I'm afraid I went a bit overboard with my curry last night, possibly too much ginger. My beef curry has some lovely heat to it, but I'm afraid hubby will weep. Would stirring in some plain yoghurt before cool things down without altering (too much) the flavors? Or some grated cocount? And there's tons of the stuff -- over a kilo of meat, with sauce to cover! Any tips would be lovely. Thanks all!

Hello

Yes, yoghurt can help, though I'd suggest using thick FULL FAT yoghurt as low fat ones can sometimes curdle. I remember mum (Mamta) sometimes will take a few spoons of the (hot) curry gravy, mix them into the cold yoghurt in a bowl to warm it up a bit and then mix the whole lot back into the curry.

Sometimes people add potatoes to a curry to tone it down, but I don't love that option, as it changes the balance of textures so much.

Not sure about grated coconut... coconut milk might work BUT it would change the flavour a LOT. Much more than yoghurt which just adds a touch of tang (that is often there from tamarind or asafoetida anyway).

I'd also make a cucumber raita from same full fat yoghurt and serve alongside, so hubby can help himself to more if the curry is still too fiery for him.

Or maybe make some lassi for him to drink. (Natural yoghurt, a little water / ice and some sugar, perhaps just a few drops of rose water or kewra essence).

Hope your meal went.

You can roast aubergines the same way as your bhindies.

Well, the yogurt added a silky creaminess that I wasn't expecting. Hubby and guest lapped it up, guest even left with a doggy bag!

Thanks againn for being so reassuring. I've only recently discovered this site and love it!

Thank you, Mamta, for the tip about the aubergines; I do indeed do that with the lovely, long purple-and-white ones that I find in my Indiane supermarket here in Paris. The process also works very well with cauliflower florets, Brussels sprouts;, courgettes and sweet potatoes (after cutting them into disks). Sometimes, in addition to the oil/salt/pepper mix, I'll also add ginger, garlic, cumin seeds -- depends on how I'm feeling, what we're eating and what's in the cupboard.

Hope to hear from you soon,

I'd forgotten, in my panic yesterday, to say that the curry was a mix of Mamta's Madras beef and one of the basic curry sauces. Of course, I didn't duplicate the spices that already made up the marinade. The only thing that I can think of that made it so hot was that perhaps I tossed in Cayenne pepper instead of chili powder?

On another subject, is it possible to marinate meat too long?

So pleased it went well for you and very happy to provide help and reassurance!

Not sure what might have gone wrong, but usually cayenne is not as hot as chilli powder, so would be surprised if that were the issue. BUT all chillis are different, it's very hard to predict how hot a chilli will be, and the same goes for different chilli powders, so perhaps you have a very potent one? We have one which we grind ourselves from some dried chillis I bought long long ago, which is about 4 times hotter than any others I've used - I use half a teaspoon where I might use 2 full spoons of a normal one!

OR you used tablespoons instead of teaspoons?

Anyway, it all turned out well so that's great news!

Thanks, Kavey! The tablespoon/teaspoon scenario did also cross my mind, and is definitely a possibility. Well, we won't know until I try again to see what changes. What is it scientists say about experiments needing to be duplicable in order to be consiered reliable?

Using Mamta"s recipe for the beef madras curry, I did what she says to do with the spices/cooking oil, but for one reason or another, rather than cook straightaway, I left the meat marinating in the fridge for at least 18 hours -- do spices grow in potency the longer you let them do their thing?

In any case, it was yummy -- so thank you!

:-)

All is well that ends well!