this college student is attempting to cook good curry

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<p>LongPrime: Well, is it undesirable because the chicken becomes tough? For me, some tough bits remain but most of it dissolves deliciously into the soup. :)</p>

<p>db123: I’d like to hear more recipes. :slight_smile: Interestingly enough, I do have dry mint flakes, butter and onions. Does your other briyani recipe work with the other things like cashews missing (is it modular?). </p>

<p>I also can’t find your briyani mix anywhere along Emmet. Well at least for today, I didn’t wander past 1417 Emmet N, i.e. the “Ming Dynasty” restaurant and the Asian market next to it. Do I have to go further up past 29? Is it located past Fashion Square? I’ve got other curry stuff though!</p>

<p>Are potatoes bad for briyani even when steamed to softness separately?</p>

<p>Also, is it possible to do anything with cream of mushroom <em>and</em> curry? (Well besides, eating them separately?) I remember my mother sometimes does something with curry and pasta … but I think it was mostly putting cooked pasta in curry (it was delicious, kind of like curry mee in Singapore), but I wonder if I can flavor pasta with anything that would be harmonious with curry.</p>

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<p>reneev, i would try making briyani again. A lot of people try making indian food, but have complicated directions or not enough direction and end up with something not to their liking. it’s quite simple. try starting with the recipe i first posted. some easy modifications will appear later on this post, and they make the briyani even better. :)</p>

<p>gals, the indian store is a little past fashion square. here’s the website: [Indian</a> Bazar Home Page](<a href=“http://www.indian--bazar.com/]Indian”>http://www.indian--bazar.com/)</p>

<p>it’s across from the albemarle shopping center. after you pass fashion square mall, you’ll see an outback on the right hand side of emmet (the same side as the mall) and some stores on the left side of emmet. Go to the stores on the left side of emmet (away from the outback.) click on the satellite view of the map on the website and what i’m saying will make more sense.</p>

<p>also, at the indian store, you can pick up prepackaged indian food where all you have to do is microwave. those are pretty good. i think the brand is called MTR. in the frozen food section, there’s some bread called “naan.” it’s divine and goes great with chicken tikka masala/butter chicken. (see below.) i would pick some up. (and some indian snacks. and mango juice. and guava.) but then again, I always run up a huge tab at the indian store because I pick up everything. it’s in my blood. :)</p>

<p>no potatoes. period. even if cooked separately, i find that they diminish the flavor of the briyani. or any dish that’s not potato based. </p>

<p>for briyani, you could easily incorporate the butter, onions, and dry mint. For the onion, chop it and saute in oil over medium heat until they turn soft and brown. after adding them into the pan, cover for a few minutes to expedite this process. If your going to use the butter, then undercook your rice a little bit. Add the rice into the pot of chicken, and then add the butter. I use about a stick for 4-6 cups of rice. Let the butter melt and occasionally stir until it’s fully incorporated (about 10 minutes. If it hasn’t fully seeped into your rice, you’ll still be able to taste that uncooked butter.) Keep the heat at about a 6 (on a scale of 1-10). </p>

<p>Something else! take a little bit of butter and fry up some golden raisins in a separate pan (when they’re done, they’ll puff up) and add it them as a garnish. They taste great when mixed in. And if you have cashews, do something similar. Fry up in butter until they’re golden brown and add em. </p>

<p>For the dried mint: I’ve always used fresh mint. The taste is MUCH better and much more potent. IF you want to add some dried mint in, add a little into the marinade for the chicken and add the mint into the cooking chicken about 30 minutes through. </p>

<p>briyani is hard to screw up this way. (unless you add potatoes.) it only requires two pots, one for the cooking, and one for rice. You can modify and play around with the recipe and it will still taste good; it’s a great beginner indian dish. </p>

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<p>now, for butter chicken/chicken tikka masala. this is not for the calorie conscious.</p>

<p>This is the orange curry you always see when you go to an indian restaurant. They way I make mine is quite simple and there are a few main ingredients: heavy whipping cream, tomato sauce, chicken, and spices. And there’s two parts: chicken and sauce. For the chicken, you only need to marinade and grill it. The sauce takes about 15 minutes. There’s a lot of recipes online but a lot of them call for more ingredients than you really need. Those extra ingredients may add “complexity” and that sort of nonsense, but they’re not necessary.</p>

