The No-Recipe Curry — Green Kitchen Stories (2024)

FAQs

What to add to my curry to make it taste better? ›

The easiest way to fix a bland and tasteless curry is by adding spices like red chili powder, cumin, coriander, garam masala, curry leaves and turmeric. Just make a quick tempering and pour over the curry to give it a nice punch of spices and herbs.

You can use it in place of dahi, but it can make the curry too sour. However, you can add a bit more sugar or spice to balance out the flavors if you want to use Greek yogurt. How is It Added to Curry? Typically, it is added to curry near the end of cooking.

Once the spices and veg have cooked, add in the coconut milk and a couple cups of chicken stock. Turn the heat up so it comes to a boil and then lower to about medium heat and cook for 10-15 minutes. Just until it starts to thicken! I normally do 10 minutes, but if you like a really thick sauce, take it longer.

Using coconut milk or cream can also reduce the spiciness. Adding citrus or vinegar provides a tangy flavor that balances the heat. Yogurt or sour cream can cool down the curry. Adding a pinch of sugar or ketchup can counteract the spiciness.

Whether you may be familiar with the differences between curries from various countries, such as Indian versus Japanese curry, and perhaps even know how to make them at home, there's a special flavor enhancer that you may not have thought to add: honey.

If your supermarket has a brand of dahi or Greek yogurt then use that in curries. Tangy creamy yogurt is the best in Indian cuisine.

A smart trick to avoid yogurt from curdling is to add a smart portion of gravy to the yogurt and whisk it in. This act is called 'Tempering'. Further, you can add the tempered curd to the hot gravy/curry. It enables a slow rise in temperature, thus preventing curdling.

What can be used in place of yogurt? Often you can substitute cream, sour cream or even milk or milk powder. In some situations even mayonnaise may be used.

Coconut milk and cream are mostly interchangeable in recipes such as curries and soups. If you prefer a richer flavour and texture, try coconut cream or vice versa. However, be careful when substituting coconut milk and cream in baked goods.

What vegetables go in curry? ›

The curry base is made with onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, red chilli powder and garam masala. I prefer to go with potatoes, carrots, peas, green beans, cauliflower, corn and bell peppers. Though you can use other veggies like baby corn, sweet potato and broccoli, the curry will have different flavors.

If you prefer to go the coconut-free route (or if you don't have coconut shreds, cream, oil, water, or butter on hand), you can use plain old milk — whichever kind you prefer. Whatever you're making won't have the same flavor as it would with coconut, which may make things like curries taste a little flat.

Turmeric magic. Fresh turmeric isn't always found in green curry pastes, but it adds a rounded, peppery heat and depth to the colour of the finished dish. If fresh isn't available, add ¼ tsp ground turmeric.

Other options for thickening the Thai green curry sauce include: Add full fat yogurt, but be aware that this will reduce the spiciness of the dish, so you may need to add more chillies at the same time. Only add yogurt right at the end of cooking - too much heat and the yogurt will curdle.

Lemon, lime or vinegar

Adding a squeeze of citrus, a splash of vinegar or some salt may also work (for both coconut-based and other curries like this goat curry) as they will balance out the flavour.

Add umami taste with garlic and ginger as well as onion fried in vegetable oil. You can also add to this dimension by using black salt (kala namak), as well as hing or asafoetida. Vegetable or Chicken stock will also add umami, as well as the cooking juices of chicken, beef or lamb.

Add more spices: Store-bought curry sauces often lack the depth of flavour that homemade sauces have. To remedy this, you can add more spices like cumin, turmeric, coriander, and garam masala. Use fresh ginger and garlic: Fresh ginger and garlic add a lot of flavour to curries.

Build a deep flavour

The three core ingredients of almost any Indian curry are garlic, onion and ginger. There are a few styles of curries that don't use garlic to ensure subtle flavour isn't overwhelmed, but it's a good rule of thumb that those three ingredients are likely to be included.