I love Indian food (east Indian). But find foreign recipes difficult. I don't know how many times I have tried to make Mexican enchiladas and have failed. If anyone knows of a an Indian recipe that isn't too difficult I would appreciate it if you would post it.
I need an easy Indian recipe
- Thread starter georgevan
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I think the easiest way to get started on cooking Indian food is to buy a good quality curry paste, like Patak's, and use their instructions.
karadekoolaid
Head Chef
OK - I´ve been giving (authentic) Indian food courses for over 10 years.
Here´s an easy way to make a Chicken Tikka Masala - it´s all 1-2-3.
You will need ( for 2-4 people)
Chicken breasts ( or thighs, if you prefer)
Greek yoghurt
Salt & pepper
Fresh ginger, garlic
Chile (cayenne) powder
Butter, ghee or vegetable oil
Turmeric powder
Coriander powder
Cumin powder
1 large onion
1 tin crushed tomatoes
coriander (cilantro) leaves - optional.
Take the chicken and prick with a fork. Add minced garlic and ginger, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 tsp cayenne and a couple tbps yoghurt.Salt and pepper. Let the chicken marinate for at least an hour, and up to 4 hours.
Meanwhile, dice the onion and fry gently in the fat of choice.When the onion is soft, add minced garlic and ginger, and stir for 2 minutes. 1) onion 2) garlic 3) ginger. Add a 1/2 tsp cayenne.
Now add 1tsp turmeric powder, 2 tsps cumin and 3 tsps coriander powder; stir quickly for 30 seconds and add the tomatoes, plus a bit of extra water.Cook until the sauce is thickened.
Fry or grill the chicken until barely done, then add to the tomato sauce. Stir in more yoghurt, adjust the seasoning and cook through till done.
If that´s too complicated, simply fry the onion, add the chicken, then proceed with the rest of the steps. You can avoid marinating if you like.
Here´s an easy way to make a Chicken Tikka Masala - it´s all 1-2-3.
You will need ( for 2-4 people)
Chicken breasts ( or thighs, if you prefer)
Greek yoghurt
Salt & pepper
Fresh ginger, garlic
Chile (cayenne) powder
Butter, ghee or vegetable oil
Turmeric powder
Coriander powder
Cumin powder
1 large onion
1 tin crushed tomatoes
coriander (cilantro) leaves - optional.
Take the chicken and prick with a fork. Add minced garlic and ginger, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 tsp cayenne and a couple tbps yoghurt.Salt and pepper. Let the chicken marinate for at least an hour, and up to 4 hours.
Meanwhile, dice the onion and fry gently in the fat of choice.When the onion is soft, add minced garlic and ginger, and stir for 2 minutes. 1) onion 2) garlic 3) ginger. Add a 1/2 tsp cayenne.
Now add 1tsp turmeric powder, 2 tsps cumin and 3 tsps coriander powder; stir quickly for 30 seconds and add the tomatoes, plus a bit of extra water.Cook until the sauce is thickened.
Fry or grill the chicken until barely done, then add to the tomato sauce. Stir in more yoghurt, adjust the seasoning and cook through till done.
If that´s too complicated, simply fry the onion, add the chicken, then proceed with the rest of the steps. You can avoid marinating if you like.
I agee, Patak's make very good curry pastes. Personally, I make Indian dishes from scratch & have a drawer full of whole spices that I weight, toast & grind but really, Patak's makes a darned good Indian curry.
Here's an example of their Chicken Tikka:
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, diced
- 1 jar Patak’s® Tikka Masala Cooking Sauce
- 1 ¾ cup tomatoes, diced
- 2 tbsp heavy cream (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan on medium-low heat and fry the onion until translucent and golden.
- Stir in the chicken and cook until seared.
- Pour in the Patak’s® Tikka Masala Cooking Sauce and the tomatoes.
- Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 15 min, until the chicken is cooked through.
- For extra thickness, stir in the heavy cream just before serving.
- As this is a saucy dish, you may want to serve it over rice with naan, chapattis or pappadums. Break out your assortment of Patak’s® chutneys and pickles for added flavour!
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larry_stewart
Master Chef
I was going to mention this.
