curry help needed

steve said:

hi all, i want to make a basic curry. this is what i have.

beer chicken sharwoods mild curry paste. onions peas coconut milk potatos water beer crisps garlic
rice curry powder cummin powder pepper salt frying pan beer

so tell me, what do i do?

thanx steve uk (living in germany)

Open a beer and drink some to put you in the mood. Chop and fry the onions and garlic. Mix curry
powder (say 1 heaped dessert spoon per person) with some water to make a paste like tomato ketchup,
then add to onions and fry lightly (or use the curry paste, or both!) - add some cummin powder here
if you want - but don't over do it. Add the chicken and fry until mostly done. You could probably
finish the first beer while waiting. Add water and then add the potatoes. When it's all nearly done,
add coconut milk, and peas. Salt and pepper to taste.

And boil until you get the consistency you like.

Meanwhile, get the rice in a saucepan with a lid, and cover it with water - say 1 1/2 to 2 times the
amount of water to rice. Add salt, and if you have it and a little of any/all of these: aniseed,
cinammon stick, cardamon pods, whole peppercorns). Cover and bring to the boil. Turn off heat, leave
the lid on, and let it steam for around another 5-8 mins (check occasionally).

If you can get a packet of poppadoms you can do pasable ones in a shallow frying pan. Alternatively
under the grill, or of you don't have one you can still do them on a hot electric ring. You'll have
to be quick (use a fish-slice) and you will certainly loose a few before you get the hang of it.

OK, so it's not totally authentic, but it's a reliable basic start, which can be varied to suit your
ingredients. The best fat to use is ghee, the nearest to which is "Butterschmalz" available from the
dairy section in your German supermarket in margarine-type tubs. But any oil will do. The water in
the curry powder it to help stop the spices burn.

Optionally, you can add sliced ginger just after the garlic; Add tomatoes or puree in the boiling
stage, or after frying the meat.

--
Tim.

If the human brain were simple enough that we could understand it, we would be so simple that
we couldn't.