<p>I would love to cook more with curry powder and make more curry dishes, but I feel like a fish out of water in this area.</p>
<p>I have a few different curry powders, yet I have no idea of when to use which ones and why each is different.</p>
<p>I did notice that one of them (I think it’s the Red Curry) actually had a “soapy taste” when I used it (no, I didn’t have some Dawn suds left in the pan.) I’ve also occasionally noticed that same soapy taste in a few Thai entrees from a couple of restaurants, so I think it is a type of curry that has that taste.</p>
<p>Home made curry powder is much better than store bought.
Here is a recipe for Indian curry which I have used.
(I never make Thai curry, since I am surrounded by fantastic Thai restaurants.)</p>
<p>Combine chiles, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, and cumin seeds in small bowl. Add cold water to cover, then drain. Place drained mixture in heavy small skillet. Dry-roast over medium-low heat until seeds are dry, slightly darker in color, and beginning to pop, stirring occasionally, 3 to 4 minutes. Cool in skillet.</p>
<p>Place mace, white pepper, and turmeric in spice mill or grinder. Add cooled spice mixture. Grind to powder. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 week ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.</p>
<p>BTW—I am wondering if the “soapy taste” might be from cilantro or the basil? Both are used in Thai cooking.</p>
<p>I know I’ve been told that “curry” isn’t a specific spice, but a blend (but there isn’t just one blend). I see that one has more coriander, and two have more fenugreek, and one has cumin. they all seem to have tumeric. One has nutmeg, bay leaves, ginger, onion and cloves in it.</p>
<p>As for the soapy taste…I don’t have that problem with all curry powders…just one. I think it’s the Red Curry. I have a Hot Madras Curry powder (don’t know why that name), and it doesn’t taste like that. And, I have a couple of regular bottles of just “curry powder” and those don’t taste soapy, either </p>
<p>(but, hey, I think some Green Teas taste fishy…which I don’t understand at all. )</p>
<p>coriander and cilantro are the same thing----I don’t think Thai red curry paste includes coriander, but I do know that it frequently includes lemongrass, that can sometimes impart a taste that might be akin to “Irish Spring” soap :)</p>
<p>Cilantro can have a slight soapy taste. It is the green leaves that look like parsley in both Thai and Mexican cooking, and has also been called Chinese parsley. </p>
<p>When cilantro goes to seed, the round seeds that form are coriander, which can be ground and used as a curry ingredient, in both Indian and SE Asian cuisines. See if the things that taste soapy have little green leaves sprinkled on them. Typically, cilantro is used raw, and sprinkled on the tops of dishes or mixed in, raw, depending on the recipe. Some love cilantro, some despise it. </p>
<p>I would tend to separate Thai and Indian curries into two different entities, with a number of dissimilar ingredients. I’m guessing your red curry, if labeled as such, is probably Thai. There are a number of red colored curries, like Madras, that are Indian.</p>
<p>I am not really at the stage of making my own spice blends, but I like to use curry pastes rather than curry powders. They come in jars or tins. There’s a big Anglo-Indian brand called Patak’s that has six or seven different types, and I can get little tins of Thai curry pastes at a Chinese grocery store for $1 apiece. The Thai curry pastes are called things like “red” “green” and “sour”. The Indian ones have Indian-restaurant names – Vindaloo, Jalfrazi, Korma, Tikka Masala, Kashmiri.</p>
<p>For Thai curries, I use half a tin (or a few tablespoons) of whatever paste I want (including the Indian ones), a can of coconut milk, some lime juice, some basil, and voila!, that’s the sauce for whatever I have cooked. I am probably violating lots of rules, but I and the people I cook for like it.</p>
<p>I like Thai food better than Indian- green curries especially- but we have Thai restaurants so I don’t cook it much ( also since H doesn’t really like curry)</p>
<p>I like to eat rice cooked in coconut milk with turmeric for a snack though.</p>
<p>It also seems that Trader Joes has a good jarred masala sauce- but don’t know if they still carry it. they are always discontinuing my favorites.</p>
<p>Chennai the capitol of Tamil Nadu used to be called Madras, I expect the sauce is just a regional variation.</p>
