What could be the problem here, please, guys? Any idea?!


Question: What could be the problem here, please, guys? Any idea?
I love to cook Indian curries at home, (from scratch, with jarred powdered spices), but nine times out of ten, they turn out really bland, (and, more often than not, nigh-on COMPLETELY tasteless), but why? I mean, I follow the recipes to the hilt, (and I do mean to the hilt), so what could be the cause of this, please? Any idea? 'Cos I'm at me wit's end here, and I'd REALLY appreciate YOUR angles on this one, please, guys. Much obliged! Peace and love! Be lucky! :)

Answers:

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

Hi: You might want to try the curry pastes that are made by Patak brand. They are fresher than the dried spices and you can ''mix and match'' the flavors that you like. Add Tomato paste and water once you fry the pastes in a little oil, or use them plain, then add plain yogurt when you take them off the stove. Taste as you go and you may be very surprised how good they are. One of my son's favorite recipes is curried meat:

Hamburg (minced beef)
Patak mild curry paste (or hot if you like hot)
minced onion
frozen peas
water to cook

Fry the beef until done, and drain grease. Add curry paste a tsp at a time and taste - add salt if needed. Add minced onion and cook until tender, add peas and heat until done through, adding water if it's getting dry. Serve with chappatis or flour tortillas.

Me



When you cook a curry, it is important to fry the spices after you have fried the onions and garlic. This releases the flavours. There's also a chance you are not using enough and the wrong type.

It's so easy to cook using individual spices. You only need to have four or five in order to cook many types of different curries.

Take a look at my website, The Curry Secret… I think it makes the whole process easy… and hopefully will make your curries TASTY!

http://the-curry-secret.blogspot.com/2010/10/curry-paste-recipe.html

http://www.the-curry-secret.blogspot.com



Buy fresh vegetables from an Indian store only. Use the smaller green chilles for the heat. Double the amount of garlic, ginger(use fresh, not pre made pastes) Also, use some authentic Indian recipes and try Southern Indian recipes for a refreshing spicier, altogether different Indian tastes. This is a good site to start off http://www.recipesindian.com/

If you are buying powdered spices, store them in the refrigerator.



"with jarred powdered spices" is the problem. Most powered have lost their flavour. Buy the whole spices and crush them with pestle and mortar. The smell already will tell you the difference.

The other problem... most recipes think of families, so no spices. Get recipes from Keith Floyd or Madhur Jaffrey and forget the more modern "lighter" cooks



When you assemble your powdered spices heat them gently in a dry man, start with the crushed seed types first and then the powders followed by the pastes.

Something like this is the best IMO http://www.fotosearch.com/DGT385/toa0037…



Try the online Indian cooking community with video recipes at:
http://www.tandooricookingexpert.com/
Post you recipe there and they should have an answer for you.



your might follow recipe but your cooking process is not following on cook spices from dried first to release flavour




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