Authentic Homemade Indian - Sri Lankan Curry Powder

The great thing about meeting people who share the same passion as you, specifically as in eating good food and cooking, is that you create this special bond because you have that common interest that means so much in your every day life. At least, this is the way I see it. I just met one of my colleague's wife who just absolutely loves cooking and happened to have become a loyal reader of my blog thanks to her hubby Mayur. Mayur is an avid photographer who takes phenomenal pictures of just about anything, without the expensive SLR. With a very simple camera, he takes fabulous shots from all different angles and great composition. I think the latter is key to great photography. And as he stumbled upon my blog via Facebook he complimented my macro shots of the dishes I prepare for QlinArt and forwarded my blog to his beloved Bhavya. Quickly, Bhavya and I became friends and started sharing stories over lunch outings and decided to keep in touch to further explore our culinary delights together. Friends like these are difficult to find, but so worth the wait.

One (and I do mean, one of the gifts... as Bhavya and Mayur are one of the few giving and generous people I have ever met)of the magnificient gifts I received from them is an authentic and wonderfully fragranced Indian curry powder made in India by Bhavya's mother. Unfortunately, I do not have the exact quantities of each ingredient, but they tell me that with practice and experience, one will reach the desired texture and taste. I have a feeling that they just want to keep the recipe as a family secret. ;)

In case you feel adventurous and are not afraid of experimenting, feel free to try it out and let me know of the outcome!

I already have a good batch which I've been using in almost all of my spicy dishes! So, I'll be experimenting later...or probably bribe them in giving out the secret recipe.

In my friends' native language it's called kharada pudi. It's a complex blend of the ingredients. Usually, they need their mothers' help to make this good of a curry powder.This one doesn't have chillis. I've been warned though to be extremely specific about quantities. This homemade curry powder is an Indian blend specifically from Mysore, a region of Karnataka in India.

The ingredients are dried in the sun for a day then dry roasted and then will be taken to the flour mill.

The ingredients are as follows :

Fenugreek seeds

Curry leaves

Raw rice

Raw turmeric

Cumin seeds

Coriander seeds

Horse gram

Asfoetida

Toor dal

Bengal gram dal

Roasted Bengal gram

Urad dal

Mustard seeds

Enjoy and have fun!

Vietnamese Fish Sauce Dip (Nuoc Mam)

The key to good eating vietnamese food is to have a great fish sauce dip, the famous nuoc mam.

This sauce complements most vietnamese popular dishes; spring rolls, imperial rolls, steamed fish, fried fish, grilled meats....and the list goes on and on.

My family and I cannot live without this sauce, unless we were to completely rule out vietnamese food out of our lives. Oh - what a huge nightmare that would be.

fish sauce (nuoc mam)

Recipe “au pif”:
¼ cup (60ml) water
1 tsp rice vinegar or regular vinegar
2 tsp raw can sugar
2 hot red chilis, finely minced
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp fish sauce (nuoc mam)

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl.

This sauce can keep in a tightly closed tupperware container in the fridge for over 2-3 weeks.

Enjoy with your favourite vietnamese food.

Making Your Own Home-Style Thai Curry Paste

Making your own curry paste, whether it be Indian or Thai, is well worth the effort. The last time I made my first homemade Indian curry paste, I decided to do a little bit more research to find out more on preparing fresh Thai curry paste.

I would recommend this inspiring book called The Big Book of Thai Curries, from Vatcharin Bhumichitr. It's an enjoyable read and the photography is stunning. Most importantly, the author pleasantly describes the origin and the role of each herb and spice in the paste that it impels a true beginner at curry paste-making , like my good self, to make her/his own paste and reproduce the balance of flavours exactly as the author makes it. And then, you can adjust as necessary to suit your own taste. Also good to know, these freshly made pastes can be frozen - they may lose a little flavour but they will still taste better than shop-bought ones.

There is no comparison between a fresh homemade curry paste and a pre-made one bought from the store. To this day, I truly think that pre-made thai curry pastes are overly salty and are lacking in character, and in most cases have zero aroma. In fact, fresh curry pastes are known for their strong pungent smell and intense flavour.

Thai curries are uniquely light and refreshing because they are based on fresh ingredients. They also have very distinctive colours and are determined by the colour of their ingredients, mostly the chillies and the curry pastes, hence the famous red, green and yellow varieties.

Some of the most commonly used herbs and spices in a Thai curry paste, clockwise from bottom center:

coarse salt

shrimp paste

cardamon pods

nutmeg

white peppercorns

lemongrass stalk

scallion stalk

fresh red chillies

garlic cloves

galangal (same family as ginger, but more intense in flavour and aroma)

coriander roots

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Although, every one of the curry paste recipe in the book makes roughly 15-20 tablespoons of paste, I like to prepare just enough for the recipe I'll be using it for, as I prefer my pastes to be very fresh. For this recipe, I used scallions instead of shallots (I ran out of them...but they worked well for me) and less chillies - unlike many Vietnamese, I have a low tolerance for fiery hot and highly spicy foods.

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Recipe "au pif":

3-4 small dried red chillies (fresh ones can also be used - both found in local asian grocery stores)

1/2 tsp coarse sea salt

4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

1 tsp finely chopped galangal, toasted

1 lemongrass stalk, finely chopped

1/2 tsp shrimp paste (found in local asian grocery stores)

2 whole cardamon pods, toasted (husks removed and seed scraped out - found in spices section of local asian or arabic grocery stores)

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp white peppercorn, toasted until brown

1 shallot or 1 stalk scallions, finely chopped

3 coriander roots, finely chopped

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Golden rule to preparing a great Thai curry paste:

The preparation of the curry pastes is the same for each curry. The ingredients should be ground using a pestle and mortar. Start with the hardest ingredient and then add the other ingredients one at a time. It is recommended to start with the chillies and the sea salt - the coarse sea salt helps to cut through the chilli skin. As you add each ingredient, check the aroma of the paste to see how the new ingredient is balancing previous ones. This will ensure that you don't add too much or too little of any ingredient. You are aiming for a harmonious blend with no one flavour dominating.

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Pound and grind until you reach the desired texture.

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Any leftover paste will keep in the fridge for two or three days. The best way to keep it fresh is to wrap it in clingfilm and place it in an airtight container.

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Makes roughly 2 tablespoons of paste.

You're now ready to make your first homemade Thai curry, with meats, poultry, vegetables or fish!