Why is My Curry Bitter?

[Cory Ander]

It seems to me that this is a particularly common and undesirable problem when cooking curries.  I therefore thought it might be helpful to summarise a few of the common causes of bitterness (in my opinion) as follows:

• onions that have not been cooked slowly enough or for long enough (i.e. to remove the "rawness" and develop "sweetness")
• onions that have been pureed (rather than coarsely chopped) before cooking
• onions that have been fried rather than boiled
• spices that have not been cooked adequately (to remove the "rawness")
• burning the spices (including when roasting them)
• burning anything else!
• using too much of a particular spice (e.g. tumeric, fenugreek seeds/powder, etc)
• using tinned tomatoes, which I find can be quite acidic (consider using puree, paste or fresh)

Some people disagree with the last point, but it is certainly what I have found. 

There has also been some mention of aluminium pans also causing bitterness.

Of course, some curries are intended to be sour (e.g. Vindaloo) and the desired sourness is achieved by adding things like tamarind, lemon juice, vinegar, yoghurt, etc

Here are some other relevant threads that might be of interest:

https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1095.0
https://curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=627.0

To counteract slight bitterness, try adding some sugar (or other sweetners such as tomato sauce, mango chutney, pineapple juice, etc)

Please feel free to add to this thread with your own observations and opinions! 

Hope this helps! 

[Swampy61]

I would actually agree with your last point CA.

Tinned tomatoes for me at least give an acidic taste as you suggest so I leave them out and I always add a small amount of brown sugar at the end to my base sauce.

Swampy

[HOTRING]

Just too add I have found to much garlic can cause a slightly bitter taste

[Swampy61]

I think that depends on how fresh your garlic is.

[Cory Ander]

I agree with that Hotring.  I understand that the same thing happens with garlic (and with ginger), as happens with onions, when you chop or, in particular, puree, them.  They generate sulfenic acids and hence can cause bitterness.

[vindalooney]

some dishes require fenugreek, which can be bitter if you use even a little too much, i found that out when i tried a new madras recipe.

[ast]

Personally, I've not found that the tinned tomatoes add any bitterness to my bases.  I always use tinned when making the base (where indicated), and I double the amount (using the whole 400g tin) when I make the KD base without problem.

I also use them in many other dishes I make, but I will say that nearly all of them are dishes that simmer for quite some time.  I would surmise that this may make a difference, and result in the loss of any "edge" or bitterness that they may have originally had.  I suppose it may also depend on the brand to some degree as well.  I tend to use Roma's whole plum tomatoes and then chop or puree them as required by the recipe.

Cheers,

ast