How To Make Curry - What Not To Do!

photo courtesy of Wiki Commons

Ok, I tried my hand at homemade curry for the first time tonight.  I'll be honest, it did not turn out how I'd hoped.  I definitely need more practice but tonight's effort did not end in failure, thank goodness because it would have been such a waste of ingredients!

I reviewed 3 different YouTube videos on making curry paste and I combined tips from all three and tips from the web.  I was concerned how I would thicken my curry paste (without using flour or corn starch) and remembered the Tahini I had in the fridge from a homemade hummus recipe I tried a few months back.  I googled Tahini in curry paste and it seemed like a viable option.

However, I find that it took over in flavor and I was not pleased about that. Now it's very possible that I used too much. That was a result of me listening to head and not my gut.  My head (and perhaps ego) ruled throughout making this dish and I gained valuable insight from this experience. So I'm going to do some things differently next time! And I can't wait!

The Learning Curve

Getting too far ahead of myself, I taste tested the pre-paste mixture and thought it wasn't spicy or flavorful enough so I kept adding more spice thinking the Tahini would mellow it enough to leave it just right. I didn't measure the Tahini. I pretty much just added what I thought would work well (with no prior experience/knowledge). Well, what I got was a very bland initial taste and then a spicy flavor as it goes down your throat.  It was a great learning experience and I honestly feel that the learning curve here is very high.

Another mistake I made was not following basic principles of cooking and that is "mise en place" (French for "put in place").  This just means get everything ready before hand. DOH! I know better but still haven't quite broken myself of some bad habits.  It's best practice to chop, dice, cut everything first, portion out ingredients (so you can add them in a timely fashion), etc to create the best result.

I also think I may have used too much oil. Again, I didn't measure and I kept adding as a I went along (as a result of failing to chop the garlic prior and finding a lot of the oil had already been soaked up by the onions so I added more - perhaps not a good idea).  I used a canola/olive oil blend. I personally don't like to use canola oil but I didn't want to use the organic extra virgin olive that I have (better for dressings, not a great choice for cooking) and the only other oils I have are sesame and coconut so I was quite limited.

I didn't have any tomatoes or tomato paste on hand and assumed this would turn out well without it.  Next time, I will make sure to include tomato and perhaps ghee. (Watch the YouTube videos below to learn the recipe.)

This is the curry on simmer.  I succeeded at appearance and nutrition but flavor needs work.

I'm not gonna go in to great detail about my method but I want to share with you the videos that I watched. Enjoy!

Check out these videos on making curry: