Good Curry Recipie

This method of making curry was passed to me by my brother who was shown it by an Indian friend . It feeds 20 people approx. I buy my spice's from an Asian store its much cheaper than the supermarket and they have a better range. Allow about 6 hours to do it properly and for the meat to get tender enough. You will need the following to make 3 different curries from the same base.

•  Cumin seeds 1 heaped teaspoon                    
• Coriander seeds as above
• Fennel seeds as above
• Mustard seeds as above
• Dill seeds as above
• Fenegreek seeds as above 
• Black cardamoms x 10
• Green cardamoms x 10
• Cloves x 5
• Curry leaves 1/2 a hand full
• Peppercorns 1 heaped teaspoon                                           

   Place the above in a large pan with with a little oil (healthy) or a lot of ghee(authentic) and heat gently to infuse the oil while you chop onions.

Make sure you have plenty Tomatoes

Infuse the oil with spice

•  Onions enough to fill a large pan 
• Tomatoes 8 x tins (or use passata)
• Coconut milk 3 x tins
• Red Chillies at least 10
• Garam masala 200g
• Mild curry powder 200g
• Garlic paste 800g
• Ginger paste 800g
•  Coriander powder 1 x heaped tablespoon
• Cumin powder 1 x tablespoon
• Green Chillies 20-30
• Bananas 3-4
• Turmeric 2 x dessertspoon
• Spinach puree 1 800g tin
• Mutton 3kg (sheep meat off the bone in the halal butchers)
• Chicken breast or boneless thigh 3kg
• King Prawn (raw shell on) 2kg
• Mango chutney 1/2 a jar  
• Paprika 2 heaped tablespoons

Lamb seasoning to coat Mutton for extra flavor 

Fry onions till golden

Remove spices from oil or ghee with a sieve and fill the pan with finely chopped onions, fry until golden stirring regularly. These reduce right down but it takes a while. Add the Red chilli, 700g of the Garlic and 600g of the ginger and cook for 10 mins further with the onions.To the same pan add the tomatoes until the pan is almost full. Season with salt and pepper and heat till toms are bubbling, then add about half the curry powder and garam masala. Stirring regularly for 10 mins it should look like the pot full below.

The base for your 3 curries

Next take a ladle and split the base curry into 3 (or 4 if you want to make a lentil one ). Put all 3 large pans on a low heat and take a slurp of cold beer, its hot work. Peel the now defrosted King prawns and put them in the fridge, keep the shells to flavor the sauce. Do this by boiling them in water for about 10 mins then remove the shells and reduce the water down and add to the pan for the Prawn curry. To the same pan add the rest of the ginger and a tin of coconut milk and some extra chillies.
To the pan for the chicken add the bananas a tin and 1/2 of coconut milk 3/4 of the turmeric powder remember to keep stirring and have another swig of cold beer, you deserve it.
 

3 curries taking shape

For the mutton add the cumin, paprika,spinach puree and mango chutney and a hand full of green chilli  chopped, seeds the lot. As with the other curries stir and stir again take another gargle and relax, now the fun starts. Put the spare garlic into the mutton also and a bit of the coriander powder. The remaining turmeric should be put in the prawn. Taste each curry after 10 mins and see where they need to be adjusted, add the 1/2 tin of coconut milk to the mutton that you forgot to put in earlier. You now have left over masala, curry powder, coriander powder and if your spice rack has bits and pieces in it, other spices. Add these to taste for example spinach likes nutmeg put a little in the mutton pot if you like. I normally find powdered spices vary in strength as do chillis so how much to add to get it right will vary also.
When you have the sauces tasting how you like (hopefully all different) add the mutton (or lamb, beef, horse or pork) to the pot with the spinach and stuff in. Add the chicken to the pot with the bananas in but keep the prawns in the fridge.

Chillies for the  mutton dressed as lamb

Curry mmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!

Take a slurp of beer and stir until tender, for mutton this may take 3or 4 hours, they only need to be stirred every 10 mins or so. Leave overnight, take to the family and friends and reheat, at this point add the prawns the the pot and cook for a few mins depending on size. When cooked  add a handful of freshly chopped coriander and serve. Remember you can make many styles of curry from the same base add more garlic or chilli if you want its up to you. The seeds used to infuse the oil at the start can be ground down to make your own powder (not the ones used these will be oily).

Make your own 

You must like curry if you are still reading give it a try its worth the effort.

 enjoy in good company