If a recipe, say for Thai Pineapple Fried rice, included curry powder-
what exactly do I need? I have green and yellow curry paste, but I have
never used just plain old curry powder. I do have access to a large
Asian grocery - I just need to know what to look for.



The recipe I want to try is he

http://thaifood.about.com/od/vegetar...ifriedrice.htm

Tracy

Tracy wrote:
> If a recipe, say for Thai Pineapple Fried rice, included curry powder-
> what exactly do I need? I have green and yellow curry paste, but I have
> never used just plain old curry powder. I do have access to a large
> Asian grocery - I just need to know what to look for.
>
>
>
> The recipe I want to try is he
>
> http://thaifood.about.com/od/vegetar...ifriedrice.htm
>
> Tracy

Curry powder is a blend of spices that can be anything you want it to be
and there are lots of variations. Many people just make it as required
because it has a much fresher taste. So one possibility is to make it
yourself (you may already have the spices you need).

I don't think either of those pastes would work well with fruit. If you
like using pastes then you might try Massaman (a type not a brand) curry
paste because it has cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg which go well with fruit.

Tracy wrote:

> If a recipe, say for Thai Pineapple Fried rice, included curry powder-
> what exactly do I need? I have green and yellow curry paste, but I have
> never used just plain old curry powder. I do have access to a large
> Asian grocery - I just need to know what to look for.
>
> The recipe I want to try is he
>

Curry covers a wide range of spice mixtures, an varies according to the
region and the type of food it is being used for; fish, chicken, beef,
pork, vegetables or fruit. There is a generic sort of curry powder
available in most grocery store spice shelves. You could go to the local
Asian grocery store in your area you could probably get a particular curry
mix more suitable for that dish.

Tracy > wrote in news:g5vh76$6rn$1
@registered.motzarella.org:

> If a recipe, say for Thai Pineapple Fried rice, included curry powder-
> what exactly do I need? I have green and yellow curry paste, but I have
> never used just plain old curry powder. I do have access to a large
> Asian grocery - I just need to know what to look for.
>
>
>
> The recipe I want to try is he
>
> http://thaifood.about.com/od/vegetar...ifriedrice.htm
>
> Tracy

Curry powder...go to the penzey site and look at the differring curry
powders if you want a clue to make one. Or buy some from a good source. In
the case of this recipe I'm thinking it calls for a sweet curry.

--

The house of the burning beet-Alan

On 2008-07-20, Tracy > wrote:

> never used just plain old curry powder. I do have access to a large
> Asian grocery - I just need to know what to look for.

> The recipe I want to try is he
>
> http://thaifood.about.com/od/vegetar...ifriedrice.htm

The about.com domain is a crapshoot at best. It's primary goal is to
generate revenue, not provide the best information. Curry "powder" is about
as low as you can go on the spice hierarchy. Like about.com, it's about
marketing rather than authenticity.

A curry is a method of cooking, not a spice. Yes, a curry requires a lot of
spices, but a spice "powder" calling itself a curry is most likely the worst
option available. Your Thai pastes are undoubetedly a better choice. Try
one or the other. I make my own curry spices from scratch or buy whole
spice masalas and grind when needed. Just about any alternative is better
than using something calling itself "curry powder".

nb

Tracy > wrote:

> If a recipe, say for Thai Pineapple Fried rice, included curry powder-
> what exactly do I need? I have green and yellow curry paste, but I have
> never used just plain old curry powder. I do have access to a large
> Asian grocery - I just need to know what to look for.

You need to look for a better recipe - one that calls f rusing curry
paste rather than curry powder. Southeast Asian curry preparations
never come in powder form - at least not decent ones. I've never
seen them.

Use the yellow curry paste you have - at least 5x as much as the
recipe calls for the powder.

> http://thaifood.about.com/od/vegetar...ifriedrice.htm

The recipe doesn't look too bad. Use half as much *real* fish sauce
and 1 TB of yellow curry paste. And forget the raisins.

-sw

hahabogus wrote:
> Tracy > wrote in news:g5vh76$6rn$1
> @registered.motzarella.org:
>
>> If a recipe, say for Thai Pineapple Fried rice, included curry powder-
>> what exactly do I need? I have green and yellow curry paste, but I have
>> never used just plain old curry powder. I do have access to a large
>> Asian grocery - I just need to know what to look for.
>>
>>
>>
>> The recipe I want to try is he
>>
>> http://thaifood.about.com/od/vegetar...ifriedrice.htm
>>
>> Tracy
>
> Curry powder...go to the penzey site and look at the differring curry
> powders if you want a clue to make one. Or buy some from a good source. In
> the case of this recipe I'm thinking it calls for a sweet curry.
>
Penzey's has (or had) a nice sweet curry powder. I am confused
because the small container and the large container listed
different ingredients. I need to go back and compare. It might
be because I got the larger container later. I hope not, because
the other ingredients produced a nicer blend, IMHO. I don't like
their "Maharajah" type curry powder. It tastes musty to me.

Now back to the OP... Yes, I have problems with THAI recipes that
call for curry powder. Recipes for the pastes abound, but I am
never sure what type of curry powder would be appropriate.

