Curry can be mystifying. Start with the fact that almost every base recipe lists two or three spice mixes that Indian cooks are apparently expected to keep on hand, like garam masala and tikka masala. Furthermore, Susan, the online sources for Indian food recipes (and there are many) are very obviously writing for other Indians. 50% of ingredients have names like methi (fenugreek), ghee (clarified butter), degi mirch (paprika) so the first step in understanding a recipe is to get out a decoder ring and figure out what ingredients you will need. Let it not be said that Jac and I are not up for the challenge!

This is the second blogoff that I have done with Jac. The idea is that we will pick some new culinary technique or ethnic ingredient, give it a shot and compare results in our blogs. Curry might be a bad choice to try to compare, because it really just a generic term for a spiced gravy. I associate it with Indian food primarily, but many of my friends associate it more with Thai food. It is also common in Pakistani, Japanese, Chinese, Indonesian, Malaysian, and even some South American cuisines. So it seems highly unlikely that whatever I made and what Jac makes will resemble each other in anything other than in name. We’ll see!

Garam Masala

A very basic building block for most Indian curries is garam masala. It consists of a half dozen heat activated spices that are then ground into a fine powder and used in EVERYTHING. The finished product is incredibly aromatic, it takes effort for me to resist just inhaling it, although it is sneeze producing. I ripped off this recipe wholesale, but I’ll repost here anyway. The astute will notice from the picture below that I did add the saffron and nutmeg before dry frying. I would have to know garam masala better to know what affect that had on the finished product.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons cumin seeds
• 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
• 2 tablespoons cardamom seeds
• 2 tablespoons black peppercorns
• 1 (3-inch) stick cinnamon, broken up
• 1 teaspoon whole cloves
• 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon saffron

Procedure:

Put the cumin, coriander, cardamom, peppercorns, cinnamon, and cloves in a dry heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Toast the spices, stirring occasionally, until they turn several shades darker and give off a sweet smoky aroma, about 10 minutes. Do not raise the heat to quicken the process, or the spices will brown prematurely, leaving the insides undercooked. Cool completely. Add the saffron and nutmeg, transfer to a mortar and pestle and grind to a fine powder.

Yes this is the same picture as before. I like it alot.

Lamb Vindaloo

Lamb Vindaloo is pretty common on Indian restaurants in America. It is something of a generic restaurant “spicy” curry. Adapted from here.

Ingredients:

• 2lbs lamb
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tbls tamarind sauce
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup minced garlic
• 1 inch ginger, finely chopped
• 3 serrano peppers, chopped
• 3/2 tbls Standard Onset Punjabi curry powder (see link)
• 3/4 tbls garam masala
• 1 tsp hot mustard powder
• 2 tsp cayenne powder
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 cup clarified butter
• 2 cups finely diced onions
• 1 tsp brown sugar

Procedure:

Combine oil, vinegar, tamarind, salt, garlic, ginger, peppers, curry powder, garam masala, mustard powder, cayenne and paprika in a nonreactive bowl. Cube the lamb and stab each piece once or twice with a fork, then mix into the bowl of marinate. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours.

Remove lamb from marinate and clear of marinate solids, reserve the marinate. Heat clarified butter in a large pan, add the lamb and brown very lightly. Remove lamb and reserve. Add the onions and fry about 5 minutes. Add the reserved marinate and turn heat down to medium. Stir and fry to make a paste. Return the lamb to the pan and mix thoroughly. If the paste is thick, add a couple of tablespoons of water. Bring to a quick boil then turn the heat down low and cook until the lamb is tender. Be careful to keep the heat low enough and cooking time short enough, so as to prevent the lamb from getting tough. When the lamb is finished, stir in the brown sugar to cut acidity, and serve with basmati rice.

I made a few missteps with this recipe, I should have used more hot peppers and tried to cut the onions even smaller. I did not adequately make a paste with the marinate and onions, and I couldnt reduce the liquids released by the onions enough to get a thick sauce without toughening the meat, so it was pretty watery. The taste was great though, if not very spicy. The onion and brown sugar provided sweetness and all the chili gave an effective tang to the dish. The lamb was already just a little more tough than I would have liked, but not so bad as to be unsettling.

Paneer Palak Channa

The recipe that I adapted actually calls for chickpeas, I replaced chickpeas with paneer, an Indian curd cheese that is fairly resistant to melting. I could not get paneer, though, so I used mozzarella, a melty Italian cheese, as a replacement. More on that after the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 4 bunches fresh spinach
• 1 lb mozzarella
• 2 beefsteak tomatoes (or 4 plum tomatoes), quartered
• 1 large yellow onion, quartered
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 1-inch piece of garlic
• 3 fresh green chilis, chopped
• 1 cup yogurt, whisked smooth
• 1/2 tsp. garam masala
• 1/2-1 tsp. red chili powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. coriander powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. cumin powder
• 1 tsp. turmeric
• 2 tsp. paprika
• Salt

Procedure:

Heat 1 tbs oil in a large skillet, add the chilis and spinach and saute until the spinach is wilted. Remove and reserve. Mince the garlic and ginger, finely dice the onion and add to the hot skillet and cook until the onions are translucent. While the onion cooks add the tomatoes to a blender and puree. Add to the onion mixture. Add the garam masala, chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric, paprika and salt (to taste.) Mix well and cook on medium heat for about 30 minutes until the liquid dissolves. Add the yogurt and spinach and mix well with the masala mixture. Add the mozzerella and cook for an additional 10 minutes, keep the stirring to a minimum, to keep from mixing up the cheese too much. Serve with basmati rice.

Mozzarella was a bad choice. I forgot that the basic charm to using paneer is its resistance to being melty. In this dish the mozz was all over the place, stringy and chewy instead of holding into its own isolated bite sized units. Apparently queso blanco would work, and my local cheese guy can probably give me some tips on another replacement. The taste of the dish was great though! It was easily within the realm of what I consider to be a curry taste in my head. The tomato sauce did not dominate too much, the base savory aromatic taste of the sauteed onions was clear, the sourness of the yogurt, the aromatic hints of each of the spices blended into a joyous cacophony of taste. My only complaint in the taste regard is that, once again, the mozzaralla seemed to dampen the bold tastes. The sauce before I added it was much more vibrant than after the mozz had melted. Oh well, live and learn.

Notes:

• I also attempted to make Rotis to serve as a vehicle to get the curry to our mouths. They did not puff, so I need some practice, but they served the purpose.
• Sauteed onions are to Indian food what olive oil is to Italian food. A defining baseline that may not be the lead note in the taste of every dish, but infuses it with the same underlying taste profile from dish to dish.
• I think curry is something that one just has to get the feel for. I think that once I get comfortable in some of the basic methods and I start measuring the spices out by the handful instead of the measuring spoon I will be more successful with it. I should probably get there with less time consuming curries though.
• My friends were mostly complimentary on dinner, I have a feeling it is because the tastes were mostly unfamiliar to them. Jelmini has always been great for feedback and has actually been to India, and he did provide me with some constructive criticism.
• I am not disappointed with my mistakes, it is part of the learning process, but I’m betting Jac did better than I did. Check it out!
• Spellcheck is next to pointless in a blog post about curry.

-Gabe