The Big Book of Curry Recipes (59 page)

This is a traditional British recipe redacted from Eliza Acton’s 1845 volume
Modern Cookery
, the first classic Victorian cookbook.

Original Recipe

A BENGAL CURRIE.

Slice and fry three large onions in two ounces of butter, and lift them out of the pan when done. Put into a stewpan three other large onions an a small clove of garlic which have been pounded together, and smoothly mixed with a dessertspoonful of the best pale turmeric, a teaspoonful of powdered ginger, one of salt, and one of cayenne pepper; add to these the butter in which the onions were fried, and half a cupful of good gravy; let them stew for about ten minutes, taking care that they shall not burn. Next, stir to them the fried onions and half a pint more of gravy; add a pound and a half of mutton, or of any other meat, free from bone and fat, and simmer it gently for an hour, or more should it not then be perfectly tender.

Fried onions, 3 large; butter, 2 oz.; onions pounded, 3 large; garlic, 1 clove; turmeric, 1 dessertspoonful; powdered ginger, salt, cayenne, each 1 teaspoonful; gravy, 1/2 cupful: 10 minutes. Gravy 1/4 pint; meat, 1 1/2 lb.: 1 hour or more

Modern Redaction

Ingredients:

3 large onions, peeled and sliced

60g (2 oz) butter

3 large onions, chopped

1 garlic clove

1 dessert spoon turmeric

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cayenne pepper

120ml (1/2 cup) meat gravy or strong meat stock

300ml (1 1/4 cups) meat gravy or strong meat stock

675g (1 1/2 lb) stewing mutton or beef, cubed

Method:

Melt the butter in a frying pan, add the sliced onions and fry gently until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Turn any remaining butter into a large saucepan. Puree the chopped onions and garlic clove either in a food processor or by pounding in a mortar. Add to the saucepan with the turmeric, ginger, salt and cayenne pepper. Stir in the 120ml meat gravy and bring to a simmer.

Cover with a tight-fitting lid and stew gently for 10 minutes then stir in the meat and the remaining meat gravy. Bring to a simmer, cover the pan and cook gently for about 60 minutes, or until the sauce is thick and the meat is tender. Serve hot, accompanied by rice.

Arnott’s Curry Powder

Arnott’s Curry Powder is a traditional British recipe, based on Eliza Acton’s recipe of 1845, for a classic Victorian blend of spices that was used as the base for the curries of the day.

This is a traditional British recipe redacted from Eliza Acton’s 1845 volume
Modern Cookery
, the first classic Victorian cookbook.

Original Recipe

MR. ARNOTT’S CURRIE-POWDER

Turmeric, eight ounces.

Coriander seed, four ounces.

Cumin seed, two ounces.

Fœnugreek seed, two ounces.

Cayenne, half an ounce. (More or less of this last to the taste.)

Let the seeds be of the finest quality. Dry them well, pound, and sift them separately through a lawn sieve, then weigh, and mix them in the above proportions. This is an exceedingly agreeable and aromatic powder, when all the ingredients are perfectly fresh and good, but the preparing is a rather troublesome process. Mr. Arnott recommends that when it is considered so, a “high-caste” chemist should be applied to for it.

Modern Redaction

This is what we would consider a classic Victorian curry powder and apart from the addition of fenugreek leaves and black pepper it’s pretty much the base for modern curry powders as well. As Eliza Acton herself comments elsewhere, the amount of turmeric is probably too high, so I have reduced it by half from the original. For myself, I would also add the seeds from half a dozen green cardamom pods to this, but as it’s not in the original I have left them out.

Ingredients:

125g (5 oz) ground turmeric

120g (4 oz) coriander seeds

60g (2 1/4 oz) cumin seeds

60g (2 1/2 oz) fenugreek seeds

30g (1 oz) cayenne pepper (add more or less to suit your desired level of heat)

Method:

Combine the whole seeds in a coffee grinder and render to a fine powder. Mix with the turmeric and store in a jar in a cool, dry place (turmeric is photo-sensitive so should be stored out of the light).

Mr Arnott’s Currie

Mr Arnott’s Currie is a traditional British recipe, based on Eliza Acton’s recipe of 1845, for a classic Victorian curry of chicken, vegetables and sour apples cooked in a stock paste flavoured with curry powder.

