Kashmaori Curry

Kia ora Curry Cuzzys’. Apologies for having to bunk out of the last owners’ evening; however, I trust that those of you who attended enjoyed the twist on a Kashmiri curry.

Stocking a boat galley can be a random exercise or quite the articulated process. For those of you who enjoy a good curry but do not want to carry the varied herbs and spices, then a jar paste is a good start. I do find jar pastes are all quite vanilla, though they can be made quite the meal with the addition of what I would call the pantry’s usual suspects. Dried spices are economical and generally have a good 9 to 12 months before they hit their Best Before. Ground and powdered Chilli, Cumin, Cardamom, Coriander, Garlic and Ginger are a staple backup when fresh or whole are not available. Add to that a Marsala and a bog standard curry powder, and you can zhoosh up any curry jar paste from tasting like hospital food to being bloody marvellous. I like to keep a wee packet of Kashmiri powder purely because of the vibrant colour it adds to any curry.

Now something to note if you make a curry that has very good heat, the next day the curry will have mellowed considerably, as the heat comes from Capsaicin, aka Hoopla. The “Hot” dissolves into the fats and oils over time, blunting the sharp impact on your tongue, therefore reducing the heat from day 1. To be fair, that does not reduce the outbound heat if you know what I mean.

Ingredients and Method:

Again, the recipe is a suggestion, but key to understand is a jar paste makes a great base, not too hot, not too spicy.

In this particular case, I added the following powders:

Kashmiri, coriander, cumin, and masala into a medium heat pan along with curry jar paste and a double glug of oil (or you can use ghee or Vutter, yes, Vutter with a “V”). This process is called blooming or frying out. Basically waking up the mixture, allowing the fat-soluble essential oils to release, and removing the harsh, earthy, almost raw elements of the spice mix.

Mix it all together and let heat meld and amalgamate the spices and paste. Within 90 seconds you should have a rich, pungent, almost spicy aroma; within another 3 minutes the paste has cooked through, and the oil from the paste and the oil you added to pan should be deep and rich in colour.

Chicken. I am a firm believer in dark meat for curry so best is boneless skinless thigh meat, and for a curry have it cut up to chunks of no bigger than 20mm. This will allow for an even cook. Toss in your cut-up chook and get it well coated in the hot rendering spice mix. Some people like to “brown” or “choke” the chook prior to inserting into the spice bath. I prefer to raw dog it and add the chook without a sear.  This allows for the spice to coat the chook completely.

Next, add equal portions of chook stock and a good coconut cream to your pan/pot of spice and chook. Mix well and bring to a simmer for 10 minutes. If you have time, let cool and then refrigerate overnight; reheat next day and Boom, Kumars’ your uncle. However, if you are planning to consume the same day, then leave the curry on medium-low and prior to serving stir in fresh herbs such as parsley or spring onions. Also works well is, are, oven dehydrated curry leaves. These do not taste like curry; they do have good notes of savoury citrus, lemon, lemongrass.

So, no measurements, but allow 1 standard jar paste, around 150gm; then allow 1 can circa 400gm of coconut cream, 400ml chook stock and 500gm fresh chopped chook. Have fun, interpret, enjoy, and trust the process. Create something a little different for you and yours!

Kia nui te kai!