“The Big 8 - The only curry recipes you’ll ever need!” - Part 6/8
A vegetarian curry? You might think I’ve lost my marbles here, but trust me, this is really good.
I used 2 large carrots, 3 small yellow courgette, 200g green beans, 3 large tomatoes. You could also use broccoli, cauliflower, peas, broad beans, spinach, aubergine or okra. Cooked chickpeas would also work very well with this. Dice the vegetables according to cooking time - for example, carrots should be cut smaller than broccoli etc. Use your own judgment here.
Ingredients
- 1-2 tbsp sunflower/groundnut oil
- 2 red onions, chopped
- 8 cloves garlic, minced
- thumb-sized piece of ginger, minced
- 2 x 400g canned tomatoes
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp of each the following: ground coriander, garam masala, paprika, turmeric
- 800g fresh vegetables, diced
- 1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)
- 2 tsp salt
- black pepper
- 100ml cream
- 50g butter
- 3 tbsp honey
Method
- Place a large pot or casserole on the hob and heat the oil. Add the onions and cook the onions gently for around 20 minutes until soft and light brown in colour.
- Add the garlic and ginger and stir fry-fry gently for another 5 minutes. Take off the heat.
- Blitz the garlic, root ginger, tomatoes and water in a blender until smooth. Remove the browned onions, garlic and ginger from the pot using a slotted spoon and put in a blender. Add the canned tomatoes and a splash of water. Blend until smooth.
- Put the casserole back on the heat. There should be some residual oil, but you can add a little extra. When the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and stir fry for a minute to release the flavours.
- Add the onion/tomato mixture to the casserole, then add the ground spices. Add the salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes to cook out the tomatoes and reduce the sauce slightly. Add the diced vegetables along with the dried fenugreek and cook at a gentle simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until the veggies are cooked to your satisfaction.
- Now reduce the heat and finish the dish by adding the cream, butter and honey. Still well to combine and simmer very gently for a minute before serving. Best served with some chapatti or plain white rice.
Serves 6.
“The Big 8 - The only curry recipes you’ll ever need!” - Part 5/8
Vindaloo has a pretty bad rep, being the lager louts favourite, but it’s actually a very traditional dish and a great example of early fusion cookery. It originated in Portugal - the Portuguese spice traders brought their traditional pork dish “vin des alhos” to the sub-continent, where the meat is braised in wine and garlic. The Indians substituted wine for wine vinegar and added lots of chilli and a little spice. This traditional recipe has a fantastic flavour.
It might look a little strange to see beef in a curry as it’s not often seen in Indian restaurants here. But many Indians, such as Parsees, Muslims and Christians regularly eat beef and many traditional recipes exist for beef. Even some Hindus will eat “bull” beef or buffalo, only omitting the cow from their diet for religious reasons. Vindaloo is more commonly prepared with diced pork so you can easily substitute the beef.
Vindaloo should taste sour and pungent from the chillies and red wine vinegar. It’s for serious curry aficionados only, but you could try reducing the amount of chilli if you want a milder dish.
I love that this dish is so vastly different from the Kashmiri Lamb Rogan Josh and South Indian Lamb Curry that I cook. I think the important thing for us Westerners cooking Indian food is to embrace the differences between all of these dishes. It’s all too easy to expect every curry to taste the same, as it does in a bog-standard curry house.
Ingredients
- 1.2kg stewing beef
- 2-3 tbsp sunflower/groundnut oil
- 500g onions, chopped (about 3 large onions)
- 15 cloves garlic, peeled
- 50g root ginger, peeled and chopped roughly (about the size of a golf ball)
- 1 tbsp of each of the following: cumin seeds, poppy seeds, garam masala
- 20 curry leaves (fresh, if possible)
- 5 cloves
- 400g canned tomatoes
- 3 tbsp concentrated tomato pureé
- 500ml chicken stock
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp red chilli flakes
- ½ tbsp each of the following: paprika, turmeric
- 1½ tbsp red wine/cider vinegar
- 1 tsp light muscovado sugar
- handful of fresh coriander leaves, chopped (optional)
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 160°C.
- Prepare two masalas - one with the ground spices (chilli flakes, garam masala, paprika, turmeric) and one with the whole spices (cumin seeds, cloves, curry leaves, poppy seeds). Set aside.
