The homemade curry thread

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Anyone into making these at home? I've been making it once or twice a week for a good 10 years now, as I love super spicy food, and my recipe is actually mostly healthy (depending on how much Ghee you start with!)

Based on a vindaloo/phall, here's how mine looks. Would love to see what other people do?
(Probably making one tonight, will try to remember to take photos)

Heat up some Ghee (up to you how much, the more the better the flavour, but obviously less healthy)
Add a diced white onion and a few cloves of chopped garlic
Optional grated ginger here too
Sweat this off for 10 mins or so
2 teaspoons ground Coriander
2 teaspoons ground Cumin
2 teaspoons vindaloo curry powder (optional)
1/2 teaspoon carolina reaper chilli powder
2 teaspoons garam massala
Allow this to cook on low-medium heat to become a bit of a paste
Add diced chicken
Cook this for a few mins so the chicken has been cooked all over ever so slightly
Add half tin chopped tomatoes (I whizz them up in a blender for a smoother curry)
Add chopped chillis if desired
Salt and pepper to taste
Allow to reduce for 20-30 mins until your desire consistency
Add some fresh coriander before serving

I serve this with Garlic Naan and Pilau rice (Tesco Finest Naan is the best shop bought one I have found)

Anyone else got any nice recipes? This is pretty much the only one I ever do, so could do with broadening my horizons!

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I really like Thai curry, but whenever I've cooked it I've been so unadventurous I've basically poured a tin of coconut milk in with pre-made paste from a jar and that's about it. Still tasted ok, but just felt like I'd been really boring. Whereas my Indian curry I mention above I do feel like I'm doing it justice even vs a restaurant.

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Some lovely ideas in here guys, will have to give some of them a go next year, not sure how much curry will be cooked over Christmas!

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Glassman said:

Understanding what 'curry' is would be start.

I assume you meant: "a" start.

Thanks for the input though.

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craigjm said:

I will probably get killed for this but this is an easy way to get rice right

If you want to make it easy buy decent basmati rice and just put your rice into a pan of boiling water not worrying about the quantity of water being too large. Bring it back to the boil and then down to a fast simmer for 10 minutes. Check and leave for another 2-3 if required. When done drain the rice into a sieve and give it a quick bath with boiling water from the kettle. Job done

Pretty much the exact post I was going to write.
Personally usually use Tilda Basmati and simmer for 7.5 mins. The rest exactly the same as you.

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nebpor said:

Previns order arrived - the stuff looks fantastic!!

Let's see what the naans look like.....hard to get good ones from shops!

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nebpor said:

So much better looking! Plain, garlic and peshwari - my Indian friend reckons they look the same as the clay-baked ones you can get in Premier stores. They look a million times better than anything i've seen in the supermarket. I'll update once we've had some!

Looks good, keen to hear how they are

The only supermarket one I like is Tesco Finest range, hard to find at the moment though

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nebpor said:

The Previns sauces are fantastic and the nan bread beggars belief it comes from a plastic bag - thank you so much for the suggestion! Oh and the chutney ....

Where did you buy the nanns from?

Edit: can find them on the Previns site, but not sure I want to be paying so much shipping just for naan bread....?

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How u doing said:

Perfect basmati rice, every time.

Fry some onions, add teaspoon cumin seeds, a few cardamon pods, a cinnamon stick, pinch salt, basmati rice with exactly twice the volume of water to rice.

Bring to simmer cover for exactly 10mins, no more no less, do not be tempted to open lid.
After 10 mins take off heat stir, remove cinnamon stick, cover and leave for 10mins for rice to absorb any moisture.

Serve.

I think I need to start upping my rice game, I'll give this a try.

[UTH]

I’d usually blitz a tin of peeled whole tomatoes in mine. When you say you use fresh, would you just blitz a few fresh whole ones and job done? Or is there a bit more to it than that?

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Hmmmm ok, interesting, thanks guys.

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Bought myself this: https://www.spicentice.com/collections/worlds-hott...

Admittedly it's just a nice way of packaging three different packets of spices, but I'm intrigued to see how the hottest will compare with my own curry which is hotter than anything I've ever come close to in a restaurant.

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Currently bubbling away…..

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It was impressively tasty, but not as spicy as I’d usually make.

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illmonkey said:

Tickle said:

sounds like a good one.

I feel a bit let down if I don't have at least a bit of a sweat-on post curry.

Whilst I agree, have you ever melted? I’m still suffering now, it’s almost the next day!

I then decided to sample the left overs and almost coughed to death.

Stupid cayenne

For the first time in my life I cooked a curry that outdid me. I cooked the Phall from the 'spiciest curry in the world' pack I linked above (on its own it would have been fine, the hotter one was fine) but this time I also chopped a whole dried Carolina reaper into it. It was still bloody lovely, but eventually I gave up as the tears poured from my face. I finally found my limit.

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I'm a bit of a freak when it comes to spice, so I found that curry on its own was lovely, and could have been spicier for sure. But adding the whole chilli......well, I won't do that again!

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ambuletz said:

are these the ones that are £4 for a 'kit'? says it serves 4? I'm guessing from the packging style and font that this is what was used in all the supermarket reaper/extra hot indian takeaway meal boxes?

Is the kit just a spice mix? nothing else? trying to figure out if it actually works out cheaper to use this than the ready meals. or if perhaps there's a way of making your own spice mix for less

Yep, you are basically paying £3.50 or whatever it is for a bag of premixed spices and instructions. You have to buy everything else.
It’s certainly more expensive than my usual method of making from scratch, but that said it really was rather nice. And I also used the whole bag of spices for a curry just for me! I think you could easily feed two or three from the same packet but I’m more than happy with it being mega strong so used it all for myself.

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ambuletz said:

Looking at the ingredients of that curry kit.. 20% is carolina reaper powder

Is there anyone here who makes mega hot curries, where do you get your powders? I figure it'll be cheaper to just buy individual powder. to add to curries.

I usually just use Carolina reaper chilli powder, packets from Amazon. Half a teaspoon in a curry does the trick.

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number2 said:

I had a go at the Glebe Kitchen vindaloo recipe. Generally, very pleased with the way it turned out. Could have added more liquid as I left it quite thick. The Kashmiri chillies didn't add much heat but the Naga Pickle did .

Was a long afternoon's work, going from base gravy to final product. However, I have some frozen gravy, garlic/ginger mix and vindaloo paste in the freezer for next time.

That looks great, I think I'll have a look at these Glebe recipes and give one of theirs a go, maybe this Thursday.

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number2 said:

One challenge I'm having is the lingering smell... I'd rather our kitchen didn't smell so intensely of curry.

I use the extractor on full - externally vented - but this isn't good enough. I might have to start opening the windows and bearing the cold.

Any tips on preventing or removing the smell? A quick Google says wash everything with water/vinegar mix... not happening for walls and ceilings, but clearly I'll suitably clean worktops and tables.

I assume you have a classic hood extractor above the hob?
I don't imagine you'll be changing that setup, but I must say I am seriously impressed with our induction hob that has the extractor built into it that vents downwards. Curry, steak, you name it, you pretty much can't smell a single thing in the kitchen when you whack the extractor up to full whack.