eG Cook-Off #80: The Aromatic, Exotic Flavors of Curry

[Okanagancook]

Yes, I always do them oil and I do because that is usually the recipe instruction...maybe the oil stops them from jumping to the moon out of your pan🤕

[Smithy]

13 hours ago, Smithy said:

My cauliflower curry is cooking as I type. I'm using the recipe from The Complete Curry Cookbook, by Charmaine and Reuben Solomon. I have a question about cooking the mustard seeds. The instructions say to fry them in the oil until they pop. That seemed clear enough at first reading, but now I wonder: does that mean until they start to pop, or are all finished popping, or somewhere between when the popping has started to slow down but is still going? Waiting until all popping has stopped is a good way to burn popcorn. I didn't want to burn the mustard seeds the same way. I hope we won't end up chipping our teeth!

 

I'm following up with results. My husband liked the cauliflower, although he admitted that he liked it more in a "we need to eat vegetables" way than in a "wow! let's have this often!" way. I thought it too salty, even though I'd cut back on the salt in the original recipe. I will certainly try it again, with adjustments. It would have helped if I had been able to find the ginger root that I know is lurking somewhere in my kitchen! I can't wait to see where it turns up.

 

 

I'm not showing the whole dinner, because the rest wasn't curry-ish at all. Nonetheless, this was a nice first step into the idea of curries.

[heidih]

@Smithy  This link provides a nice discussion about the use of spce tempering (tadka) in Indian cuisines.  It discusses both in fat and dry. http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/what-is-tadka/

[Smithy]

1 hour ago, heidih said:

@Smithy  This link provides a nice discussion about the use of spce tempering (tadka) in Indian cuisines.  It discusses both in fat and dry. http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/what-is-tadka/

 

Tadka. My new word for the day.

 

That article gives an excellent explanation, with a lot of inspiring recipes. I've bookmarked it. Many thanks!

[Okanagancook]

😎 Futura Hard Anodised Tadka Spice Heating Pan 1 Cup, 3-1/4mm

[Smithy]

1 hour ago, Okanagancook said:

😎 Futura Hard Anodised Tadka Spice Heating Pan 1 Cup, 3-1/4mm

 

You enabler, you! 

 

Do you suppose it's really 3-1/4 mm?  That sounds incredibly tiny.

 

Edit: never mind, that's the thickness of the metal.

Edited December 3, 2018 by Smithy (log)

[Okanagancook]

I have the one in the link and use it frequently...mainly for toasting spices.  Have not used it for onions/tomatoes, etc.  It's like cast iron....never use soap.

[Smithy]

I finally found the time to try out a couple of recipes from an Indian cookbook I picked up over the holidays. It isn't that I needed another cookbook, but this one jumped out at me from the shelves of a thrift store. What I like about it is that it describes how the cuisine changes from one part of India to another, and each dish is ascribed to its particular area. The instructions are clear and the photography beautiful.

 

 

I chose 2 recipes to try: Pepper South Indian Chicken Curry (Murgh chettinad) and Pilau Rice. The book notes that the curry is hot and spicy, and not for the faint of heart. The spices include black mustard seeds, curry leaves, asefetida, cumin, coriander, turmeric, salt, pepper, and freshly grated ginger. The mustard is fried until it pops; the curry and asefetida are added to the frying, and then the chicken is added. After the chicken has begun to cook, most of the other spices are added. Simmer in coconut milk and water. When the chicken is done, finish with the ginger, some lime juice and cilantro.

 

Meanwhile, in another pot I had the pilau going. I don't know that there's anything extraordinary about it, except possibly the addition of black peppercorns (fished out at the end) and saffron, but it worked well for me. The instructions are very clear about repeatedly rinsing the rice until the water runs clear, then soaking it for a half hour before draining and starting the cook. I occasionally rinse. I've never soaked beforehand. This basmati was fluffy in a way mine has never been. My eyes are opened to a new way of cooking rice!

 

 

We both thought the finished dish good, and well worth doing again. My darling, who likes dishes slightly sweeter than I do, though a touch of Worcesterhire sauce added to the curry and balanced it nicely. I wouldn't have tried it without his prodding, but in fact I thought a drop or two were helpful.

