Mamta's Kitchen - A Family Cookbook
"Curry Powder"
As I've been off work today I have been catching up on some food programmes. What I've noticed is the amount of times "curry powder" is used in dishes that are made.
This I find odd when you are making a recipe giving out all the other ingredients but then don't say exactly what you are using for the curry powder mix.
You wouldn't say add "herbs" to this dish as you could add anything, so why not specify the herbs and spices in the curry powder?
If you go and look in the shops curry powder can be just about anything !
Some will be sort of like a garam massala mix,
some will be a full curry spice mix to make a specific type of curry
some will be full of all sorts of chemicals and powdered whey extract, powdered pineapple, flavour modifiers etc
some will have thickeners in so it will make a sauce with only adding water.
Ir really does seem a bit of a loose term when it could make one recipe taste very different and come out in a different way depending on which "curry powder" you use !
Steve
Yes indeed, curry powder is a loose term and they should be more specific, specially the well informed chefs. However, when people say add curry powder, they usually mean something like a Madras curry powder or Sharwood's curry powder.
or one of many brands like those available from "Spices of India
But all will be just slightly different so you wouldn't get quite the same finished flavour as the one the chef got.
Steve
Funny you should mention that, AskCy - only today read one of Delia's recipes - "SRI LANKAN curry - take 2Tbs MADRAS curry powder..........."
Really, Delia!!
I prefer to make my own Sri Lankan - just loved it out there in the '40s.
does it not suggest that the cook/chef really doesn't know/care what is going on. They are (usually) famous and made their mark, so why should they bother. The drivel that is emitted by some British 'chefs' is beyond a joke, though some are worse than others. Rossi seems the worst culprit, maybe because he says so much !
Using 'Madras' curry powder for a Sri Lankan curry is pathetic (IMHO). I have friends who make and sell Sri Lankan curry powders, some are roasted (the ones for beef, for example) and some are not (for chicken and fish).
I would like to see the trade description people get involved with misinformation, but they never will!! :-(
Happy days
Again, thanks!
For better or worse, this is the one I use - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/photo04/cooking/curry.jpg .
But I take your point about roasting or not. I tend to use it for everything.
Live & learn. And if you can't learn, you don't deserve to live??
Oh, dear - that was after an early tot of the good stuff!!
Birgit Erath of Spice Shop has just shared her (V nice) recipe with me. She adds Ground Almonds inter alia. I have more Cashews than blanched Almonds - never thought of trying ground whole Almonds - so tend to use cashews.
Only left-over Seville/Port glazed roast Duck for supper!!
= Tim
You know Tim, I never see "cayenne" pepper around here ! (as I've mentioned before,once or twice...lol ) We either get "chilli powder" which is hot or "paprika" which is a very mild almost only colour adding powder.
The chilli powder we get is just chilli powder not mixed with flour or anything daft and we find 1 tsp in a curry is plenty plenty hot enough. The other day I made a chilli (con carne type) and used 1/2tsp of chilli powder and added about 6 pickled chillies (for a different sort of kick to the dish, they are a little hot but you can eat them straight from the jar). We ate it but noted it was nearing uncomfortable to eat and one or two said it was too hot (these arne't die hard heat fans in the first place though). Then on another forum (about Cyprus in general but having a cookery part) someone posted their "vindaloo" recipe which had 6tsps of chilli powder and 15 fresh chillies in ... .. .This if using my chili powder and the fresh chillies I grow or buy would be enough to heat a swimming pool for 10 years !.. I did ask and was told he likes it hot... !
Steve
Steven, the Vidaloo you mention must be very hot indeed, in more ways than one ;-)!
I think chillies are only to give a 'lift' to a dish and should be added in moderation. If a dish is too hot, you can't really enjoy any other flavours in it. Give me mild/moderate hot any time!
Mamta
I have a mouth like asbestos so I can enjoy a really hot one and enjoy
the flavours as well. :)
I'm with Mamta on that.
Even though we did cut up GREEN chillies as a garnish. But that's like adding Maldon Salt to our dishes.
I don't approve of 'curry powder'. I use it for only two dishes: Singapore Noodles and Chinese Take-Away Chicken Curry, which I regard as the kind of thing the Brits eat on a Friday night after too many pints of beer (but I confess that I like it, perhaps because I had so many such Friday nights.)
The spices in a given dish should be selected for any given dish, and we ought not to use pre-prepared spice mixes. Otherwise, everything tastes the same.
And we should grind spices from whole spices each time we cook: it's better that way. Ground spices usually lose their taste quickly if stored in their ground form.
Phil
Just to keep the ball rolling.....
Fresh? Yes, indeed. I do try. Each year I go through the cupboard & bin any iffy spices. But I'm ashamed, & delighted, to say that a couple I had from The Spice Shop are still in great condition after ** years!!
Horses for courses? If only we all had that talent. I tend to do just a 'Sri Lankan' ('cos I loved Ceylon) or a 'Thai', for fish & chicken, & use a Patak or somesuch paste for meats, which (to me) are much less taste sensitive.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/photo04/cooking/indatehopefully2.jpg
= Tim
Tim thats well organised, you should see the state of my spice cupboard ! lol Bags, packets, jars (recycled from other things), little spice jars, tubs, etc etc....
Steve
Speaking of "Curry Powder" - which, after all, is only a part of the end result, I think that this has bearing? http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/photo04/cooking/curryLarge.jpg
= Tim
Great Picture Tim! I am here in India, seeing all thse things everyday!
It is getting too hot here, already in 30's. I will be properly fried up by the time I return, LOL!
Love to all of you
Mamta