Indian takeaways do. Texture is authentically British.
I generally skip the batch process these days though, but blend up tomatoes and spices for a base.
Interested in The Curry Guy stuff. Though may also venture into less British style curry even if that means less of a sauce.
Also a good stainless steel pan with a thick base (large enough to fry a whole chopped onion without needing to be stirred) is useful.
Chicken (or leftovers) Jalfrazi
fry an onion and 4-6 finely chooped cloves of garlic in oil with salt (to taste) for about 3 mins
add fresh chicken/left over lamb/left over turkey etc, teaspoon of turmeric and chilli powder to taste.
fry for about 12 mins (less for left overs)
add a tin of tomatoes and simmer with a lid on for 20 mins, the 10 mins with lid off.
bung in 1 tablespoon grated ginger, 1 tablespoon of ghee, 1 teaspoon of ground coriander seeds, 1 teaspoon of ground cumin seeds, 1 teaspoon of garam masala, some brown sugar. cook for a further 7-10 mins and lemon juice and serve with rice and naan.
None that hugely over priced dried out schwartz floor sweepings garbage. The cardomom pods from our local shop is so strong it’s like a medicinal decongestant and it’s so much cheaper it must work out at about the 10th the price.
Very very true! We went to an Asian shop in Harehills, Leeds years ago & got so much stuff for next to nowt we couldn't use it all & ended up giving loads away.
We also brought a fair bit of stuff back from Goa last time we went, even cheaper from Ravi the spice merchant. (flights aren't though)
Going with the, get the Asian store stuff as it's better and cheaper than the rip off branded supermarket stuff, results in me having ten years worth of rice because it's the price of one tiny bag of fancy branded stuff 😁
for something not indian, ken holms stuff is excellent. Haven't cooked anything myself, but I've tasted stuff from one of his books. lovely! 🙂
results in me having ten years worth of rice because it’s the price of one tiny bag of fancy branded stuff
we also have the never ending bag of rice in the cupboard, we've given several (10kg bags) to the local food bank and they re-bag then.
Oh yeah definitely an Indian supermarket if you can get to one.
Odd request, but I bought this book after a recommendation on this (or possibly a similar) curry thread.
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
I bought it used from Amazon, but I've only just noticed that whoever had it beforehand tore out pages 51-52.
Everything in the book that I have tried so far is great, but I think that I may be missing something special.
Does anyone else have this book and could send me a photo of the missing pages?
Does anyone else have this book and could send me a photo of the missing pages?
From memory its:
One packet of Bacon flavour corn snacks
1 tbls cinnamon powder
1 tbls ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric
1tsp paprika
1 tsp garam masala
2 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp chilli powder (or fresh green chillies)
1 tsp mustard seeds
2-4 tbs oil
1 large onion
3-4 cloves of garlic
2 tsp finely grated ginger
3-4 fresh tomatoes or ½ can of tinned tomatoes or passata
Salt to taste
3-4 curry leaves
¼ tsp ground cardamom powder
Lemon juice of half a lemon
Bish bash bosh: Frazzle Balti
@maccruiskeen sounds delicious 😋
I can see why they decided to keep the recipe for themselves