Cooking Inquiry

[trinityvixen]

I need something with a little more kick than just generic curry powder. It should still be in the curry family, if that is even such a thing. Suggestions? (Note: for a recipe I'm using, some form of powder or ground substance would work best)

Comments

[bigscary.livejournal.com]

Madras/Hot Curry Powder. I buy mine at Dual Grocery, down on like 1st and 8th (or so), but other groceries would likely have some, somewhere.

Or, just add more spice as needed or desired.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Sounds good to me! Thanks!

[slackwench.livejournal.com]

I was also going to suggest just adding more spice to regular curry.

Since when can you cook?

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

when you say "more spice" which do you mean?

And no, I don't really cook. I'm experimenting. If I think about it like that, it is less terrifying.

[slackwench.livejournal.com]

Take your curry powder and add something else hot to give it more "kick". What you add depends on how much hotter you want it and what other flavors you want to impart.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

You're not being very specific. Can you give some examples? Like "add this for blah-di-di-blah flavor"?

[slackwench.livejournal.com]

It's hard to describe flavors of particular spices without being self referencing. For example, you could add cayenne (which is pretty hot), but then whatever you make with it will taste like cayenne in addition to curry. On the other hand, curry is pretty overpowering, so it might be ok even if you don't want the other flavor.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I'm making a yellow-pea curry, and I just want it to not taste quite so bland but not being quite scorching either.

[slackwench.livejournal.com]

If this is a "my curry is bland" thing, I think you just need different curry powder. bigscary's suggestion is probably reasonable.

[shell524.livejournal.com]

Are you trying to make an Indian-style curry or a Thai-style curry? Or some other kind of curry? If you're doing a generic Thai/Asian curry then a dash of hot chili oil will spice it up nicely. For Indian curry, I'm not sure... Cayenne IS hot, but has a flavor that, to me, does not complement Indian curry very well.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Indian-style, actually, or sort of vaguely so.

[avram]

I'd just drop in some extra cayenne pepper.

[moonlightalice.livejournal.com]

Turmeric or cumin.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

FYI - Curry is not actually a spice but a blend of spices, which means it can vary wildly. (Hence curry from different parts of India being different, and Thai curry being different.) I have my grandmother's curry recipe somewhere... But basically, you should be able to find curry with kick.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Oh you're right of course. I just need to find a better base curry powder and accent it.

[mephistakitten.livejournal.com]

If not spicy enough, I'd go for cayenne.

Salt and/or tomato paste might add something too. Garlic adds something. Ginger too. Not spicy, but "body". Ginger when cooked for a while makes food taste more ... savory?

Coriander, cumin, turmeric, paprika, chili powder, garam masala or cinnamon could do something too, dependingon what needs to be done.

They make "hot" and "mild" curry powders, getting a different powder (from an indian/whatever cuisine your curry is from store) might help future curries.

[sols-light.livejournal.com]

Tomato actually cools down a curry, I forget how. The rest are all great suggestions, especially chili, paprika and garam masala.

[mephistakitten.livejournal.com]

But it adds *something*... it might be the *something* that the curry is missing.

[wellgull.livejournal.com]

Ground red pepper might also be an option; I find it pretty "generically spicy" without being too identifiable. Other than as spicy.