<p>here’s a pretty simple video of how to make the dish. I can tell you what’s necessary and what can be substituted as we go along.</p>

<p>[chicken</a> tikka masala by Chef Vikas Khanna video | ifood.tv](<a href=“http://www.ifood.tv/video/chicken_tikka_masala_by_chef_vikas_khanna]chicken”>http://www.ifood.tv/video/chicken_tikka_masala_by_chef_vikas_khanna)</p>

<p>for the chicken marinade: don’t need food coloring. you can use lemon juice from a bottle and if you don’t have those spices, check the indian store again. They have prepackaged spice mixes for chicken tikka masala. Add one of those spice packets into the marinade. and you don’t need to add cilantro to the marinade.</p>

<p>for the grill: if you have a george foreman, use it. If you don’t have any sort of grill available, then you can cook the chicken in the oven or in a pan. my mom prefers using the oven. I use the george foreman (it’s quick and does the job quickly.) ignore the part cooking in the tandoor. you don’t have one.</p>

<p>for the sauce: as the guy says, I always use garlic/ginger paste. You can find some premade in the asian or indian store; I buy it there. You can also use cans of tomato sauce instead of tomato puree. (this: <a href=“http://ninecooks.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/13/tomatosauce1.jpg[/url]”>http://ninecooks.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/13/tomatosauce1.jpg&lt;/a&gt; not this:<a href=“http://media.canadianfamily.ca/images/cf_sauce_main_.jpg[/url]”>http://media.canadianfamily.ca/images/cf_sauce_main_.jpg&lt;/a&gt;) the general rule of thumb is 3:1 for tomato sauce vs. heavy cream. I cook the mixture a little bit longer than he does (about 5-6 minutes) and add a pinch of salt and pepper. If you’re going to do a lot of indian cooking, i would suggest just buying the garam masala and cayenne powder (both are found at the indian store.) the garam masala comes in handy when you don’t want to buy a whole bunch of spices; they pretty much come in the mixture. Cayenne pepper adds a kick to the dish. You can also use garam masala instead of the coriander in the marinade. Voila! You’re done. Eat the dish with some naan or rice. :)</p>

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<p>Potato is the vegetable you throw in when you accidently had too much salt. So adding potato will diminish the flavor or your stew/curry/soup.</p>

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<p>[How</a> to reduce saltiness in soups/stews 101 Things Every Cook Should Cook](<a href=“http://101things.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2007/08/20/how-to-reduce-saltiness-in-soupsstews/]How”>How to reduce saltiness in soups/stews | 101 Things Every Cook Should Cook)</p>

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<p>If you’re interested in cooking Indian food, I highly recommend “Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cooking”, or any cookbook by Madhur Jaffrey. She’s very good at reinterpretting Indian recipes for American kitchens (and grocery stores). Her Chicken with Tomatoes and Garam Masala is our family’s version of comfort food.</p>

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<p>Madhur Jaffrey’s books were not very helpful to me. I like Murdock books, “The food of India” is much better.</p>

<p>[The</a> Food of India, Murdoch Books](<a href=“Murdoch books - Murdoch books”>Murdoch books - Murdoch books)</p>

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<p>I’ve had pretty good success with Madhur Jaffrey’s cookbooks. I’ve learned to cook some excellent dishes and some challenging stuff (like homemade from scratch puffed Puri bread) from her books. </p>

<p>I don’t think her cookbooks are great cookbooks, but they are pretty useful. I’m not sure there is a “bible” of Indian cooking. Jaffrey tends to give shorthand recipes on the assumption that the cook has a basic knowledge of cooking.</p>

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<p>I just had this really crazy idea of attempting to use cream of mushroom + milk + yogurt + sour cream, putting bony chicken back in it (another crazy idea, since chicken backs sell for like 0.79 / ib), while stirring in a bit of curry mix, on top of the regular sautee garlic/onion/ginger thing.</p>

<p>EDIT: That’s the idea, but I’m going to exclude the sour cream and yogurt on my first try.</p>

<p>This is after discovering that regular cheap rice cooked with a slight dollop of cheap store-bought (non-fresh) basil paste, if stirred regularly, tastes awesome. I mean, I could eat an entire pot of that by myself. All I want is a curry-ish gravy to go with the rice, really.</p>