--
Jean B.

notbob wrote:
> On 2008-07-20, Tracy > wrote:
>
>> never used just plain old curry powder. I do have access to a large
>> Asian grocery - I just need to know what to look for.
>
>> The recipe I want to try is he
>>
>> http://thaifood.about.com/od/vegetar...ifriedrice.htm
>
> The about.com domain is a crapshoot at best. It's primary goal is to
> generate revenue, not provide the best information. Curry "powder" is about
> as low as you can go on the spice hierarchy. Like about.com, it's about
> marketing rather than authenticity.
>
> A curry is a method of cooking, not a spice. Yes, a curry requires a lot of
> spices, but a spice "powder" calling itself a curry is most likely the worst
> option available. Your Thai pastes are undoubetedly a better choice. Try
> one or the other. I make my own curry spices from scratch or buy whole
> spice masalas and grind when needed. Just about any alternative is better
> than using something calling itself "curry powder".
>
> nb


I agree - the about.com site is not too great. I do like the looks of
the recipe though. Whenever I see curry powder as an ingredient I am
wary because there are so many different types - Indian, Thai, Japanese.
I am not a huge fan of Indian curries - but I will admit to not having
tried many either.

I might just try it out with the yellow - the green would be totally
wrong. I also have a lot of dried spices (whole and ground) and probably
most of what would be needed for this dish - if only I had a recipe....


Thanks.

Tracy

Tracy wrote:
> notbob wrote:
>> On 2008-07-20, Tracy > wrote:
>>
>>> never used just plain old curry powder. I do have access to a large
>>> Asian grocery - I just need to know what to look for.
>>
>>> The recipe I want to try is he
>>>
>>> http://thaifood.about.com/od/vegetar...ifriedrice.htm
>>
>> The about.com domain is a crapshoot at best. It's primary goal is to
>> generate revenue, not provide the best information. Curry "powder" is
>> about
>> as low as you can go on the spice hierarchy. Like about.com, it's about
>> marketing rather than authenticity.
>> A curry is a method of cooking, not a spice. Yes, a curry requires a
>> lot of
>> spices, but a spice "powder" calling itself a curry is most likely the
>> worst
>> option available. Your Thai pastes are undoubetedly a better choice.
>> Try
>> one or the other. I make my own curry spices from scratch or buy whole
>> spice masalas and grind when needed. Just about any alternative is
>> better
>> than using something calling itself "curry powder".
>>
>> nb
>
>
> I agree - the about.com site is not too great. I do like the looks of
> the recipe though. Whenever I see curry powder as an ingredient I am
> wary because there are so many different types - Indian, Thai, Japanese.
> I am not a huge fan of Indian curries - but I will admit to not having
> tried many either.
>
> I might just try it out with the yellow - the green would be totally
> wrong. I also have a lot of dried spices (whole and ground) and probably
> most of what would be needed for this dish - if only I had a recipe....
>
>
> Thanks.
>
> Tracy

Re Indian curries--have you tried them with curry powder, or have
you used a combination of spices? The results are very dissimilar.

--
Jean B.

On Sun 20 Jul 2008 07:18:22a, Tracy told us...

> If a recipe, say for Thai Pineapple Fried rice, included curry powder-
> what exactly do I need? I have green and yellow curry paste, but I have
> never used just plain old curry powder. I do have access to a large
> Asian grocery - I just need to know what to look for.
>
>
>
> The recipe I want to try is he
>
> http://thaifood.about.com/od/vegetar...ifriedrice.htm
>
> Tracy

If you want a curry pre-mixed curry powder that works well with fruit,
Penzey's has a very nice "Sweet Curry Powder" that would be very nice, I
think.

--
Wayne Boatwright
-------------------------------------------
Sunday, 07(VII)/20(XX)/08(MMVIII)
-------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
Question Authority and the Authorities
will question you!
-------------------------------------------

notbob wrote:
>
> The about.com domain is a crapshoot at best. It's primary goal is to
> generate revenue, not provide the best information. Curry "powder" is about
> as low as you can go on the spice hierarchy. Like about.com, it's about
> marketing rather than authenticity.

You need to understand their incentives. If they gave
you a good answer right away, you'd be satisfied and
leave. By giving you partial or second-rate information
and hinting that you might find something better if
you keep looking, they can keep you on their site.

In article >,
Tracy > wrote:

> If a recipe, say for Thai Pineapple Fried rice, included curry powder-
> what exactly do I need? I have green and yellow curry paste, but I have
> never used just plain old curry powder. I do have access to a large
> Asian grocery - I just need to know what to look for.

I don't know that this answers your question but it is an interesting
article:
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle.../18044399.html

Local author Raghavan Iyer seeks to shed some light on misconceptions
about curry -- the word is unknown in India -- with a masterwork of his
native cuisine.

By Kim Ode, Star Tribune
Last update: April 23, 2008 - 3:27 PM

To hear Raghavan Iyer, a champion of Indian curry, quote O.E. Rolvaag, a
chronicler of Norwegian angst, is just the sort of amalgam of cultures
that Iyer likes to nurture. Over breakfast of coffee and an eclair, he
talked about the shock of moving from teeming Bombay, India, to
Marshall, Minn., to study restaurant management. "Have you ever read
'Giants in the Earth?''' he asked, posing the Midwestern equivalent of
asking Southerners if they've read "Gone With the Wind." Remember, he
said, the scene where the wife, a reluctant pioneer, gazes from the door
of the sod hut at the featureless prairie, and she says, "There is
nothing to hide behind." That's how Marshall seemed. Twenty-five years
later, Iyer is an award-winning cookbook author, culinary educator and
recipe developer. He was a James Beard award finalist for his 2002
cookbook, "The Turmeric Trail: Recipes and Memories From an Indian
Childhood (St. Martin's Press, 2002). Now he has, in his words, "given
birth to a horse." For the past four years, the Eden Prairie chef has
been laboring over a curry cookbook that clocks in at 832 pages. "660
Curries: The Gateway to Indian Cooking" (Workman, $32.50) is a master's
thesis of Indian food, culture and resources.

