A curry's first cousin

[redbird]

Since I can't eat hot peppers (of the capsaicin sort) anymore, and like curry, I decided a while ago to see how close I could get without that specific spice. I started with a package of Penzey's Balti seasoning mix, not because it's the perfect curry blend, but because it's a curry blend I used, and had in the house, that had a list of ingredients. I went to Aphrodisia and got some of everything on that list that wasn't a capsaicin, and I didn't already have.

Then I mixed them up, guessing at quantities, and unfortunately not noting how much I'd used, and proceeded to leave it untouched for a while. Tonight, I made us a shrimp sort-of-curry.

cattitude and I agreed that it wasn't hot enough; in groping for vocabulary, he said it needed more "sharp" flavors, and after a while it transpired that fresh garlic, uncooked, has some of that, but cooked garlic doesn't. Mustard is also in there.

The notes from tonight are:

• needs more sharp


• mustard (there's a little in there now)


• horseradish?


• maybe add fresh garlic a minute or so before the lemon juice


• more clove?


• replace our ginger powder


• Szechuan peppercorns?

Cattitude also notes that he wants to do other things with the ajuwan (which I bought for the first time to use in this), possibly trying using it instead of sage in a chicken stuffing.

The notes from when I mixed this up say that it contains coriander, dried garlic, ginger, cumin, cinnamon (true cinnamon, not cassia), mustard (but it's old), clove, fenugreek, anise, ajowan, cilantro, black pepper, and turmeric. There should be coriander, but I forgot to buy any.

Therefore: I should get powdered ginger, powdered mustard, and powdered coriander before doing this again.

Edited based on comments:

I put two cardamom pods in as well. I'm not going to start hand-grinding spices with a mortar and pestle. Even an electric spice grinder seems less likely on a weeknight; yes, it gets good results, but realistically, time and energy are limitations. Fresh ginger, or the ginger paste I have in the fridge, seems plausible. (Ginger root may keep "forever" in some people's refrigerators, but in mine, after a few weeks it is dried out or starts to develop mold.)

Comments

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

I haven't tasted it, which means you should take this with a grain of salt. But black pepper and cider vinegar might help. I know there's already black pepper in the blend, but fresh ground black pepper has much more kick than the same grind that's been sitting in a jar for a month. And lemon juice is nice for sweet-and-sour, and the specific lemony smell...but some spices just need a little jolt of acid to sharpen them up. So, yes, lemon AND vinegar.

[redbird]

Oh, I should probably have mentioned that I ground more black pepper into the dish just after adding the broth, but that's sort of background radiation for my cooking.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you wrote your notes.

Fresh garlic indeed is sharp in a way cooked garlic isn't; fresh ginger, especially mature ginger, is sharp in a way dried ginger isn't. Try adding both, either to the same batch or separate batches. And horseradish is another good suggestion. (I'm not sure about what the Szechuan peppercorns will do, they're a different kind of hot/cold/numb/spicy sensation. But hey, try them.)

Yay food! She said encouragingly. :)

[trinker.livejournal.com]

Szechuan peppercorns are mostly going to give you a sensation of 'tingly tongue'

I suggest using grated *fresh* ginger, and adding it late in the cooking. And making smashed garlic and salt paste to increase the heat of the garlic.

All the dried spices should be heated in oil before you start using them.

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

Vinegar. Vinegar is very good for sharpness; the harsher the vinegar, the sharper the spice-equivalent taste. If you have a vicious white vinegar, mustard, garlic, and a great deal of pepper you can damn near achieve vindaloo.

[maryread.livejournal.com]

Do you have Penzey's catalog? I have used their listed formulations as basis for dressing mixes (crouton mix & so forth) straight from the catalog, which is massive in detail, and lists all those other curry powders they make too. Maybe this info is on their website too?

Personally I like to put a lot of cumin in everything. Most of the curry formulations I have seen have like four times as much coriander as anything else, but I am no connaisseur.

[bohemiancoast.livejournal.com]

OK. Number one comment is grated fresh ginger. You need an actual ginger root -- it keeps for ages in the fridge and you just peel a bit of it and grate as much as you need. Powdered ginger is a completely different spice, has no similarity. In sufficient quantity ginger is quite hot in its own right.

After that? There isn't much point getting ground coriander because it loses its aromatics so fast. I use a manual coffee grinder (not used for anything else) for coriander and other spices that are best off kept not-ground. That's seed coriander, of course -- you've mentioned cilantro leaf, but some curries also use the root.

I am not sure I would use it for a prawn curry, but lots of curries benefit from cardamoms. Whole pods, which you fish out (like cloves) when you eat.

[redbird]

The spice grinder seems plausible, though I don't do well keeping fresh ginger in fridge or freezer.

[feorag.livejournal.com]

I have a cookbook somewhere that has a curry powder recipe which uses nasturtium seeds to provide the heat. I can try and dig it out if you want.

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

Tamarind, if you want the sharp to include sour.