Bitter curry problem

[Chil]

Indian curry - using base of pureed ginger, garlic, onion and a little water, fried gently for 10 mins, then tin of tomatoes added with curry powder, cumin, etc. Occasionally sauce turns out very bitter/sour.

I think it is the onion/garlic/ginger puree at start, because sometimes it smells odd when being cooked.

Any ideas what cuases this? How can I stop it?

How can I recover the sauce? I have tried adding sugar, but this does not work. I don't mind throwing it away and starting again as it costs very little, but it would be nice to know how to prevent it.

 

[Andy M.]

Hi, Chil. Welcome to Discuss Cooking. You'll like it here.

Your problem could be the garlic. If garlic burns, it turns bitter.

 

[Chil]

Thanks, Andy.

I generally cook it very gently and there is no sign of burning/colour when I add tomatoes. Can it burn without looking or smelling burnt?

My suspicion is that it is some kind of chemical reaction between the ingredients, but I am not sure about this because the problem is sporadic. I am sure I use the same method and, more or less, the same proportions of ingredients.

 

[amber]

Can you post the recipe? That may help us to help you better.

 

[Bugs]

PUT IN MORE GARLIC!!!!!! that might not help but i like garlic.

 

[Yakuta]

It's actually the technique not the ingredients that are the problem.

When you cook curry you follow these steps:

Firstly don't puree the onions but instead chop them finely

Add oil to a pan and then just add the onions and saute them until they are lightly browned. Next reduce the heat to low and add the ginger garlic and let them saute for a minute or so. Follow this by the dry spices and toast for another second and then add the tomato. If you follow this process, the curry cannot be bitter. If the curry is still bitter either something is burnt or the spice amount that you added is not correct.

 

[Chil]

Thanks, Yakuta. I'll give this a try