Sounds so good! I’m appreciating R. Iyer more and more.
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Definitely. I’m excited for the next recipe!
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SPICY POTATOES AND SPINACH from 660 Curries
Had a little leftover coconut milk, found a curry in this book last night.
Uses several spices, of course, I’ve never used fenugreek before, ever.
Also got to use my little mortar/pestle to moosh up fennel seeds and mustard seeds. The result is satisfying/savory/save to recipe list.
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When I started reading, I thought you were going to post curry noodle soup, but then I realized it’s Singapore curry noodles 
Looks delicious!
I like that each layer is seasoned with curry powder.
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Yes, it tasted to me just like Singapore noodles should taste. I have made them once before, and they were … fine. But this was just how I wanted them to taste. And I do think adding the curry powder to each part separately made a difference.
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I used to order singapore noodles pretty regularly, then stopped for some unknown reason — probably that there were different things that took precedence.
When I think to make them at home, I am mentally blocked by the range of proteins the restaurant ones include — around here, egg, ham or pork, chicken, and shrimp. I almost never have all those at the same time! But there’s no reason it couldn’t be just egg and one other thing, so I will now correct my brain. Shrimp and egg are a nice combination!
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CHICKEN WITH RED CHILES AND COCONUT MILK (660 Curries, p. 139)
Not sure what went wrong here, but something definitely did. There were three positive reviews of this one on EYB, 2 stating that it made sense to add the whole can of coconut milk, giving more sauce and flavor, so I did that. And it was bland, so I kept adding salt, thinking that would bring out the flavor. Nope. I ended up with a fairly tasteless salt lick of a dish. Here are the basics: blend together a chopped onion, dried chilies, turmeric, garlic, white vinegar, and salt. Rub this marinade on the chicken and let sit at least 30 minutes but no more than 2 hours. Mine sat about 45 minutes. I used boneless skinless thighs instead of cut up chicken, so maybe didn’t get the depth that the skin would have given it, but still. Cook until you get a sear, then add a can of chopped tomatoes and the coconut milk. How bad could this be?? What on earth, aside from oversalting, could have gone wrong? No picture, as it wasn’t an especially appealing dish visually.
Here’s the rub: I have a bunch of this leftover. It’s sitting in the fridge with a chopped potato in it, in the hopes that this will lessen the saltiness. I’m thinking I will add some sort of vegetable- spinach, green beans, whatever. But any ideas what else might help? I was thinking maybe cumin? Lime juice? Can’t be beans since LLD isn’t a fan.
I enjoy big flavors a lot and have been introducing myself to cooking curries with the help of Iyer’s On the Curry Trail as well as the website Hot Thai Kitchen.
So when a recipe is lacking in flavor for my specific tastes, I add extra grated ginger, fish sauce (too salty in this instance?), and additional curry paste. I’d sauté the ginger and/or curry paste in a little of whatever oil your recipe uses to draw out the flavors before adding to your existing dish.
I’m likewise of fan of adding those greens and lime juice as you mentioned. Sometimes a handful of cherry tomatoes near the end of reheat/cooking to freshen the dish. If I had Thai basil around (added to the pot near end of cooking) or fresh cilantro, or even Italian basil (as a garnish) any of those would be fair game for me too.
I’d be interested to hear if you find a solution you like, as I’m looking to learn.
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Make a paste with a couple cloves of garlic and about an inch of ginger. Add a tablespoon of oil to a skillet and get it up to medium high heat. Add a teaspoon or so of mustard seeds if you have them (and if the cumin is whole, add it here too). Once they crackle, add the ginger and garlic paste and cook until it loses its raw smell. If your cumin is ground, add it here instead now (ground coriander is good too). Then I’d add the sauce back and check it for flavor, seeing if you need to up the quantities of anything else. Once you have it where you want it, then add the chicken and potatoes back to heat through. A squeeze of lime juice or a spoonful of tamarind before serving would be nice too.
Also, don’t underestimate the power of adding hot sauce at the table! Good luck!
ETA - if you taste your sauce before doing this and it still seems irretrievably salty, consider adding half to the pan with more coconut milk to dilute the salt. You could add about 1/2oz. of soaked, ground cashews (grind them with the water to a tahini consistency) with the ginger and garlic paste if you want to thicken the sauce at all.
