/ck/ - Food & Cooking

[Anonymous No.17236961]

after many attempts, I've finally managed to make Indian food that doesn't taste like garbage. Just wanted to share what I learned with my fellow anons that might still have trouble with that cuisine, and more specifically with curries
>cook the onions really well. Don't just sweat them or wait for them to become transparent. It's better to cook them so much they turn into a jelly kind of texture. It can take over 10 minutes on medium-high heat. If parts of the onions get burned while the rest isn't fully cooked yet, add some water.
>Indians typically use red onions. Personally, I don't really find there's a lot of difference when cooking with yellow ones. But if you want to be on the safe and authentic side, use red ones.
>for most curries, you will want a lot of onions. 2 big ones or 3 medium ones. Basically your entire pan should be covered in a thin layer of onions when you first put them in.
>cook the curry well. You will know it's ready when the oil separates. If your curry is thin, you will see pockets of oil forming. If it's thicker, your curry will start to glisten and trails of oils will be left behind when you move it around in the pan.
>toast the spices. This is an important part and easy to fuck up. How much time you need really depends on when you pour it in. In a dry pan, you will need like 30 seconds at most (I also don't recommend using a dry pan if you're using ground spices). With oil and some moist elements, like meat, it's closer to 3 minutes. Ground spices burn way faster than whole ones. Butter will burn spices way faster than ghee. If your meat is sufficiently cooked, feel free to taste a piece with the spices on it while toasting. If it feels bitter or burned, you've gone too far.
>don't forget the salt. If you're like me, you'll feel like all the spices you just added are already so much taste you need only a little salt. But salt really helps bring out pleasant flavours, so use a healthy amount of it.

[Anonymous No.17236964]

>don't be too heavy-handed on the spices. I used to think I'd put a lot of them in the dish because I wanted a lot of flavour. This is pretty retarded and might lead to a curry that's near inedible. You can already get an Indian-y taste with only one or two tablespoon of spices in total. When first learning, it's better to start on the safe side. It's easier to know tell missing from a dish than what there is too much of, especially if you don't know what each individual spice does.
>Indians typically don't use as much cream/yoghurt as you might think. That doesn't mean you should never use it, creamy curries can be delicious, but it's something to keep in mind when looking for traditional recipes. Also, since the cream/yoghurt only comes in at the end of the dish and will dilute the taste of the curry, planning to use it makes it harder to taste your dish as you cook it.
>know when to use each spice. Ground and whole spices usually come in right before adding the liquid. Fenugreek and fresh coriander at the very end.

[Anonymous No.17237137]

I start every curry I make by browning my meat, then I add a slice of butter to the pan and saute onion, garlic, ginger and chilli. All the fond lifts from the pan. When the onion garlic, ginger and chilli are sufficiently cooked then I add my spices and fry for a few minutes.

[Anonymous No.17237158]

>>17237137
yeah you're doing it wrong, spud

[Anonymous No.17237249]

>>17237158
Shut up cunt. I've been making curries longer than you've been cooking.

[Anonymous No.17237392]

>>17236964
I'll add a few tips I have:
>most good curries have a v large amount of ghee, despite its funky smell its delicious, especially when you get the restaurant-style broken layer of oil
>store bought paneer is a waste of time and money
>if you dont have cashews or almonds or are cooking for ppl with allergies you can use roasted dal (usually Chana dal) for thickening
>put tumerick in your garlic/ginger paste to make it last longer
>when cooking your masala, it works best to sauté for a couple of mins, then cover and cook for a lil while until mushy, then take the cover off and saute off the additional liquid. you know it's cooked when it begins to leave little tomato skid marks on the pan

[Anonymous No.17237418]

>>17237392
Kek, my Garam Masala jar was labelled Gary's Masala.