The Big Book of Curry Recipes (57 page)

1 tsp shrimp paste

1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped

Method:

Place the dried chillies in an ovenproof dish then cover with boiling water and set aside for 20 minutes to soften.

After this time drain and chop the chillies quite coarsely then combine in a food processor with the candlenuts, galangal, lemongrass, oil, turmeric, shrimp paste and garlic. Process until finely chpped then divide the mixture into two equal portions and freeze until needed.

Madras Curry Paste

Origin:
India
       Period:
Traditional

This is an authentic version of a Madras-style curry paste. Originally these were used in royal kitchens (hence the large amount of saffron used). Though the flavour will not be as good, you can use 2 generous pinches of saffron with 3/4 tsp ground turmeric instead of all the saffron.

Ingredients

110g (1 cup) coriander seeds

30g (1 oz) mustard seeds

30g (1 oz) garlic cloves

30g (1 oz) cumin seeds

1 tsp saffron, crumbled

30g (1 oz) black pepper

60g (2 oz) salt

2 dried chillies

15g (1/2 oz) dried, ground, ginger

60g (2 oz) dried chickpeas

120ml (1/2 cup) ghee or groundnut oil

70ml (5 tbsp) vinegar

Method:

Heat a dry non-stick frying pan over high heat. Separately add the whole spices and toast for a few minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon until aromatic.

When done, turn each spice into a bowl and dry toast the next one. Also toast the dried chillies until aromatic. Add these to the other spices along with the chickpeas and ground ginger. A little at a time, put the spice and chickpea mix into a spice or coffee grinder and render to a fine powder. Turn the powder into a bowl then continue the grinding process until all the spice mix is finely ground.

Pass the ground spice mix through a fine-meshed sieve into a bowl then stir in the salt. Now work in the vinegar and ghee until you have a smooth paste. Pour into a clean bottle, stopper securely and store. You should end up with about enough for 10 to 15 curries.

Massaman Curry Paste

Origin:
Thailand
       Period:
Traditional

This is a traditional Thai recipe for a classic mild and aromatic curry paste with mixed spices, red chillies, shallots, garlic, lemongrass and lime zest that’s typically used for beef curries.

Massaman curry paste is one of the mildest and most aromatic of all traditional Thai curry pastes. It’s excellent for use in curried rice and also goes well with fish, vegetables and greens.

Ingredients

2 tsp coriander seeds

2 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp cloves

2 whole star anise

2 tsp cardamom pods

2 tsp white peppercorns

2 tbsp groundnut oil

12 shallots, roughly chopped

12 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

2 x 5cm (2 in) pieces of lemongrass, sliced

8 fresh red chillies, de-seeded and chopped

freshly-grated zest of 2 limes

1 1/2 tsp salt

Method:

Add the whole spices to a dry frying pan and toast for about 3 minutes, or until aromatic. Transfer to a coffee grinder and grind to a fine powder. Transfer to a food processor, add all the other ingredients and blend until smooth. Transfer to a food processor and blend along with the remaining ingredients to a smooth paste. This will store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks or can be frozen until needed.

Mooglai Tandoori Marinade

Origin:
India
       Period:
Traditional

The following recipe is for a more traditional Mooglai (Mogul) tandoori marinade. Personally I prefer this one to the more typical Restaurant Curry Sauce (see later in this chapter) as it has a clean lemony taste. But you may like the restaurant version better!

Ingredients

450ml (1 4/5 cup) Plain Yoghurt

2 Red Chillies

1 tbsp Fresh Ginger, grated

4 Garlic cloves

1 tsp Salt

2 tsp hot chilli powder

2 tbsp Lemon Juice

1 tbsp Lemon zest, grated

1 tsp Garam Masala (see earlier in this chapter for the recipe)

1 tsp black Mustard Seeds

2 tsp Paprika (for colour)

1 tbsp Cooking oil

Method:

Roughly crush the mustard seeds in a pestle and mortar. Then add the chillies, ginger, garlic cloves, salt, lemon juice, lemon rind, crushed mustard seeds and the cooking oil into a blender. Blend all these ingredients into a smooth paste. (This paste will keep in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to 4 days or it may be frozen).

To create the Tandoori marinade add the blended paste to a bowl and mix in all the other ingredients. Gently beat into a smooth paste with a whisk.

Nam Prik Pow (Black Chilli Paste)

Origin:
Thailand
       Period:
Traditional

This is a traditional Thai recipe for a classic fiery paste made from a mix of dried shrimp, chillies, shallots and garlic that are pureed and fried until black.

This fiery black chilli paste is an essential ingredient in many Thai recipes and it’s very easy to make at home. Even better, once made it keeps indefinitely.

Ingredients

240g (2 cups) dried shrimp

120g (1 cup) green jalapeño chillies

60g (2 oz) shallots, finely chopped

60g (2 oz) caster sugar

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

2 tbsp shrimp paste

2 tbsp Nam Pla (fish sauce)

200ml (3/4 cup + 1 tbsp)  good quality cooking oil

Method:

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pan, add the chillies, shallots and garlic then stir fry until dark brown. Remove from the oil then allow to cool slightly before transferring to a blender. Add the remaining ingredients then blitz until smooth.

Pour the resultant mixture into a pan and fry over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Take off the heat and set aside to cool. Store in an air-tight jar, where it will keep indefinitely.

