Indian Style Curry Recipes

Basic ingredients

Amchoor - It is a sour powder made from raw, dried mango.

Asafetida (Hing) - It is used in seasoning.

Cardamom (Ilayachi) - These are the greenish or white pods with black tiny fragrant seeds.

Cilantro or coriander (dhania) - These fresh leaves are used for garnish.

Cinnamon (dalchini) - This spice is used in stick or powder form.

Coriander seeds (dhania) - this spice is used whole or ground. Available in Indian store.

Cumin seeds (jeera) - This spice is used whole or ground.

Curry leaves - (karipatta) these leaves are used in seasoning. They can be dried and used.

Fenugreek (methi) - These yellow, small and very bitter seeds are used for seasoning.

Garam masala - It is a mixture of several spices. It is used in many dishes.

Mustard seeds - These are black or yellow seeds used for seasoning.

Turmeric (haldi) - Turmeric is used in almost all salty dishes in India. It is also known for its medicinal properties.

Kasuri methi: these are dried methi leaves used for flavor.

1) Eggplant Curry

 4/5 small eggplants (Indian eggplants)

 1 cup Coconut fresh or dry

 1 small onion chopped

 2 garlic cloves

 1-cm ginger peeled

 1tsp. Garam masala

 2 inch tamarind

 ½ sp. Turmeric

 1 to 1 ½ tsp. Red chili powder

 ½ sp. Mustard seeds.

Heat 1-sp. oil in the pan.

Fry onions, garlic, and ginger till golden brown

Add coconut and roast it till golden brown

Cool the mixture and grind it to a smooth paste by adding little water.

Heat 1 sp. Oil in the pan.

Add mustard seeds. When they splutter add onion coconut paste.

Fry for 1 min.

Add tamarind pulp. (Soak tamarind in ½ cup water and extract pulp by pressing it with hands.)

Add ½ cup water.

Cut the eggplants halfway so that they stay whole.

Add eggplants, turmeric, and chili powder and garam masala.

Cook for 5/7 min on low heat.

Add one tbsp. Coriander.

Cook for another 2 min.

Serve hot with rice or chapati (Indian bread).

2) Navaratan Kurma

 1 cup mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, and beans)

 1 cup sour cream

 ½ cup coconut milk

 1 cardamom whole

 3 pepper corns

 1 dry bay leaf

 1 sp. Poppy seeds

 2 cloves

 1 tsp. Red Chili powder.

 1 small onion

 2/3 garlic cloves

 1 cm ginger

 2 tbsp. Raisins

 2 tbsp chopped apple

 1 tbsp. Pineapple (canned)

Soak poppy seeds in 1 tbsp. Water for 15 min.

Peel the onion and boil it whole in ½ cup of water till tender.

Grind onion, poppy seeds, garlic and ginger to a fine paste.

Heat 1 sp. Oil in the pan.

Add pepper, bay leaf, cloves and stir-fry for few seconds.

Add onion paste and fry till almost dry.

Then add all the vegetables.

Stir-fry for half a minute

Add coconut milk and ½ cup water and cook till tender.

Add raisins and cook for 2/3 min.

Then add sour cream and bring to boil.

The gravy should thicken cook longer if it is watery.

Add apple and pineapple just before serving and simmer for 2 min.

Serve hot with chapati or Nan.

3) Peas Potato.

 1 cup peas

 1 large potato boiled and chopped.

 ½ cup tomato puree

 1 small onion chopped

 2 garlic cloves

 1-cm ginger peeled

 4 pepper corns

 1 piece of cinnamon

 1 masala cardamom

 1 tbsp. Kasoori methi

 ½ sp. Turmeric

 1 to 1 ½ tsp. Red chili powder

 ½ sp. Mustard seeds.

Heat I spoon oil in the pan.

Add peppercorns, cinnamon

Fry onions, garlic, and ginger till golden brown.

Cool the mixture and grind it to a smooth paste by adding little water.

Heat ½ sp. Oil in the pan.

Add cardamom.

Then add the ground paste.

Add tomato paste and kasoori methi and fry.

Add potato and peas.

Add turmeric, chili powder and salt.

Cook for 5 to 10 min on low heat.

Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with rice or chapati.

4) Kofta Curry

For kofta

 ½ cup grated carrot and grated cabbage

 1 cup besan (gram flour)

 2 tbsp. Oil

 Salt to taste

 ¼ tsp. Turmeric

 1-tsp. ajwain seeds

For gravy

 ½ cup coconut milk

 ¼ cup tomato puree

 1 cup water

 2 tbsp. Sour cream

 1 small onion chopped

 2 garlic cloves

 1-cm ginger peeled

 4 pepper corns

 1 piece of cinnamon

 1 masala cardamom

 ½ sp. Turmeric

 1 to 1 ½ tsp. Red chili powder

 ½ sp. Mustard seeds.

Kofta

Mix all the ingredients.

Add little water to form soft dough.

Make small balls and flatten them slightly with palm.

Steam them in pan or a pressure cooker for 10 to 15 min.

Knife should come out clean if they are done.

These kofta can be deep-fried instead of steaming. If you wish to deep-fry to save time then add only ½ sp. oil to the mixture. However, steaming is healthier as it retains the nutrients.

Gravy

Heat I spoon oil in the pan.

Add peppercorns, cinnamon

Fry onions, garlic, and ginger till golden brown.

Cool the mixture and grind it to a smooth paste by adding little water.

Heat ½ sp. Oil in the pan.

Add cardamom.

Then add the ground paste.

Add tomato paste and fry.

Add coconut milk and water.

Add kofta.

Add turmeric, chili powder and salt.

Cook for 5 to 10 min on low heat.

Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with rice or chapati.

5) Potato Spicy Curry

 2 lb. small / baby potatoes, boiled and peeled.

 1 large onion

 ½ inch ginger

 3 garlic cloves

 2 green chilies

 2 tsp. Cumin and coriander seeds each

 1-tsp. mustard seeds

 3 tbsp. Oil

 Salt

 ½ cup coriander leaves.

Grind ginger, garlic, chilies, cumin and coriander seeds to fine paste adding ¼ cup water.

Rinse blender with ¼ cup water and mix the water with the paste.

Add mustard seeds. When they start bursting add onion and the paste.

Fry until almost dry.

Add potatoes and coriander and salt.

Cover and cook on low heat for about 10 minutes. Keep stirring occasionally to ensure even frying.

Serve hot with poori or chapati.

This curry is made with whole potatoes so it is important to have small potatoes. Small potatoes can be replaced by coarsely chopped large potato.

The ingredient for all these preparations can also be ordered online. Check out India Plaza's site for more.