Everyone always asks me how to make an authentic Indian curry
Recipe books are always an absolute nightmare as there are so many different variations and so many ingredients that you may not have in your kitchen cabinets, and if you do they are probably so old as you never get a chance to use them!
I've always been taught how to make simple vegetarian curries and they really are simple but have a wonderful, aromatic flavour. which will make your tastebuds tingle with delight.
Working parents also want to put a nutritious meal on the table for dinner. With tired kids, who just want to watch TV after from being at school all day, can be a nightmare especially when you try and juggle complex recipes from cookbooks. Hunting around your kitchen cabinets to try and find all the variety of spices you need, coupled with kids running around your ankles, can be exhausting and you find yourself reaching for the takeaway menu!
Most Asian households have a spice box, which will hold everything you need and it makes it easy to make sure you have all essential spices in one place. Here is a picture of mine! As you can see I have Cumin Seeds, Fenugreek seends and Poppy Seeds - I use these mainly for dahls. I keep the jaggery in there for when I am making the kids curries as they like it a bit sweet!
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The good thing with vegetarian curries is that you can literally just chuck everything into a pot and let it simmer and you can have a fabulous meal on the table in less than an hour and the cost is next to nothing. They are really appealing to the eye, as you can use so many different coloured vegetables. You can serve a curry with rice, chappatis or naan bread.
The main ingredients I would use are as follows (for 4 people):
- 1-2 tsp Chilli Powder
- 2 - 3 tsp Cumin and Coriander Powder
- 1-2 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Turmeric
- 5 tsp Sunflower or Vegetable oil
- 1/2 can of tinned tomatoes or 3 fresh chopped tomatoes
So you would basically add oil to the pan, chuck in the tomatoes and then the spices above and let it simmer for 5 mins. You can then get creative and add your vegetables, some examples of what would throw together:
- Potato and Aubergine
- Carrots, Peas, Sweetcorn
- Potatoes and Green Beans
- Cauliflower and Peas
- Brussel Sprouts
- Sweet Potato and Spinach
- Courgette, Aubergine and Peppers
- Spinach and Peas
- Okra (lady fingers) - be careful with this one as the curry can get sticky!
The combinations are endless, so have fun experimenting.
With this as your base for a curry, you can add any vegetables to it and cater it to your own needs, if you don't like too much chilli, only use a little bit or if you don't like too much salt then you can vary this to suit your own tastes.
Cooking curries doesn't have to be complicated, it can be as simple as you want it to be and there is no set way of how to cook.
Lots of people use garam masala and onion and garlic in their curries, but I find that adding these will make all curries taste the same and what you actually want is to taste the vegetables. I would only use garam masala if I am making things like chickpea and potato curry, paneer or pau bhajji.
Friends and family always comment about my lack of using garlic and onions in my curries, I know it sounds strange but I really don't like using them, and haven't really been bought up to use those ingredients in my cooking. If my husband wants onion and garlic, then he can have them on the side!
So why don't you give it a try and see how you get on, I would love to hear your comments.
