Curry Secret - Salt and seasoning can make or
break a good curry
One of the biggest mistakes made when
cooking Indian food is that no salt is added on the assumption
that there is so much flavour from the spices that you don't
need salt. This is wrong and you should always taste your dish
and season towards the end if needed. Our mouths can only
taste 5 different things, sweet, salt, sour, bitter and umami
(or savouriness). All other flavour (as distinct from the term
taste) is detected by flavour molecules stimulating our
olfactory gland in the nose. A well balanced dish needs basic
taste stimulation of at least 2 areas of the five as well as
flavour and aroma.
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A Chilli
secret that will add subtle dimensions to
your curry.
As well as
heat, chillies can add some subtle dimensions of
flavour which can be dramatically different from
one chilli to the next. Habanero and Scotch bonnet chillies
have a beautiful buttery, oaky and vanilla tones
but are so hot
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that most people can't
really take them. Most Indian Restaurants use
predominantly Long thin green cayenne or fin ger
chillies, they have a good taste and high heat level and
can be added chopped, sliced or whole as required.
The heat level of fresh chillies
is reduced somewhat with the length of cooking so add
them earlier if you like it milder and later if you
prefer it hotter.
Always add chilli in whatever
form a little at a time, you can always add some more if
needed but you can't take it out once you have overdone
it. Chilli powder will permeate the rest of the sauce
most readily. Finely chopped fresh chillies will need to
cook for a while to add to the sauce in quite the same
way.
Whole
and sliced chillies will add their heat mainly when
eaten directly. |
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Adding whole chillies to a mild curry
can be one way to satisfy the demands of a group with
different heat tolerances by serving the chillies to only
those who like them, however there is a risk of one or more
splitting and making the sauce hot so use thicker skinned
chillies and add to the dish when most of the stirring and
working has been done, alternatively add some fresh chillies,
lightly toasted chillies, or chilli sauce as a table
condiment.
Adding chilli powder to a finished
dish is not a good way to add heat as the spices need to be
worked in to the dish which is difficult once served.
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Secrets for releasing the
flavour of a great Curry
To release all the flavours from
your spices, they should be dry-roasted before use.
This
involves heating up a heavy-based pan, without adding
fat, and roasting your spices until you smell their
aroma. |
Remove from the heat
and allow your spices to cool then grind if required; either
in a coffee grinder or pestle & mortar if you’re feeling
energetic.
Roasting ground spices will
help bring old ones back to life, but be particularly careful
not to burn them as it will understandably destroy their
flavour.
Spice hold an important secret when creating a
great curry
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Spices are fundamental to all
Curry Recipes and there is a huge range of spices which
can be used but only a few of which form a basic curry
powder.
The most important
spice is Cumin seeds, then Coriander seeds. Additional
spices in a Curry Powder usually will include Fenugreek,
Ginger, Garlic, Turmeric, and Cardamom.
Ground spices
and Curry Powders must always be used fresh and kept in
air tight containers. Older stale spices will add
nothing but grit to your finished dish and leave you
feeling dissapointed with the results.
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The very best reults will always come from grinding your
own spices from whole seeds just before using them. This of
course is not always practical. If however you have the
time to make your own before a curry I would strongly urge you
to give it a try.
Some dishes not only use ground spices
but also whole spices or lightly crushed spices, these add a
different dimension to texture and taste.
Oil and Fat are important secret in
making a good curry
Oil is essential in all curries as the
medium which carries the spices. Without oil the spices are
harsher and gritty with much less flavour and aroma. Indian
restaurants tend to use Ghee which is a clarified butter, but
Olive oil, Sunflower or Groundnut oil can be used instead.
Add plenty of oil when starting the
dish, it will separate and excess oil can be skimmed off at
the end of cooking and kept covered in the fridge for use with
your next curry.
Ghee - Clarified butter that can get nice and
hot.
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Imparts a
rich flavour to dishes
Ghee is basically clarified
butter, so unsalted butter can be used instead although
ghee does impart its own particular rich flavour and due
to the clarifying process, can be heated to a much
higher temperature without burning. Ghee is still a
little hard to get hold of from supermarkets, but if you
can find yourself an Indian grocers you won’t have a
problem
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