Are there really 660 curries?

Yes -- for starters.

"I first pitched it as 1,001, but Workman said, oh, give us between 600
and 800," Iyer said, laughing. Bottom line, the book has 701 recipes --
660 for curries and the remainder for what he calls cohorts. That's his
word for side dishes and such. "Accompaniments is very much a clinical
term, while cohorts signifies compatibility."

No powder in India

Curry is the word that requires more clarification. The Western world
regards it as a dish spiced from a jar labeled "curry powder." But Iyer
said that curry isn't about spice, but gravy. "To us, it's all about
sauces," he said. "No self-respecting Indian kitchen would have curry
powder."

In other words, he's written a book about 660 sauces. Maybe, he mused,
that would have been a less intimidating title. "Six hundred and sixty
sauces -- that's doable, right?"

Ahem. Spoken like someone who was named Cooking Teacher of the Year by
the International Association of Culinary Professionals in 2004. The
thing is, despite arriving in this country with degrees in physics, math
and chemistry, Iyer said he didn't know how to boil water.
He grew up in Mumbai, as the city has been known since 1997 when it
reclaimed its original name from the British Bombay. He loved street
food, much to the chagrin of his sister, who in many ways was as much
his culinary instructor as his mother was.

Once in the United States, he began seeking ways to create the foods he
missed. Ingredients were a challenge, but so was recreating techniques.
The experience of teaching himself informed how he's written "660
Curries," with the method more detailed than you might expect. Bits of
stir-fried garlic "should be light brown around the edges." A certain
sauce is puréed to form "a thick, gritty, green-speckled paste."

"I wanted it to be as if a cooking teacher is talking, so there is more
explanation, as if I'm there," Iyer said. He's also paid close attention
to what aspects his students have questioned over the years, so there's
an effort to anticipate questions that may come up in the preparation of
ghee, which is clarified butter, or what you can substitute if you're
fresh out of Horse gram. (Brown lentils are an excellent alternative.)
The challenge, he said, "is how do I bridge two cultures, make things
easy and recognizable?"

Front-end effort

Indian cuisine requires some pre-recipe prep, whether clarifying butter
or grinding spices.

A word about ghee, the clarified butter that's the foundation of Indian
flavors. "Ghee is the Indian way of prolonging the shelf life of
butter," he said. Once the milk solids are removed, the remaining clear
liquid will keep on the counter for months. Frozen, he said, it will
last years, "even outlive you."

Undeniably, "660 Curries" asks for a lot of back-and-forth page-turning
from any cook who's unfamiliar with this cuisine. The salmon recipe on
page 670 calls for Balchao masala, a red chile and vinegar paste whose
recipe is on page 17. Likewise, a first-timer confronts some upfront
costs, gathering a list of seeds, spices and chiles that aren't part of
the typical Minnesotan larder. But once made and properly stored, the
spice mixes and pastes can last for weeks.

The book contains a much-needed glossary of terms, from amaranth to
yogurt, with unfamiliar ingredients such as gongura, jaggery and screw
pine in between. There also are metric conversion charts for quantities
and temperatures, and mail-order sources for ingredients. (Locally, he
recommends Asia Imports, 1840 Central Av. NE., Minneapolis.)

A world cuisine

The world has become a smaller place since Iyer moved to Minnesota. Now
he can find cilantro, almost unheard of 25 years ago, as easily as
parsley. He even sees curry leaves -- or kari leaves -- in some co-ops,
which are used like bay leaves to flavor sauces.

Iyer, slim and soft-spoken with a ready laugh, is trying to make the
world even smaller, having co-founded the Asian Culinary Arts Institute
based in Minneapolis. It works toward the preservation and understanding
of the culinary arts of Asia through tours and chef exchanges. Thus, he
noted, "660 Curries" is not purely Indian, but also includes dishes from
the cuisines of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

Evidence of how Indian food is becoming mainstream is his recent
partnership with Bon Appetit Management Co. to develop menus and train
chefs to prepare Indian cooking in cafes of clients such as Yahoo,
Target, Medtronic and Best Buy.

More tellingly, he and his partner have a son in elementary school who
dives into Indian foods as easily as French fries. Which leads to Iyer's
personal passion. "I'm a potato-holic," he said. "Any size, shape,
variety -- you can wake me up at 2 a.m. for a potato."


--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
rec.food.cooking
Preserved Fruit Administrator
"Always in a jam. Never in a stew." - Evergene

Melba's wrote on Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:56:35 -0500:

>> If a recipe, say for Thai Pineapple Fried rice, included
>> curry powder- what exactly do I need? I have green and yellow
>> curry paste, but I have never used just plain old curry
>> powder. I do have access to a large Asian grocery - I just
>> need to know what to look for.

> I don't know that this answers your question but it is an
> interesting article:
> http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle.../18044399.html

> Local author Raghavan Iyer seeks to shed some light on
> misconceptions about curry -- the word is unknown in India --
> with a masterwork of his native cuisine.

