Quote from: shockuk on December 02, 2012, 10:57 AM
I need to buy all my ingredients online as there is no local place I can buy them. I've gone through a couple of pages and seems if I buy the below I should be pretty much covered to cook everything. Can anyone see anything I've missed?
Chilli powder : get deggi mirch & kashmiri mirch rather than generic ground chillies (never "Chilli powder", which is for Mexican dishes)
Turmeric powder : yes
Corrainder powder : actually "coriander" but may be just be a typo
Cumin powder : yes
Cumin Seeds : yes, but also kala jeera = black cumin
Garam masala powder : better make your own
Curry powder : a good one -- Bolsts or Rajah would be my first choices.
Coriander Powder : see above.
ginger paste : Nishaan, or better make your own
garlic paste : -- ditto --
bay leave : must be Indian bay, with three clear veins visible.
cinnamon sticks : yes, and also faux cinnamon = cassia bark
green cardamon : yes
dried methi : both ground methi and methi leaves are useful.
Tandoori Powder : never use it, others do.
Now, your ground spices are fine, and you should be able to make a number of curries without needing any more, but you might consider adding chat masala; you will also want paprika. Your whole spices, which you can both use to make your own garam masala and also to add flavour to your pulao rice, would also benefit from the addition of some fennel seeds and a small quantity of cloves are very useful; mace, too, has a small role to play, and an increasing number of CR0 members are starting to include star anise. Also maybe some black cardamom, mustard seeds (of varying colours) for Bombay aloo, and ajwain (for aloo tikki).
I would also include both freeze-dried garlic flakes and dried fried shallots, both for pulao rice : the former goes in with the rice, the latter is used as a top dressing. And don't forget plenty of fresh coriander (leaves and stems), and some fresh garlic and ginger, as well as massive quantities of brown onions (for base) and substantially smaller quantities of red (for onion salad). Tomato puree and tins of peeled plum tomatoes, a few small firm fresh tomatoes, and a small quantity of fresh birds-eye chillis (both red and green).
QuoteI've no idea which base curry to cook? I'm struggling with the structure and could be good if the curries were grouped by the base they use. Can any guide me with a good base to cook and the curries that use this base? Also I want to explore cooking a Balti, would this be a 2nd base?
There are a large number of tried and tested bases; in no particular order I can list C2Go's, CA's, CT's, and my own variant KD1/PT. As far as I know, any "neutral" base (which all of these are) can be used to make almost any main course, but I know nothing about Balti dishes so I leave that part of your question for others to address.
** Phil.
Topic: Where to start.... noob here ( 3,863 )