<p>I did hunt around for cheap jasmine rice though … I’m not sure if I should reserve the basil thing for just the cheap long-grain enriched rice, or whether I should do the same for the jasmine.</p>

<p>db123: Ahh, I’ve been to the Indian store twice, and each time it’s been closed. (Once because I was too late after getting off at the wrong stop. >.< And I quite forgot it closed on Mondays.) So I haven’t been able to try your stuff yet. I’m saving the diced tomatoes and stuff till later…</p>

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<p>basmati rice- not jasmine- At least I like basmati better- or texmati if that is what you can find.</p>

<p>I also like Madhur Jaffreys cookbooks cause all I want is a rough idea of cooking technique and ingredients.
( but other times I like Cooks cause I want to know why something else works better)</p>

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<p>Basmati is too expensive for a poor college student! :frowning: The unit price is like 8x the time of jasmine!</p>

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<p>well, at least you found the store gals! And the Indian store sells jasmine rice; I’m willing to bet my tuition. In general, Indian stores carry many varieties of rice. Happy hunting. :slight_smile: If you have any questions, you know where to find me. :wink: Let me know how it works out!</p>

<p>Edit: Aha!</p>

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<p>[Groceries</a> Available at the Indian Bazar](<a href=“http://www.indian--bazar.com/groceries.php]Groceries”>http://www.indian--bazar.com/groceries.php) I think I will keep my tuition. ;)</p>

<p>gals, you know the briyani spices I was referring to? check the link above. The 3rd picture down, there is a picture of some boxes. On the top row, the brand is “MDH”. On the row below, there’s a box that says everest and next to it are yellow boxes. The Sindhi briyani mix I’m referring to is in one of those yellow boxes; the brand is “Shan.”</p>

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<p>I prefer jasmine over basmati as an all purpose white rice. The harder grains of basmati are good in somethings, but I’ve had a lot of it that just isn’t that good. Maybe it’s been old.</p>

<p>Jasmine rice is dirt cheap in Asian markets.</p>

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<p>lol, maybe it’s just me, but I do like my rice sticky. The whole “fluffing” thing never worked for me. I don’t really like harder rice!</p>

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<p>Basmati rice seems to stink after a while. I have no idea why. I dumped all of mine in my compost bin. I vow to only buy jasmine rice in the future.</p>

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<p>I admit I do spend a lot on groceries
I have bought basmati @ Costco in burlap sacks- but we don’t usually eat enough to warrant that.</p>

<p>I usually buy bulk at the grocery, then I can get just a little more than I anticipate needing.
I mostly make risotto- though, not indian.
Or I use Japanese sticky rice.</p>

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<p>How good is a price like 24 dollars for 25 ib of jasmine?</p>

<p>I’m not sure if I’ll even finish that for the year…</p>

<p>Man, well, if I buy it next year, maybe I don’t need a dining plan next year. (Or I’ll just need a very small one. :p)</p>

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<p>Learned to cook dahl yet?</p>

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<p>OP, </p>

<p>I will IM you my recipe for Chicken curry.
For Basmati rice - try to find a local Indian grocery store. You can buy Basmati at fairly reasonable price at Indian grocery stores. They tend to have Basmati rice in varying budget ranges.</p>

<p>The best Basmati rice brands are Tilda and Lal killa</p>

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<p>Basmati rice sold 52 dollars for 25 pounds where I went to … a little over 2x the price of Jasmine.</p>

<p>Dahl? Is that a bit like an Indian/spiced/curried version of bean chili?</p>

<p>And in the meantime, never try to warm something and while waiting go to your room … </p>

<p>Accidentally set off the smoke alarm, eeeeek!</p>

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<p>Basmati rice sold 52 dollars for 25 pounds where I went to … a little over 2x the price of Jasmine.</p>

<p>Dahl? Is that a bit like an Indian/spiced/curried version of bean chili?</p>

<p>And in the meantime, never try to warm something and while waiting go to your room … </p>

<p>Accidentally set off the smoke alarm, eeeeek!</p>

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<p>I don’t like Madhur Jaffrey’s books (or restaurants) that much either. I like Julie Sahni (who I first met from *Moghul Microwave: Cooking Indian Food the Modern Way *)and I also use The Complete Asian Cookbook by Charmaine Solomon a lot. It’s nice because it has a selection of recipes from countries that aren’t well represented normally - like the Philillipines or Malaysia or Indonesia.</p>