Curries

I have said elsewhere on here that curries don't need to be hot to be good, and I mentioned that on another site earlier today which made me think about a couple of things to do with curries.  Curry is about the combination of spices to provide flavour.  Different spices give a dish unique flavours and it is possible to pick out the spices by taste.  Some spices you will like and there will be others that perhaps you don't care for so much, personally I can live without turmeric.


In previous recipes I have offered a way of cooking dried spices to prepare your curry but you can also use fresh ones or a mixture of fresh and dried.  


I like to purée fresh chillis with garlic cloves, ginger and some dried or powdered spices like cumin or coriander with a little oil to make a paste.  The chillies and the ginger are going to be the ingredients which provide the most kick so the amount of those which you use will determine how hot your finished curry will be.   You can make quite a large batch and then pop enough for a single use into a used, clean yoghurt pot, wrap in cling film and keep in the freezer until you are ready for it.  


Slice your onions and cook in a little oil with the curry paste and diced meat until the onions are soft and all are coated with the paste then continue with your chosen recipe.   I have two preferences but there are many other variations.  I either make a tomato based sauce using either fresh, skinned tomatoes, or tinned tomatoes with the stalk end removed, or a creamy sauce using either coconut milk or yoghurt.  Yoghurt is much less expensive than coconut milk but doesn't have the same rich creamy flavour.  If cooking with yoghurt always mix a little of the yoghurt in a cup with a spoonful of cornflour to stabilise the mixture and stop it from curdling when it heats up.

• Curry paste
• Onion
• Other vegetables to your taste
• Your choice of meat
• Approx 1 tablespoon of oil
• Either 1 can of tomatoes, 1 can of coconut milk or 1 pot of plain yoghurt
• Flour or cornflour to thicken

• Slice the onion and any other vegetables
• Cut the meat into cubes or strips
• Heat the oil in a large pan or wok
• Add meat and brown on all sides 
• Add onion/vegetables and curry paste
• Stir until onion is softened and all ingredients are coated with curry paste
• Stir in 1 spoon of flour (cornflour if you are using yoghurt) and coat the ingredients in the pan with it, cook for around a minute
• Remove from the heat and add either tomatoes, coconut milk or yoghurt (if using yoghurt mix a little of it in a cup with a teaspoon of cornflour - I know you may well have already added cornflour to the pan but I like to be sure)
• Return the pan to the heat and bring back to a boil then turn the heat right down and simmer.  The sauce may be too thick but you can let it down with some boiling water from the kettle until it is the desired consistency.
• Put a lid on the pan and cook gently until the meat is tender.

If you used yoghurt you may like to add about a teaspoon of tomato ketchup to the mixture and stir well before putting the lid on and leaving to cook.