There are many types of curry, but they all come from a few basic ingredients. Start by cooking the onions, ginger, and garlic, then add lots of spices and finally combine all the ingredients with the liquid gravy. Cooking Indian curry favors technique over other recipes, as the final taste of the curry depends on the spices you prefer and have at your disposal. Once you know the basic principles of making curry, you'll be able to serve up this classic Indian dish in no time.
- Preparation time: 10-20 minutes
- Cooking time: 35-60 minutes
- Total time: 55-80 minutes
Step
Method 1 of 2: Understanding How to Make Curry
Step 1. Understand the basics of making curry, regardless of type
There are actually only three important principles in making curry. Once you've mastered these three things, it's easy to adapt and modify curries to your taste. Just mix and match the ingredients in the following "formula" to cook your own curry:
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Onion/Garlic/Ginger:
These three ingredients form the basis of most types of curry, but some Indians don't actually use garlic. The longer you cook these ingredients, the richer the flavor and the darker the curry will be.
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Spices in Bulk:
Curries need a large spoonful of spices added early in the cooking process to cook and soften. There is no "wrong" combination of spices, so try to find a spice blend that you like.
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Thickener:
What ingredients will give your curry texture? Commonly used ingredients are one or more of the following -- yogurt, coconut milk, stock, water, mashed or diced tomatoes, chili paste, or spinach.
Step 2. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat
You have to make the oil hot and slowly boil. You can use any oil you like, but for best results, use 1 to 2 tablespoons of peanut oil, canola oil or vegetable oil.
To make traditional Indian dishes you should use ghee -- also known as self-fatted butter -- as cooking oil
Step 3. Place any aromatic seeds, such as coriander, cumin, or mustard in a saucepan and cook until they start to crackle
Once the oil is hot, add 1 tablespoon of any seed combination from coriander/cumin/mustard seeds, fenugreek and grapefruit, depending on your recipe. Curry is a dish that contains a lot of spices, but is also made with a lot of improvisation, so you are free to try any combination of spices you like.
- For your first recipe, use 1 tablespoon of cumin and coriander, plus a pinch if you have one.
- The meaning of crackling is when the seeds jump up and down as if dancing in a pot.
Step 4. Finely chop an onion and add it to the oil
Cut the onions into about 1 cm square dice and place them in the hot oil. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes until the edges are translucent and the color begins to turn golden.
The longer you cook the onions, the richer the final taste of the curry will be. You can also stop cooking just as the edges of the onions turn translucent to make a lighter yellow curry
Step 5. Chop and add the garlic and ginger after the onions have cooked for 3 to 4 minutes
Finely chop a piece of ginger 5 cm long and 2 or 3 cloves of garlic to taste. Add these two ingredients to cook and soften along with the onions, shortly after the onions have been added to the pan. Add a pinch of salt to taste, while the ingredients are cooking.
Onion, garlic and ginger are considered the "trinity" or three main ingredients in Indian cuisine. Similar to garlic, carrots and celery which are the main trinity of ingredients for French cuisine
Step 6. Add a lot of ground spices
Curry is a food that contains a lot of spices and you should allow the spices to cook in the pot along with the dish to get the best taste. Add 1 tablespoon ground chili powder, cardamom, cayenne pepper powder, turmeric, cinnamon and/or curry powder to the oil. Add 1/2 tablespoon of salt once the spices are incorporated. Stir in all ingredients and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.
- You should cook the spices, but not burn them. If there isn't much liquid from the onions and oil in the pan, mix the spices with 2 or 3 tablespoons of water to dilute them and prevent them from burning.
- For your first recipe, use a teaspoon each of red chili powder, turmeric, cardamom and curry powder.
Step 7. Add any kind of hot chili for flavoring
The longer you cook the chilies, the sweeter they will taste. Then add the chilies towards the end of the cooking process if you want a spicier taste. Chop 2 or 3 scotch bonnet chiles, habanero, serrano, or cayenne peppers and place in a saucepan to cook along with the onions and garlic. Or simply add 1 tablespoon of dried cayenne pepper along with other spices.
