Curry

Homemade Curries

Curries ! are now considered a national dish of the UK and rightly so as we seem to consume thousands a week across Great Britain. Most of these are at your local Indian restaurant or takeaway and then there is the thousands we buy in from the supermarket, open bang it in the oven and it kinda tastes ok. We just don’t make enough homemade curries and its not that difficult really and its so much more fun when you make your own homemade curries. All you need to do is master the base Indian Curry Sauce (sometimes called gravy) You do not need every spice on the rack from your supermarket to make a good curry and they certainty do not need to contain several large chilies with enough heat to remove a layer of skin from your pallet along with a unattractive sweaty forehead. Its not big and its not clever eating chilies, we all have different taste receptors in the mouth and those who can eat chilies with ease have less receptors susceptible to the spicy oils in the chilies (yes I am sure you can tell already I am one of the wimpy ones who doesn’t like to much heat in the curry).

HOMEMADE CURRIES

Saturday In ! as we are now of the more mature age and we just cant keep up with the young ones in the hip trendy bars plus the bonus is we get to pick whom we exclusively spend our time with and the other great thing is it does not cost an absolute fortune. One of the other reasons we don’t go out that often (apart from not having a reliable babysitter ! mum has a busier social calendar than both of us put together) is we often go out spend a lot of money but left very disappointed at the quality of food and the service. Also I reckon my food is better (just my humble opinion  )

HOMEMADE CURRIES PHOTOS

Unfortunately my pictures did not turn out that well, Reason 1 : They were on my Iphone  and the quality was pretty poor. Reason 2 : I was running around that much trying to get all the food on the table and before I realised that no photos were taken we had already eat about half of the feast Reason 3 : I am no food stylist, so I have raped and pillaged similar images to my dishes

HOMEMADE CURRIES

Decisions decisions, well the only guaranteed thing I was going to make when I woke up on Saturday morning was our Chicken and sweet potato curry, I did have a fantasy of producing 2 starters, 2 mains, 2 sides, 2 rice and some homemade bread as well, roll on the Saturday night. Ready to pull out the chair to stand on to check on top of the cupboards along with every cupboard space we have, its been awhile since I did a curry. I have to be honest I wasn’t exactly sure what I would be doing except I did ask our good friends to supply some nice lamb (they insist on donating to the cause always!) It did involve some heavy pacing of the kitchen and an early glass of wine. Recipe book or no recipe book that was the question (wana be a scholar) I decided against flipping through the cook books  and went for my own take on what we liked with a blend of the classic Indian spices (well what I had in the cupboards)

HOMEMADE CURRIES  THE MENU

Before you read the menu this wasn’t defined until very late in the day in fact the main lamb dish was still in the fridge at 8.30pm. I guess that’s part of the fun plus balancing what you have with what yo want as not to break the bank.

HOMEMADE CURRIES : STARTERS

• Homemade Keema Mini Naan
• Lamb in Yoghurt Kofta
• Poppadoms (with dips)

HOMEMADE CURRIES : MAINS

• Lamb Curry
• Chicken Sweet Potato & Aubergine
• Pilau Rice
• Keema Rice

HOMEMADE CURRIES : SIDES

• Garlic & Coriander Naan
• Bombay Potatoes
• Saag Aloo (Cauliflower & Spinach)

I know a few dishes to get done but I had a few hours and a large glass of wine to assist in the creation of the dream.

Homemade Curries : Ingredients for 4 adults

• Korma Curry Paste (Shop bought)
• Fresh Coriander
• Black Onion Seeds
• Garam Masala
• Turmeric
• Fennel Seeds
• Dried Mint
• 1lb of Strong flour
• Salt
• Black Pepper
• Diced Lamb (approx 1.5lb)
• 2 Chicken Breasts
• 1 very large sweet potato
• 1 Aubergine
• Large tub of Yogurt
• 1 Small tub of cream
• Garlic (lots)
• 1 large chili (Red)
• 1 Knob of ginger
• Onions (lots of red or white)
• 1/4 of a Cauliflower
• 1 bag of New Potatoes ( I like the more waxy solid structure)
• 1 Bag of frozen Spinach
• 1 Jar of Mango Chutney
• 1 Pack of Shop bought Poppadoms
• 1 Pack of Tomatoes
• 1 Lime
• 1 Tin of Tomatoes
• Hand full of frozen peas (optional)
• Hand full of Minced Beef
• 1 Portion of the Secret Curry Base Sauce
• 2 Packs of Microwave Rice

The list may see quite long and extensive but “WAIT” a lot of the list was already in the house and not everything was essential (spice wise) The only reason I used what is on the list is because I had it to hand, the real idea and philosophy behind Cheap Dinner Ideas is use what you have and make the best use of it. I did have lots of Ingredients left over and from what we made we had plenty to put into the freezer for another day.

