Having been through many recipe books as a cooking newbie I realised that there is enough in there to confuse the novice. That has been the motivation to post powder recipes in my cookery blog. Today I tackle the curry, in a generic way. Essentially most curries have the same base to which a multitude of vegetables and after-thought ingredients are added to pamper different palettes.
There are two forms of curry that is made in India - dry and gravy.
Dry Curry
What you need to make Dry curry
Seasoning
- Mustard seeds (rai) - 1 tsp
- Cumin seeds (jeera) - 1 tsp
- Turmeric for its antiseptic properties as much as the colour - 1/4 tsp
- Kadlebele (Split Yellow Chick peas/Channa dal) - 2 tsp
- Uddinbele(Urad dal) - 2 tsp
- Red chilly powder - 1 tsp / 2 red chillies broken into pieces / 2 green chillies cut into small rings
Optional Ingredients for Seasoning
- Coriander leaves - 2 strands, finely chopped
- Curry leaves - 10, finely chopped or as is
Preparation to make Dry Curry
- Wash curry leaves and dry thoroughly in the sun. It should not have any moisture in it
- Wash coriander leaves thoroughly.
Method to make Dry Curry
- Heat oil in a pan or kadai (heavy bottomed vessel).
- To the oil add all the seasoning ingredients.
- Wait for the mustard seeds and cumin seeds to splutter, kadlebele and
uddinbele to turn golden brown and chillies to be fried well. - Add any vegetable of your choice. The vegetable could either have been steamed earlier or be raw(which means it will have to cook in the pan).
- Add salt to taste.
- Optional for Dry Curry - Yennegai Powder could be added at this juncture to get a different taste.
What you need to make Gravy Curry
Same as Dry Curry plus
- Onions - 1, blended or cut into small pieces according to convenience
- Tomatoes -2, blended into a puree
- Garlic - 4 pods, mashed or cut into tiny pieces
- Ginger - 1/2 inch piece, mashed or grated
- Same as for Dry curry
- Same as for Dry Curry