> By Kim Ode, Star Tribune
> Last update: April 23, 2008 - 3:27 PM
> Are there really 660 curries?

> Yes -- for starters.

> "I first pitched it as 1,001, but Workman said, oh, give us
> between 600 and 800," Iyer said, laughing. Bottom line, the
> book has 701 recipes -- 660 for curries and the remainder for
> what he calls cohorts. That's his word for side dishes and
> such. "Accompaniments is very much a clinical term, while
> cohorts signifies compatibility."

> No powder in India

> Curry is the word that requires more clarification. The
> Western world regards it as a dish spiced from a jar labeled
> "curry powder." But Iyer said that curry isn't about spice,
> but gravy. "To us, it's all about sauces," he said. "No
> self-respecting Indian kitchen would have curry powder."


Oh yeah! My favorite Indian grocery is patronized mainly by people who
look of Indian origin and it's the only place I have seen wih kilogram
cans of curry powder and more sealed packaged masalas than I could ever
imagine.

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

On 2008-07-20, Melba's Jammin' > wrote:

WOW!

Thanks for that great article, barb. I went into it all cynical and ready
to get all curmudgeonly, but it's a great article and I'm gonna buy that
book.

nb

James Silverton > wrote:

> Melba's wrote on Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:56:35 -0500:
>
>> Curry is the word that requires more clarification. The
>> Western world regards it as a dish spiced from a jar labeled
>> "curry powder." But Iyer said that curry isn't about spice,
>> but gravy. "To us, it's all about sauces," he said. "No
>> self-respecting Indian kitchen would have curry powder."
>
> Oh yeah! My favorite Indian grocery is patronized mainly by people who
> look of Indian origin and it's the only place I have seen wih kilogram
> cans of curry powder and more sealed packaged masalas than I could ever
> imagine.

I suspect Iyer's comment was kinda like and American saying, "No
self-respecting griller or BBQ'er would use Kingsford charcoal".

-sw

James Silverton wrote:
> Melba's wrote on Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:56:35 -0500:
>
>>> If a recipe, say for Thai Pineapple Fried rice, included
>>> curry powder- what exactly do I need? I have green and yellow
>>> curry paste, but I have never used just plain old curry
>>> powder. I do have access to a large Asian grocery - I just
>>> need to know what to look for.
>
>> I don't know that this answers your question but it is an
>> interesting article:
>> http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle.../18044399.html
>
>> Local author Raghavan Iyer seeks to shed some light on
>> misconceptions about curry -- the word is unknown in India -- with a
>> masterwork of his native cuisine.
>
>> By Kim Ode, Star Tribune
>> Last update: April 23, 2008 - 3:27 PM
>> Are there really 660 curries?
>
>> Yes -- for starters.
>
>> "I first pitched it as 1,001, but Workman said, oh, give us
>> between 600 and 800," Iyer said, laughing. Bottom line, the
>> book has 701 recipes -- 660 for curries and the remainder for
>> what he calls cohorts. That's his word for side dishes and
>> such. "Accompaniments is very much a clinical term, while
>> cohorts signifies compatibility."
>
>> No powder in India
>
>> Curry is the word that requires more clarification. The
>> Western world regards it as a dish spiced from a jar labeled
>> "curry powder." But Iyer said that curry isn't about spice,
>> but gravy. "To us, it's all about sauces," he said. "No
>> self-respecting Indian kitchen would have curry powder."
>
>
> Oh yeah! My favorite Indian grocery is patronized mainly by people who
> look of Indian origin and it's the only place I have seen wih kilogram
> cans of curry powder and more sealed packaged masalas than I could ever
> imagine.
>

Hmmm. I do see garam masala mixes at the Indian shops. I haven't
looked for the curry powders though. If they carried curry
powder, I would have to observe who was buying it! That actually
might be interesting.

--
Jean B.

Jean wrote on Sun, 20 Jul 2008 13:52:45 -0400:

> James Silverton wrote:
>> Melba's wrote on Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:56:35 -0500:
>>
>>>> If a recipe, say for Thai Pineapple Fried rice, included
>>>> curry powder- what exactly do I need? I have green and
>>>> yellow curry paste, but I have never used just plain old
>>>> curry powder. I do have access to a large Asian grocery - I
>>>> just need to know what to look for.
>>
>>> I don't know that this answers your question but it is an
>>> interesting article:
>>> http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle.../18044399.html
>>
>>> Local author Raghavan Iyer seeks to shed some light on
>>> misconceptions about curry -- the word is unknown in India
>>> -- with a masterwork of his native cuisine.
>>
>>> By Kim Ode, Star Tribune
>>> Last update: April 23, 2008 - 3:27 PM
>>> Are there really 660 curries?
>>
>>> Yes -- for starters.
>>
>>> "I first pitched it as 1,001, but Workman said, oh, give us
>>> between 600 and 800," Iyer said, laughing. Bottom line, the
>>> book has 701 recipes -- 660 for curries and the remainder
>>> for what he calls cohorts. That's his word for side dishes
>>> and such. "Accompaniments is very much a clinical term,
>>> while cohorts signifies compatibility."
>>
>>> No powder in India
>>
>>> Curry is the word that requires more clarification. The
>>> Western world regards it as a dish spiced from a jar labeled
>>> "curry powder." But Iyer said that curry isn't about spice,
>>> but gravy. "To us, it's all about sauces," he said. "No
>>> self-respecting Indian kitchen would have curry powder."
>>
>> Oh yeah! My favorite Indian grocery is patronized mainly by
>> people who look of Indian origin and it's the only place I
>> have seen wih kilogram cans of curry powder and more sealed
>> packaged masalas than I could ever imagine.
>>
> Hmmm. I do see garam masala mixes at the Indian shops. I
> haven't looked for the curry powders though. If they carried curry
> powder, I would have to observe who was buying it! That actually
> might be interesting.

