Thai Red Curry

[Oddley]

One of Paul Kribs favourite curry recipes (or so he posted) can be found at the link below. Look at the left of the page and you will see Free Recipes: I think Paul likes the dhansak.

http://www.chillifrenzy.co.uk/chillifrenzy/asp/main.asp

[Paul Kribs]

I certainly do like the Dhansak, I made one last week using neck fillets of lamb, my son was suitably impressed as well. It's a bit of a drawn out process, but very good. I also made a 'home-grown courgette' bhaji to accompany it.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[Michelle]

Wow,thank you fella's! I have done alot of copying and pasting of the recipe's today.!I'll be a busy girl trying out the recipe's I have collected from you guy's today!I will take pictures of my finished produts for you when I get around to making those dishes.I am leaving every couple of day's to go hunting so my time is rather limited right now but I will definitely get around to it.Thanks again!

[Patricia Thornton]

My nephew is married to a really beautiful Indian lady whose mother taught cookery in dozens of countries whilst travelling with her husband, a doctor for WHO. We are very partial to all kinds of Indian curry and over the years I've obtained many of Naheed's recipies.

Here in Bulgaria beef and lamb is quite unlike anything I'd ever tasted before (i.e. tasteless) but two of our favourite recipes make even Bulgarian beef taste really good, especially if made the day before eating.

Perhaps others might like to try them and they really are very simple.


Beef/Lamb Curry

I Kg beef or lamb cubed
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large onions finely chopped
4 large cardomons
4 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
4 large cloves of garlic
2 inch piece of ginger chopped
1 teaspoon tumeric powder
1 heaped tablespoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon chilly powder
3 tablespoons of plain yoghurt
4 blanched peeled tomatoes chopped
1 teaspoon tomato puree (optional)
1 teaspoon garam masala
Handful of fresh chopped coriander

1. Heat oil and fry onions gently until golden brown and remove with a
slotted spoon and keep aside.
2. In the same oil add cardomons, bayleaves, meat and salt, fry till
nicely brown and water has evaporated.
3. Add garlic and ginger and fry for a few minutes. Add tumeric,
coriander powder and fry a bit more.
4. Stir in yoghurt until it is all absorbed.
5. Return onions to the pan and add chopped tomatoes and puree (if
used) and cook for about five minutes.
6. Add 4 cups of water, bring to boil and simmer until meat is tender and
sauce thickens (1 hour or so).
NB At this point you can add 3 or 4 medium peeled potatoes, halved
or cut into chunks, to the sauce.
7. Reduce the sauce, sprinkle with garam masala and the handful of
freshly chopped coriander.


Keema Matur (Minced beef or lamb with green peas)

1Kg minced beef or lamb
4 tablespoons of vegetable oil
3 medium onions chopped
6 cloves garlic chopped
2 inch piece of ginger chopped
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
4 bay leaves
2 sticks cinnamon
2 black cardomons
1 heaped teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 to 1 teaspoon tumeric
1/2 to 1 teaspoon chilly powder
1 or 2 chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons yoghurt
salt
Frozen peas
Freshly chopped coriander

1. Heat oil, add chopped onions and fry lightly, add garlic and ginger and
fry a little longer.
2. Add meat fry until browned then add cumin seeds, cardomons,
cinnamon sticks and bay leaves. Cook for a while.
3. Add corriander, turmeric, chilly powder and chopped tomato.
4. Add yoghurt, mixing well. Add salt and 1/2 cup of water. Cover and
simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Add frozen peas (I use approx 1/2 small bag).
6. Cook until tender and water has evaporated.
7 Sprinkle with chopped coriander.

Both go well with plain boiled rice but remember to tell people about the cardomon pods and bay leaves!

[Michelle]

Thank you for sharing your recipes Patty,I put them on my definitly "to try" list.Greatly appreciated!

[Paul Kribs]

Michelle

What a good response, looks like you have a lot of cooking to do.. Curry recipes seem so similar but are also so different because of very subtle differencies in the recipes. Try a few, pick the ones you like and stick with them. It is OK to substitute different meats to your preferred taste, and even alter the basic recipe quite considerably in some cases. Remember that recipes are just a base guide, and alter them/experiment to suit your preferences. Remember to write them down though..

Regards, Paul Kribs

[Michelle]

Paul,you must know me better than I thought! Yes,I do tend to collect more recipes than I could ever possibly make. The recipes that I most certainly try out straight away are from you awesome people here on sausagemaking.org I alway's appreciate your advice Paul,it has never steered me wrong. Thank you!

[rich]

Paul, curries do vary, but one thing that is standard in Thai curries is that they are made from fresh ingrediants, never dryed. They are pastes. I like panang and masaman best. Indian masalas are generally made from dried ingrediants, then "boona'd" in ghee.

I love the fresh sharpness of Thai curries, but Indian masalas are far more complex in the proportions of the spices. The subtle differrence between masalas is hard to capture.

