How to Cook Indian Curry

There are many different types of curries, but they all include a few basic ingredients. Start by cooking onions, ginger, and garlic, add lots of spices and mix it up into a sauce. Indian curries emphasize cooking technique rather than recipe, as the final flavor depends on the seasonings you like and are available. Once you’ve mastered the cooking principles, you’ll have traditional Indian curries in no time.

Preparation time: 10-20 minutes
Cooking time: 35-60 minutes
Total time: 55-80 minutes

Table of Contents

Understanding the method of cooking curry

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Understand the basics of how to cook curry. There are actually only three ingredients that are important to making a curry. Once you have these three ingredients, you can easily improvise and create a curry to your liking. Simply mix and match the ingredients according to the following “recipe” to have your own curry:

Onion/Garlic/Ginger: These three form the basis of most curries, but actually some Indians don’t use garlic at all. ^{[1] X Research Source} The longer you cook it, the richer and darker the curry will be.
Spicy: Add a large spoonful of seasoning early to cook and soften the dish. There is no “wrong” spice combination, so try to find one that you like.
Thickener: What will form the base of the curry? Usually it’s one or more of the following – yogurt, coconut milk, gravy, water, grated or diced tomatoes, satay peppers or spinach. ^{[2] X Research Source}

Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Heat oil until simmering. You can use any oil you like, but it’s best to use about 1-2 tablespoons (15 -30 ml) of peanut, canola, or vegetable oil.

For traditional Indian curries, you should use Ghee butter, also known as clear butter, to make the oil. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

Put in the pan with aromatic seeds, such as coriander seeds, cumin, and mustard until the seeds crackle. Once the oil is hot, add 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of a mixture of coriander seeds/Egyptian cumin/mustard, fenugreek, and asparagus, depending on your recipe. The curry is very spicy but also comes in many variations, ^{[4] X Source of research} so feel free to experiment with any combination of spices you like.

For the first recipe, try using 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of coriander seeds and cumin, plus a pinch of asparagus if available.
The spice particles burst, meaning they “dance” in the pan.

Cut an onion into dices and put in the oil. Cut an onion into dices about 1cm across and put in the oil. Stir-fry until the edges of the onion turn clear and begin to turn golden, about 5-10 minutes.

The longer you sauté the onions, the richer the finished curry will be. You can also stop as soon as the edges of the onions have turned clear for a lighter golden color. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

Add the minced garlic and ginger to the pan after the onions have been sautéed for 3-4 minutes. Chop a piece of ginger about 5cm long and 2-3 cloves of garlic depending on taste. Put it in the pan and sauté it with the onions after it’s been sautéed for a while. Add a little salt while sautéing to taste.

Onions, garlic and ginger are considered the “triad” in Indian cuisine, just as onions, carrots and celery are the basic triad in French cooking. ^{[6] X Research Source}

Add more seasoning powder. Curries are rich in spices, and you need to cook them so that the spices seep into the dish for the best flavor. Add a tablespoon of chili powder, cardamom, cayenne pepper, turmeric, cinnamon, and/or curry powder to the oil. Add half a tablespoon (7.5 ml) of salt after seasoning. Stir well and sauté for another 2-3 minutes.

You need to stir-fry the spices, but don’t let them burn. If there is not much water from onions and oil in the pan, mix the seasoning with 2-3 (30-45 ml) of water to add more water and prevent burning. ^{[7] X Research Sources}
For the first recipe, you can add chili powder, turmeric, cardamom powder, and curry powder.

Add any chili or seasoning. The longer the chili cooks, the sweeter it becomes, so you should add the chili when it’s almost ready if you want a spicier taste. Finely chop 2-3 Scotch Bonnet, Habanero or Serrano peppers and sauté them with onions and garlic, or just add 1 tablespoon of dried cayenne pepper powder and other seasonings.

