Chicken Curry and Beyond - The CurryFocus Blog

The spice in a curry or other hot meal comes from the chilli used, and is caused by a crystalline alkaloid called capsaicin, which is found in chilli peppers. As a rule of thumb, remember the smaller the chilli, the hotter it will be.

There is nothing worse than serving up a curry that is going to burn the digestive systems of our friends, most of us like hot spicy food, but too hot is not a great look. There is nothing worse than guests trying to be polite as sweat streams down their faces! Probably they will be cursing you the next morning as well as they may have a bad case of “Ghandi’s Revenge”

In this article we look at ways to cool down a curry that is just a tad to spicy.

Curry not yet served up

• One of the easiest methods to cool down a curry thats just too hot is to add coconut milk.
• Add fresh lemon or lime juice. This will help to reduce some of the hotness because the citric acid will counteract some of the alkalinity of the capsaicin.

Curry already served

• Drink milk with the spicy meal or serve savoury yoghurt such as a cooling mint Raita, with cucumber and a little diced onion
• Banana and coconut are two further foods to serve as accompaniments to curry which are known to help make a fiery curry more palatable.

These methods can be used to turn a Curry thats a bit too hot into something edible, if however your curry is even hotter than that the only other solution would be to create another sauce altogether. And this time go easy on the chilli!

This Curry Coconut Chicken Stir-Fry works well, is very tasty and simple to prepare. When I cooked it myself I put in to much of the Pataks paste so it was a little to hot.

Next time I try it I won’t be quite so heavy handed with the paste - still delicous however.

Why don’t you try it and let us know what you think!

Garam Masala can be loosely translated to Hot (Garam) Spice (Masala), however it is not in fact a spice itself, rather it is a blend of spices.

Traditionally a Garam Masala is made up of cinnamon, roasted cumin, cloves, nutmeg (and/or mace) and green cardamom seed or black cardamom pods. Commercially, however, the mixture may also contain dried red chilli peppers, garlic, ginger powder, sesame, mustard seeds, turmeric, cilantro, bay leaves, cumin and fennel.

Garam Masala can be purchased in Indian markets and in the gourmet section of all good supermarkets.

There are a couple of recipes for Garam Masala on the Curry Focus web site. Why not check them out at Garam Masala - Makes 62ml and Garam Masala - So Easy You can experiment with different combinations to find the recipe that you like best.

Remember that spices lose their flavour over time so it is important to make small amounts at a time and to store the powder in airtight containers.

Lots of recipes use Garam Masala and the spices are usually added near the end of cooking so that the flavours are not lost during cooking.

Enjoy.

Curry powder itself was actually developed by the British who wanted to take the taste of India home with them, without having the hassle of dealing with fresh spices. Because of this Curry Powder in the western world has a fairly standard taste, however in India itself there are millions of different curry flavours.

A curry as a dish may or may not contain curry powder and this is where it can get confusing. Traditional curries from India often will not contain any curry powder at all, however if you are living in the western world it is quite likely that a dish that you create will contain curry powder.

There are lots of different recipes for making your own curry powder. Each different curry powder has it’s own flavours and taste sensations. Here’s a simple recipe for Curry Powder . You can adjust the ingredients to your own particular tastes until you find your perfect recipe.

If you are thinking of using commercially prepared curry powder, buy the best one you can afford. Some are truly dreadful. If you are in the UK, Barts and Fox’s are good and reliable and Rajah are excellent.

Cilantro
Cilantro (Coriandrum Sativum) is an herb that is used a lot in Asian, Mediterranean African and Chinese cooking. The leaves and seeds are both used to give flavour as well as to provide a garnish. Cilantro is called called coriander outside in North America.

Cilantro leaves lose their flavour when heated so they are often added to dishes just before serving. The leaves also lose their flavour when dry or cold so they should be used as soon as they are picked.

When crushed, cilantro seeds have a lemon-citrus flavour. And the seeds quickly lose their flavour once ground so the powder should be used soon after being ground.

As well as giving flavour to dishes, crushed cilantro also acts as a thickener.

The cilantro roots are widely used in Thai cooking.

Cilantro has some medicinal uses. It has been used to relieve anxiety and contains a compound called dodecanol that kills salmonella bacteria. When boiled with cumin seeds, cilantro is an effective diuretic.

Cumin
Cumin (Cuminum Cyminum) is an herb of the parsley family and the seeds are used in cooking.

The seeds have a distinctive spicy-sweet aroma and a pungent, slightly bitter flavour and are often used in curry recipes.

The seeds are usually lightly roasted before being used and ground to a powder.

Cumin is the main ingredient in garam masala and curry powder.

Cumin is used medicinally to treat diarrhoea, indigestion and morning sickness.

Cumin is often confused with caraway but cumin has a far more powerful taste.