This is a traditional British recipe redacted from Eliza Acton’s 1845 volume
Modern Cookery
, the first classic Victorian cookbook.

Original Recipe

MR. ARNOTT’S CURRIE.

Take the heart of a cabbage, and nothing but the heart, that is to say, pull away all the outside leaves until it is about the size of an egg; chop it fine, add to it a couple of apples sliced thin, the juice of one lemon, half a teaspoonful of black pepper, with one large tablespoonful of
my
currie-powder, and mix the whole  well together. Now take six onions that have been chopped fine and fried brown, a garlic head, the size of a nutmeg, also minced fine, two ounces of fresh butter, two tablespoonsful of flour, and one pint of strong mutton or beef gravy; and when these articles are boiling, add the former ingredients, and let the whole be well stewed up together: if not hot enough, add cayenne pepper. Next put in a fowl that has been roasted and nicely cut up; or a rabbit; or some lean chops of pork or mutton; or a lobster, or the remains of yesterday’s calf head; or anything else you may fancy ; and you will have an excellent currie, fit for kings to partake of.

“Well! now for the rice! It should be nut into water which should be frequently changed, and should remain in for half an hour at least; this both clears and soaks it. Have your saucepan full of water (the larger the better), and when it boils rapidly, throw the rice into it : it will be done in fifteen minutes. Strain it into a dish, wipe the saucepan dry, return the drained rice into it, and put it over a gentle fire for a few minutes, with a cloth over it: every grain will be separate. When served, do not cover the dish.”

Obs
.—We have already given testimony to the excellence of Mr Arnott’s currie-powder, but we think the currie itself will be found somewhat too acid for English taste in general, and the proportion of onion and garlic by one half too much for any but well seasoned Anglo-Indian palates. After having tried his method of boiling the rice, we still give the preference to that of Chapter I., page 36.

Modern Redaction

Ingredients:

1 cabbage heart, finely shredded

2 cooking apples, cored and thinly sliced

juice of 1 lemon

1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper

1 tbsp (heaped) Arnott’s curry powder (see above)

4 onions, finely chopped and fried in butter until golden brown

1 large clove of garlic, finely chopped

50g (2 oz) butter

2 tbsp plain flour

600ml (2 1/2 oz) strong beef or mutton stock or gravy

2 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)

1 roasted chicken, jointed

300g (2/3 lb) rice soaked in several changes of water

Method:

Melt the butter in a large pan then scatter over the flour and mix to form a smooth roux. Whisk in the stock until smooth then add the garlic and onion. Bring this mixture to a boil then add the cabbage, apples, lemon juice, black pepper, curry powder, cayenne pepper and chicken pieces.

Cook for about 35 minutes, or until the meat is heated through and the sauce is thick.

In the meantime, bring a pan of water to a boil, drain the soaked rice and add to the pan. Bring back to a boil and cook for between 20 and 30 minutes (depending on the type). Drain the rice, put back in the pan then cover with a tea towel and place over a low heat for a few minutes to dry.

Fluff the rice with a fork, turn into a serving dish and serve accompanied with the curry.

Indian Receipt for Curried Fish

Indian Receipt for Curried Fish is a traditional British recipe, based on Eliza Acton’s recipe of 1845, for a classic Victorian curry of par-cooked fish cooked in an onion and garlic base flavoured with Bengal curry powder.

This is a traditional British recipe redacted from Eliza Acton’s 1845 volume
Modern Cookery
, the first classic Victorian cookbook.

Original Recipe

INDIAN RECEIPT FOR CURRIED FISH.

Take the fish from the bones, and cut it into inch and half squares; lay it into a stewpan with sufficient hot water to barely cover it; sprinkle some salt over, and boil it gently until it is about half cooked. Lift it out with a fish-slice, pour the liquor into a basin, and clear off any scum which may be on it. Should there be three or four pounds of the fish, dissolve a quarter of a pound of butter in a stewpan, and when it has become a little brown, add two cloves of garlic and a large onion finely minced or sliced very thin ; fry them until they are well coloured, then add the fish ; strew equally over it, and stir it well up with from two to three tablespoonsful of Bengal currie powder; cover the pan, and shake it often until the fish is nicely browned; next add by degrees the liquor in which it was stewed, and simmer it until it is perfectly done, but not so as to fall into fragments. Add a moderate quantity of lemon-juice or chili vinegar, an serve it very hot.