Garam Masala is just one spice blend (quite easy to make by the way) but
there are vacuum sealed packages of spices in the store for, at a guess,
60 different Indian dishes. One rather good one is Aloo Chait Masala for
making Indian potato salad. About the only perhaps unusual thing you
need, apart from the masala, is cilantro and the salad is fat-free and
very good.

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

James Silverton > wrote:

> One rather good one is Aloo Chait Masala for
> making Indian potato salad. About the only perhaps unusual thing you
> need, apart from the masala, is cilantro and the salad is fat-free and
> very good.

Potatoes without fat? Isn't that illegal?

-sw

"Tracy" > wrote in message
...
> If a recipe, say for Thai Pineapple Fried rice, included curry powder-
> what exactly do I need? I have green and yellow curry paste, but I have
> never used just plain old curry powder. I do have access to a large Asian
> grocery - I just need to know what to look for.
>
>
>
> The recipe I want to try is he
>
> http://thaifood.about.com/od/vegetar...ifriedrice.htm
>
> Tracy

Based upon the Thai restaurants in Southern California and the Pineapple
rice they serve I would estimate form the color and taste you should use the
yellow curry paste.


--
Old Scoundrel

(AKA Dimitri)

On 2008-07-20, Jean B. > wrote:

> Hmmm. I do see garam masala mixes at the Indian shops.

Yes, Indians are not aliens from outer space. They, like us, have short-cuts
to cooking. Masala is a "mix" of spices. Naturally, the Indian language is
not the English language. Masala is a mixture of spices.

> I haven't
> looked for the curry powders though. If they carried curry
> powder, I would have to observe who was buying it!

If you observed an Indian buying "curry" powder, you are either in a
parallel universe or observing a sun-tanned idiot.

nb

In article >,
notbob > wrote:

> On 2008-07-20, Melba's Jammin' > wrote:
>
> WOW!
>
> Thanks for that great article, barb. I went into it all cynical and ready
> to get all curmudgeonly, but it's a great article and I'm gonna buy that
> book.
>
> nb


And here some folks think Minnesota is a vast wasteland, flyover land.
"-) You're welcome, Dearie.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.mac.com/barbschaller , blahblahblog is back!
"rec.food.cooking Preserved Fruit Administrator
'Always in a jam. Never in a stew.'" - Evergene

In article <feKgk.202$_l.180@trnddc04>,
"James Silverton" > wrote:

> Melba's wrote on Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:56:35 -0500:
>
> >> If a recipe, say for Thai Pineapple Fried rice, included
> >> curry powder- what exactly do I need? I have green and yellow
> >> curry paste, but I have never used just plain old curry
> >> powder. I do have access to a large Asian grocery - I just
> >> need to know what to look for.
>
> > I don't know that this answers your question but it is an
> > interesting article:
> > http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle.../18044399.html
(snip)

> >No powder in India
>
> > Curry is the word that requires more clarification. The
> > Western world regards it as a dish spiced from a jar labeled
> > "curry powder." But Iyer said that curry isn't about spice,
> > but gravy. "To us, it's all about sauces," he said. "No
> > self-respecting Indian kitchen would have curry powder."
>
>
> Oh yeah! My favorite Indian grocery is patronized mainly by people who
> look of Indian origin and it's the only place I have seen wih kilogram
> cans of curry powder and more sealed packaged masalas than I could ever
> imagine.

Hey! Cut it out! '-) Women are working at paying jobs as well as
their non-paying scullery work! It was bound to happen.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.mac.com/barbschaller , blahblahblog is back!
"rec.food.cooking Preserved Fruit Administrator
'Always in a jam. Never in a stew.'" - Evergene

"Melba's Jammin'" > ha scritto nel messaggio
> And here some folks think Minnesota is a vast wasteland, flyover land.

> -Barb, Mother Superior,

I recently had marvelous Minnesota clients, 15 of them, one nicer than the
other. They know how to have a good time!

notbob wrote on Sun, 20 Jul 2008 19:04:07 GMT:

>> Hmmm. I do see garam masala mixes at the Indian shops.

> Yes, Indians are not aliens from outer space. They, like us,
> have short-cuts to cooking. Masala is a "mix" of spices.
> Naturally, the Indian language is not the English language.
> Masala is a mixture of spices.

>> I haven't
>> looked for the curry powders though. If they carried curry
>> powder, I would have to observe who was buying it!

> If you observed an Indian buying "curry" powder, you are
> either in a parallel universe or observing a sun-tanned idiot.

You live in a twentieth century dream world. Things have changed;
Indians even use pressure cookers, blenders and food processors.

