It seems unthinkable that I’ve reached the ripe old age of forty(mumblemumblesomthing) without tasting curried anything! But in this thread, NajaNivea talks of a curried chicken salad. Now, I need to eat high-protein, so I’m always looking for interesting things to do with chicken and such, and I love everything in this recipe. Except I’m not sure about the curry.
How spicy is it? I like a little bit of an edge to some foods, but nothing really spicy.
Is there anything you can compare it to?
Now I really want to get some curry powder and try this recipe, but new spices aren’t cheap, and neither are the ingredients for the recipe, so I don’t want to do it unless I’m fairly certain I’ll like it.
What Gaudere said. Curry – the spice – has its own flavor, which can only be described as “curry”, sorry. It is not spicy in and of itself. But “curry” – the dish – can take many forms, some spicy, some not so much. I’ve never tasted a curry salad that has much or really any heat, FWIW.
Contrary to earlier posts, “curry” is just a generic term meaning “stew with spices”. Curries come from all over Asia, from Pakistan through India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and even Japan has its own (derivative, IMO) versions.
A curry can be spicy hot, it can be spicy sweet, it can be mild - whatever you choose.
(To confuse matters there’s a herb called “curry leaf” but you don’t need to worry about that.)
If you want to experiment with salads and stuff, start off by buying “garam masala” (which means roughly “mixed spice”), which will give you the taste of an Indian mild curry - mix a teaspoon in with mayonnaise or sour cream, and coat your chicken in it.
Alternatively, try the British mild sweet curry mayonnaise salad from the 1950s, called Coronation Chicken, which, though it’s not authentic, I like. A lot.
Really the only thing that I can begin to compare to curry is some of the really complex chili powders that I’ve had. My father makes one that’s sort of like some of the curry powders I’ve had, but there are so many variations.
My mother, who is a picky eater and not a fan of Indian food loves curried chicken salad, although my parents use a simpler recipe: chicken, red onions, mayonnaise and curry powder.
If you have a local Japanese store (Japan is big on curry), you might find pouches of curry you just boil in hot water and then rip open to pour on your rice, if you like. Though I head in Japan they like curry a little sweeter than you’d find in say, India.
Also, curry made with coconut milk is a big bowl of creamy warm goodness.
I’m starting to drool a little just thinking about it, which is kind of surprising, because I’m kind of over curry ever since overdosing on it one day. Ate a lot of curry at one sitting and got sick of it.
Just goes to show it’s very yummy.
My ex was from India. She mixed seven (?) spices to make curries. But, she noted, depending on where you are in India, the proportions of those spices are likely to vary. And you can make it as hot (or not) as you like by varying the amount of chili powder. The premixed stuff is heavy on turmeric, I think, which gives it that yellowish look.
You’re right – I was misremembering curry as a single spice, not a blend*. Apologies.
*you can buy something called “curry powder” to put in your spice rack, but its not from a “curry” plant of some sort, its a blend.
I agree. I’ve tried making a simple Indian curry for ages and have had only moderate success. Thai curry, however, can be made pretty successfully using curry paste. Mae Ploy makes a version which you just add coconut milk and it comes out pretty fantastic.
If you want to go the spice paste route with Indian curries, Patak’s works perfectly well.
The predominant spices in Indian curries tend to be cumin and coriander, with fragrant spices like cardamom, cassia, cloves, etc., rounding out the base. Powdered chiles generally figure prominently, as well. Fresh onions, garlic, and ginger root usually figure into the base as well.
Thai curries tend to be based on lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, shrimp paste, galangal, garlic, shallots, and fresh chiles. Often, you’ll also see the cumin-coriander mix common to Indian curries, as well. The most popular Thai curries also have a coconut base to them (and some Indian curries do as well, particularly those from Southern India).
I’ll go ahead and try it again, but I’ve been through tons of packaged (jarred) indian curries. What I am looking for is some sort of buffet style “chicken curry”. I don’t care about ridiculous amounts of fat. I’ve tried two recipes suggested by this board and couple off-board, and I’ve never been able to replicate the marvelous generic chicken curry that every takeout joint has.
OK. i’ve just rummaged through my cupboard. i’ve got two tins of generic “Rajah” brand powdered curry. I 'm quite sure that I have at least one jar of “Patak” jarred curries, but I can’t find them. i’ve got every Indian spice imaginable in the freezer though. What is a good “generic” Patak curry sauce?
A related curry question: I love Thai food, and my go-to dish at Thai restaurants is usually the pad kee mao, spicy “drunken noodles.” However, I always see red and green curries on the menu. I wish they served a sampler so I could try them both side by side, but since they don’t, what are the differences between typical red and green Thai curries?
I’ve made a pretty good curry using a jar of Patak’s Tikka Masala curry paste, which I used, per the instructions, to marinate and cook cubed chicken (the recipe called for chicken breast, although I used boneless, skinless thighs). It tasted pretty good, so that I’ve bought a second jar that I’ll use in a couple of weeks. Now the first ingredient is vegetable oil, but I tried to remove as much of the oil as I could skim after cooking. And I think that Patak’s supplies curry pastes to the restaurant trade, so this might approximate a takeout experience.
I like the Madras Curry and Vindaloo, although those are on the spicy side. The generic one, I guess, would be Patak’s Curry (Mild). For me, they taste like decent buffet curry.
I make almost all my Indian curries on ghee, and I find that’s important for the nice, nutty flavor curries have. Don’t skimp on the fat, as much of the flavor is dissolved in the oil. Many spices are oil- and not water-soluble, so the ghee/oil is key to carrying the proper flavor.
Red curry pastes are made with dried red Thai peppers. Green are made with fresh green Thai peppers. That’s about it. Often you’ll find green curries served with eggplant or green beans, and red curries with bamboo shoots and bell peppers, but I’ve seen red curry with eggplant just as well.
I just use a generic curry powder that I bought from an Indian import store. It’s authentic, as in no English on the label, and not in the least spicy. There’s really nothing to compare it to, as the array of spice is completely different–there’s nothing analogous in my Western palate. Indian-food-spicy is a completely different kind of spicy than, say, Mexican-food-spicy. Anyway I use a couple heaping tablespoons where the original recipe called for a half-teaspoon–hence the “to taste” stipulation. Also remember there’s sugar in the dressing, so that pretty much negates any “heat”. The overall effect in the salad is sweet and fragrantly spiced but not capsaicin-spicy.
If you have a natural foods or chi-chi grocery store (Whole Foods? Wild Oats?) nearby, many have a curried pasta or chicken salad at the deli counter. You could taste it and get the general idea.
Mmmm MMMmm this salad is le tasty. We wrap it up in tortillas with huge hunks of green leaf lettuce. Yum!