When son was down in town (from Swansea) last weekend, he met an old school friend while out catching up at the pub. The 2 boys continued on into the night, and, as boys do, eventually hooked up with some girls.
The girls volunteered to cook dinner for the boys the next night, so Saturday night was the night the boys were going to be treated like royalty! They were really anticipating a lovely meal, and off they went full of great expectations.
The girls cooked a curry. They used the old Keen’s Curry mix, and cream. They boys were mortified! The poor girls had tried their hardest, but they had a few things going against them.
For a starter, Joe is Indian (so knows his curries). Also Joe’s parents used to have that great restaurant up the top of Goulburn Street, Round Asia, where the curries there had to be eaten to be believed!
Secondly, both boys love cooking up a curry, and are actually (though don’t let on to my son) quite good at it, and can produce a very decent curry. They could both be classified as experts, in fact.
So the poor girls, in trying to impress the boys, ended up alienating them! The lesson there is that, as the boys pointed out, the curry would have tasted way better had they used some coconut milk instead of cream, and ditched the Keen’s.
Back to the drawing board, girls! Maybe there’s another way to a man’s heart? (Well there probably is, but I’m too much of a lady to say it! And he IS my son, after all!!)
Wednesday, 11 June 2008
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12 comments:
There's nothing wrong with coconut milk OR cream, Rita.
It all depends on the region of India.
Madras curry is coconutty, Tikka (when the Brits finished) is creamy.
trick is not too much of either.
Chinese use milk with madras powder and a wee bit of star anise.
Tomato paste, lentils and onions are all used variously to thicken too. Or any combination of the above.
One failsafe way, Rita (girls) is to slice up about four onions (don't bother with fine dice or anything).
Saute them in ghee or butter for up to 20 minutes, gently, no burning, no bitterness.
Then add a little water or stock and use a hand mixer or blender to blend onions to an absolute smooth consistency.
Then get on with your curry, frying, adding spices and etc. Say 15 mins from end, put in your onion puree, or as much or little of it as you need, cook to desired consistenct, drop or two of lemon juice and you are away.
Serve with dessert wine of your choice. (!)
Sir Grumpy youve just jogged my memory. I too am a huge fan of sharwoods curry powder but have been unable to find any. I have been searching to no avail for around 12 months now.
I saw all the offers of help you received through Rita's blog, but then you said all was okay.
Have you found some? And if you have are you wiling to share your secret? I would dearly love to find some.
Nothing quite like it is there.
No, Christina, but I found some Malaysian Curry powder at Wings (Maharaja's Choice, I think) that does very well. The Parrot Brand is nice too. But I always use individual spices to tweak the result. Sometimes a bit of cardomom, or fennel, or both.
Extra chile, cummin, coriander powder. Loadsa garlic sometimes, paprike (mild) for extra taste AND colour.
Sometimes wine vinegar for a vindaloo with black and white pepper.
Sometimes a little (goes a long way) of star anise for a Chinese Style with some milk to thicken it down.
Sometimes atrating with ghee and frying a teaspoon of turmeric gently, with paprika for three mins, then adding sliced tomatoes gives a wonderful start, from whence you can add your garlic, onions, ginger, spice or masala mix, thickener, etc etc....oh, I could go on (yes, and you usually do).
See I always make my own from scratch like you Sir, but tweak it at the end with Sharwoods.
Oh well I'll just have to make do. Must say I've learnt a lot about making my own since Sharwoods became unavaiable.
How can that be a bad thing.
I found a wonderful garam masala from the spice shop in the little arcade in town near habitat.
Thanks though for your input. Much appreciated as always.
Oh Yes, Christina, Spice World....one of my favourite haunts.
Try ht Mangal Vindaloo Masala....
At least they gave it a shot. How many young people actually cook nowadays?
Errr - thats not curry thats VILE! How hard is it to get a recipe off the internet or ring your mum or find a recipe book?
EEP!
I like the girls' attitude.
Why do something properly when you can do it cheaper!
I hope they didn't criticise - its the thought that counts.
Oh, and whatever is on offer for afters...
That just sounds gross. I hope at least they didn't make the mistake of thinking curry powder is a complete substitute for salt and other flavourings (as my mother-in-law did once at a dinner that was memorable for the wrong reasons...)
You certainly can't beat an authentic Indian curry made from freshly ground spices in endless wonderful combinations and degrees of heat. However, I still occasionally enjoy the milder and unauthentic versions which my grandmother used to call an "English Curry" - using Keens Curry powder! - and these days perhaps a little garam marsala, cumin and coriander seed. I usually use lamb neck chops or shanks braised in onions, swede, carrots, bay leaf and stock for a couple of hours then remove the chops and refrigerate the stock overnight and remove the fat. Reheat and thicken the stock with flour and curry powder mixed with water to a paste. Put thickened stock, chops, some cooked apple, a handful of currants and a teaspoon of sugar in a casserole dish. Cover, reheat and serve with potatoes and some green veg. Delicious and very 1950s!
I did a ``traditional'' empire British curry like this a few years back, out of nostalgia, Anon2.
Missus talked me out of raisins, but I put apple in, and used flour for thickening. Used Sharwoods Madras powder etc.
It was a lot of work but reminded me of the curries British Home Stores and high street cafs used to serve.
Had a bit of mango chutney on side.
I must confess I'm over this kind of curry but it was worth it for the deja vu, memory lane experience!
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