How to cook curry?----- Part I

Curry is one of the most important dishes in the Indian subcontinent. Often eaten with rice, puri and parathas, people admire its unique taste and flavor. Curry is basically prepared with yogurt and yellow flour. However, there are different ways to give an exclusive touch to curry.

For lunch, I prefer to cook curry and serve with puri, potato-based dish and halwa- a sweet dessert. A dish prepared in potato and green chilly often creates an increased yen for more. I often serve curry with rice in dinner.

A variety of curries are prepared in a country like India. There are three types of curries I prefer to cook- plain curry, pakodi curry and chilada curry. Pakodi and chilada are prepared using yellow flour.

Recipe I - Plain curry

Ingredients

Yellow flour/besan- 2 teaspoons
Yogurt or buttermilk- 2 tablespoons
Green chili- crushed or sliced
Coriander- fresh and cut into small pieces
Ginger- I don’t prefer paste, I cut it into tiny square pieces
Curry leaves- neatly washed
Cumin seeds- a pinch
Mustard seeds- a pinch
Asfoetida- a small pinch
Ghee or clarified butter- 1 tablespoon, oily factor is present in yogurt
The below mentioned powdered spices are taken as per taste.
Coriander powder
Red chili powder
Turmeric powder
Common salt

I prefer to keep yogurt for an hour after removing from fridge. This gives a typical sour taste to yogurt. You can use butter milk since it is a liquid form of yogurt obtained after removing cream. The fats present in plain yogurt are eliminated with the use of butter milk. If in hurry, I prefer to add a tinge of common salt to yogurt to make it sour fast.

Churn the yogurt in a bowl so that lumps are reduced to smooth paste. Pour some water to maintain the consistency. After churning, add some yellow flour or besan. Churn once more to mix the two well. Watch- there are no lumps left. Add spices like coriander, turmeric, common salt and red chili. Churn once more. This procedure might appear a bit time-consuming but it gives a rather delectable taste to curry.

Place a kadai- a huge round-shaped utensil best for cooking curry- on the burner. Pour ghee and allow it to heat for some time. As it heats up, add the spices one at a time-cumin seeds, asfoetida, mustard seeds, green chilly and curry leaves. As the ingredients start changing color, pour the mixture of yogurt and besan slowly. Keep stirring the mixture in kadai till the first boil. After the first boil, turn the burner to simmer position and continue to stir for some time. It takes time to attain taste of curry as yellow flour needs plenty of time to become tasteful for tongue. If you find a thick consistency during cooking, pour some hot water. Let it cook for some time.

I usually keep an eye on the change of consistency. It could take half an hour for the curry to attain the best taste. Once ready, take a sip and feel the taste. The cooked curry does not have the raw flour taste. Remove from burner and pour in a bowl. Garnish it with fresh,green coriander leaves. Serve curry as per requirements with rice, puris or parathas.