[Okanagancook]

The curries looks delicious.  Curious the instructions don't have you try the spices after the mustard seeds pop and before adding the chicken. Glad you found the rice technique.  It really does make a huge difference to any rice...save for risotto 🙃

[sartoric]

I found a new (to me) dal this week. It’s called val dal and is a kidney shaped white bean (split and skinned). My Indian grocer said it’s popular in Maharashtra and Gujarat. Some dals are so specific to their area, she never tried some until she married and moved. I gave the val my favourite dal treatment. 

Rinsed and boiled softly with a pinch of turmeric.

 

Mise for the flavouring. Chopped red onions, chopped tomato, garam masala, chilli powder, turmeric.

 Please don’t laugh, I love my $4 kiwi brand cleaver, frills and all.

 

In ghee I fry off the onions, add spices, tomatoes and salt and cook until melded well.

 

I add this to the cooked dal, then prepare a tadka.

A dried chilli, half a tap of cumin seeds, a few cloves, a pinch of asafoetida, then crushed garlic, in that order in smoking hot ghee in a small pan. The coriander is for later.

 

The idea is to tip the smoking contents of the pan onto the dal, cover and let the aromas absorb into the dal.

 

Garnish with coriander. Ta da.

 

Full meal is served over on the dinner thread.

[Smithy]

That is a lovely tutorial, @sartoric. You and @Okanagancook both turn out lovely dishes, clearly explained. Thank you!

[Okanagancook]

I love dahl.  You can't beat a steaming bowl of dahl with fresh chapati.  My favourite is toovar dahl and I found some at our big box grocery last week.  It is split and skinned pigeon peas.

[sartoric]

Seeing you were so nice about it @Smithy, here’s another one.

 

Balti mushroom curry.

These spices are ground together in the spice grinder, coriander seeds, peppercorns, cinnamon bark, chilli flakes, cardamom pods, cloves, dried fenugreek leaves.

 

 

You get a curry curry powder like this.

 

The other ingredients are garlic, green chilli, ginger, tomato and mushrooms, so simple.

 

I fry fry off the garlic for a minute, then add a tbs of the powder and stir for a couple minutes.

 

The tomatoes go in next and cook for five minutes or so until quite mushy.

 

Add the quartered mushrooms, salt to taste and cook covered until they reach your desired tenderness. Garnish with chopped coriander. I often add a few handfuls of baby spinach too.

 

The plated meal is over on the dinner thread.

[Okanagancook]

Mushrooms make excellent curries.  They seem to absorb the spice flavours really well.  Plus they hold their shape nicely.

[Smithy]

What makes something "Balti"? Does that specify a particular flavor profile?

[sartoric]

1 hour ago, Smithy said:

What makes something "Balti"? Does that specify a particular flavor profile?

I think it refers to the cast iron pot called a balti in which it used to be cooked, but also the flavours. Balti is frequently used in English recipe books/restaurants.

[Okanagancook]

Thank you Dhukkhad.  Makes sense to have freshly prepared tamarind spice.   And I can see how one would get much more flavour using as much of the pulp as possible.  

I think I froze the tamarind after a week in the fridge because it wasn't getting used enough.  Do you think freezing it would alter the taste?

cheers

[sartoric]

I’m lazy and mostly use tamarind concentrate. Having said that, we have a tamarind tree. It’s only small and in a pot, but once it gets planted out in Spring and starts producing, I guess I’ll have to use it.

[sartoric]

While I’m on a roll, this is a vegetable curry I made down at our country cottage last weekend. Similar to “what’s in the fridge” minestrone, I used whatever veggies I had (potatoes, cauliflower and tomatoes) and after cooking them with some typical Indian flavourings, added in some leftover “everyday okra” and leftover panchmael dal. This may be a mortal sin to the purists, but we really enjoyed it with raita, pickle and the easiest bread I’ve found. It’s like a cross between naan and chapatti, moist and delicious. To make 6, mix 250g flour (I use atta with a little plain flour), 2 tsps baking powder, a pinch of salt and 250 g plain yoghurt. Knead for a minute or so, divide, roll into 15 cm circles and throw onto a hot tava. Brush with ghee if you’re feeling decadent.

