The curries I make start with caramelizing lots of diced onions in oil, then adding spices (including a heaping spoonful of Patak’s curry paste), diced tomatoes and yogurt. Once the yogurt is fully incorporated into the mixture, it’s done. Sometimes, I will use a stick blender to puree at this point.
I use that curry base for a variety of recipes, including chicken curry or a pseudo-dal using a can of Progresso lentil soup.
Well, whatever you want to call it, I’m inspired by this thread to make a vindaloo-style curry for dinner tonight, using as a base the Goan recipe I linked to upthread. I’m also going to add red lentils as per @Staggerlee ’s suggestion, because that idea is intriguing to me, and I love red lentils. Misir wat (spicy red lentils) is my favorite side in Ethiopian cuisine.
For the acid I’m going to use apple cider vinegar, because that’s what I have, and also some fresh-squeezed lime juice, because why not. I’ll also add some diced red and green bell pepper for extra vitamins and variety. I expect it to be a beautiful bastardization. Will report back later with results.
Guinea pepper?
It’s an African spice, not an Asian one. Was very popular in the Middle Ages. Most people nowadays will only encounter it in gins, like Bombay Sapphire, or in North African cooking, as it’s often part of the ras el hanout spice blend (along with the other now-obscure-but-once-popular medieval spices, cubebs and long pepper)
Sounds good to me. I’ve got a bag of red lentils in the pantry waiting impatiently for me to make another mulligatawny stew.
I’m less a fan of Indian curries than I am of Thai curry. And that is so good and cheap from a local restaurant that I have no reason to make it for myself. I like a bit of kick, but I hate the really hot ones that kill my tastebuds. What’s the point of heat without flavor?
The Thai spicy Thai curries have plenty of flavor and I personally like lots of heat to balance that out. People have different tolerances, of course.
It’s all personal, I know, but I’m not impressed by how much heat any one person can tolerate. Sometimes it comes off as macho posturing. I remember a work potluck where one guy was endlessly bragging about his chili and its heat. He went home with nearly a full crock pot.
I wouldn’t make it like that for a general crowd, that’s for sure. But when I order something extra spicy, it’s because that’s what I desire – I don’t care what anyone at the table thinks. And, almost all the time, it’s not nearly as hot as I want it. (There are a couple of exceptions, which is why I go to those places all the time when I’m in a really spicy mood. By myself, so, no, not trying to impress anyone.)
Not everybody, of course! I didn’t mean anything personal. But I’ve been in groups where the posturing is really obnoxious, so it’s made me a bit sensitive to the subject.
This posturing tends to be worse with chicken wings and stupidly named hot sauces than curries. I’ve never had to “sign a waiver” or some such nonsense ordering curry or Mexican food nor felt anyone impressed by anyone else’s preferences. Heat is not good without flavour.
But curries are usually served too mild at Indian places catering to Canadian palates (though if the Thai place advises you the spicy stuff is very spicy, one best believe them). Many curries are meant to be lightly spiced and occasionally I crave those. But if I order, say, vindaloo I want and expect it super spicy.
tikka masala
chicken parts
butter
yogurt
I can tomato paste
1 onion, sliced
garlic (fresh)
Garlic Powder
Ginger
Cumin,
Garam Masala
milk
sugar
lime
milk
1 bay leaf
fresh parsley
Marinate chicken in yougurt, cumin, ginger, red pepper,
garlic pwdr & 1 t GM overnight
broil in oven for 10 mins, flip then 10 more minutes
Meanwhile,
saute onions,1 bay leaf & garlic in butter
add tomato paste & milk
add about 3 quarters cup plain yogurt
add 1 t sugar & lime juice
add same spices used in marinade
add veggies & stir in sauce.
add parsley
adjust ingredients for taste
Let simmer & pour over chicken.
Not sure how “authentic” it is… but it’s delicious.
There’s a long-standing argument as to where tikka masala originated. Most claims point to the UK and that it was either created by Asians living in the south of England or in Scotland (!). Anyhow, it’s one of my favorite dishes among a lot of favorites.
So, adding red lentils to my vindaloo didn’t seem to me to give a faux ‘creaminess’, but it did add much deliciousness. You could taste the red lentils and they added a great flavor note to the curry, which turned out fantastic. Red lentils in a spicy tomato- based curry I can confirm is very, very tasty 
Mine is a tikka masala. I marinate chopped chicken breasts in yogurt with lemon juice, cumin, ginger, and a few other spices, then stick them under the broiler for a few minutes to get a bit of char on the outside. I finish them by cooking them in the sauce, which I make with tomato sauce, heavy cream, garlic, some chopped jalapeno peppers for heat, and a few other spices, and serve it over basmati rice.
I also have a phall recipe that’s blisteringly spicy, that I’ve cooked a few times as a challenge to see who could finish a plate of it without tapping out.
I spent many frustrating years trying and failing to recreate the kind of curries you find in British Indian restaurants, and could never get the flavour and consistency right. That’s until I discovered The Curry Guy (food writer), and he introduced me to the concept of making a curry gravy in vast quantities, and then freezing it in batches for use as a base for all the usual favourites - Balti, Jalfrezi, Tikka Masala etc. It’s changed my life, I tell you! You’ll never buy a jar of Patak’s ever again.
Just to throw another nationality into the mix, I’ve had good luck with Flavor Bender’s Sri Lankan recipies here…
chicken curry
she also has a recipe for Sri Lankan curry powder
I heartily endorse The Curry Guy, especially if you want to recreate British Indian Restaurant Curry. I discovered him during lockdown, and it’s a wonderful resource for that style of curry.
Me too! I’m from Birmingham (UK) originally, home of the Balti, and have been pining for it for years - the kind you find in Indian restaurants in other parts of the UK just aren’t the same. The curry guy is the closest I’ve been able to get to the original.
That sounds really good!
Speaking of curries from other countries besides India, Indonesian Spicy Beef Rendang is a big winner. It’s sort of a cross between an Indian and a Thai curry. This is on my regular meal rotation, especially in the winter months when I’m more willing to spend 4+ hours making it. It’s very time-intensive and there’s no real shortcut because the coconut milk has to cook down and reduce, frying the meat in the resulting coconut oil in the process. But the end result is worth it.
Here’s the recipe I base mine on, though I often add crushed almonds (which were in the Rendang I first had in an Indonesian restaurant) and a good splash of soy sauce for extra umami.
It’s a little bit weird that your source is a Californian transplanted to the UK.