Indian Curry

Bugnug

Hi,

Anybody got a decent recipe for an Indian Curry?

Thanks,

frisket

Here's the one I usually use (for four)

Finely chop 1 onion, 2 cloves garlic, 1 chunk ginger, 1 red chili, and 1 green chili (or rough chop them and then blend to a very coarse puree). Cook gently in a pan with 2 tbsp oil until softened (2-3 mins).

In a casserole dish, mix 1 stock cube, 2 heaped tsp Patak's curry paste (lots to choose from, they're all good, some are milder than others; I prefer the hot ones), 1 tsp peanut butter, 2tsp curry powder, and a cupful of hot water. Add the onion/garlic/chili/ginger mix and stir well. You should have a slightly sloppy but not watery sauce.

Remove the skin from 8 chicken legs or thighs (ie 2 per person). Brown lightly in a hot pan with some oil (same pan as you used for the onion/garlic/chili/ginger mix). Add to the curry mix, turning over to coat well.

Cook with the lid on for about 45 min in a hot oven (200°C, gas 7). Take out, remove lid, leave stand for a few mins until bubbling stops, then tilt and carefully spoon out all the excess oil (quite a lot of this). Check the consistency and scrape any solidifying mix away from the sides and stir it back in, then add a little water if it seems too dry. Put back for 15 min while you boil the rice.

Use Basmati rice, about 100g dry per person. Add enough boiling water in a saucepan to cover the rice and bring back to the boil for 1 min, then drain in a sieve (this gets rid of the excess starch) then put back into the saucepan and add lots of boiling water and cook for 9-10 min (test to check it is done).

While the rice is doing, peel a cucumber and slice lengthways into slices about 3mm thick (cut it in half first to shorten it if you have a short knife). Then slice the slices lengthways again to make long thin strips 3mm square. Finally, chop finely so you have a lot of 3mm cubes. Spread on half a clean kitchen towel and fold the other half over it, and press down well to extract the excess water. When dry-ish, mix into a bowl with a pot of Greek-style (ie thick) plain yoghurt and a handful of very finely chopped mint.

Check the curry again and spoon off the remaining excess oil. Drain the rice and serve.