Nam Ya Curry Paste

Origin:
Thailand
       Period:
Traditional

This is a traditional Thai recipe for a classic aromatic curry paste containing fingerroot that is typically used for more lightly-spiced fish-based dishes.

Ingredients

5 large, dried, red chillies

80g (3 oz) krachai (fingerroot), finely chopped

10g (1/3 oz) fresh galangal root, peeled and sliced thinly

30g (1 oz) lemongrass, peeled and finely chopped

30g (1 oz) red shallots, peeled

30g (1 oz) Thai garlic (or 10g [1/3 oz] garlic), peeled and chopped

1/2 tsp salt

Method:

Soak the chillies in water until softened then chop. Then place in a mortar and pound with the other ingredients until the mixture has reduced to a thick, rich paste.

This will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Noodle Curry Paste

Origin:
Laos
       Period:
Traditional

This is a traditional Laotian recipe for a classic curry paste including fingerroot and galangal in a coconut cream base that is the flavour base for noodle-based curries..

Ingredients

1 tsp ground turmeric

6 garlic cloves

4 fresh red chillies

2 thumb-sized piece of galangal (or ginger), peeled and coarsely chopped

1 finger of fingerroot (krachai), peeled

2 tbsp ground coriander seeds

2 tsp ground cumin seeds

1 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

4 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp groundnut oil

2 kaffir lime leaves

60ml coconut cream

palm sugar, to taste

Method:

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse to chop. Increase the speed and process to purée into a smooth paste. This can be used as a spice base for and Laotian or Thai noodle curry.

Panang Red Curry Paste

Origin:
Thailand
       Period:
Traditional

This is a traditional Thai recipe for a classic and very aromatic red curry paste that can be used as a base for meat, fish or vegetarian dishes.

This is a classic red curry paste from the Penang state in northern Thailand. Don’t let the extensive list of ingredients put you of, as the paste is simplicity itself to make and the end results are well worthwhile.

Ingredients

4 tbsp tomato purée

1 small onion, peeled and quartered

3cm (1 in) length of galangal (or ginger), peeled and thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tsp dark soy sauce

2 tbsp
Nam Pla
(Thai fish sauce)

1 tsp shrimp paste

1 tbsp paprika

2 tbsp hot chilli powder

1 tbsp coriander seeds, ground to a powder

2 red chillies (Thai bird’s eye for preference)

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1 tbsp ground cumin

2 Kaffir lime leaves, shredded

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp freshly-grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

450ml (1 4/5 cup) thick coconut milk (fresh or tinned)

juice of 1/2 lime

Method:

Prepare all the ingredients that need preparing then combine everything in a food processor. Blitz a few times to break up the larger pieces then process to a smooth paste. To store, pack into jars and refrigerate (it will keep for several weeks).

To turn the paste into a curry sauce add a 440g (15 oz) tin of coconut milk and mix to combine. To use, simply add your mix of meat and/or vegetables, cook in a wok or casserole until done and serve on a bed of rice.

Restaurant Curry Sauce

Origin:
India
       Period:
Traditional

This is a traditional Indian recipe for a classic curry sauce of the type typically used by Indian restaurants.

Rather than being an ‘authentic’ traditional sauce this is the curry sauce actually used in restaurants. This version is Malay in origin, but the basic recipe is the same all the way around the world. If you want to make a restaurant-like curry at home, rather than one of the more authentic curries also featured in this book then this is the recipe for you.

Ingredients

450g (1 lb) Onions

25g (1 oz) ginger

25g (1 oz) Garlic

780ml (3 cups) water

1/2 tsp salt

1 x 225g (7 1/2 oz) tin Chopped Tomatoes

4 tbsp Vegetable Oil

1 tsp Tomato Purée

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp Paprika

Method:

Prepare the onions, ginger and garlic by peeling and roughly chopping them. Add the ginger and garlic to a blender and add about 200ml of water. Blend to a smooth paste.

Add the onions to a saucepan, put the chopped onions in this along with the ginger and garlic blend and the remainder of the water. Add the salt then bring the mixture slowly to the boil. Once the mixture’s boiling turn it down to a very low simmer, affix the lid and cook for 45 minutes. Once done, set aside and leave to cool.

When the mixture has cooled, pour about half into a blender and blitz until perfectly smooth (in this case the final mixture needs to be absolutely smooth). Pour the smoothly-blended onion mixture into a clean bowl and then repeat the process on the remaining onion mixture.

Wash and dry the original saucepan and reserve about four tablespoons of the mixture (if you want to freeze the mixture to use later do so at this stage). Alternatively, if you’re going to be using the sauce now open a can of tomatoes and pour into the blender and blitz until perfectly smooth,

Meanwhile add the oil to the cleaned saucepan along with the tomato purée, the turmeric and paprika. Heat the oil a little then add the blended tomatoes and bring the mixture to the boil, Turn down the heat and cook, with gentle stirring, for about 10 minutes. At this point add the onion mixture and bring the contents of the saucepan to the boil again. Once boiling turn the heat down to a gentle simmer. If a froth rises at this stage, skim it off.

Keep simmering and skimming-off any froth for 25 minutes (remember to give the mixture a stir every now and again to prevent the mixture from sticking).

The sauce can be used immediately or it can be refrigerated and used for up to 4 days.

Restaurant Tandoori Marinade

Origin:
India
       Period:
Traditional

This is a traditional Indian recipe for a classic Indian-style marinade of a yoghurt base flavoured with a blend of spices that is typically used to make tandoori-style dishes.