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

James Silverton wrote:
> Jean wrote on Sun, 20 Jul 2008 13:52:45 -0400:
>
>> James Silverton wrote:
>>> Melba's wrote on Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:56:35 -0500:
>>>
>>>>> If a recipe, say for Thai Pineapple Fried rice, included
>>>>> curry powder- what exactly do I need? I have green and
>>>>> yellow curry paste, but I have never used just plain old
>>>>> curry powder. I do have access to a large Asian grocery - I
>>>>> just need to know what to look for.
>>>
>>>> I don't know that this answers your question but it is an
>>>> interesting article:
>>>> http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle.../18044399.html
>>>
>>>> Local author Raghavan Iyer seeks to shed some light on
>>>> misconceptions about curry -- the word is unknown in India
>>>> -- with a masterwork of his native cuisine.
>>>
>>>> By Kim Ode, Star Tribune
>>>> Last update: April 23, 2008 - 3:27 PM
>>>> Are there really 660 curries?
>>>
>>>> Yes -- for starters.
>>>
>>>> "I first pitched it as 1,001, but Workman said, oh, give us
>>>> between 600 and 800," Iyer said, laughing. Bottom line, the
>>>> book has 701 recipes -- 660 for curries and the remainder
>>>> for what he calls cohorts. That's his word for side dishes
>>>> and such. "Accompaniments is very much a clinical term,
>>>> while cohorts signifies compatibility."
>>>
>>>> No powder in India
>>>
>>>> Curry is the word that requires more clarification. The
>>>> Western world regards it as a dish spiced from a jar labeled
>>>> "curry powder." But Iyer said that curry isn't about spice,
>>>> but gravy. "To us, it's all about sauces," he said. "No
>>>> self-respecting Indian kitchen would have curry powder."
>>>
>>> Oh yeah! My favorite Indian grocery is patronized mainly by
>>> people who look of Indian origin and it's the only place I
>>> have seen wih kilogram cans of curry powder and more sealed
>>> packaged masalas than I could ever imagine.
>>>
>> Hmmm. I do see garam masala mixes at the Indian shops. I
>> haven't looked for the curry powders though. If they carried curry
>> powder, I would have to observe who was buying it! That actually
>> might be interesting.
>
> Garam Masala is just one spice blend (quite easy to make by the way) but
> there are vacuum sealed packages of spices in the store for, at a guess,
> 60 different Indian dishes. One rather good one is Aloo Chait Masala for
> making Indian potato salad. About the only perhaps unusual thing you
> need, apart from the masala, is cilantro and the salad is fat-free and
> very good.
>
Oh yes. I certainly do see those--and I see various ones
recommended by Indian cooks.

--
Jean B.

notbob wrote:
> On 2008-07-20, Jean B. > wrote:
>
>> Hmmm. I do see garam masala mixes at the Indian shops.
>
> Yes, Indians are not aliens from outer space. They, like us, have short-cuts
> to cooking. Masala is a "mix" of spices. Naturally, the Indian language is
> not the English language. Masala is a mixture of spices.
>
>> I haven't
>> looked for the curry powders though. If they carried curry
>> powder, I would have to observe who was buying it!
>
> If you observed an Indian buying "curry" powder, you are either in a
> parallel universe or observing a sun-tanned idiot.
>
> nb

Those two statements seem to be somewhat contradictory.

--
Jean B.

James Silverton wrote:
> notbob wrote on Sun, 20 Jul 2008 19:04:07 GMT:
>
>>> Hmmm. I do see garam masala mixes at the Indian shops.
>
>> Yes, Indians are not aliens from outer space. They, like us,
>> have short-cuts to cooking. Masala is a "mix" of spices.
>> Naturally, the Indian language is not the English language.
>> Masala is a mixture of spices.
>
>>> I haven't
>>> looked for the curry powders though. If they carried curry
>>> powder, I would have to observe who was buying it!
>
>> If you observed an Indian buying "curry" powder, you are
>> either in a parallel universe or observing a sun-tanned idiot.
>
> You live in a twentieth century dream world. Things have changed;
> Indians even use pressure cookers, blenders and food processors.
>
I see a lot of that--esp. the pressure cookers--on my Indian
cooking list. Sometimes I think I'll have to get a pressure
cooker, so I can cook things as the recipes dictate.

--
Jean B.

Jean B. wrote:
> notbob wrote:
>> On 2008-07-20, Jean B. > wrote:
>>
>>> Hmmm. I do see garam masala mixes at the Indian shops.
>>
>> Yes, Indians are not aliens from outer space. They, like us, have
>> short-cuts
>> to cooking. Masala is a "mix" of spices. Naturally, the Indian
>> language is
>> not the English language. Masala is a mixture of spices.
>>> I haven't looked for the curry powders though. If they carried curry
>>> powder, I would have to observe who was buying it!
>>
>> If you observed an Indian buying "curry" powder, you are either in a
>> parallel universe or observing a sun-tanned idiot.
>>
>> nb
>
> Those two statements seem to be somewhat contradictory.
>
Not really, curry powder is considered somewhat "lame" to use since you
get a significantly better result by freshly toasting the spices as the
first step.

On 2008-07-20, James Silverton > wrote:
> notbob wrote on Sun, 20 Jul 2008 19:04:07 GMT:

>> Yes, Indians are not aliens from outer space. They, like us,
>> have short-cuts to cooking. Masala is a "mix" of spices.

> You live in a twentieth century dream world. Things have changed;
> Indians even use pressure cookers, blenders and food processors.

....as I conceded, if you read my post. "Presssure cookers, blenders, and
food processors" are not spices or spice mixes.

nb

On 2008-07-20, George > wrote:

> Not really, curry powder is considered somewhat "lame" to use since you
> get a significantly better result by freshly toasting the spices as the
> first step.

