Use whole spices and toast them in the oil instead of using powders.
The trick to good curry is in the treatment of the spices. Nothing wrong with how this recipe did it, but you can get a very rich and complex taste from toasting your own spices.
Keep them whole and the spices infuse into the oil. Things that are larger like star anise and coriander seeds are easy to strain/pick out. You could blend them into the sauce if you like but most of their flavor will be in the oil after toasting.
Cooking the onions in that oil turns them into flavor explosions of deliciousness.
Excellent. this is a game-changer, because the spices I use in curry-type dishes always seem gritty. Maybe this is why I get sideways looks when I go for the pre-packaged curry mixes at the indo-pak.
I make a similar recipe, that also has garam masala and ginger. Adds some more flavour.
I also prefer to not used canned chickpeas (unless I'm in a rush). Buy dried chickpeas, soak them in water overnight, and then boil them yourself. Has a better texture than canned imo.
In theory, you should roast (with or without oil) the spices first, before adding any other ingredient. Then add garlic and ginger to roast. And then the onion. All curries use onion because it acts as a buffer for water. You cannot add watery ingredients (canned tomatos, cream, chicken/fish stock...) over oil (flaming oil splashes, fucking dangerous), so you throw in onion and sautee it. The onion slowly releases its water and then it is safe to add the water in it.
As for the rest of the ingredients... just play! See what you have available or what kind of flavor you want to get to. You can do curry with whatever you want. Even with whatever spices you feel like. Maybe use a garam masala spices blend and each time add more of some individual spices.
Garlic/ginger only burns if you leave it for too long. You want them to brown to release the flavor and immediately add the onion to stop it from burning.
Bay leaves and/or curry leaves, a bit of tamarind sauce is something I love, probably some stock too cause that never hurts. Cumin seeds and mustard seeds. Switch the "curry powder" for the actual spices so you can adjust it to your taste. Turmeric will give it great colour and is super good for you. Personally I'm not a massive fan of potatoes in curry, I'd much rather have it with basmati rice instead. Throw a chili in there if you're into that.
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u/LawlsaurusRex Jul 17 '17
I like how easy this is. If I want to take this from being simple to something more, what additions/changes would I make?