Topic: Less is more ?

[Peripatetic Phil]

Khanh's mum is staying with us for a few days, and last night she ate some of the beef curry from the family restaurant (Thai-An, in Islington) and said it was too hot/spicy.  To my taste it was very mild indeed, so when invited to cook a curry for her myself this evening, I realised I had to tread very carefully.  I rejected all of my normal starting points (Bassar curry masala, Kashmiri mirch, Deghi mirch, and so on) and decided to make a chicken drumstick curry (on the bone) based on no more than Rajah hot Madras curry powder.  I bhooned the slashed drumsticks in oil, g/g paste and turmeric, then added two desert spoons of curry powder, coated the drumsticks, then added a ladle of warm base.  I continued cooking gently, adding base from time to time, until I judged that the drumsticks were cooked through, then corrected the seasoning by adding a good squeeze of tomato puree, a little sea salt, about a teaspoon of cumin, and about half a teaspoon of methi powder.  I allowed these to cook for a few minutes, checked the consistency, added one more ladle of base, cooked for a minute or so, and served.  I was delighted when my mother-in-law said "hen hao chi" (Mandarin for "Very tasty") but absolutely staggered when my wife said it was the nicest curry I have ever made.  I don't agree with my wife -- I think my normal Madras is a lot better -- but it does go to show that you can produce a very acceptable curry with very simple ingredients indeed.

** Phil.