<p>Indians don’t use curry powder. Instead they make curry which is a saucy/soupy dish. Every part of India, and every cook, has their favorite spices. Gujaratis don’t cook with coconut- that is south Indian. My mother-in-law’s Kadhi (curry soup- spelling from a cookbook I own) is basically yogurt/buttermilk with some cumin seeds browned in oil plus ginger powder, water, a bit of salt, a sliced green chili and some gram (chickpea) flour for thickening (and preventing the yogurt from separating). Used with dals (lentils et al, including mung beans).</p>
<p>Curry powder you buy in the store is just a fixed mix of spices, like chili powders are. Curry leaves are a plant I have never used. And I never use cilantro because I don’t like it. “Curried” dishes are yogurt based. Many variations depending on the recipe source.</p>
<p>There are many, many good Indian main dishes that are NOT curries. Please read some cook books or search online and learn that there is much more to Indian cooking than using prepared spice mixes and calling a dish a curry. Compare it to using Chinese or Italian cooking with many different ways to do things. Blame colonial Brits for oversimplifying and dubbing Indian dishes “curries”.</p>
<p>I have never seen “curry pastes” in the store, but maybe I’m not looking in the right places. They sound interesting. I may look on Amazon and see if I can just buy and have shipped. </p>
<p>I had forgotten that cilantro and coriander are the same. I like cilantro in Mexican dishes and in salsas, but those don’t seem to have any soapy taste to me. However, if I taste parsleys by themselves, they seem to taste “grassy”. </p>
<p>I’m wondering if the soapy taste that I’ve experienced is from the Lemon Grass that Musica mentioned. Or may coriander seeds (ground) produce the soapy taste while the leaves don’t as much???</p>
<p>Thanks for the recipe ideas and methods. I’m printing them out. :)</p>
<p>Ok…I’m finding curry pastes on Amazon. How do you know which flavor to buy? One says “hot”…is it hot, hot? lol</p>
<p>I see Biryani, Madras, mild and hot from Pataks.</p>
<p>There’s also a brand called: May Ploy.</p>
<p>Oh, and there’s a 6 pack with 3 flavors by Maesri (red, yellow, green)</p>
<p>And a 6 pack variety: Kitchens of India offers this delicious assortment of curry pastes including - Paste for Butter Chicken Curry, Curry Paste For Chicken Curry,* Curry Paste For Hyderabadi Biryani,* Curry Paste For Lamb Curry, Curry Paste For Fish Curry and Curry Paste For Vegetable Biryani.</p>
<p>I didn’t know coriander and cilantro were the same, and they don’t taste the same. Coriander is used more in Middle Eastern dishes and I’ve used cilantro more in Mexican cuisine. </p>
<p>Coriander has a sweet taste - not totally alien to cinnamon - so I doubt that is causing the soapy taste.</p>
<p>I wonder if what’s mixing us up between coriander and cilantro is that sometimes it’s the coriander seeds that are being ground up…and the seeds would have a different flavor than the leaves??? </p>
<p>lol…I just googled “Curry soapy taste” and got some hits! I guess this isn’t unusual. There are several ideas as to why this can happen.</p>
<p>For those who like Indian curry, my favorite brand is Daw Sen. It comes in either paste or powder. I prefer paste, but the paste kind has been difficult to find lately.
I also use Thai red and green curry.
I find using the right amount of curry is important especially in meat dishes…I use lots of it. Weak curry is blah. I always use a can of coconut milk or cream and some palm sugar.</p>
<p>I make a curry cabbage dish that has been a favorite with the family. Stir-fry cabbage with some (lightly) curry powder, salt and some sugar. I like to serve it with miso salmon.</p>
<p>I use the Sweet Curry powder to make a very easy, tasty roast pork with sweet curry sauce and dried tropical fruits. (It’s not really sweet–just less hot than some of their other curry powders. The recipe is at Penzy’s.)</p>
<p>I also use Thai red, green and yellow curry pastes to make curries. (1 can coconut milk plus 1-3 Tbsp of curry paste. Add veggies, meat or fish, if desired, serve over rice. Yum!)</p>
<p>Also several other different curry powders that I got either from D1 who bought them in a small shop in Berkeley or from a friend who lives in Oregon and sends me her husband’s grandmother’s secret family blend.</p>
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