Someone who gets it. Thank you, George.

nb

In article >,
says...
> If a recipe, say for Thai Pineapple Fried rice, included curry powder-
> what exactly do I need? I have green and yellow curry paste, but I have
> never used just plain old curry powder. I do have access to a large
> Asian grocery - I just need to know what to look for.
>
>
>
> The recipe I want to try is he
>
> http://thaifood.about.com/od/vegetar...ifriedrice.htm
>
> Tracy
>

Have a browse:

http://importfood.com/spicesingredients.html

Bill

In article >,
says...
> If a recipe, say for Thai Pineapple Fried rice, included curry powder-
> what exactly do I need? I have green and yellow curry paste, but I have
> never used just plain old curry powder. I do have access to a large
> Asian grocery - I just need to know what to look for.
>
>
>
> The recipe I want to try is he
>
> http://thaifood.about.com/od/vegetar...ifriedrice.htm
>
> Tracy
>

How about one that doesn't use curry powder?

http://importfood.com/recipes/tfryricandpineapple.html

Thai Stir Fried Rice And Pineapple, "Kho Pad Sapparot"


This is an ImportFood.com online Thai recipe. Here you can
conveniently purchase authentic, quality ingredients imported from
Thailand. We hope you enjoy our website and it helps you enjoy
cooking Thai food!

This is an unusual recipe for Thai food because it is essentially a
vegetarian dish--not common in Thailand, where even nominally
vegetarian dishes often contain meat. For two people you need a
medium sized pineapple: choose carefully it should be sweet and
juicy.

Ingredients

1 pineapple
2-3 tablespoons of chopped shallots
1-2 tablespoons grated ginger
4-5 jalapeno peppers.
The green of 2 spring onions, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped coriander/cilantro
2 tablespoons dried shrimp
2-3 tablespoons garlic, coarsely chopped
1-2 tablespoons of fish sauce
1 teaspoon sugar

you also need two cups of cold, steamed Thai jasmine rice and
coriander leaves as garnish.

Method

Cut the pineapple in half lengthwise, and scoop out the fruit, then
chop it into bite sized chunks. Put the fruit in a bowl and add the
shallots, jalapeno, ginger, scallion and coriander, mix and set
aside. Add a pinch of salt to bring out the juice. In a wok heat
about a tablespoon of oil, and stir fry the shrimp until crispy, and
the oil is aromatic. Remove the shrimp with a slotted spoon and
drain, then set aside.

Add a further tablespoon of oil, and stir fry the garlic until golden
brown. Add the rice, and stir thoroughly. Add the fish sauce and
sugar, and continue stirring. When the rice is heated through, add
the pineapple mixture and cooked shrimp, and stir until thoroughly
heated through. Pour the mixture into the pineapple shells, garnish
and serve.

Note: if you prefer fried rice to be darkish brown in color, then
replace half the fish sauce with dark sweet soy sauce.

Variation: do not cook the fruit mixture. Instead put the fruit
mixture and the stir fried rice in the fridge (separately) and chill
all the ingredients. Just before serving mix them and put them in the
pineapple skins. If you are serving cold then you can also add a few
mareschino cherries as garnish. This cold variant makes an excellent
counterpoint to hot curries and spicy chilli dishes on a hot day.


Bill

notbob wrote on Mon, 21 Jul 2008 02:57:30 GMT:

>> Not really, curry powder is considered somewhat "lame" to use
>> since you get a significantly better result by freshly
>> toasting the spices as the first step.

> Someone who gets it. Thank you, George.

All very true and even prepared curry powder almost always benefits from
toasting as do many Indian spices. I agree that the results are usually
better if the spices are mixed from scratch but it does not alter the
kilogram can of imported Madras curry powder that I saw in Patel's :-)
I can't imagine a westerner having a need for that much, especially
since curry loses its flavor on keeping!

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

Sqwertz wrote:
> Tracy > wrote:
>
>> If a recipe, say for Thai Pineapple Fried rice, included curry powder-
>> what exactly do I need? I have green and yellow curry paste, but I have
>> never used just plain old curry powder. I do have access to a large
>> Asian grocery - I just need to know what to look for.
>
> You need to look for a better recipe - one that calls f rusing curry
> paste rather than curry powder. Southeast Asian curry preparations
> never come in powder form - at least not decent ones. I've never
> seen them.
>
> Use the yellow curry paste you have - at least 5x as much as the
> recipe calls for the powder.
>
>> http://thaifood.about.com/od/vegetar...ifriedrice.htm
>
> The recipe doesn't look too bad. Use half as much *real* fish sauce
> and 1 TB of yellow curry paste. And forget the raisins.
>
> -sw


I was inclined to leave out the raisins....

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> In article >,
> Tracy > wrote:
>
>> If a recipe, say for Thai Pineapple Fried rice, included curry powder-
>> what exactly do I need? I have green and yellow curry paste, but I have
>> never used just plain old curry powder. I do have access to a large
>> Asian grocery - I just need to know what to look for.
>
> I don't know that this answers your question but it is an interesting
> article:
> http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle.../18044399.html
>
> Local author Raghavan Iyer seeks to shed some light on misconceptions
> about curry -- the word is unknown in India -- with a masterwork of his
> native cuisine.
>


Really interesting article. Thanks.
One could say the same for Moroccan food - tagine is not just a cooking
vessel or a particular dish - there are lots and lots of different tagines.

