Need a new cooking vessel for Chicken Curry

Cooking Discussions Cookware
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I thought I needed something more shallow but my stock pot worked fine, no oil splatters when toasting spices.

I look photos of finished dish, it’s hard to make curries look pretty.

I’m usually very careful but when I typed up the double recipe, I wrote Tablespoons instead of teaspoons for the spice mix. It was very fiery last night, mellowed out a little today. An Indian or Pakistani would probably think it’s just right.

The recipe is Chettinad Chicken Curry from glebekitchen.com. I omitted five spice, added stone flower and diced serrano. His recipe is very complicated; I rewrote it, can post here if anyone is interested.

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Nice. You accidentally powered up your curry

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I like the sauce mixed with plain basmati rice, not too hot.

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A friend who’s wife is Desi said that food at home often looks the same after as before!

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I don’t think you need a new pot.

I use my 5 qt pressure cooker for the equivalent of 2 chickens. I have a 5qt SS Dutch oven too, but I like the heaviness of the PC — also the flexibility if I want to pressure cook the sauce or added potatoes.

Glad your stock pot worked, but if you have something with a bit more floor space, I’d use that next time.

Re @ricepad’s suggestion of a wok, my mom will always choose a kadhai over anything else. Her answer to your question would be to use a kadhai big enough to fit the chicken. Which I imagine your wok is. (She has a bunch of nested kadhais of different sizes, vs the single-size wok that’s common in Chinese cooking.)

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Seconding pressure cooker. I use my 6 qt vintage stove top PC for curries of all sorts, whether they need pressure cooking or not. Now I want a kadhai…

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I’d love to see your rewrite, if you have a chance to post it.

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Mine would be too small, but they do come in larger sizes:

I guess a Jamaican pot would be just as good:

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Maybe I’m slow, but it took me 2 hours to prepare the ginger-garlic paste, 6 oz of each. I only had 5.5 oz of ginger so used 5.5 oz of garlic which is 3 heads! I had to peel the ginger, peel garlic (I always remove the germ) … with my bad knee I had to take a few breaks. (At least I wasn’t employed, getting paid by the hour!) The excess I froze in a freezer ziplock.

If you prefer, you could just make this fresh each time instead.

His recipe annoyed me, was 3 pages; I reduced to 2, now corrected my dumb typing mistake. (It was still edible but definitely bold

Revised Chettinad Chicken Curry glebekitchen.com

Make Ginger-Garlic Paste:

6 oz fresh garlic cloves, peeled

6 oz fresh ginger, peeled

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon salt

Combine in a blender, adding water as needed. You need 6 Tablespoons of this for a double recipe. Freeze the rest in a freezer ziplock.

Make the Chettinad Masala:

In a small bowl, measure out 2 Tablespoons Coriander Seeds,

2 inches cinnamon bark, ½ teaspoon black peppercorns, 2 whole cloves,

4 green cardamom. These are your Big Spices.

In a second small bowl, measure out 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, 1 teaspoon poppy seeds and 2 pinches ajwain, 1 Tablespoon stone flower (Kalpasi) optional

These are your Small Spices.

Preheat a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add the Big Spices. Toast,

shaking pan, about less than 2 minutes.

Add the Little Spices and toast about 30 seconds. Add 6 whole dried red Kashmiri chilies (maybe mixed with Gundu chilies), another 30 seconds – flip halfway through.

Remove from heat, let cool. When cool, transfer to spice grinder. Grind then set aside.

Chicken Curry :

2-4 large onions, sliced

6 Shallots, sliced

8 Tablespoons coconut or vegetable oil

6 Tablespoons Garlic-Ginger Paste

40 Fresh Curry Leaves

4-6 Kashmiri chilies (can be mixed with Gundu chilies)

2-4 limes

1 minced serrano, optional (my idea)

1 skinless chicken, save wings in freezer

5-6 skinless thighs or another chicken

2 15 oz cans coconut milk

2 cans diced tomatoes … drained, save juice for another use (or fresh)

Slice the onions, shallots, prepare tomatoes, measure out spice mix. Squeeze lime juice over chicken, mix well.

Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add oil and cook onions on low heat, stirring occasionally, until they are a soft, light brown mess. (After 10 minutes, add the sliced shallots.) This takes 20 minutes or more.

Add the 40 Curry Leaves and 6 Tablespoons of garlic-ginger paste. Cook until sputtering stops.