Modern Redaction

Ingredients:

1kg (2lb, 3 oz) firm fish fillets, cut into 3cm cubes

60g (2 oz) butter or ghee

1 garlic clove, finely minced

60g (2 oz) onion, finely minced

2 tbsp Bengal curry powder (see below)

4 tbsp lemon juice or chilli vinegar

Method:

Place the fish pieces in a pan, cover with boiling water, bring to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the fish is half done. Drain the fish and reserve the liquid.

Melt the butter in a pan and heat until lightly browned. Add the onion and garlic and fry for 4 minutes then add the fish pieces. Scatter over the Bengal curry powder and stir to combine. Continue frying, stirring frequently, until the fish is golden brown.

Work a little of the reserved fish stock into the other ingredients to form a sauce. Cover the pan and cook for about 4 minutes more, or until the fish is cooked through. Serve hot, accompanied with rice.

Bengal Curry Powder

Bengal Curry Powder is a traditional British recipe, based on Eliza Acton’s recipe of 1845, for a classic Victorian curry powder of the Bengal type.

This is a traditional British recipe redacted from Eliza Acton’s 1845 volume
Modern Cookery
, the first classic Victorian cookbook.

Original Recipe

BENGAL CURRIE POWDER.

No. 1.

Mix thoroughly the following ingredients after they have been separately reduced to the finest powder and passed through a fine hair or lawn sieve:—

6 oz. coriander seed.

3 oz. black pepper.

1 oz. cumin-seed.

1 1/2 oz. fenugreek-seed.

3/4 oz. cayenne pepper.

3 oz. best pale turmeric.

Set the powder before the fire to dry, and turn it often; then withdraw it, let it become cold, and bottle it immediately. Keep it closely corked.

Obs
.—We cannot think a large proportion of black pepper a desirable addition to currie powder, as it gives a strong coarse flavour : but as it may be liked by persons who are accustomed to it, we give the preceding and the following receipt without varying either: the second appears to us the best.

Coriander-seed            8 oz.

Chinese turmeric        4 oz.

Black pepper              2 oz.

Cassia                      1/2 oz.

White ginger              1 oz.

Cayenne pepper      1/2 oz.

Modern Redaction

Ingredients:

180g (6 oz) coriander seeds

90g (3 oz) black peppercorns

30g (1 oz) cumin seeds

45g (1 1/2 oz) fenugreek seeds

22g (3/4 oz) cayenne pepper

90g (3 oz) ground turmeric

Method:

Combine the whole spices in a spice or coffee grinder and render to a fine powder. Mix with the cayenne pepper and turmeric.

Spoon into a jar, secure with a tight-fitting lid and store in an air-tight cupboard. It will keep for up to a month.

A Dry Curry

A Dry Curry is a traditional British recipe, based on Eliza Acton’s recipe of 1845, for a classic Victorian dry curry of chicken in a n onion and cabbage base acidified with an apple.

This is a traditional British recipe redacted from Eliza Acton’s 1845 volume
Modern Cookery
, the first classic Victorian cookbook.

Original Recipe

A DRY CURRIE.

Skin and cut down a fowl into small joints, or a couple of pounds of mutton, free from fat and bone, into very small thick cutlets; rub them with as much currrie-powder, mixed with a teaspoonful of flour and one of salt, as can be made to adhere to them : this will be from two to three tablespoonsful. Dissolve a good slice of butter in a deep, well-tinned stewpan or saucepan, and shake it over a brisk fire for four or five minutes, or until it begins to take colour; then put in the meat, and brown it well and equally, without allowing a morsel to be scorched. The pan should be shaken vigorously every minute or two, and the meat turned in it frequently. When this is done, lift it out and throw into the stewpan two or three large onions finely minced, and four or five eschalots when these last are liked; add a morsel of butter if needful, and fry them until they begin to soften; then add a quarter of a pint of gravy, broth, or boiling water, and large acid apple, two moderate-sized ones, of a good boiling kind, with the hearts of two or three lettuces, or of one hard cabbage, shred quite small (tomatas or cucumbers freed from their seeds can be substituted for these when in season). Stew the whole slowly until it resembles a thick pulp, and add to it any additional liquid that may be required, should it become too dry; put in the meat, and simmer the whole very softly until this is done, which will be in from three quarters of an hour to an hour.