On Wed, 27 Mar 2013 00:17:12 -0700, sf > wrote:

>On Tue, 26 Mar 2013 14:09:28 -0700 (PDT), Timo
> wrote:
>
>> On Wednesday, 27 March 2013 02:48:24 UTC+10, sf wrote:
>> >
>> > There's my entire point in a nutshell. Not particularly interested in
>> > Indian curries
>>
>> Isn't _that_ enough point? If not interested in them, why cook them, or go out and buy them in restaurants?
>>
>If you want to know how much I cook or eat Indian curry.... I rarely
>eat it in a restaurant, maybe once in the last 15-20 years and I cook
>it even less.
>
>> > and I don't want to stock up on spices I will rarely
>> > use (like maybe once and never again) because I have enough of the
>> > other stuff that I do use all the time.
>>
>> If one is interested enough to cook Indian curry once, there are plenty of jars and cans of curry sauce. No need to buy spices, just fry meat + onions + other vegetables, add contents of jar/can.
>
>Exactly!
>
>> Agree that no point in stocking up on things that won't be used (but I end up using a lot of coriander, cumin and chilli in range of non-Indian/non-curry dishes, and cardamom and cinnamon (and cloves) get used in Euro-baking, so the extra needed for Indian is pretty small for me).
>
>I have all of what was mentioned above, but always seem to find
>recipes that call for what I don't have.
>>
>> Before I had a working Thai lime tree, I found Thai curry pastes to be worthwhile buying and using, since Thai curries tend to use more fresh ingredients that I was less likely to have.
>
>I only use Thai curry pastes so far and although I can buy Kafir lime
>leaves, lemon grass and galangal easily, I don't want to.
>Fortunately, most posters here don't cook Thai curry much and aren't
>as opinionated about only using the raw components as they are with
>Indian curries. I sometimes feel like the lone voice in the darkness
>against all of that do it yourself from scratch curry BS, which
>probably comes from people who have only ordered curry from a
>restaurant... if that.

I didn't catch the negative, opinionated tone that you are referring
to. As you know, whatever the food discussed here, there are
advocates of start from scratch and everything in between. (I refer to
chili as an example) I am always curious and will pick and choose
what to attempt from basic items. It's simply a way of getting a
better understanding. You'll notice that I said that I have used the
simmer sauces. I think they are a boon to the cook for a way to vary
chicken and produce a quick meal.
Janet US