No worry, curry
Make your daily meals awesome with these ready-to-cook curry pastes
How about making a butter chicken in a hurry? Or about Goan Vindaloo for a mid-week dinner? With the rise of convenience foods, all you need to do is pour the curry paste and cook it along with meat or vegetables, and you have a flavourful curry in a jiffy. If there was ever a time to appreciate convenience cooking, it is now, as predicted by the Godrej Food Trends Report 2021. You can make these curry pastes at home and store them in glass jars or zip lock bags and freeze them in the refrigerator. Use it as per the requirement of the dish by making a korma, jalfrezi or even a simple soupy chicken curry. To extend the life of the paste in the fridge, don’t forget to add a tablespoon of oil on top of it in the jar. Here are some interesting ways you can prepare these ready-to-use curry pastes at home.
Basic curry
This is really simple, and you can cook vegetables, fish or meats of your choice using this paste. Peel ginger and garlic, and dry roast coriander and cumin seeds over a medium heat until fragrant. Add garam masala powder, Kashmiri red chilli powder and black pepper. Toss everything into a blender, and you’re done.
Rogan josh
The body of this paste comes from pureed peppers, while the colour comes from dried red chillies. Make a fine paste of fresh ginger, roasted bell peppers, garam masala powder, turmeric, red chillies, tomato puree, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and black peppercorns. Blitz it in a mixer and pour it in a dry and clean glass jar. The paste will stay fresh for four to five days in the fridge.
Vindaloo
Without a doubt, a quick masala paste is a time saver in the kitchen. By planning ahead, it is easy to whip up a workday dinner using this spicy and tangy paste. All you need is good meat or vegetables to marinate with this paste. The key to a good vindaloo paste is the right balance of heat and spice. All you need are spicy red chillies and either lemon juice or tamarind paste. Dry roast coriander, fenugreek, cumin seeds, cloves, cardamom pods, black peppercorns, dried red chillies and cinnamon stick, and then grind them to a very fine powder. Add ginger, garlic and lemon juice to the spice powder. Add a little water and process to a smooth paste. Store the paste in a glass jar and use at your convenience.
Chettinad masala
The characteristic feature of Chettinad cuisine is its spicy flavour and texture. To make this basic curry paste, soak a few cashew nuts and poppy seeds in water for ten minutes. Meanwhile, in a pan, fry cumin seeds and fennel seeds in oil. When the seeds crackle, add coriander seeds, red chillies, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon till you get an aroma. Cool the mixture completely, add the cashew nuts and poppy seeds mixture, salt and little water and blend to a smooth paste. Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for a week.
Do you know of any other curry pastes recipe? Share in the comment section below.