Add the spice mix: 3 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon Chettinad Masala, 4 teaspoons Kashmiri chili powder, 1 teaspoon turmeric, 1 ½ teaspoons coarse black pepper, 1 Tablespoon kosher salt and cook stirring constantly, for about a minute. Toss in Kashmiri chilies and toast lightly. Add in 1 minced serrano.

Stir in Coconut Milk and tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Add chicken and simmer until temperature tests at 160 – 170 F, at least 30 minutes.

Taste, it probably needs more salt.

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30

omg WHAT?! No!!!

If I’m using organic garlic, I don’t peel it sometimes if it’s getting pureed anyway (if minced, I scrape the skin off with a spoon).

No need to remove the germ for indian food. I’ve started buying peeled garlic from TJs or Whole Foods, totally worth it.

We make a small jar’s worth and leave it in the fridge – lasts a while. I sometimes put in a pinch of salt and a bit of oil because I read it somewhere, but my mom doesn’t bother. We always have ginger-garlic and ginger-green chilli paste in the fridge.

You can also buy ginger-garlic paste (or the individuals) at any indian store and it’s totally fine, but my palate has gotten more sensitive and I don’t like the acidity they use to preserve it.

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I’ve read using fresh garlic is best. In the future, I’ll just make enough ginger-garlic paste for each recipe. A long time ago I learned that the germ of garlic needs to be removed, that this causes indigestion so I do it. If the garlic is very fresh, it’s tiny, easy to remove. I don’t cook big meals every day so I can go all out when I do.

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There must be an easier way to peel the garlic than whatever method you’re using. Here’s what I do:

With the head of garlic resting roots down on the cutting board, whack it with the heel of your palm to separate the cloves. Discard any paper that get loosened, then take each clove and flatten it with the side of a large knife until it makes a satisfying crunch. Flick it off to the side, and move another clove into place. When all the cloves have been flattened, they should peel quite easily. If you want to trim the germ, go ahead, otherwise the garlic is good to go. For three heads, it shouldn’t take more than five minutes from start to finish.

My mom SLAMS the garlic with the side of her Chinese cleaver as if it had insulted her. I just lay a knife on top and press gently until it yields the crunch.

WRT to ginger, I use a lot of ginger. I almost never peel it unless it has a lot of dirt or visible mold on it. At most I’ll trim away the grody looking bits, and prep (mince, slice or whatever) as needed.

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Ive been using an aluminum caldero purchased at a hispanic store for maybe 50 years. Similar vessels also are sold in indian stores these days. I dont think it will ever wear out! It does a good job both browning and stewing. A lot lighter and cheaper than le creuset , flat-based but rounded (no corners like my dutch ovens. and stainless steel saucepans which “catch” so readily. Only drawback I guess it does not function on some of the modern electric stovetops.

Something like this. You want a fairly thick-walled one. Sometimes its easier to discern if you go to the store.
https://www.amazon.com/Traditional-Natural-Colombia-Caldero

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A beloved unitasker is the soft silicond tube. Roll a clove of garlic in it briefly, and out it comes neatly peeled and ready to slice or mince. For ginger I just use a micro grater without peeling the root and toss the rest back in the freezer in a small jar.

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funny, I had one of those tubes for years and wound up tossing it as not speeding my process much. I have tried many tricks and methods for dealling with garlic but have fallen back on squeezing it with my fingersor rolling it on the cutting board until the dry skin separates enough to peel. I dont stress about it any more.

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For me it is not that it speeds the process but that it yields a skin free and uncrushed clove and no bits of moistened skin clinging to the board. For most of my dishes the milder flavor of a clean mince or slice is better than the more intense flavor from crushing. Your method sounds good, but I am so used to the tube I’ll hang onto it. I will, however, try it your way!

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LOL. I’m somewhere in between Slam and Press but I love this method in genera. Also rarely peel ginger

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different strokes for sure! You would neve know I am eliminating gadgets from the numbers in my kitchen.

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Thanks so much for posting!

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There’s a reason they sell peeled garlic now… it’s for those of us who can use a couple of heads at a time, no method is going to compress that timeframe to acceptable :joy:

My (not indian) aunt suggested to me once that I should just get the dorot freezer cubes. I told her I’d go bankrupt, because I’d have to use 2 or whole packs at a go.

The squeeze tubes of garlic are very useful for small quantities. The ones of ginger, I have the same issue as prepared ginger-garlic paste — I can taste the preserving acid.

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