Tracy

On Sun, 20 Jul 2008 18:03:38 GMT, "James Silverton"
> wrote:

> Jean wrote on Sun, 20 Jul 2008 13:52:45 -0400:
>
>> James Silverton wrote:
>>> Melba's wrote on Sun, 20 Jul 2008 11:56:35 -0500:
>>>
>>>>> If a recipe, say for Thai Pineapple Fried rice, included
>>>>> curry powder- what exactly do I need? I have green and
>>>>> yellow curry paste, but I have never used just plain old
>>>>> curry powder. I do have access to a large Asian grocery - I
>>>>> just need to know what to look for.
>>>
>>>> I don't know that this answers your question but it is an
>>>> interesting article:
>>>> http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle.../18044399.html
>>>
>>>> Local author Raghavan Iyer seeks to shed some light on
>>>> misconceptions about curry -- the word is unknown in India
>>>> -- with a masterwork of his native cuisine.
>>>
>>>> By Kim Ode, Star Tribune
>>>> Last update: April 23, 2008 - 3:27 PM
>>>> Are there really 660 curries?
>>>
>>>> Yes -- for starters.
>>>
>>>> "I first pitched it as 1,001, but Workman said, oh, give us
>>>> between 600 and 800," Iyer said, laughing. Bottom line, the
>>>> book has 701 recipes -- 660 for curries and the remainder
>>>> for what he calls cohorts. That's his word for side dishes
>>>> and such. "Accompaniments is very much a clinical term,
>>>> while cohorts signifies compatibility."
>>>
>>>> No powder in India
>>>
>>>> Curry is the word that requires more clarification. The
>>>> Western world regards it as a dish spiced from a jar labeled
>>>> "curry powder." But Iyer said that curry isn't about spice,
>>>> but gravy. "To us, it's all about sauces," he said. "No
>>>> self-respecting Indian kitchen would have curry powder."
>>>
>>> Oh yeah! My favorite Indian grocery is patronized mainly by
>>> people who look of Indian origin and it's the only place I
>>> have seen wih kilogram cans of curry powder and more sealed
>>> packaged masalas than I could ever imagine.
>>>
>> Hmmm. I do see garam masala mixes at the Indian shops. I
>> haven't looked for the curry powders though. If they carried curry
>> powder, I would have to observe who was buying it! That actually
>> might be interesting.
>
>Garam Masala is just one spice blend (quite easy to make by the way) but
>there are vacuum sealed packages of spices in the store for, at a guess,
>60 different Indian dishes. One rather good one is Aloo Chait Masala for
>making Indian potato salad. About the only perhaps unusual thing you
>need, apart from the masala, is cilantro and the salad is fat-free and
>very good.

just out of curiosity, james, what's the name of the store? do they
have pretty much indian ingredients only?

your neighborly pal,
blake
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

On Sun, 20 Jul 2008 13:11:11 -0500, Sqwertz >
wrote:

>James Silverton > wrote:
>
>> One rather good one is Aloo Chait Masala for
>> making Indian potato salad. About the only perhaps unusual thing you
>> need, apart from the masala, is cilantro and the salad is fat-free and
>> very good.
>
>Potatoes without fat? Isn't that illegal?
>
>-sw

the potatoes will be fat soon enough.

your pal,
blake
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

On Sun, 20 Jul 2008 19:04:07 GMT, notbob > wrote:

>On 2008-07-20, Jean B. > wrote:
>
>> Hmmm. I do see garam masala mixes at the Indian shops.
>
>Yes, Indians are not aliens from outer space. They, like us, have short-cuts
>to cooking. Masala is a "mix" of spices. Naturally, the Indian language is
>not the English language. Masala is a mixture of spices.
>
>> I haven't
>> looked for the curry powders though. If they carried curry
>> powder, I would have to observe who was buying it!
>
>If you observed an Indian buying "curry" powder, you are either in a
>parallel universe or observing a sun-tanned idiot.
>
>nb

don't your first and second paragraphs contradict each other?

your pal,
blake
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

On Sun, 20 Jul 2008 21:20:31 GMT, "James Silverton"
> wrote:

> notbob wrote on Sun, 20 Jul 2008 19:04:07 GMT:
>
>>> Hmmm. I do see garam masala mixes at the Indian shops.
>
>> Yes, Indians are not aliens from outer space. They, like us,
>> have short-cuts to cooking. Masala is a "mix" of spices.
>> Naturally, the Indian language is not the English language.
>> Masala is a mixture of spices.
>
>>> I haven't
>>> looked for the curry powders though. If they carried curry
>>> powder, I would have to observe who was buying it!
>
>> If you observed an Indian buying "curry" powder, you are
>> either in a parallel universe or observing a sun-tanned idiot.
>
>You live in a twentieth century dream world. Things have changed;
>Indians even use pressure cookers, blenders and food processors.

and some americans use mortars and pestles. the world's a crazy old
place, isn't it?

your pal,
blake
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

On Mon, 21 Jul 2008 02:57:30 GMT, notbob > wrote:

>On 2008-07-20, George > wrote:
>
>> Not really, curry powder is considered somewhat "lame" to use since you
>> get a significantly better result by freshly toasting the spices as the
>> first step.
>
>Someone who gets it. Thank you, George.
>
>nb

and some indians, i'm sure, are not so 'alien' as to skip that step
for convenience.

your pal,
blake
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **