I had what was advertised as a curry at a Chinese food place about a year ago, and I liked it quite a bit. A bit spicey, but not overly so.
I have mentioned to my wife my desire to try making a curry, but she is worried about spiciness. Neither of us particularly enjoy hot food per se, but will enjoy a flavorfull meal.
Sadly, I can’t think of a regularly available spicy thing to compare our heat tolerance to.
So, does anyone have a recipe I might be able to try?
I’ve made both Beef and Curry Pie and Chicken Vindaloo for my family and neither is too spicy. The Beef and Curry Pie I’ve made a couple times, and the kids like it and it’s barely spicy at all (we use regular curry, not the spicy stuff). I just made the Vindaloo (in honor of David Lister) last night. The recipe lets you control the amount of cayenne that goes in. Because of the kids, I used only a dash less than 1/4 tsp, and it was great, a little kick, but not too spicy. And the kids liked it.
Good Luck!
Why not get some curry powder & experiment? Indian cooks usually make their own curries by grinding various spices & herbs. But there are some fine blends with different levels of heat. Sweet Curry Powder from the amazing Penzey’s is a good way to start.
Click around the site for more recipes. Better yet–see if there’s Penzey’s in your area. Drop by & start sniffing!
Despite what Hamlet says, vindaloo is reputed as one of the hottest curries out, at least in the UK.
I think you need to distinguish between “spicy heat” from chillis and “spicy”. If you have a curry without the latter, it’s not really a curry at all - just a stew.
‘Standard’ non-chilli spices in South Asian cooking are coriander, cumin, cardamom, black pepper, turmeric, fenugreek, none of which are “spicy hot”; just richly flavoured and scented.
Curries that don’t have spicy heat include korma and pasander, and are based around yogurt, cream, ground almonds and fruit. They’re delicious, too!
Japanese curries are generally non-hot. They are available in powder, sauce or blocks.
Wait, vinadaloo as a not spicy dish? :eek: If you’re vindaloo isn’t spicy, you’re not making it right. That’s normally the spiciest dish in a curry house (minus the occasional tindaloo and phal you’ll find at some places. I’ve only seen those dishes in the UK.)
Normally, mild dishes are stuff like chicken tikka masala, butter chicken, korma, etc. You can take any of the recipes and dial them down, though, if you don’t like heat.
edit: I looked at that Epicurious recipe. I don’t know what the heck that is, but with a quarter teaspoon of cayenne pepper, that’s the mildest vindaloo I’ve ever seen.
Don’t try chicken vindaloo in a restarant because it is super spicy but I guess if you are making it yourself you can control the heat to some extent.
Non spicy dishes for me would be butter chicken, nihari (sometimes) and chicken tikka masala. Non spicy rice would be pilou over briyani.
BTW, there are some good Indian cooking videos here. Look for murgh makhni (butter chicken), butter chicken (there’s another butter chicken recipe_, chicken tikka masala, and just wade around and see if anything strikes your fancy. These recipes have rather long ingredient lists, so be forewarned.
Another option which works well is to get a hold of Patak’s curry pastes (or whatever other brands are available) and just follow the instructions on the label. Just look for the mild varieties and you will be fine.
I should have been a lot more clear. I meant that particular recipe for what they call “Chicken Vindaloo” isn’t, with the 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, very spicy. I hope I haven’t sent anyone to a restaurant thinking they should order Chicken Vindaloo because it’s not that spicy.
The grocery-store brands of curry powder, like McCormick, are very mild; I even use them for deserts sometimes.
Here is my slightly adapted version of Chicken Masala by the Divine Nigella Lawson:
Chicken Masala:
For the Masala:
½ tsp dried hot red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons Cumin seeds
2 teaspoons Coriander seeds
4 whole Cloves
4 Cardamom pods opened and only the seeds inside used
1 tbsp minced Garlic
1 tbsp minced Ginger
Grind spices, garlic, and ginger together very well and add ¼ cup water to make a paste. Set aside. (Use a spice grinder or mortar and pestle, the spices do not need to be perfectly fine, they can be somewhat coarse. And you can certainly use more of any one that you like.)
Also set aside: 1 Cinnamon stick
1 cup dried apricots, cut in half or quarters
2 onions chopped not too fine
3 pounds boneless chicken thighs
4 - 6 medium tomatoes chopped or a can of diced tomatoes (28 oz)
1 tsp salt, and pepper to taste
-Heat about 2 tbsp oil over medium heat in heavy pan.
-Add cinnamon stick and stir about.
-Add onions and stir about until they are soft and beginning to brown.
-Add masala and stir about and let it “bloom” for a few seconds.
-Add the chicken and stir for about 5 minutes.
-Add the dried apricots and the tomatoes.
-Cook, covered, for about 30 minutes on top of the stove or put in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour.
When ready to serve, you may add 3 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro but if you don’t have any, don’t worry about it.
The original recipe says to soak the apricots overnight, but I don’t. I like them distinct in the dish, not just mooshy.
I don’t dice the chicken, I leave the thighs whole. I also brown the thighs first, then set them aside and then add the onions and spices to the pot and then put the chicken back in and carry on. You can use skinless thighs if you like, but it’s harder to brown them. Thighs are the best bits for this dish, breasts get too dry and haven’t got enough flavour to stand up to the masala.
This is mildly spicy, delicious over rice. Preferably Basmati Rice. NOT Texmati, but the real thing from India. Like most casserole dishes it is better the next day.
You can make it “hotter” by adding more red chili pepper flakes, or some chili paste, but don’t go overboard. The original combination is lovely, gently spicey and delicious.
If you use fresh tomatoes, you may need to add water. This should have a consistency like stew.
This is REALLY good. It seems a tad complicated, but this is like Chinese cooking in some ways, the prep is what takes the time, the actual “putting together” is quick. Even small children like this.
You could try a product likethis and see if you like it at home before trying to make it yourself.
I don’t think the best introduction to the world of Indian food is to go right out and try to make it yourself.
Most Indian restaurants have a reasonably priced lunch buffet. There, you can find a selection of curries, naan, and tandoori chicken. It might be worth to head out to a lunch buffet and see what, if any, of the stuff you like. Then you can try to make it at home.
I would, but any decent (in fact, probably any) Indian restaurants is well over an hour drive from my place, if not closer to 2. A bit much to stretch my horizons.
Still, not a bad idea, next time I’m actually in the 'burgh.
That being said, I will be researching some of the suggestions here and surprising my wife, I think.
I’ve been trying to cook some Indian-style foods, too. The ladies at work seem to mix their own spice blends. I bought all the spices separately and can adjust them as I like. Also, I’m using tubes of garlic, cilantro and ginger that I found at an up-scale grocery store in the produce section. It seems most of the spices start with a “c”- cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cayenne, cilantro…