The Curry Thread

[macphearsome]

this is the thread where we talk about curry. it can be any kind of curry, doesn't have to be indian, but that's where I'm starting!

I'm posting a recipe but you don't have to!

so last night I made an eggplant curry. I tried one at a local indian restaurant the other day and was so inspired that I wanted to attempt it on my own. Mine is sort of a combination of several recipes i found online for eggplant bharta. I've made it twice and here's how it goes...

1 large eggplant (2 japanese eggplants will work in a pinch)
1 large white onion
2 large tomatoes (or 4 medium ones)
2-3 tablespoons of spicy curry paste (mine is a cumin flavoured one)
1/2 bell pepper (any colour will do. i avoid green but that's my preference)
1 jalepeno pepper (optional I guess?)
5 cloves of garlic
1 large chunk of ginger (the ginger and garlic can be combined in a ginger-garlic paste if you have a suitable blender and some lemon juice)
Indian Spices to Taste (very vague I know! I don't have measurements and some people have different tastes. I go for whatever is remotely indian in my spice drawer, and anything that is red-coloured and LOTS of black pepper!)
cooking oil (I use grapeseed oil for the frying and olive oil for spreading on the eggplant)

1. finely chop the onions, jalepeno and bell pepper. The tomato can be cut into large chunks. doesn't really matter. If you have a blender, blend the ginger and garlic with some lemon juice. If you don't have a blender, slice the ginger up as small as you can, and use a press on the garlic.

2. preheat the oven to 450 fahrenheit, cut the eggplant in half and spread some olive oil on each half. I also remove the seeds from the jalepeno pepper and put them on the eggplant halves. When the oven is at temperature, put the eggplant in on a baking sheet (flesh side up!) for roughly half an hour. You want it to be completely roasted and very soft. When you remove the eggplant you should give it some time to cool before you scoop the eggplant into a bowl and mash it.

3. in a cooking pot, heat up the frying oil, add the sliced onions and spices, and let that fry. I wait a few minutes (2 or 3) before adding the garlic, ginger, bell peppers and jalepeno, then a few more minutes (5 at most) before adding the tomato and curry paste. Stir the mixture often to avoid burning, and aim for a thick consistency. When you have the desired consistency, add the mashed eggplant

4. serve on rice, roast potatoes, lentils or whatever floats your boat. I do rice and serve roast potatoes on the side with sour cream, but I suppose yogurt would be a lot more appropriate...

[circasurvivefan]

I love curry. My mom makes one whenever I'm home and it's normally just these packet sauces you can buy, I'm not quite sure the brand, but it's a power you boil with water and add flour and such. One hot and one medium one of those sauces makes for a great beef curry. Serve it with white rice and voila, one nasty meal.

Your recipie sounds tasty by the way, I'm not sure about eggplant as I've never had it but the spices and the cooking sounds great.

[macphearsome]

Originally Posted by circasurvivefan

Your recipie sounds tasty by the way, I'm not sure about eggplant as I've never had it but the spices and the cooking sounds great.

a lot of people are suspicious of eggplant, and some will hate this recipe. that being said, i have converted TWO eggplant haters with this curry. and i've only made it twice!

[Hashishi]

Instead of buying curry paste the best thing to do is blend 8-odd shallots, 4 cloves of garlic, a tablespoon of turmeric and garam masala and 4-8 bird eye chillies in a food processor. You can substitue the garam masala for another curry powder if you want a darker colour. In the case of using garam masala crack a teaspoon of whole coriander seed (i.e. fry it in oil until it pops) and if you're using a red curry powder crack a teaspoon of whole mustard seed with some cumin seed. Once that's done, fry your onions until golden and cook your curry paste for five minutes or so before adding your sealed meat and veg.

In the case of light curries I tend to cook them up with bay leaves and season them with flat leaf parsley, and with darker curries I use curry leaves and season them with coriander. Those are some of the rules of thumb I go by. For fish curries I make a light curry with the addition of coconut milk, ginger fennel seed and star anise.

I fuckin' love curry.

EDIT: Oh, and chutneys and pickles (my favourite is lime) and raita or tzatziki are an absolute must. This thread's got me hungry.

[macphearsome]

Originally Posted by Hashishi

Instead of buying curry paste the best thing to do is blend 8-odd shallots, 4 cloves of garlic, a tablespoon of turmeric and garam masala and 4-8 bird eye chillies in a food processor. You can substitue the garam masala for another curry powder if you want a darker colour. In the case of using garam masala crack a teaspoon of whole coriander seed (i.e. fry it in oil until it pops) and if you're using a red curry powder crack a teaspoon of whole mustard seed with some cumin seed. Once that's done, fry your onions until golden and cook your curry paste for five minutes or so before adding your sealed meat and veg.

very good suggestions. i am waiting for my roommate to return from his visit home, because he is bringing a bunch of indian spices with him. at the moment i must confess that i don't even have tumeric so I have been faking it! I want to buy a mortar and pestel so I can grind up my own whole spices, but in the meantime, finely ground will have to do!

This thread's got me hungry.

that was my intention!

[Zapatista420]

Originally Posted by Hashishi

Instead of buying curry paste the best thing to do is blend 8-odd shallots, 4 cloves of garlic, a tablespoon of turmeric and garam masala and 4-8 bird eye chillies in a food processor. You can substitue the garam masala for another curry powder if you want a darker colour. In the case of using garam masala crack a teaspoon of whole coriander seed (i.e. fry it in oil until it pops) and if you're using a red curry powder crack a teaspoon of whole mustard seed with some cumin seed. Once that's done, fry your onions until golden and cook your curry paste for five minutes or so before adding your sealed meat and veg.

In the case of light curries I tend to cook them up with bay leaves and season them with flat leaf parsley, and with darker curries I use curry leaves and season them with coriander. Those are some of the rules of thumb I go by. For fish curries I make a light curry with the addition of coconut milk, ginger fennel seed and star anise.

I fuckin' love curry.

EDIT: Oh, and chutneys and pickles (my favourite is lime) and raita or tzatziki are an absolute must. This thread's got me hungry.

Fuck my friend you just enlightenedme. Im guna go make some curry paste!

[macphearsome]

not to bump my own thread or anything, but

i made curry again tonight.. except this time we added spinach and sausage, and upped the spice content and threw in another jalepeno

it was sort of a deluxe curry. very spicey. very amateur but very good. i was sweating like a fucker. my friend and his girlfriend had to give up eating because it was too spicey

Sounds tastylicious...

Ive never had curry before, I cant handle anything spicier than a....... potatoe? lmao

Is spice (hotness) a must in a curry? Any mild ones that I could experiment with?

[dirtbomb]

Ahhhhh!
Bainghan is my favorite dish, Man!
For anyone afraid of Eggplant/Aubergine, it's a great way to try it for the first time.
When I make it at home, I fudge and use the Patak's Hot Curry paste. No places to get the right ingredients where I live.
Tasty Bite's version (Called "Punjab Eggplant" for the non Desi informed, I guess) is great on those too lazy to get my ass up to cook occasions.
M.T.R. also has a version of it.

[macphearsome]

Originally Posted by Up In Smoke

Sounds tastylicious...

Ive never had curry before, I cant handle anything spicier than a....... potatoe? lmao

Is spice (hotness) a must in a curry? Any mild ones that I could experiment with?

in my limited experience with indian cuisine, I've never made a mild curry that I really liked. My roommate makes a pretty good chicken curry. mostly tumeric for spice, and it's quick and relatively straight-forward.

I'm hardly the expert though, mostly just a curry enthusiast!