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Currying flavor

Ready-made curry powder provides a sweet heat for meats and vegetables.

Curry powder is a mixture of whole spices that are roasted and ground to produce an incredible golden color and complex taste. Many Indian cooks make the powder fresh for each dish, but harried fans fall back on commercially prepared curry powders. Some are quite good.

Ready-made curry powder was introduced by British cooks and generally includes cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, black pepper, fenugreek, mustard seeds, and turmeric (mustard seeds and turmeric provide the vibrant yellow hue). You do have to shop carefully for the commercial powders. Some are thin and bitter and probably made mostly with turmeric, while others have a refreshing aromatic quality.

Whatever their origin, the powders need to mellow first in oil or in meat or vegetables that have been cooked in oil. The warm fat seems to draw out all the flavors. Curry pastes, some containing hot chilies and garlic, are easy to blend into a recipe.

Originally, the word curry (from the Tamil word kari) was the name of a powder but not the dish. "Curry is just a vague, inaccurate word which the world has picked up from the British, who, in turn, got it mistakenly from us," writes Madhur Jaffrey in An Invitation to Indian Cooking.

Indian cooking authority Julie Sahni disagrees. In Classic Indian Cooking, she maintains that in the English-speaking Indian middle class, the word "curry" (kari) became so popular that it was used to describe many everyday dishes.

Indian cooks may also be mixing their household curry powders in batches, rather than daily. That wouldn't leave us at too much of a disadvantage.

THAI SHRIMP AND GREEN BEAN CURRY IN COCONUT MILK

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 pounds large shrimp, shelled
1 stalk lemon grass, peeled and cut into -inch pieces
(available in Asian markets)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons Thai red curry paste (available in Asian markets)
1 can (14 ounces) light unsweetened coconut milk
1 1/2 pounds green beans, trimmed, halved, and blanched 1 minute
1 tablespoon bottled Thai fish sauce
Salt, to taste

In a flameproof casserole, heat the oil. Cook the shrimp over high heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove them from the pan.

Lower the heat. Add the lemon grass, garlic, and curry paste and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add the coconut milk and bring to a boil. Stir in the green beans, shrimp, fish sauce, and salt.

Let the mixture return to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer the beans and shrimp for 3 minutes or until the shrimp are cooked through and the beans are tender but still have some bite. Serve at once with rice.

SERVES 4

CURRIED LAMB WITH TOMATOES AND POTATOES

Elisabeth Rozin, author of Crossroads Cooking, maintains that curry powders were brought to East Africa by the British. The Africans made their own versions of curries, adding ground peanuts, which thicken the sauce.

2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 large onion, chopped
1-inch piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste
1 1/2 pounds boneless leg of lamb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon curry powder
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and coarsely chopped
2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into -inch pieces
1 cup canned whole tomatoes
3 cups water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons peanut butter

In a large flameproof casserole, heat the oil. Cook the onion, ginger, and crushed red pepper, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Add the lamb in small batches and cook it, turning often, until the pieces lose their raw look on the outside.

Continue cooking lamb pieces until they are all done, removing some from the pot to make room for others.

Return all the lamb to the pan. Add the garlic, curry powder, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring, to coat the meat and onions. Add the bell pepper, potatoes, tomatoes, and water.

Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover the pan, and simmer the lamb for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the meat is very tender.

If the pot seems dry during cooking, add more water.

In a bowl, stir the lemon juice into the peanut butter until it is smooth. Stir in a small ladleful of the cooking liquid. Add the peanut butter mixture to the lamb, and stir it until it is mixed in. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and crushed red pepper if you like. Serve at once with rice.

SERVES 4

CAULIFLOWER WITH PEAS AND POTATOES IN A CURRIED YOGURT SAUCE

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 red onion, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons curry paste
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
3 Yukon Gold or Yellow Finn potatoes, cut into -inch pieces
1 head cauliflower, trimmed and cut into 1-inch florets
10 ounce box or bag frozen peas
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped cashews, lightly toasted

In a flameproof casserole, heat the oil and cook the onion over medium heat, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and curry paste and cook for 1 minute more.

Pour the chicken or vegetable stock into the pan, add the potatoes, and bring to a boil.

Turn down the heat, partially cover the pan, and simmer the potatoes for 15 minutes. Add the cauliflower and cook for 10 minutes more, with the pan partially covered.

Add the peas, salt, and pepper and cook for 2 minutes or until all the vegetables are cooked through.

In a bowl, whisk the yogurt until it is smooth. Stir in a small ladleful of the hot cooking liquid. Stir the yogurt mixture into the vegetables and let it cook, stirring gently, for 2 minutes or until the vegetables are hot again. Sprinkle with cilantro and cashews and serve at once over rice.

SERVES 4

CURRIED CHICKEN THIGHS WITH RAISINS AND ALMONDS

8 chicken thighs, skin removed (bones intact)
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
1 hot chili pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
1-inch piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup raisins
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted until golden

Sprinkle the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and set aside.

In a flameproof casserole, heat the oil. Add the onion, green and red bell peppers, chili pepper, and ginger. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, for 15 minutes. Add the garlic and curry powder. Cook for 1 minute more.

Add the chicken thighs to the pan, skinned side down. Cook them in the pepper mixture over medium-high heat, turning often, for 3 minutes. Keep stirring the mixture to prevent burning.

Pour in the stock and raisins. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, and partially cover the pan. Simmer the chicken thighs for 30 minutes or until they are cooked through. Sprinkle them with cilantro and almonds, taste for seasoning, and add more salt and pepper if you like. Serve at once.

SERVES 4