- Place a deep cast-iron casserole on the hob and heat the oil. Add the onions and cook them gently for around 30 minutes until soft and light brown in colour.
- In the meantime, blitz the garlic, root ginger, tomatoes and water in a blender until smooth. Remove the browned onions from the casserole using a slotted spoon and add to the blender. Blend again until very smooth.
- Put the casserole back on the heat. There should be a little residual oil, but you can add a little extra. Add the masala made from whole spices and stir fry for a minute to release the flavours.
- Add the onion/tomato mixture to the casserole, then add the diced beef and the ground spice masala. Add the chicken stock, salt, vinegar, sugar and tomato pureé, then stir to combine. Cover the casserole and transfer to the oven and cook for about 2-2½ hours until the meat is very tender.
- At this point, you can spoon off some of the fat which has risen to the top of the sauce, if you wish. This is great with a pilau or plain basmati rice.
Serves 6.
Notes
- Lamb curries are best, in my opinion, because the meat gives a deep flavour to the gravy. Chicken gravies can be good too, but need a little extra help. If you want to make this into a chicken curry, make the sauce as normal and cook in a low oven for 1 hour and turn the oven off. Leave the casserole to cool in the oven overnight. This will really develop the flavour of the gravy. When ready to cook, add cubed chicken or bone-in chicken breasts and cook for about an hour, or until the chicken is well cooked through.
- Restaurant vindaloo invariably contains potato, seemingly caused by some confusion over the fact that potatoes are called “aloo” in Hindi. Potatoes are not found in a traditional vindaloo, but it is not uncommon to find potatoes in other meat curries. If you wish to add some potato to this dish, pre-boil some peeled potatoes in salted water and allow to cool. Fry the potatoes in hot oil with a little salt and a pinch of ground cumin until light golden. Add the potatoes to the curry a few minutes before serving to warm through.
“The Big 8 - The only curry recipes you’ll ever need!” - Part 4/8
This has become my “default” curry recipe and with good reason. It’s best made with lamb, but also good with chicken (see notes below). It’s essentially a “copy-cat” recipe of Bombay Pantry’s excellent curry, of which I’m a big fan. I think it’s pretty close to the original, in both flavour and texture. I call this “South Indian” curry because it includes many ingredients indicative of the region: curry leaves, mustard seeds and coconut.
Incidentally, I recently bought a bag of fresh curry leaves to see if they made a difference to this dish (I normally use the dried variety). I was very pleased with the result. They cost me about a euro in the Asia Market (on Drury Street) for a large bag of leaves. I just rinsed them well, let them dry completely, and froze in a ziplock bag.
Ingredients
- 1.2kg diced lamb (shoulder or leg is good)
- 2-3 tbsp sunflower/groundnut oil
- 500g onions, chopped (about 3 large onions)
- 10 cloves garlic, peeled
- 50g root ginger, peeled and chopped roughly (about the size of a golf ball)
- 1 tbsp of each of the following: cumin seeds, black/brown mustard seeds
- 15 curry leaves (fresh, if possible)
- 400g canned tomatoes
- 2 tbsp concentrated tomato pureé
- 2 tbsp dessicated coconut
- 500ml chicken stock
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp each of the following: red chilli flakes, ground coriander, garam masala
- ½ tbsp each of the following: paprika, turmeric, dried fenugreek leaves
- 2 tsp light muscovado sugar
- handful of fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 160°C.
- Prepare two masalas - one with the ground spices (chilli flakes, ground coriander, garam masala, paprika, turmeric, fenugreek) and one with the whole spices (cumin seeds, mustard seeds, curry leaves). Set aside.
- Place a deep cast-iron casserole on the hob and heat the oil. Add the onions and cook them gently for around 30 minutes until soft and light brown in colour.
- In the meantime, blitz the garlic, root ginger and tomatoes in a blender until smooth. Add a little water to loosen if necessary. Remove the browned onions from the casserole using a slotted spoon and add to the blender. Blend again until very smooth.
- Put the casserole back on the heat. There should be a little residual oil, but you can add a little extra. Add the masala made from whole spices and stir fry for a minute to release the flavours.