There are a lot of relatively simple Indian dishes to make, just many require at least 1/2 dozen spices that are (nearly) specific to that kind of cuisine. And many times its more than that. So if you have many spices on hand thats great. If you need to first stock up, it could get costly and roomy to store, so an already prepared Indan curry may be the easiest and simplest way to get started, then branch off from there ( if you wanted).
Just a suggestion, not trying to talk you out of stocking up your cupboard.
How much garlic and ginger should be added? Also, anyway to use Patak curry paste with your recipe?
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karadekoolaid
Head Chef
Here´s another easy recipe which never fails:
Potato & Tomatoes with Coconut.
3-4 potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
3-4 large, ripe tomatoes, cut into 8 pieces
1/2 cup freshly grated coconut
3 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 whole dried red chile peppers
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
Oil for cooking
water
salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp cumin powder
Heat the oil in a pan (with a tight fitting lid) and gently fry the garlic and red peppers, until they change colour. Now add the cumin seeds and sizzle for about 30 seconds. Add the turmeric and coconut and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes.
Now add the potato chunks and the tomatoes, salt and about 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil then lower the heat to a minimum , put the lid on and cook gently for about 25- 30 minutes. After 20 minutes, add the tsp of cumin powder. Taste from time to time until the potatoes are just cooked. Add a little more water from time to time if necessary, but the tomatoes will leach all their juice anyway.
Now remove the lid, add the sugar and vinegar, stir for about 2 minutes and serve.
Potato & Tomatoes with Coconut.
3-4 potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
3-4 large, ripe tomatoes, cut into 8 pieces
1/2 cup freshly grated coconut
3 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 whole dried red chile peppers
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
Oil for cooking
water
salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp cumin powder
Heat the oil in a pan (with a tight fitting lid) and gently fry the garlic and red peppers, until they change colour. Now add the cumin seeds and sizzle for about 30 seconds. Add the turmeric and coconut and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes.
Now add the potato chunks and the tomatoes, salt and about 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil then lower the heat to a minimum , put the lid on and cook gently for about 25- 30 minutes. After 20 minutes, add the tsp of cumin powder. Taste from time to time until the potatoes are just cooked. Add a little more water from time to time if necessary, but the tomatoes will leach all their juice anyway.
Now remove the lid, add the sugar and vinegar, stir for about 2 minutes and serve.
In my earlier post, I typed out how to make Chicken TIkka Masala, using Patak's Tikka Masala sauce. Even Indians use Patak's, it's very popular and reliable.
As Larry said, making Indian cuisine from scratch calls for many, sometimes very cuisine-specific, spices. Once you get the hang of making it with Patak's, then you can branch out
Here is Patak's website with reicpes and all their products and recipes:
https://www.pataks.ca/categories/cooking-sauces
karadekoolaid
Head Chef
With garlic and ginger, Georgevan, I´d suggest you do what many, many true Indian cooks do: make a paste.
Equal parts of garlic and ginger - 100 gms of each, for example. Peel them, cut them up a bit and blitz to a paste in the blender with just enough vinegar to bring them together.
Put the paste in a pot in the fridge and add just a little bit more vinegar on top.
Use a tsp, or a Tbsp every time you make a curry. Eventually you´ll decide how much, or how little, you want to use.
I´m not going to disagree with Summer57 on Patak´s spice pastes, but, if you´ve got the most common 3 spices used in Indian cuisine (turmeric, cumin and coriander) plus some good Garam Masala, you can make some wonderful authentic dishes, way superior to your local Curry House.
Curry Houses, I might mention, were an invention ( all be it a brilliant one) of a Bangladeshi businessman who came to the UK in the 1950s and "invented" Indian Restaurants. He put together a core of about 10-15 recipes, using the same sauce base, with added spice, or onions, or peppers. The dishes were authentically "Indian" in the same way Taco Bell is authentic Mexican, Chop Suey is Chinese or a California Roll is real sushi. No, I´m not knocking it -I virtually lived on Curry house food when I was a student and for years after, and I still love the stuff - but authentic, it ain´t.
Equal parts of garlic and ginger - 100 gms of each, for example. Peel them, cut them up a bit and blitz to a paste in the blender with just enough vinegar to bring them together.
Put the paste in a pot in the fridge and add just a little bit more vinegar on top.
