Picture Thread: What's For Dinner?

[javadog]

Note the curry powder in the recipe. That's a dead giveaway that it's adapted from the real recipe, to make it easy to cook. Make your "curry powder" from scratch if you want complexity. I'm more likely to make a Thai curry than one from India, and I'll probably spend an hour, just making the curry paste that I need.

The substitutions, especially the milk, were recipe killers. Sometimes there are no good substitutes.

JR

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by javadog

Two suggestions. Start with a good recipe, don't try to wing it. And, make all of your curries from scratch (fresh ingredients), not from a ready-made paste from a jar.

JR

Best advice here, but definitely have a good vent or window open. My old gf from Bombay made all of her own curries. Huge difference in each dish, but the whole house would fill up with the smell, a heavy, oily smell. At first, it's wonderful, but too much of a good thing...

[jyl]

Thanks, JR and Shaun. I will have a go at the "real thing" soon.

P.S.: Can curry paste be made and frozen, with good results?

[javadog]

Originally Posted by jyl

P.S.: Can curry paste be made and frozen, with good results?

Yes, it can be frozen, but the thawed version will not be as good as fresh. It's still better than prepared powders and pastes.

Nothing beats fresh. I've gotten to the point that using fresh ingredients is the only way I cook. I use fresh spices too, and grind them myself. If I'm feeling especially masochistic, I use a mortar and pestle, like they do in Asia.

JR

[porsche4life]

So you think you're a druggist now do ya?

[s_morrison57]

Originally Posted by jyl

I had buttermilk fried chicken, spicy collard greens, and cheesy mashed potatoes at a friend's on Saturday. Yum. Looked like what you're showing, Shaun.

Homegrown mushrooms - cool.

I am trying to learn some Indian cooking. Made chicken curry tonight. It was okay, but plenty of room for improvement. There is an Indian restaurant near us. I'm going to eat there, make the same dish at home until I like it, then have another dish there, etc. It's a project I've wanted to do for awhile.

my wife does curry all the time , she's Indian from S. America and the secret when using a powdered curry is to put some oil in the pot and get it hot, almost boiling then through the curry and water mix in, it will darn near explode cause of the water but curry has to be almost burned or otherwise it is pasty.
check the ingredients of your curry powder if it has any pepers in it other than black it will probably be to hot, we like it hot but stay away from curry powder with pepers in it

[jyl]

How about this one for my next try
Curry Recipe : Indian Curry Recipe for Indian Curry Chicken

[javadog]

That's better. Grind all of the spices from whole ones. You may have to go to an Indian store to find the curry leaves. Don't buy the ghee, just make your own. When you use the lemon grass, discard the tops and the tough outer leaves. Mince the rest, then pound the heck out of it in a mortar, until it becomes a paste. I use palm sugar for most of my Asian stuff; it might work well here. I also use Mexican cinnamon.

Keep in mind that there are more, different types of curry than you can shake a stick at. This one has yogurt, not coconut milk, so it's a different sort of curry than your last batch.

JR

[RWebb]

I'm wondering if those forced to live on Tulsa time may not have access to high quality prepared curry pastes(?)

For the record, I am lazy so often either use a prepared paste or take one and modify it...

[javadog]

Originally Posted by RWebb

I'm wondering if those forced to live on Tulsa time may not have access to high quality prepared curry pastes(?)

We have a fair-sized Asian community and several places to shop for things like that. None of the canned, or refrigerated, or powdered substitutes can compare to the real thing. I've lived in Asia and the food there makes our versions look like a TV dinner.

Even the Asians/Eastern Indians produce some substandard crap for the convenience of their populations. Doesn't mean I'll use it...

I've studied the cuisines of dozens of countries and the thing that stands out to me the most is that the freshness and quality of the ingredients make the biggest difference in the quality of the food, once you get past learning good technique. I've learned to do most things from scratch and I look for quality over anything else. If I'm at the store, looking for ingredient X, and none of it looks great, I buy something else to cook. In America, we have gotten used to the notion that we can get most things year-round. That may be true, but it doesn't mean a tomato in April is worth eating, for instance.

JR

[jyl]

I found out where the Indian markets are locally. I'm headed there this weekend to get spices etc. Pretty jazzed about trying something new, have been in a rut lately.

For spice grinding if I'm too lazy for a mortar/pestle - will a cheapo blade-type coffee grinder work fine?

[nynor]

my take on gumbo:

[jyl]

Yum. I love that stuff.

Been making grain salads lately - tabouleh and similar. No pics.

[nynor]

smoked pork, homemade BBQ sauce, etc. mushrooms are store-bought. have you ever smoked a piece of meat and got it just right? this was mine:

[jyl]

That is beautiful. I've never smoked meat, and am in awe of those that do.

Keep the pictures coming! I have no refrigerator for the next few weeks, so my cooking is, well, curtailed. I'm living though you all.

[TimBer]

[vash]

apparently i am not the only one that cant keep a friggen cat off the kitchen counter. mine wont get near food tho. water blast training paying off.

home made curry? thai, or indian curry?

i live in the bay area, and i find some ingredients hard to locate. fresh tumeric? rare.


for other hard to find stuff..i am looking for
black cardomon pods for vietnamese PHO.
szechuan pepper corns for taiwanese beef noodle soup.

i hate mail order, but may need to resort to it.

oh, brazillian sour tapioca powder..like a unicorn.

[nynor]

Originally Posted by vash

apparently i am not the only one that cant keep a friggen cat off the kitchen counter. mine wont get near food tho. water blast training paying off.

home made curry? thai, or indian curry?

i live in the bay area, and i find some ingredients hard to locate. fresh tumeric? rare.


for other hard to find stuff..i am looking for
black cardomon pods for vietnamese PHO.
szechuan pepper corns for taiwanese beef noodle soup.

i hate mail order, but may need to resort to it.

oh, brazillian sour tapioca powder..like a unicorn.

it doesn't matter how many times i put her on the floor, she will get back on the table one more time.

[vash]

tonight's dinner. kept it simple with a lightly sauced version of Chicken Marsala. came out great..would have been better if i was allowed a glass of wine. (doc's orders) i forgot to buy parsley, so i added celery leaves for some (pale) color.

[jyl]

if i was allowed a glass of wine. (doc's orders)

???