HOMEMADE CURRIES : THE SECRET CURRY SAUCE

This is the answer to the silky texture that we associate with the restaurant curries and would you believe that virtually all the curries you have every eaten on a good night out start with the same basic sauce whether it be a Korma or a Vindaloo. How do you make the secret curry sauce. Ingredients for the Secret Curry Sauce Taken from The Curry Secret

• 2lb of Onions
• 1 Inch of Ginger
• 2 Bulbs of Garlic
• 1 Tin of Tomatoes

The onions were already sliced and from the freezer from a large bag of onions we bought about 3 weeks ago. The ginger was already in the freezer from last month so that was free. The garlic was another bulk buy item so they cost pennies. Tin of tomatoes, basic brand 30p so you can see saving money spending less. The full directions for the Secret Curry Sauce

Curry base sauce ingredients, onion, garlic, turmeric, tomatoes

HOMEMADE CURRIES STARTER METHODS

The starters were determined largely by what I had in and the things I like, The Keema bread was born from the last time I had some Keema mixture which was very tasty and the fact that I had some left over bread dough in the fridge. The minced beef I used to make the Keema bread was also used to spice up one of our rices as well. The Lamb Kofta I decided upon when I looked in the bag of Lamb our friends had brought us (loads n loads). The poppadoms, well you cant really have a good curry without these classic starters, along with the mango chutney but I did make the spicy salsa and the cooling yogurt mint and cucumber dip.

HOMEMADE CURRIES STARTER MAINS

The first curry is our classic Chicken aubergine and sweet potato curry, never lets us down the consistency is silky velvety and very easy to make, chop all the ingredients add to a large pan then just let it simmer for a couple of hours. We have forgotten where we originally got this recipe from (maybe that annoying bloke Jamie) but its been in our trusty family recipe   book for a number of years nor. The korma curry paste I used for the base of this dish I also used for the main lamb dish and the saag aloo and we still have half a jar left in the fridge, The chicken dish had plenty left over and is now in the freezer for another day.  The Lamb curry was very last minute as I was undecided on what to make to ensure I did the beautiful lamb justice. In the end I used the curry paste along with some fresh ground spices then added my secret curry sauce with the leftover yogurt and a little cream. The lamb was devoured and the sauce that was left in the dish was soaked up with the homemade naan bread.

Sweet Potato Chicken Curry

HOMEMADE CURRIES STARTER SIDES

Pilau rice in the microwave in the dish to the table that simple. The Keema rice, microwave then to a pan, add the keema mixture with a large knob of butter (I never said it would be healthy just that it will taste great) stir through keema mixture then place in a serving dish. Bombay potatoes, I used new small potatoes as they are a little waxier and tend to keep there shape better when they are being fried in the spice, I used what spices I had to hand really, a little piece of fresh chopped chilli, black onion seeds, fennel, tumeric and a little Garam Masala with a few chopped tomatoes. Once this was fried up in the pan I placed them in a large terracotta dish and placed them ready in the oven to reheat, The saag aloo can also be pre-made and reheated to relieve a little of the stress. The saag aloo, par boiled a few florets of cauliflower then allowed to cool, once cooled I sliced them into chunky slices then fried them in the korma paste on a high heat along with cumin seeds, black onion seeds, turmeric and garlic. The spices and paste stuck to the cauliflower giving a nice crusty edge, once at this stage I added 3 frozen lumps of spinach along with a little of the leftover yogurt.with some chopped tomatoes and a hand full of chopped coriander. Brought up to the boil then place in a service dish and cover with tin foil. This will keep in the heat and allow the spinach to thoroughly defrost. Reheat in the oven for 20 mins when required.  The garlic coriander yogurt naan bread often make an appearance in this house and if there is any leftover we simply freeze them for the next time or as a quick snack as the kids also love them.

Another great Saturday night in with friends (adding the recipes so bear with me pls)

Homemade Curries what will you make