Add the main ingredient – meat or vegetables – and fry until golden brown. Add 1-2 chopped chicken breasts, shrimp or lamb and add a little oil. You can also cook with vegetables, such as a can of chickpeas, 2 cups of cauliflower, an eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch squares, pineapple, tomato or potato cut into small squares.

If cooking with meat, you should fry the outside of the meat in another pan, then add it to the curry before continuing to cook.

Pour sauce over main ingredients, cover and cook over medium heat. Slowly add water or gravy, coconut milk until just enough to cover the vegetables and meat. Stir well and cover, turn down the heat to low.

If you want to use garam masala powder in your dish, add 1 tablespoon at this point. This seasoning does not need to be cooked as long as other spices.
For the first recipe, try adding a can of coconut milk for an easier curries, or 2 cups of vegetable, chicken or beef broth.

Add more thickener if desired. Now is the time to add 2 cups of chopped spinach, 1 cup of unsweetened yogurt, 1/2-1 cup of ground tomatoes, 2-3 tablespoons of chili peppers, even a handful of ground peanuts or almonds. . Add a pinch of salt to taste.

Not all curries require thickeners, especially if you’ve used coconut milk before. You should still experiment with other thickeners, especially tomato puree, which is the base for red curries.
For your first curry, you can try adding 2 tablespoons of tomato puree, then add more to your liking.

Simmer the curry until desired consistency is reached. Curries need to be cooked over low heat. You will see the oil and water separate, but that’s fine. Taste the sauce from time to time, adding salt and spices if desired. This is the time to add “spicy,” or other flavors.

If the curry is too thin, you can add 2-3 tablespoons (30 -45 ml) of yogurt or tomato puree. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

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Serve with coriander garnish, unsweetened yogurt, crushed nuts, or lime juice. Curries can take a long time to cook, so feel free to cook them slowly while you finish the rest. Just make sure the curry is hot when it’s served, add whatever you like. Serve the curry on its own or scoop it over rice. ^{[9] X Research Source}

Customize curries to your taste

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Understand how to make different sauces. When you go to an Indian restaurant, you will find many different dishes using the same basic ingredients and currying techniques. The main difference is in the thickener material:

Korma uses fatty ingredients like coconut milk, yogurt or ice cream.
Saag uses greens, usually spinach, but sometimes mustard/collard greens.
Madras uses grated or diced tomatoes
Vindaloo uses ground chili peppers. ^{[10] X Research Source}

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Crush or grind the ingredients first to create a smoother sauce. This technique, commonly used in many restaurants, creates a curry sauce consisting of onions, garlic, ginger and spices, which cooks faster and the curries are smoother. To do this, you can use a food processor to grind all the ingredients into a paste, then add to the hot oil when the spice granules have popped. ^{[11] X Research Source}

Remember that cooking curries is the method, not the recipe, that matters. There is no one definite “curry” recipe. Curry means mixing and combining ingredients with the curry cooking technique described above. However, for the most basic curry, you can cook it in the usual way according to the following list:

3 tablespoons vegetable oil or ghee (clear butter)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
One medium onion – finely chopped
4 garlic cloves – peeled and sliced
A piece of ginger about 4 cm long – peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder, curry powder, salt
2 green chillies with thick flesh and mild flavor – seeded and chopped
5 tablespoons tomato puree or 1 tablespoon (15 ml) tomato puree mixed with 4 tablespoons water ^{[12] X Research Source}

Advice

Keep practicing, trying new combinations of spices to perfect your currying technique.
To make the curry less spicy, stir in a tablespoon of coconut oil.
Coconut milk powder is quite easy to buy. This product is easy to use and much less messy. Read the instructions on the package for how to use it.
You can serve Indian curries with rice cooked with basmati rice, or rice jeera, a type of basmati rice flavored with jeera (Egyptian cumin seeds).

Warning

Use less asbestos to avoid an unpleasant taste.

Steps

Understanding the method of cooking curry

Customize curries to your taste

Advice

Warning

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