Anyone interested in cooking curry?

Iccz

The one in the Curry Secret book is nice but it didn't turn out like the one from restaurants/take aways - it was a bit hotter and it wasn't as red/creamy, but, it was still nice.
I've not found any that give the result that a restaurant does yet, they're usually not creamy enough or the taste is wrong.
I'd be interested if anyone has any of these that they've tried...

stepneg

I've been trying to emulate takeaway curry for years, I am there with a few dishes CTM being fairly close.  If your going to start trying to make them at home you will need to do as they do and make some base sauce first:

8 Onions
500 ml oil
1 Large carrot
1 Green pepper
2 Tbsp Tomato Puree
1 Tin plum tomato
2 Desert spoons garlic & ginger puree
1 Heaped desert spoon cumin
1 Heaped desert spoon coriander  
1 Heaped desert spoon turmeric
Half Desert spoon garam masalla
Salt (heaped desert spoon)
Water just below the onions

Boil up everything except the spices, once boiling add the spices and stir in.
Keep stirring and boil until the carrot has gone soft.
Blend the mixture with some added water.
Return to the pot and cook again, adding boiling water to get the right consistency.? It should be runny.
Keep cooking until the oil separates.

Once you have a batch of this sauce you can divide it up and freeze it, next time you want a curry take one out and your good to go!

The CTM I make as follows:

Ingredients:
2 or 3 tbsp Oil
1 tsp garlic & ginger puree
Half a tbsp tomato puree
1 Heaped tsp spice mix
1 level tsp tandoori masala
Curry gravy (add until it looks right with the amount of meat)
1 portion pre-cooked chicken tikka (3 or 4 chicken breasts)
3 or 4 tbsp cream (More if prefered)
2"x1" piece of creamed coconut (or to taste)
1 tbsp sugar
Red food colouring
Small handful of chopped coriander  

Method:
Fry the garlic and ginger puree for a few seconds in the oil.
Add the tomato puree and fry for a minute or 2.
Add the chilli powder, tandoori masala and spice mix, cook for a minute or 2 moving round the pan.
Add a ladle of curry gravy and stir in.
Add tikka chicken mix in and then add the rest of the gravy.
Add the sugar and coconut stir in until the coconut has dissapeared.
Take of the heat and add the cream, stirring in as you go.
Stir in the red food colouring and return to the heat.
Cook through for a couple of mins.
Garnish with the chopped coriander

The spice mix is made up of coriander, cumin and turmeric in the ratio 4, 2, 1

To make the chicken tikka you can just marinade chicken breast pieces in Pataks tandoori paste and yoghurt for a few hours then cook in your oven at the top.  It won't the same as a takeaway though unless you use a tandoor.

I got these recipes from www.cr0.co.uk | Curry Recipes Online | Curry Recipes

Iccz

Sounds quite a lot like the one from the curry secret book, though it was nice it was very different to the usual CTM I get from some of my locals, yet it was quite similar to others, it depends what kind of CTM someone wants I guess...

stepneg

If you go to five different takeaways you will get five different CTM's, some add tom soup, some ketchup etc...  this one is a good starting point and you can change it how you like.

I started of with the curry secret book myself but as you say most of the recipes are not like your local takeaway, its a good intro to takeaway curry but I've learnt a lot more from asking around in restaurants and web sites.

Iccz

Yeah I have tried asking in restaurants, even in the one where I'm friends with the owner and they often wont really give you anything more than a rough idea of what ingredients they use.
I'm not very good when it comes to experimenting, things always go wrong
I generally stick religiously to recipes and instructions.

busterbenny2001

How’s the curry making going, been into making curry’s for years, enjoyed reading this thread, we need to get active and get some pics up here have a CTM off !
I base my gravy on the curry secret recipie with a few additions and recently have been grinding my own spices after roasting them, such an improvement on flavour.

psychopomp1

I strongly recommend the excellent 'This Muslim Girl Bakes' blog for super-delicious home made curries - you will never need to buy another recipe book again!! All her recipes come with photos and are an absolute doddle to follow. Have a look a the 'savoury' section for the curry recipes there. My favourite is is the lamb mince curry!

This Muslim Girl Bakes: Keema - Lamb Mince Curry

This Muslim Girl Bakes

Chadford

I'm looking for a recipe for what I would term a 'tea time curry' that freezes well.

I cook spag bol sauce or chilli con carne sauce for the freezer, (I usually make about 6 x 500g portions bagged up at a time) to be defrosted in the microwave for when I can't be arsed haven't much time to cook.

...so i'm looking for something that doesn't take more than a couple of hours work (the elapsed time could be all day if necessary), veg, fish, chicken, lamb, whatever, but must taste pretty good and as above freezes well.

I've done the curry secret curries from time to time (excellent) but i'm looking for something a bit simpler to prepare.

Any ideas?

Ta.

busterbenny2001

This is an excellent easy  recipie can be adapted I add peppers sweet potatoes and sometimes chicken or lamb.

Coconut Red Lentil Dahl: Simple, delicious, nutritious, vegan.

john79

I love curry and cook it quite often. It's not hard to make and the best thing is when you don't want to eat meat, veggie curry is way better than a simple veggie dish.