Dishes/Techniques to build on

[_john]

I just got back from Korea where I found an Indian spice store where I bought everything to stock my kitchen in Japan for Indian cooking.(a little bit complicated right?). I love making Indian food at home but most of the time I use a recipe. I would like to learn some base techniques and recipes so I can begin to be more creative with Indian cuisine.

I know about adding spices to the oil. And I have made a lot of recipes which start by caramelizing onions. What other bases are there? Good dishes to experiment with?

[Jay Francis]

Here is a basic Balti Style Curry Sauce that is a good building block. I hope you enjoy it. Balti Style cooking was popularized in Birmingham and spread from there. It evolved out of a Northern Pakistan (near Chinese border) style of cooking in a wok-like cookpot (aka, karai or kadai).

Balti Style Curry Sauce (For Chicken, Tilapia, or Shrimp)

3 tbs vegetable oil

4 medium onions (size of a hardball), chopped

Small 1 inch piece of ginger, finely chopped

1-3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 ripe Roma tomato, chopped

1 tbs paprika

½ tsp turmeric

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground coriander

1 tsp cayenne or other chilli powder

1 cup cilantro leaves (stems okay if cut just below the second set of leaves, but don’t use thicker parts of stems)

Salt to taste

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute the onions and ginger until the onions are translucent, being careful not to burn them. Add the garlic and continue for a minute or so. Add the tomato and about 1 1/14 cups of water. Add all of the spices except cilantro, bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Pour into a blender and liquidize. Be careful of hot liquid splatter! Leave the cap on the blender slightly open for protection. Return to heat, add cilantro and add cooked shrimp or tilapia.

Some cooks add more garlic, chili peppers, cream, yogurt, or coconut. If using yogurt, add one cup that has first been stabilized with 1 tsp corn starch.

[_john]

I tried this dish today and it turned out very well. I had one problem however. I mixed some yogurt with corn starch and a little cold water and added it to the boiling curry base but the yogurt broke. what is the proper technique to stabilize the yogurt? When would you add vegetables and to what stage do you usually cook them?

[Gruzia]

I tried this dish today and it turned out very well. I had one problem however. I mixed some yogurt with corn starch and a little cold water and added it to the boiling curry base but the yogurt broke. what is the proper technique to stabilize the yogurt? When would you add vegetables and to what stage do you usually cook them?

←

if you add the yogurt to the boiling base, it will curdle. i would take some of the base and stir it into the yogurt, first, and then add to the rest of the base, which should be at a simmer, not boiling. at least, that works for me why did you add the cornstarch and water to the yogurt?

in north indian cooking, the veggies tend to be cooked for a long time, so they become soft and permeated with the flavors of the curry. in south indian cooking, the veggies tend to be cooked shorter and still left with crisp texture.

the decision about the timing of adding veggies is really up to you and depends on what kind of texture and taste you want to achieve.

[Gruzia]

forgot to add: there is more chance of curdling if the yogurt you use is low-fat, so try a full-fat version.

[tryska]

I just got back from Korea where I found an Indian spice store where I bought everything to stock my kitchen in Japan for Indian cooking.(a little bit complicated right?). I love making Indian food at home but most of the time I use a recipe. I would like to learn some base techniques and recipes so I can begin to be more creative with Indian cuisine.

I know about adding spices to the oil. And I have made a lot of recipes which start by caramelizing onions. What other bases are there? Good dishes to experiment with?

←

well as far as curries go, my base always starts like this:

fat (oil, coconut oil, ghee, plain old butter)

Chopped onion

sautee in fat until transluscent, add ginger/garlic paste and fresh chili (if you choose to use fresh)

then toast your spices in it (the spice mixture will be mixed to suit the ingredients and dish you are making - when i'm jsut throwing it together, it's invariably 1tsp cumin, 1/2tsp turmeric, and 1/2tsp coriander, if the dish calls for it)

add your meat (if you are using meat) and stir to coat in toasted spices

add your liquid - water, tomato sauce, coconut milk, what have you....

then add vegetables

set to simmer for prescribed time.

if the recipe calls for it - or the taste test calls for it, i might sprinkle some garam masala in, shortly befor ethe dish is done. (10-15 minutes out)

[Jay Francis]

Yogurt curdling. Think of yogurt as thin threads of lactobacillus forming a web throughout a wet structure. In a sense the solidity of the yogurt is an illusion. So, heat applied quickly dis-integrates the structure. Corn starch adds a starch binder. However, your gravy needs to be warm-ish, not hot for it to work.