We made some lamb curry which came out not very spicy. What are the
typical Indian spices that could be added ala carte into a curry? Are those
available off the shelf in an Indian store, or do they require some
preparation?

--
W

On May 16, 9:10*pm, "W" > wrote:
> We made some lamb curry which came out not very spicy. * What are the
> typical Indian spices that could be added ala carte into a curry? *Are those
> available off the shelf in an Indian store, or do they require some
> preparation?
>

Start with the three Cs: Cumin, Cardamom, Coriander. Ginger and Garlic
of course, maybe some Turmeric. Fresh or dried chilis to your personal
taste. Best is to pound the whole spices with a mortar and pestle, but
if you use powdered, make sure they're fresh enough to have retained
their flavor. Briefly saute the spices to release their flavor.

In article >,
"W" > wrote:

> We made some lamb curry which came out not very spicy. What are the
> typical Indian spices that could be added ala carte into a curry? Are those
> available off the shelf in an Indian store, or do they require some
> preparation?

Did you use curry by the heaping tablespoon? Enough to yellow up your
dish with the turmeric color? If not, you didn't use enough curry. Curry
is not a teaspoon spice. It is added by volume, copiously.
Other than that, I have no idea.

Curried beef [or probably lamb] over rice:

1 pound of cheap stewing beef
oil to fry meat chunks
water to simmer for 4 hours
4 bouillon cubes [optional]
1 onion crudely cut
1 bell pepper crudely cut
2 cups celery crudely cut
3 tbsp curry powder
3 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup of water
4 cups cooked white rice

Shake or stir up the water and flour for last minute thickening.
Cut the beef into stew sized pieces if not already done by the butcher.
Brown the beef. This is important to me.
Add enough water to simmer plus the bouillon cubes if you want. I think
they make the finished product beefier.
You could probably add everything else but the rice here.
Simmer for four hours (cheap meat)
Thicken with the flour-water mixture
Serve over the cooked rice.
Optionally, throw in the onions, bell pepper and celery an hour before
serving for them to be more distinguishable. I'd cook the curry powder
with the beef for the entire time that the beef is stewing.
But thats just me.

leo

On 5/17/2012 12:10 AM, W wrote:
> We made some lamb curry which came out not very spicy. What are the
> typical Indian spices that could be added ala carte into a curry? Are those
> available off the shelf in an Indian store, or do they require some
> preparation?
>

Curry starts with a mix of spices. If it wasn't spicy enough you likely
didn't use enough. The quantity of spices used in Indian cooking is
significantly more than other cuisines.

On 2012-05-17, W > wrote:

> available off the shelf in an Indian store, or do they require some
> preparation?

First, you don't need an Indian store. I get almost all my spices
from my local health food store. Most curries require some spice
prep, either in grinding the spices --I buy mine whole and grind
myself-- or in heating the spices in either their whole or ground
form, either dry or in oil. Their are a few special spices like whole
curry leaves and asafoetida, but I wouldn't worry about those two
untless you really get deep into Indian cooking.

Here's a suggestion. Try a Moroccan curry. Same animal, different
part of the World. It's called a tagine and I've been playing around
with them, lately. Make no mistake, the Moroccans may call it a
tagine, but this is a full blown curry in every sense of the word.
The spice blend is not overly complex, yet not some simplified
off-the-shelf wannabe curry mix. It's the real deal. Here's the
link:

http://tinyurl.com/25e4yv2

Try making this recipe, particularly the Ras El Hanout spice blend.
This is a dead serious curry spice blend and the dish has curry
cousins all over the world. I once made a Tibetan monk's version of
this dish. Yes, that was a curry, too.

http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/mai...out_recipe.htm

You can use lamb, beef chicken, guinea pig, whatever. I use pork.
The key is the spice blend. Make this blend as instructed and you
will have an authentic curry spice you can use all over the place.
Adjust the cayenne pepper amount to your personal preferences. It
determines the spicey hotness of the dish. TIP: You might leave the
cayenne out of the spice blend and add it, as preferred, later in the
dish. Once it's in the blend, yer stuck with it.

I recently checked out 660 Curries from my local library. Didn't like
it. I'll look around and see if I can find a better curry website
online. Until then, try this tagine. If you can do this one dish,
you can do curries. I gar-own-tee!

nb

--
vi --the heart of evil!
Support labeling GMOs
<http://www.labelgmos.org/>

On Wed, 16 May 2012 21:10:28 -0700, "W" >
wrote:

>We made some lamb curry which came out not very spicy. What are the
>typical Indian spices that could be added ala carte into a curry? Are those
>available off the shelf in an Indian store, or do they require some
>preparation?

I use cayenne pepper to spice up my curries, although recently I ran
out of sweet Hungarian paprika and used a combination of smoked
paprika and hot paprika that I have. Still used my usual about of
cayenne but it ended up being much hotter a curry, and that was not a
bad thing!

I start by partially cooking some chicken breasts with black pepper,
garlic powder and cayenne, then I cut the chicken breasts up and add
fresh garlic, Madras curry powder, paprika, powdered ginger, tumeric,
cumin, coriander, cocoanut cream, cashews and raisins, and a little
water as needed to cook down to proper consistency. I usually sprinkle
heavily with sweet paprika to cook down too.

Mmmmm MMMMMM!!! :-)

John Kuthe...

On 2012-05-17, Dave Smith > wrote:

> That is my take on coriander seed. My wife used to do a lamb shoulder
> that involved among other things, garlic and crushed coriander rolled up
> in it. It tasted great but the texture of the coriander was off putting.
> I had spareribs in a restaurant in Germany that has crushed coriander
> and those hard little bits of the spice were troublesome.

I don't use my Thai granite mortar/pestle as often as I once did. I
now use the spice grinder attachment to my stand mixer. (let's see
you top that one, Kitchen Aid!!) Handles whole coriander seeds
effortlessly. I'd suggest buying a cheapo whirlybird coffee grinder
for $10-20. Worth every cent, specially if doing a dozen or so spices
for a curry blend.

nb

--
vi --the heart of evil!
Support labeling GMOs
<http://www.labelgmos.org/>