Step 8. Stir in the main ingredients -- meat or vegetables -- until they start to brown
Add 1 or 2 shredded chicken breasts, shrimp or lamb in a saucepan and add a little oil. You can also include vegetables, such as 1 can of chickpeas, 300 grams of cauliflower, an eggplant cut into 2cm cubes, pineapple, tomato or potato cut into small cubes.
If you are adding meat, try to brown the outside in another pan. Then add it to the curry before moving on to the next step
Step 9. Add liquid to cover the ingredients and cook on medium-low heat
Slowly add any mixture of water, stock, or coconut milk to the pot of ingredients, just enough until the solution begins to cover the vegetables and meat. Stir well and cover the pot, reduce the heat to low heat.
- If you want to include garam masala in your cooking, add 1 tablespoon now. Garam masala does not need to be cooked as long as other spices.
- For your first recipe, try adding a can of coconut milk for a thicker curry easily, or 480 ml of vegetable, chicken or meat stock.
Step 10. Add thickening agent, if you wish
It's time to add 300 grams of spinach (saag), 240 ml of plain yogurt, 120 to 240 ml of tomato puree, 2 to 3 tablespoons of chili paste, or even a handful of ground nuts or almonds. Also add a pinch of salt, to taste.
- Not all curries will need this thickening agent, especially if you've used coconut milk before. You'll still have to experiment with thickening ingredients, especially tomato puree -- which is the basis of red curry.
- For your first curry, try adding 2 tablespoons of tomato puree, then add more to taste.
Step 11. Let the curry simmer over low heat until it reaches your desired consistency
Let your curry cook over low heat. You will see the oil and water separate, but this is a good sign. Taste the sauce periodically, adding more salt and spices if needed. This stage is the right time to add a spicy taste.
If your curry is too runny, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of yogurt or tomato puree
Step 12. Serve garnished with cilantro, plain yogurt, mashed nuts, or lemon juice
Curry can stand cooking for a long time, so you are free to continue cooking it over low heat while you finish other dishes. Just make sure the curry is hot when you serve it, complete with any additional ingredients you like. Serve as is or pour over rice.
Method 2 of 2: Adapting Your Curry
Step 1. Understand how to make different sauces
When you go to an Indian restaurant there are different types of dishes all using the same basic ingredients and techniques in making curry. The main difference is in the thickening agent used:
- Korma Use a creamy thickening agent such as coconut milk, yogurt or cream.
- Saag use green vegetables, usually spinach but sometimes mustard/collard leaves.
- Madras using tomato puree and diced tomatoes.
- Vindaloo use chili puree
Step 2. Grind or puree your ingredients before cooking for a softer sauce
This method is used in many restaurants; produces a curry paste of onions, garlic, ginger and spices that cooks faster and results in a more tender curry. To make it, use a food processor to grind all the ingredients into a thick paste, then toss it in the hot oil once the spice seeds start to crackle.
Step 3. Remember that in cooking curry, it is more important to use a method, not a specific recipe
There is no one-of-a-kind curry recipe in this world. Curry cooking is all about mixing and matching ingredients using the curry cooking technique described above.
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or ghee (self-fat butter)
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 medium size onion - finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic - peeled and sliced
- 4 cm ginger - peeled and thinly sliced.
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder, curry powder, salt
- 2 large non-spicy green chilies - remove the seeds and cut into pieces
- 5 tablespoons of tomato puree or 1 tablespoon of tomato paste concentrate mixed with 4 tablespoons of water.
Step 4. Get creative with the spices you want to add
You should add a lot of spices, and taste them as often as possible. Start with a tablespoon each of the following ingredients, adding more or decreasing the amount to suit your taste:
- Cumin (required)
- Coriander (required)
- Turmeric (required)
- Ground chili powder
- Cardamom
- Cayenne pepper
- Cinnamon
- Curry Powder
- Smoked peppers
- Garam masala
- Ingu (just a pinch, inggu is also known as "hing")