- Add the onion/tomato mixture to the casserole, then add the diced lamb and the ground spice masala. Add the chicken stock, coconut, salt, sugar and tomato pureé, then stir to combine. Cover the casserole and transfer to the oven and cook for about 2-2½ hours until the meat is very tender.
- At this point, you can spoon off some of the fat which has risen to the top of the sauce, if you wish. This is good with plain basmati rice or lemon rice.
Serves 6.
Notes
- Lamb curries are best, in my opinion, because the meat gives a deep flavour to the gravy. Chicken gravies can be good too, but need a little extra help. If you want to make this into a chicken curry, make the sauce as normal and cook in a low oven for 1 hour and turn the oven off. Leave the casserole to cool in the oven overnight. This will really develop the flavour of the gravy. When ready to cook, add cubed chicken breast and simmer gently for about 20 minutes, or until the chicken is well cooked through.
“The Big 8 - The only curry recipes you’ll ever need!” - Part 3/8
Rogan Josh, when done well, is one of my favourite Indian dishes. Traditional Rogan Josh is miles apart from the restaurant version you may be familiar with. According to Camellia Panjabi, “rogan” is Hindi for “red”, referring to the deep red colour imparted by the use of mild Kashmiri chillies. “Josh” means “fat”, referring to the fat which melts out of the meat during braising. This recipe uses my standard base curry recipe and traditional Rogan Josh spices such as cardamom, fennel and saffron. The result is a dark, highly aromatic gravy - my trick is to lightly crush some of the green cardamoms to release lots of flavour.
A word on the spicing. Most traditional recipes specify fennel powder instead of fennel seeds - if you can’t find it and don’t have an electric spice grinder, just add the whole fennel seeds. The saffron can be optional as a lot of people don’t like it, but for me it’s indispensable in this dish. Use just a small pinch of saffron threads so that you don’t overpower the rest of the spices. Leave to infuse a little warm water before adding to the gravy. Finally, if you can source dried Kashmiri chillies mentioned above, use those instead of the chilli powder specified below. I add a tablespoon of sweet paprika to boost the red colour instead.
Ingredients
- 1.2kg diced lamb (shoulder or leg is good)
- 3 tbsp sunflower/groundnut oil
- 500g onions, chopped (about 3 large onions)
- 8 cloves garlic, peeled
- 50g root ginger, peeled and chopped roughly (about the size of a golf ball)
- 400g canned tomatoes
- 600ml chicken stock
- 1 cup yoghurt
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp each of the following: red chilli powder, sweet paprika, ground coriander
- 1 tsp each of the following: turmeric, fennel powder
- 6 green cardamoms
- 1 large black cardamom
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 5 cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- pinch of saffron threads, soaked in warm water for a few minutes
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 160°C.
- First off, prepare all the ingredients above. Prepare two masalas - one with the ground spices (cayenne, paprika, ground coriander, salt) and one with the whole spices (bay, cardamom, cloves, fennel seeds, pepper corns). Crack the black cardamom and peppercorns using a mortar and pestle. The green cardamoms should be crushed a little more vigorously, making sure at least some of the black seeds within are crushed to a powder. Set the masalas aside.
- Place a cast-iron casserole on the hob and heat the oil. Add the onions and cook the onions gently for around 30 minutes until soft and light brown in colour.
- Blitz the garlic, root ginger, tomatoes and water in a blender until smooth. Remove the browned onions from the casserole using a slotted spoon and add to the blender. Blend again until very smooth.
- Put the casserole back on the heat. There should be a little residual oil, but you can add a little extra. Add the masala made from whole spices and stir fry for a minute to release the flavours.
- Add the onion/tomato mixture to the casserole, then add the diced lamb and the ground spice masala. Pour in the chicken stock, yoghurt and saffron mixture, then stir to combine. Transfer to the oven and cook for about 2-2½ hours until the meat is very tender.
- At this point, you can spoon off some of the fat which has risen to the top of the sauce, if you wish. Garnish with some julienned fresh ginger. Best served with plain basmati rice.
Serves 4-6.
Notes
- This recipe also works fantastically well with lamb shanks. Brown 4 shanks on all sides in a separate frying pan before adding to the gravy at Stage 5, in place of the stewing lamb. The shanks will take a little longer to cook, at least 3 hours. This is called “Nalli Rogan Josh” and would make an impressive dinner party dish for fans of Indian food.
