a curry recipe

As promised I'm going to give you my mother's curry recipe today but first I want to thank you all for reading her story and leaving such lovely comments. I have a difficult relationship with my Mum and I do need to look beyond her behaviour constantly and remember what she's been through and how amazing and strong she is......and as you can imagine I don't always manage it.

Now back to the curry. My parents are from the Punjab and this is a punjabi recipe. It's quite different from the curries you eat in Indian restaurants over here which are mainly Bangladeshi. So without further ado you will need:

about 3oz butter, about 9 or 10 cloves of garlic (I chucked some out once I'd chopped them as it seemed a bit too much), one large or 2 medium onions, about 2lbs of meat, turmeric, salt, chillies, about a heaped tablespoon of grated ginger, garam masala and 2 tomatoes.

So start by melting the butter with a slug of cooking oil in a pan. Add the chopped garlic and cook over a low heat for a couple of minutes. Watch it like a hawk and stop before it starts going red.

Add the roughly chopped onions and cook them over a low to medium heat for about 20 minutues until they are golden and soft:

My Mum says to stop when you pick up a ladlefull and it's bubbling in the spoon.

Then add 1 teaspoon of turmeric, about 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, 2 teaspoons of garam masala, a big lump of grated ginger (I keep mine grated in lumps in the freezer) and some chillies - how many is up to you and how hot you like your food. Cook for about five minutes.

Then add your chopped tomatoes which you could blanch and peel if you wish (I can never be bothered) and cook these for about 20 minutes until they disappear into the sauce.

Not quite there.

That's better.

Then add the meat - I had about 1 1/2lbs of lamb:

Now I usually cook this on high for about 10 minutes and then I put it in the simmering over of the Aga for 2 hours. My Mum turns the heat low on her gas cooker and cooks for a lot less. I think you'll have to check it at half hourly intervals and add a bit of water if it dries out.

Here it is after an hour and a half and then I added some spinach that I had in the fridge (a canny way to make the children eat spinach) and cooked it for another half an hour:

and voila - it's ready. Serve with basmati rice which I will also tell you how to cook:

Sprinkle some chopped coriander over the top (I didn't have any).

For perfect rice: measure a quantity in a measuring jug. Let's say roughly 12fl ozs for five people (that's 2 adults and 3 children in our family). Chuck it in a pan and measure DOUBLE the amount of boiling water in your jug - so that's 24 fl oz. Add to pan and bring to the boil. Simmer on very low for about 20-25 minutes and you will have perfect, heavenly smelling rice.

Now you can use this recipe for any meat and for a vegetable curry too in which case omit the tomatoes and add water ofcourse. My Mum never measures anything and with curries I have gotten into the habit of doing the same. So I would say use this recipe as a basis and play around with it. One thing though don't use curry powder my Mum never does. Garam Masala is the key. I've started making my own now from my Mum's recipe and it's basically coriander, cumin, black cardamoms, some cinnamon bark and some black pepper. I think every household must have a different recipe. If you're really into making curry I'll be making a huge batch just as soon as I can get to the Indian shops to buy the ingredients. I sold some last year at our school fair and it went down a treat.

I gotta go as they say. The children are on Easter holidays and I have to go and meet my sister some where between the east of England and the west to swap children. Amber is going there for a few days and my younger nephew and niece are coming here. Then we all meet up here for the Easter weekend. In between we have eggs to decorate, hot cross buns to make, a house to clean for our visitors (only time the house gets a thorough clean thank goodness).  Enjoy your curry..................

Comments

[Ash]

Simmy, that looks just like the curry my mom used to make! We obviously had some influence from the Punjab in our town because I haven't come across a similar kind of curry in the UK or over here.

The closest I get to what we used to have when I order a curry is a Rogan Josh.

I'll have to try making some garam masala. I never have before - we could just buy it at the market in Cape Town and my mom always had some from somewhere at home.

[Georgia]

yum, I'll give that a go, although it is very similar to how I make curry anyway. I love Indian food. And we have had some great stuff living in Singapore. And even here there is a FANTASTIC little (very authentic) curry house just around the corner.
The way I was told to do it by my Indian friend in Aus was to put the spices into the pan first with the onion and garlic so that the flavour comes out more -like the garam masala. I always just use a combination of those spices (never GM) but my favourite part is the smell when they are sizzling away.mmm

[JanB]

I just LOVE Indian food, but I noticed early on that many dishes look like Alpo Chunky Moist. But it sure is yummy!

[Ali]

That's just like my Mum's. Good curry thoughts going on here.

[Simone]

I must have a go at making this Simmy. Real comfort food.

[amanda]

This looks and sounds absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for sharing such a special recipe!

[Marie]

I'm going to have a go at this on the weekend Simmy! It looks fabulous!

[Kassia]

Mmmmm - the curry looks so good! As soon as I read your post this morning I was tempted to make it right away! (I suppose it doesn't help that we have all the ingredients in the cabinet and I'm pregnant and prone to doing such impulsive things....!) Fortunately, my husband called and talked me out of making for breakfast, and so we'll have it for dinner later this week. I can't wait! Thanks for posting!

[Jodi]

Hey Simmy,

Hit your blog twice today to copy the recipe for the curry. Considering all the comments, dont you think its cool that the aroma of your Mom's curry will be wafting all over the planet this week?

[Joy]

Oh yummy, I can smell the aromatic spices right now.

[Kate]

Thanks for sharing this recipe. Will have to give this one a go.

[Elizabeth]

Oh yum, I know what we are having for dinner tonight! Thanks for sharing your mother's recipe. I just read her story at the same time today. It is invaluable to know some of our parent's lives before we were born.

[Jools]

Hi, thanks for posting your mums recipe, it's simmering away nicely as I type! I'm using quorn chunks instead of lamb, and I didn't have any tomatoes or fresh ginger, so I used a few squirts of tomato puree and a teaspoon of ginger powder. Smells good! Oh, and it's the first curry I've made without using a curry sauce. :) So, thanks again!

[shannon]

oh yum. I am defintely bookmarking this page. We have a yearling lamb that needs to be butchered and what a wonderful way to eat him.

[Rich]

Hi Simmy,
Thanks for receipe. Just made it and it tastes great and full of flavour - yet so easy and uncomplicated.
Any other receipes like this you might have ?
Thanks again
Rich