Curry Night

squeaky

Well the nice thing about CQ recipes is that you'll know exactly what went into them - and the base sauce freezes so can be done on a weekend and used any time you like - AND CQ will be glad to tell you which one of her recipes you can best leave cumin out of or perhaps offer substitutes...

Simba_25

Well after reading about this curry for the last few months i finally gave in and made the korma yesterday.........i am gutted it took me so long to try! i was absolutely gorgeous!!! Thank you for sharing it with us! Its the butter chicken next as that is my little uns fave.

Can you have the base sauce just as it is aswell?? like over chips for curry n chips?? or would it be better to add the extras to it?

Curry_Queen

Simba_25 wrote:

Can you have the base sauce just as it is aswell?? like over chips for curry n chips?? or would it be better to add the extras to it?

You certainly could, but you might want to add a couple of spices to it to give the curry flavour, say chilli, cumin and garam masala

Simba_25

thank you!

Curry_Queen

squeaky wrote:

AND CQ will be glad to tell you which one of her recipes you can best leave cumin out of or perhaps offer substitutes...

Now, that's a toughie! I can't think of any curry that I wouldn't add cumin to, and it goes very much hand in hand with chilli and coriander. It's also present in garam masala and any of the proprietary curry powder blends you can buy.

There's no harm in experimenting though and maybe trying something like fenugreek as a substitute, or maybe flavouring with coriander and cardamom for a slightly sweeter tasting curry

I'd be interested to know how he's managed to narrow it down to finding out it's cumin he's allergic to though! BTW, it's not the cumin that gives the burning sensation, that's the chilli, and cumin just adds flavour

Curry_Queen

Just for some added information about cumin ...

Culinary uses:
Cumin is used mainly where highly spiced foods are preferred. It features in Indian, Eastern, Middle Eastern, Mexican, Portuguese and Spanish cookery. It is an ingredient of most curry powders and many savoury spice mixtures, and is used in stews, grills - especially lamb - and chicken dishes. It gives bite to plain rice, and to beans and cakes. Small amounts can be usefully used in aubergine and kidney bean dishes.

Cumin is essential in spicy Mexican foods such as chile con carne, casseroled pork and enchiladas with chili sauce. In Europe, cumin flavours certain Portuguese sausages, and is used to spice cheese, especially Dutch Leyden and German Munster, and burned with woods to smoke cheeses and meats. It is a pickling ingredient for cabbage and Sauerkraut, and is used in chutneys. In the Middle East, it is a familiar spice for fish dishes, grills and stews and flavours couscous - semolina steamed over meat and vegetables, the national dish of Morocco.

Medicinal properties:
Cumin is valuable in dyspepsia, diarrhoea and hoarseness, and may relieve flatulence and colic. In the West, it is now used mainly in veterinary medicine, as a carminative (colic, flatulence), but it remains a traditional herbal remedy in the East. It is supposed to increase lactation and reduce nausea in pregnancy. Used in a poultice, it relieves swelling of the breast or the testicles. Smoke in a pipe with ghee, it is taken to relieve the hiccups, Cumin stimulates the appetite.

frugglewump

Curry_Queen wrote:

I'd be interested to know how he's managed to narrow it down to finding out it's cumin he's allergic to though! BTW, it's not the cumin that gives the burning sensation, that's the chilli, and cumin just adds flavour

One of my friends has loads of spices since she like to cook her traditional foods (interestingly to me at the time her curries mostly come out greenish or orange not eye-blazing red) so we did a sniff test on her pots and cumin by itself, garam masala & a couple of other home-made mixes started off an asthma-like reaction.

The final cross-check was when I made a cajun sauce (from the packet - smacks hand) and we had to check the ingredients as one swallow made it start up. Now I make all cajun/creole dishes from scratch.

Curry_Queen

It certainly sounds as though cumin is the culprit then! How strange! I've never come across anyone being allergic to it before

DSmiffy

Made a gorgeous chicken korma last night, but, hubby up all night with palpitations, he thinks it was the garlic. Does anybody else think 50g of garlic is a lot for this recipe, or are we just not used to it ??
It's also a bit unfortunate for the people whjo work in our office, five of us in one office including hubby and me !! Mmmmmm smell that garlic breath !!!

Curry_Queen

My second attempt at replying to this ... (fingers crossed it goes through this time!)

Considering the base sauce makes approx 6-8 main dishes, each feeding 3-4 people, then no, I don't think a bulb of garlic is an excessive amount in that recipe, but maybe others disagree

I actually use far more than that when cooking in general (pasta sauces etc) and have been known to eat a whole bulb roasted to myself


I don't think garlic would cause palpitations anyway and is actually very good for you!


Edit: According to this website, garlic actually DECREASES palpitations, so it must have been something else that was the cause