I'm very lucky. No less than 8 specialty grocers come immediately to mind within less than an hour's drive from here. There are some ethnic specialty grocers nearby as well. Food is very culturally distinctive. I like culturally distinctive things.
I've been very happy trying all kinds of new things and after trying my hand at a
curry dish last year I decided I needed to play with Indian food. I've had just a passing acquaintance with Indian food.
So I went off to a nearby
Patel Brothers market and stocked up on some spices.
Indian Spices
Curries are now regularly on my menu. There are thousands of curry recipes on the web. And I've found if I ask 10 different people how to prepare a curry dish I get 10 different recipes.
I don't think curries are so much about recipes.
The spices: I generally mix a teaspoon each of ground cumin, coriander and paprika. I add a half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper (um...usually more..), turmeric, amchur and something else, depending on the main ingredient. If the main ingredient is say, chickpeas, it's
chole masala. If it's chicken it's
tandori chicken masala. If it's shrimp it's
fish masala. You get the idea. If I don't know what to use it's either chili powder or just
curry powder.
Technique: I sauté finely chopped onions and chili peppers in olive oil for several minutes, add some garlic, scatter the spices over the onion, give the skillet a shake, add chopped tomatoes. I add some water if it looks like it needs it. When the tomatoes cook down I add the "main ingredient" and let it all simmer for 20 or 30 minutes.
Observations: I've found using finely chopped onions is hugely important. I see ginger in many recipes and frankly, I'm not impressed with the ginger. Mostly I can't tell it's there even when I use a lot. I almost always add 1/2 teaspoon
garam masala to everything. Sometimes it's in the spice mix and sometimes, depending on my mood, it's at the end of cooking. I like to squeeze in some lemon juice at the end of cooking. And I like to add some honey too. Especially if I've made it really hot.
The main ingredient. Well. The "main ingredient" can be almost anything you want!
Mushrooms
Shrimp. With some coconut milk and peas.
Red kidney beans. Called rajma.
I've used broccoli as well and next week I'm going to try okra (bhindi). I've never ever had okra.
As a matter of fact I even went way out there with my newly found confidence and made Chicken Tikka Masala.
Chicken Tikka Masala
Serving: You serve your curry on a bed of steamed rice or couscous. With some cilantro. You can see I love cilantro!
Pairing: Beer!
Curried cauliflower. See the IPA in the background to the right? It's perfect.
I don't know that my Indian dishes are "authentic". I know the ingredients are! But like all of my cooking I've messed with it some and found things I like. That's really what it's about. And I regularly enjoy things I never would have fixed just a year ago.
Even when it's not quite right you just need to get close enough to know there's a stellar dish hiding in there somewhere.