Use a tsp, or a Tbsp every time you make a curry. Eventually you´ll decide how much, or how little, you want to use.
I´m not going to disagree with Summer57 on Patak´s spice pastes, but, if you´ve got the most common 3 spices used in Indian cuisine (turmeric, cumin and coriander) plus some good Garam Masala, you can make some wonderful authentic dishes, way superior to your local Curry House.
Curry Houses, I might mention, were an invention ( all be it a brilliant one) of a Bangladeshi businessman who came to the UK in the 1950s and "invented" Indian Restaurants. He put together a core of about 10-15 recipes, using the same sauce base, with added spice, or onions, or peppers. The dishes were authentically "Indian" in the same way Taco Bell is authentic Mexican, Chop Suey is Chinese or a California Roll is real sushi. No, I´m not knocking it -I virtually lived on Curry house food when I was a student and for years after, and I still love the stuff - but authentic, it ain´t.
Not sure why you brought up Curry Houses, but - I live in a place with some 300,000 South East Asians, the third largest ethnic group. Thanks to the many Indians living here, we have many exceptional and truly authentic Indian restaurants here. I don't recall anyone ever calling them Curry Houses lol
Again, there is nothing wrong with starting with a high-quailty prepared commerical sauce to get a feel for a cuisine, and figuring out the style you like. Just as many Thai cooks use maesri or other canned curry paste, so do authentic Indian cooks use Patak or other sauce as a base. There are many flavours and styles from which to choose. It's a perfect place to begin a journey of Indian cuisine.
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karadekoolaid
Head Chef
Cultural differences.
I was brought up in the UK, so a Curry house was what we were used to in the 60s and 70s. The person who first explained to me how to cook "real" Indian food was Mrs Singh - had an Indian grocery about 500 yds from my flat in South East London.
Thanks for posting this recipe I am definitely going to try it.
the easiest way is to meet an Indian and ask him
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
This is not a foolproof method. My former Indian neighbor had no idea how much (using standard measurements) of each ingredient she put into the recipe.
Just Cooking
Master Chef
GinnyPNW
Master Chef
Whatever you decide to make, you'll likely need some rice to go with it. Here's my go to Indian rice...
A couple of green onions, sliced
2 Tablespoons butter
1-1/3 cups Basmati rice
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon Garam Masala
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 small clove garlic, minced
2-2/3 cups water
Choose a medium size pot. Start by cooking the green onion in the butter, till onion is tender but not browned. Stir in rice, salt, garam masala, ground red pepper and garlic. Cook & stir over medium heat for about 1 minute.
Add water, bring to boiling, reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 15 minutes without lifting the lid. Remove from heat. Let stand covered for 10 minutes.
A couple of green onions, sliced
2 Tablespoons butter
1-1/3 cups Basmati rice
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon Garam Masala
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 small clove garlic, minced
2-2/3 cups water
Choose a medium size pot. Start by cooking the green onion in the butter, till onion is tender but not browned. Stir in rice, salt, garam masala, ground red pepper and garlic. Cook & stir over medium heat for about 1 minute.
Add water, bring to boiling, reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 15 minutes without lifting the lid. Remove from heat. Let stand covered for 10 minutes.
karadekoolaid
Head Chef
Exactly. That´s why I ask my uncle Aga. and last time I cooked for him, he said I cooked better than his mum.
larry_stewart
Master Chef
When I was younger ( like really long, maybe 13 or 14) one of my best friends was Indian ( his parents were first generation). At this point in time, Indian restaurants were few and far between where I lived. I remember walking into his house and smelling scents of foods, herbs, spices .. that I had never experienced before. Boy, do I wish I could go back in time and have watched her in the kitchen ( and paid attention). I remember they took us to a ball game, and she brought along sandwiches. I figured it was PBJ or egg salad ( being naive). To my pleasant surprise, Ir was an Indian String bean and potato sandwich ( on white bread). I actually still make a variation of it today, especially when I have an overload of strignbeans from he garden during the summer.
GinnyPNW
Master Chef
I have a similar story, except I was probably about 20 and the smells came from a house about 6 or 7 down from mine! That's when I learned to make Chicken Curry. I still make that exact dish to this day. I sometimes wonder how far the smells carry!
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