[Paul Kribs]

rich

When I make Thai curry's I do use fresh ingredients, some of which are frozen from fresh, namely lemon grass and ginger. Those are 2 ingredients that I don't use that often and find that buying a larger quantity and freezing does no harm at all. I freeze the lemon grass whole in 2's, and finely chop the ginger and freeze in small individual portions wrapped in cling wrap.

The dhansak has a wet massala gravy, which is made seperately and added later on in the cooking. It brings the whole dish together.

I still maintain it is OK to adjust recipes to suit your taste. In the case of garam massala, there are so many varieties of varying proportions. Most Indians make up their own garam massala but I buy it in ready ground and mixed. In the case where a recipe calls for 'the seeds of 5 cardamom pods', the actual size of the pods can be so different that you can end up with almost double the amount of seeds (or half). In the case of the dhansak recipe, the first time I made it, I didn't have any pineapple juice and it turned out superbly so I never add it. Possibly one day I will add it just to see if it does enhance the finished dish at all. That particular dhansak 'knocks spots' off those available from any of the local Indian takeaways.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[Rik vonTrense]

Talking of curries I suppose I have been making or experimenting with these since the early fifties.

And there is something that I have found.....most turn out predictable and taste as they should but on the odd occaision I find I have made a superb tasting curry to die for .....but try as I might I have been unable to repeat it to order.

My favourite is a pork curry with pineapple and all the trimmings but I like a sweet spicy subtle flavour curry and not a burn your head off curry.

It is a curry that you could scoff on it's own without any rice or other condiments, it's a curry that I could eat till the cows come home and not get fed up with the taste.or regret eating the next day, it's a curry that improves it's flavours after a day or more .

But as I say I cannot produce it to order even though I stick to the recipe
and out of fifty attemps I will find that elusive taste.


.

[Oddley]

I have been making curry's for about 30 years, my first efforts were disastrous, but over the years I've learnt the secrets of making a good curry. I now make curry recipes up myself, below is an example of one of mine that I made for a celebration my sister was having.

One of the secrets of making a good curry is you must season your spices, this means when you put them in to fry turn the heat to low and fry them for about 5 min's stirring all the time. This mellows the taste and releases the oils.

Give the one below a try if you have any left over bag it and freeze it. This one is pretty forgiving so if you can't get fresh coriander put in dried fenugreek leaves, or leave it out altogether.

Pukka Chicken Curry

servings 10

Ingredients:

10 Skinned breasts of chicken (11/2 cm cubed)
Yogurt ( about 1/2 pint)
4-5 Onions (Chopped Medium to fine)
6-7 tbs Vegetable oil
2 inch long piece fresh ginger (about 2 oz)
4 fresh cloves garlic
3 hot fresh red chilies ( cut from just below stem to tip turn 90 deg do it again so it splays open)
1/2 tube Tomato puree (about 3 tbs)
1 pint chicken stock (or use a knorr chicken cube)
1 Good bunch fresh coriander (about 20 stalks)
1 1/2 heaped tsp cumin seed powder
1 1/2 heaped tsp coriander seed powder
1 heaped tsp paprika
1 stick cinnamon
8 cloves
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
salt

Method:

Prepare the coriander by giving it a good wash still bunched cut the first 1/2 in off the stalk. then chop very finely up the stalks till you reach the leaves put this aside the roughly chop the leaves. Next liquidize the ginger and garlic in a little water. Now we can start cooking. In a hot wok or pot fry the onions in the oil until they are slightly caramelised add the ginger and garlic paste and fry until all the water is gone. We can then turn down the heat to low and add all the spices fry for about five minutes this is important it blends all the tastes together. Now add the Chicken and tomato puree. When the tomato puree and the spices start to split from the oil turn up the heat add the stock and fresh coriander stalks you chopped then the salt and pepper. Leave this to simmer for about 3/4 of an hour then turn the heat off and stir in the yogurt and a good handful of the chopped coriander leaves.

Tip: Don't let it dry out add water if you think necessary.

[Oddley]

If you are making an Indian curry you may need Garem Masala, This may not be available in your part of the world so below is the spice mix and method I use for making it.

Garem Masala

25 gm (1oz) Cardamom seed
50 gm (2oz) Ground Coriander
25 gm (1oz) Cloves
15 gm (1/2oz) Cummin seed or Powder
15 gm (1/2oz) Mace
Large pinch nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in an oven proof dish and roast at 350 �F, 177 �C or gas mark 4 for 20-30 minutes. Allow them to cool and then grind in a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle. Store in an airtight jar.

[Michelle]

Good day fellas!Rick that pork curry with pineapple sounds great, could you post your recipe for curious minds like mine?Best wishes!

[TJ Buffalo]

Oddley, I got around to trying the curry recipe that you started the thread with and it made a fantastic dinner. The only thing that I lacked was the courgette, and I used a couple of small, red-skinned potatoes in place of it, chopped to a 0.5" die. An awesome recipe, thanks for posting it. As for the other recipes, I'll have to whip up on them and give them a try!