Simple Sweet And Mild Curry Blend Recipes

BEST CURRY POWDER

Steps:

• Heat a skillet over medium heat and roast the whole spices and curry/bay leaves for a few minutes until very fragrant. Be careful not to scorch the spices or they will be bitter. Let the spices cool completely. Place the whole spices in a spice/coffee grinder along with the remaining ingredients and grind until you get a fine powder. Store the curry powder in an airtight jar in a dark, cool place. Will keep for several months but for best flavor use within a few weeks. Makes approx. 1/2 cup of curry powder.
• To Make Curry Paste: Combine 1 tablespoon of curry powder with 1 tablespoon of water and 1 tablespoon of oil and mix together. You can also add some finely minced garlic and ginger. (You can use larger quantities of the paste ingredients and puree everything together in a blender.) For a Thai curry paste replace the water with fish sauce and add a squirt of lime juice.

FAMILY MEALS: MILD CHICKEN CURRY

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan. Fry the onions gently for 5 - 10 mins until soft. Add the garlic, ginger, coriander, mustard seeds, garam masala and cumin and cook for 1 - 2 min allowing the aromas to release.
• Add the chicken and cook for 10 mins over a gentle heat, flipping occasionally and making sure the spices don't catch. Pour in around 300 ml boiling water until almost covering. Stir in the stock cube and cinnamon stick. Simmer for around 45 mins - 1 hour with the lid off so there is a small amount of thickened sauce at the bottom of the pan. Remove the cinnamon stick.
• Stir in the yogurt and sultanas, heat through gently and serve. Scatter with coriander, if using.

BASIC CURRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat oil and margarine in a small skillet or wok over medium high heat. Add onion and saute until very brown, 10 to 15 minutes. (Note: This is an important step; if onion is not cooked well, sauce will taste funny.)
• Add ginger and garlic to onion and saute for an additional 2 minutes. Process onion/ginger/garlic mixture in food processor until smooth. Do not rinse food processor.
• Place onion mixture in a large saucepan. Stir in the cinnamon, black pepper, coriander, cumin, turmeric and cayenne pepper and cook over low heat until mixture is thick and has the consistency of a paste.
• Puree tomatoes, chile peppers and cilantro in food processor until smooth. Add to onion mixture and stir well over low heat, cooking off moisture from tomatoes and cilantro. Add yogurt a little bit at a time, stirring constantly to avoid curdling.
• Blend the whole mixture in food processor to puree it (for a very smooth sauce). Return to saucepan, add water and increase heat to high; bring sauce to a rolling boil. Cover saucepan and boil for 3 to 5 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer until desired consistency is reached.
• To serve with meat, cook the meat first separately, then simmer for 5 to 10 minutes in the sauce before serving over rice or with bread. To serve with vegetables, steam raw veggies first 4 to 5 minutes, then simmer for 5 to 10 minutes in the sauce before serving.

MILD CURRY POWDER

Steps:

• In a blender or food processor, combine cumin, coriander, turmeric, red pepper flakes, mustard seed, and ginger. Process to a fine powder. Store in an airtight container.