Good curry indian/thai recipes?

[perdurabo]

Did a search and didn't find much about curry, so I thought I'd throw this line out and see what I get. My wife and I have been making/experimenting with thai curries and I'm getting pretty decent. I'd like to flesh out my thai skills and move onto indian.

Does anyone out there have any great thai or indian curry recipes? What've you got going?

[uspsmark]

Plenty of sites that tell you what ingredients make up differing types of curry, but no amounts so that you could make your own without experimenting. I usually purchase my wet and dry curries from the store, then make the recipe.

Although this is not necessarily a curry dish, it does use a lot of the smae spices in curry. Biryani is one of my favorite Indian rice and vegetable dishes.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/f...ipe/index.html

Garam Masala recipe:

http://chefinyou.com/2008/11/garam-masala/

I did find this one online that looks good...

Homemade Curry Powder Recipe:

Ingredients:

•1 teaspoon whole cumin
•2 tablespoons whole coriander
•1 teaspoon dried turmeric
•1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
•1/4 teaspoon whole cloves
•1 teaspoon cardamom
•1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, more or less to taste

Instructions:

1.Place a wide pan over medium heat, and toast the cumin and coriander for about 5 minutes, or until the seeds start to just change color and become aromatic.
2.In a coffee grinder, place the toasted cumin and coriander and the whole clove and blend until it becomes a fine powder.
3.Combine the freshly ground cumin, coriander, and cloves with turmeric, cinnamon, cardamom, and cayenne pepper in an airtight container. Shake well to combine and store until ready for use.

[perdurabo]

Originally Posted by uspsmark

Plenty of sites that tell you what ingredients make up differing types of curry, but no amounts so that you could make your own without experimenting.

This has been my experience as well. Curry recipes are *very* finicky about not only the amounts of what you use, but the quality of what you use. I've followed many a website curry recipe and had drastically different results with the same recipe, but differently-sourced ingredients. It's not really something you can go down a recipe with, mix, cook, and have it come out great. The challenge is part of the allure.

[Divemaster]

Panang gai is my favorite Thai curry dish. I've had it dozens of times in Thailand and in the U.S. Here's a link to a recipe for it.

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipe...-Chicken-Curry

[Requiem]

Here are a couple of time-tested recipes that I enjoy. They originally came from a cooking class at the Napa Valley College. The chef was Laxmi Hiremath, who has since gone on to produce a couple of cookbooks and a line food products.

Chitranna (savory rice with peas and peanuts)

1/4 c. vegetable oil
1/2 t. mustard seed
1/2 t. cumin seed
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 fresh hot green chilies, stemmed and chopped
1/4 t. turmeric
5 fresh kari leaves (optional)
2 T. roasted peanuts, salted or unsalted
5 c. day-old cooked basmati rice
2 T frozen peas, thawed
1 t. salt
1 t. sugar
1 T or more fresh lime juice
1 T chopped fresh cilantro

Heat the oil in a large heavy saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the mustard and cumin seeds. When the seeds begin to sputter, stir in the onion, chilies, turmeric, kari leaves and nuts. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft, about 4 minutes.

Combine the rice, peas, salt, and sugar and toss to mix. Add to the pan and mix thoroughly until each grain of rice is stained yellow from the turmeric. Sprinkle with lime juice and mix well. Cover and cook until very hot, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer to heated serving platter. Garnish with cilantro. Makes 6-8 servings.

*note: day-old cooked rice is imperative to the success of any fried rice dish. Unless you happen to like soggy, sticky rice.

[Requiem]

Here's another from Laxi Hiremath. It has excellent flavor and has never turned out badly. None of her recipes have. If you're serious about Indian cooking, you might want to check out her cookbooks. She didn't know much about Indian cooking (goes the story), but learned as an adult. Her recipes are simple and easy to follow.

Baingan Bharata (roasted eggplant smothered with tomatoes)

1/4 t. plus 1 T. vegetable oil
1 medium eggplant (1 pound)
1/4 t. mustard seeds
1/4 t. cumin seeds
1/2 c. finely chopped onion
1/2 fresh hot chile, stemmed and finely chopped
1/8 t. turmeric
1/2 c chopped tomato
1/4 t. curry powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. sugar
chopped fresh cilantro

Rub the eggplant on all sides with 1/4 t. oil. Preheat the broiler. Roast the eggplant, turning occasionally, until the outside is completely charred and the pulp is soft, about 15-20 minutes. Cover and set aside briefly to cool.

As soon as the eggplant is cool enough to handle, remove and discard the charred skin. Rinse quickly in cold running water to wash away any remaining bits of skin. Set the eggplant on a cutting board and cut off and discard the stem end. Chop the pulp coarsely and set aside.

Heat the remaining 1 T oil in a heavy medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mustard and cumin seeds.When the seeds begin to sputter, add the onion, chile and turmeric. Stir and cook 2-3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook another 2 minutes. Stir in the eggplant and curry powder. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until thick. 8-10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and sugar. Garnish with cilantro. Serve hot. Makes 4 servings.



I can post a few more recipes if interested: tomato cucumber raita, garlicky curried whole mung beans, and mint-potato stuffed bread.

S.

[perdurabo]

Thanks gents, each of these are on my todo list. I'm a white guy that grew up on low class American food, so I lack much of the experience of "ethnic" (for lack of a better term) foods.