On 2012-05-17, W > wrote:
> available off the shelf in an Indian store, or do they require some
> preparation?
First, you don't need an Indian store. I get almost all my spices
from my local health food store. Most curries require some spice
prep, either in grinding the spices --I buy mine whole and grind
myself-- or in heating the spices in either their whole or ground
form, either dry or in oil. Their are a few special spices like whole
curry leaves and asafoetida, but I wouldn't worry about those two
untless you really get deep into Indian cooking.
Here's a suggestion. Try a Moroccan curry. Same animal, different
part of the World. It's called a tagine and I've been playing around
with them, lately. Make no mistake, the Moroccans may call it a
tagine, but this is a full blown curry in every sense of the word.
The spice blend is not overly complex, yet not some simplified
off-the-shelf wannabe curry mix. It's the real deal. Here's the
link:
http://tinyurl.com/25e4yv2
Try making this recipe, particularly the Ras El Hanout spice blend.
This is a dead serious curry spice blend and the dish has curry
cousins all over the world. I once made a Tibetan monk's version of
this dish. Yes, that was a curry, too.
http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/mai...out_recipe.htm
You can use lamb, beef chicken, guinea pig, whatever. I use pork.
The key is the spice blend. Make this blend as instructed and you
will have an authentic curry spice you can use all over the place.
Adjust the cayenne pepper amount to your personal preferences. It
determines the spicey hotness of the dish. TIP: You might leave the
cayenne out of the spice blend and add it, as preferred, later in the
dish. Once it's in the blend, yer stuck with it.
I recently checked out 660 Curries from my local library. Didn't like
it. I'll look around and see if I can find a better curry website
online. Until then, try this tagine. If you can do this one dish,
you can do curries. I gar-own-tee!
nb
--
vi --the heart of evil!
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