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I went to look at the “Indian” name he gives it – “thenga paal kozhi” – which translates to coconut chicken curry, which is pretty generic and without provenance (other than the use of kozhi).
The recipe is missing any spices at all – neither whole nor powdered. If you want to “fix” the leftovers, I would bloom some whole garam masala (ie whole cardamom, cloves, a small piece of cinnamon, a bunch of black peppercorns, and a bay leaf) in oil (if you have curry leaves available, add some of those too), and then add in the curry and potatoes without the chicken and let it simmer to take on the flavors.
If you felt the aromatics were a bit lacking too, you can grate some fresh ginger in after the whole spices, and saute a bit before adding the curry.
Depending on the heat level you already have, add a slit green chilli of some sort (serrano for eg) to the oil before adding the curry. That will add both flavor and a bit of heat.
You could also add powdered spices like cumin and coriander to the oil, but that might muddy the flavor (for example Kerala stew / ishtu is very flavorful with just ginger and whole spices, and so is Meen moilee / Kerala fish curry). I’d probably skip the cumin/coriander and finish with a bit of whole garam masala instead if you still feel that you’re missing something.
When the curry has simmered for a bit, taste and add a pinch of sugar to balance if needed. I doubt you’ll need more acid given 1/4 cup vinegar and a whole can of tomatoes in there already.
When it’s to your liking, add the chicken and let it simmer for a few minutes, then finish with fresh cilantro, which also fixes many problems .
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Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the suggestions, and will be doing some variation on them. I will let you know how it works out. After the amazing meal from him last week, this was a shock and a drag.
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Sorry - powdered, not whole
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I was browsing through 660 Curries again, and came across this:
poem to curry
—William Makepeace Thackeray, 1846
❖ ❖ ❖
Three pounds of veal my darling girl prepares,
And chops it nicely into little squares;
Five onions next procures the little minx
(The biggest are the best, her Samiwel thinks),
And Epping butter nearly half a pound,
And stews them in a pan until they’re brown’d.
What’s next my dexterous little girl will do?
She pops the meat into the savoury stew,
With curry-powder table-spoonfuls three,
And milk a pint (the richest that may be),
And, when the dish has stewed for half an hour,
A lemon’s ready juice she’ll o’er it pour.
Then, bless her! Then she gives the luscious pot
A very gentle boil—and serves quite hot.
PS—Beef, mutton, rabbit, if you wish,
Lobsters, or prawns, or any kind fi sh,
Are fit to make a CURRY. ‘Tis, when done,
A dish for Emperors to feed upon.
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SHRIMP WITH CASHEW NUTS AND VINEGAR – from 660 Curries, p. 274
This is a pretty nice shrimp idea. A 15 minute marinade, then a simmer in that marinade until the little pink circles are done, 3-5 minutes. Makin’ the marinade takes a little time – ground cashews & cumin, coriander and cayenne. Salt, turmeric, white vinegar. Cilantro (celery tops for me) on top. I made some gussied-up rice to go under the plump protein.
I think the marinade time could be increased without worry. I used toasted cashews instead of raw–so they stayed in little crunchy grains instead of getting creamy.
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Looks good!
Careful of a longer marinade time given the vinegar (or skip the vinegar in the marinade add it later).
(Curious that he calls it vindaloo.)
EASTER EGGS* from 660 Curries p. 168
*a recipe for leftover hard-cooked eggs, not the colored ones for baskets 
I like these! The sauce they are warmed in is pureed onion, garlic, tomato, chilis. Spiced up with garam masala and cilantro. My little mini processer doesn’t puree no matter how long I hold down the button, so my sauce is unsmooth but not unsucculent.
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Yes, you’ve made me see some of the names seem a little casual, but if I had to come up with a different name for 660 food combinations, aka curries, in both English and another language I’d probably be reaching too!
In the “The Turmeric Trail” I see “Bette Davis’s Subzi Pakoras” 
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But many of the dishes actually already have names, just not the ones he’s using
Oh. 
That seems … weird!
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