 

This bread doesn’t look the best, I don’t have a proper tava at the cottage, so made do with a fry pan.

Here’s a better piece of bread.

 

 

[Smithy]

7 hours ago, sartoric said:

<snip>

...the easiest bread I’ve found. It’s like a cross between naan and chapatti, moist and delicious. To make 6, mix 250g flour (I use atta with a little plain flour), 2 tsps baking powder, a pinch of salt and 250 g plain yoghurt. Knead for a minute or so, divide, roll into 15 cm circles and throw onto a hot tava. Brush with ghee if you’re feeling decadent.

 

I'm sure you've described a tava elsewhere, but please refresh my memory. Is it essentially a massive flat hot surface? Would my cast-iron flat griddle do the trick? Why was your skillet only a fair substitute?

 

Thanks for the recipe. That bread looks delicious, and sounds dead easy. I want to try it. Will it puff the way pita does, or is it not supposed to? 

[liuzhou]

8 hours ago, sartoric said:

This bread doesn’t look the best

 

Looks good to me!

[sartoric]

8 hours ago, Smithy said:

 

I'm sure you've described a tava elsewhere, but please refresh my memory. Is it essentially a massive flat hot surface? Would my cast-iron flat griddle do the trick? Why was your skillet only a fair substitute?

 

Thanks for the recipe. That bread looks delicious, and sounds dead easy. I want to try it. Will it puff the way pita does, or is it not supposed to? 

 

It’s just like a skillet but with only a tiny lip. Great for omelettes too. I think my pan at the cottage might be warped a bit, the breads took on more colour in the middle, it should have colour all over.

Yes, they puff up gloriously. 

[Bhukhhad]

What a good job of a well made roti/chapatti. You folks are terrific even though this is not the cuisine you grew up on! 

A Tava has no lip, typically. It is a heavy cast iron flat disc and most often had no handle. A handle is a new invention over the past fifty years. You can have Tava’s of various types.

A clay tava is used upside down! Yes! You place it upside down on a wooden stove and cook roomali rotis on it. It gets intensely hot so the delicate rotis get roasted in seconds. 

A thin tava is used to make khakras or rotis that are re-roasted to make them very crisp and last for months. 

A thick tava that is completely flat is used for rotli the very thin breads of gujarat. A thick tava that is curved in the center is preferred for Lechhi (in gujarat) and Dosti Roti (in punjab). These are rotis that split into two discs after roasting. 

The tava that is shown in the picture has a lip. It is a crepe tava, excellent for dosas. 

And of course you can use anything for anything. 

Bhukhhad

[Okanagancook]

I use these two.  The solid one I got for $5 at the second hand store.  Made by Maruti and made in India.

The one with holes is much lighter.  I use this one quite a bit...a bit of char gets through to the bread from gas heating element.

If mine don't puff, I put them over the open flame and that usually does it.

 

[Bhukhhad]

Okanagancook

I am delighted to see these. The solid tava or tawa is the kind I was speaking about. The one with the holes is much more interesting. It has the two extra upright rods for certain reasons. First, you can place this tava on an open flame stove or ‘chulha’. Then place your cooking pot on top of it. And behind the two slats you can place a ‘Soop’ or ‘Soopda’ which is a metal thingamijing for shaking the flax off the grains. Do you know what I mean? I can post pictures from the internet but I am not allowed to do that here. The reason for putting the soop behind the vessel is to have the flame concentrate under the vessel. So that is one purpose. 

The other purpose for those upright slats is for the time this tava is placed upside down on top of a vessel and some burning coals placed on top of that. It provides the DUM effect for both top and bottom heating. I have seen these slats on only very few pieces so I assume this style is older. Now you can buy a tava with holes without these slats. And I use it to roast papad on an open flame. Or puff rotis on a flame. Such tavas are also very useful if you have an electric ring burner. This allows you to move the roti from the solid tava to a surface that is not as hot as the electric rings and puff the rotis that way. You take off the tava each time and put it back on just when you want to puff the roti or roast the papad. 

What fun to see the gadgets all of you have discovered! 

Bhukkhad. 

Edited June 25, 2019 by Bhukhhad (log)