I really want to learn more about East Indian food and thought what better place to start than with a curry paste? I could make our curry chicken as a test recipe, since we know the dish so well.
I turned to The Spice Bible: Essential Information and More Than 250 Recipes Using Spices, Spice Mixes, and Spice Pastes and chose madras curry paste. Mostly because it sounded like the most basic of their curry paste recipes and… I had all the ingredients!
The Recipe
You will need 2 1/2 tbsp coriander seeds, 1 tbsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp brown mustard seeds, 1 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp ground turmeric, 2 garlic cloves (crushed), 2 tsp grated fresh ginger, 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, 1 tsp salt and 1/3 cup white vinegar.
You need to dry-fry the coriander and cumin seeds in a small frying pan.
Just until fragrant which will take a couple of minutes.
I got out my new cast iron mortar and pestle from Kitchen Stuff Plus instead of my spice grinder. I really wanted to try and grind the seeds myself.
I did crack the coriander seeds open but probably did not do justice to the paste. Oh well, I tried! Next time I will use my spice grinder.
Put the coriander and cumin into a bowl and add the mustard seeds.
Add the rest of the spices, as well as pressing two cloves of fresh garlic into the paste:
Don’t forget the ginger and add 1 tsp of salt into the small bowl. Mix together well.
Add in 1/3 cup white vinegar and mix into a paste.
Test Recipe
We love curry chicken and it is so easy to make! Get some low fat yogurt and add a few tbsp of the curry paste.
Mix together well and marinade raw chicken in the mixture for quite a few hours in the fridge.
I like to grill the chicken but for some reason, I got zero grill marks. Weird! Guess the grill wasn’t hot enough.
Foodie Conclusion
Reg loved the chicken even more than usual! I must admit, everything tasted so fresh and clean. The only problem? I found this curry paste too simple. The complexity, for me, was not there.
Also, I wish in the cookbook they described the difference between the kinds of curry pastes. What makes Madras so different then Musaman? Is it just regional? When would I use either? Does one go better with some things than others? Guess I am just going to have to try them out and find out for myself.
I love that the curry paste was so easy to make. I usually have lots of dried spices and herbs at home so for me, this cost me pennies to make. A lot cheaper than buying a small jar for $3-4. Not difficult to make at all in the slightest although next time, I will definitely use my spice grinder.
I give this recipe four out of five wooden spoons. A good basic curry paste with loads of coriander flavour. But I want more. The perfect recipe search continues…
Note: Keep in an airtight jar and the paste will keep for up to 1 month in the refrigerator.
Adventurous foodie-ness Suzie! Sorry to hear it wasn’t complex enough for ya but impressed it was a hit with Reg.
One question: How do you store it? In the fridge? How long do you think it would keep?
Looks delish, although it’s hard to imagine anything would top your current curry chicken recipe 🙂
It is impressive Reg liked it, isn’t it Shannon?! Oh yes, foodie adventures are what I live for.
Thanks for reminding me, I totally forgot to add that to the post. This is what the recipe says, “Keep in an airtight jar and the paste will keep for up to 1 month in the refrigerator. “
Awww… Thanks Shannon! So far, I have to agree with you although I didn’t make that paste damn it! 🙂 One day! So glad you like that chicken. So easy and delicious, one of my go-tos when I don’t feel like being creative in the kitchen.
It is impressive Reg liked it, isn’t it Shannon?! Oh yes, foodie adventures are what I live for.
Thanks for reminding me, I totally forgot to add that to the post. This is what the recipe says, “Keep in an airtight jar and the paste will keep for up to 1 month in the refrigerator. “
Awww… Thanks Shannon! So far, I have to agree with you although I didn’t make that paste damn it! 🙂 One day! So glad you like that chicken. So easy and delicious, one of my go-tos when I don’t feel like being creative in the kitchen.
A good first start! You’ll tweak the proportions and ingredients and soon it will be PERFECT!
Thanks Debra! Not bad for my first time right? Oh I do hope I come up with the perfect combo, that would rock.
Lovely pictures – it seems to be an interesting food blog. I like it a lot!
Anna Karin, Sweden
I have been experimenting with curry pastes recently, too! It’s so much fun to try all the different flavours. Jamie Oliver has a bunch (not sure how authentic they are) that are diverse in flavour. So far I’ve tried his korma, rogan josh, and jalfreezi. They are almost like pesto, combining fresh herbs or peppers with the curry spices and oil.
As for storing, I put them into ice cube trays and froze them. Then found some good containers so my freezer didn’t reek of curry. This seemed to work well. When it came to cooking them, I threw them into the pan first to let them melt and brown a little to get out more flavour and then added whatever liquid I was using for the sauce. The first batches I made must have lasted a good six months to a year.
Really enjoying your blog. It’s a great mix of reviews and recipes. I’m looking forward to our next Halifax trip to try some of the new-to- me places you’ve been to!
Freezing them is an awesome idea Jenny! Thank you for that and for the feedback on my blog. 🙂 Keeps me going!
Have made it yet to taste. It looks too yellow, this is probably due to the chillies use. Madras should use Kashmiri chillies which are very red. There lay the difference between regional currys. I grow my own so use Thai chillies for Thai food and other regional chillies. I doubt is colour will effect the end result. At the end of the day it is the taste that counts.
Wow, love that you grow your own chillies Indaloman, impressive and yes, it would affect the colour. Hope it was flavourful!