Making A Curry

I thought perhaps I would take a break from reporting on some of the heavy topics related to our India trip to share some instruction that Jack and I were privileged to receive on making an Indian curry.  Our host, Hutoxi Dadachanji, has prepared several very tasty and authentic meals for us during our stay.  This morning after breakfast she was preparing a Mutton Curry for us to have at lunch.

Her kitchen is humble compared to our appliance dominated kitchens, but the food she prepares is far from that (her son is a chef in Canada as well!).

First we began with the ingredients.  They are:

Cloves, peppercorns

Dried red peppers

Cumin seed

Peanuts

Poppy seeds

Coriander Seeds

Shredded Coconut

Onion

Garlic

Tomato

Mutton (about half a pound of stew sized pieces)

The first six ingredients are toasted in a pan, then ground into a fine powder and set aside.

  

The coriander 

 

 The peanuts

  

The poppy seeds

 

The first 6 ingredients all toasted

  

Ground into a fine powder using a food processor

Now the onion, garlic, and coconut are warmed in the skillet and added to the powder mixture, along with just a bit of water.  Once again the processor is used, this time to make a thick curry paste.

Hutoxi tells me that this paste is perfectly edible in this form, perhaps as a savory spread on bread.  But our goal today is a curry!

So some oil is heated in a pan.  Hutoxi is using a pressure cooker today to shorten the cooking time of the mutton (approximately 20 minutes after it starts to "sing").  When the oil is hot, the paste is added, along with the tomato which has been coarsely chopped.  She added just a bit of water to get the thickness she wanted.

The curry is heated on the stove until the oil begins to show.  I am assured that this is an important step not to be skipped or hurried.  Finally the raw mutton pieces are added and stirred, and the top placed on the pressure cooker.

Alas, I failed to take a picture of the meal we enjoyed this afternoon.  Suffice to say, it was wonderful!  And, of course, the mutton curry was not all we had!  There were chipoti bread, rice, an onion and coriander salad, and a fantastic egg and potato dish called Eggs on Potato Straws (Sali Par Edu).  Yes, we have eaten SO well these past few days!

And for my dear Debra and family - I can tell you that the Dadachanji's took us grocery shopping today and I will be bringing back what is needed to try and make this dish for you (less the mutton of course!).

Namaste!