Feed: My Life in Curry
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Rich Flavour, in reply to
Curry Goat! The Jamaican staple. I have a great recipe if anyone finds any goat meat. Fun fact: it is the most widely eaten meat in the world, just not around these parts.
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Rich Flavour, in reply to
From scratch is the only way... this is a great recipe, but you need to put in a bit of time and work!
http://www.ecurry.com/blog/indian/curries/gravies/murgh-makhani-butter-chicken/
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Random thought: when did restauranteurs start asking "do you want Kiwi hot, or (Indian|Thai) hot?"
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Rich Flavour, in reply to
September 12, 1994.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
Grey Lynn butchers and Pak n Save on Lincoln Rd seem the other reliable outlets. Cook long and slow unless you have a pressure cooker.
Top tip: When Indians talk about mutton they are talking about goat.
I'm starting to get the urge to go all Persian on a large piece of goat.
But also: must investigate this West Indian thing.
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I hate this thread: I live in Dunedin and no-one really makes a compelling curry and it is the one important food group which I have never mastered the art of cooking. I grew up in rural New Zealand, so my only contact with curry until I was about 20 was my grand-mother's curried eggs and the dusty pack of Gregg's curry powder in the kitchen at home. Then I moved away from home for Uni, met people who were neither white nor Maori, and my life was changed.
My first curries were actually Malaysian, because I used to hang out with a bunch of Malaysians: they would make this extremely hot, yellow, soupy chicken curry and swear that it was no good if it didn't make you cry. Then in my third year, I lived with a group of guys from Gujurat: they'd cook pretty good food but I really hit the jackpot when I went home with them and ate their mums' cooking: vegetarian food so good that this kid who'd grown up on meat didn't even notice he was eating vegetarian food.
The only particularly memorable curries I have had in NZ have been Malaysian: KK Malaysian in Auckland, pretty much everywhere in Wellington and the much missed Cambodian Chicken Curry from the late Apsara, here in Dunedin. But I have traveled: India, Malaysia, Singapore (where I lived for a month or so, and made it my mission to find the best Singapore style chicken curry), Australia (there was a place in North Lygon I'd frequent) and England have all provided highlights (the last produced the quite remarkable Balti restaurant in Wolverhampton, which had its interior completely timber panelled, but not in a nice way - more like a home made 70's caravan). Japanese curry here isn't much chop, but I was quite impressed with what I found in Japan.
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Leopold, in reply to
I agree. All of this strutting and posing over who can eat the hottest chillie/curry is wearisome. What happened to actually tasting the food
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My first curry was Mum's Beef and pineapple version (much nice than it sounds, even today although YMMV). Went to a few of the local Shore places when I was older but after eating at work mate's house (his lovely mum cooked everything from scratch ), nothing at a restaurant seemed as good. Probably not going to the right places :)
These days, curry is a firm favourite in our house. The kids got hooked on Masterchef (Aussie) several years ago (via my mother) and I haven't been able to get away with sausages and veges for them for dinner ever since. Mum also bought them both a Junior Masterchef (Aussie) recipe book on a visit to Oz and the Goan Fish Curry recipe in one of them is now a very firm favourite (with homemade naan bread - Simon Holst BBQ recipe). I doubt it is very authentic but it is pretty tasty. Maybe the Butter Chicken of fish curries.
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Barry, in reply to
You must get wearied very easily: there is hardly a mention of hotness of curries, and no-one claiming to eat the hottest!
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anyone looking for goat meat in Wellington should try the Halal butchers in Newtown. you can also find all the fresh accompaniments you need a few metres down Riddiford Street at Asiana Foods (Ranchods). I've had trouble getting coriander to grow too, but luckily only have to walk 5 minutes to pay $2 for a bunch fresh from Mr Ranchod's glasshouse, a delightful man who I also found out today speaks Samoan.
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thegirlstefan, in reply to
oh Dunedin, it does try- you would think that the proliferation of students would give it any interesting cultural tinge, but in my experience most of the 'ethnic' restaurants at the north end of George St seem to be putting frozen supermarket-bought samosas etc. into the microwave/deep fryer and charging the gullible/slightly drunk a decent mark up.
Though Dunedin's student cuisine culture did inspire one late-night Chinese takeaway to pioneer deep fired Moro bars (maybe a nod to its Scottish heritage) and deep fried ice cream. Is the Golden Dragon still there?
As a visitor, it was summed up for me that the most enduring restaurant in the city is simply and actually called "The Asian" (very reminiscent of that clip from 'Goodness Gracious Me')
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Susannah Shepherd, in reply to
Big fat sultanas, with sliced banana and dessicated coconut on the side.
I remember that, and have been known to make it (usually with whole meat rather than sausages though). I was always under the impression it was a South African variant on curry although I have no idea why I think that.
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Che Tibby, in reply to
Yeah man. When the crop is successful I like to sit outside on a warm day and strip the seed heads for an afternoon. The full hippie trip. Cicadas, birdsong, harvest.
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linger, in reply to
On one level, Japanese curry is terribly wrong. On another …
As it happens, my lunch today, at a little restaurant behind my university, was a “cheese omelette curry”, which, as the name suggests, is a cheese omelette served on top of a beef curry rice. You might say this is one case in which both levels of the meal are terribly wrong.
Nevertheless, there are several half-decent Nepalese restaurants around these parts -- though they do seem to change management, staff, and names with alarming frequency. -
Growing coriander. Seems like it's mostly luck. Most things in Newlands really struggle, but for some reason despite the unpredictable weather, high winds and poor soil coriander seems to go great.
Except this past year.
Damn fickle herb...
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Anthony Burgess of Clockwork Orange fame wrote three novels about his time as a schoolteacher in Malaya, the Malayan Trilogy. The descriptions of his curry meals - always accompanied by ice cold Tiger Beer - were what started my yet to be sated interest in curry.
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My life in curry started early, my dad being a gastronaut who travelled from Manchester to NZ via Berlin, India and Eastern Europe and all places in between. His 1969 Indian recipe book is on the shelf. The recipes are along the lines of "start a medium fire.."
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Simon Grigg, in reply to
a duplicate post it seems.
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Simon Grigg, in reply to
Although having said that, Samy’s Curry House on the Dempsey hill was (still is) my favourite. “Fine South Indian Cuisine”
Damn - now you've got me Greg. I'm in HK next week I hope ....
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Simon Grigg, in reply to
I agree. All of this strutting and posing over who can eat the hottest chillie/curry is wearisome. What happened to actually tasting the food
When properly used, chillies and heat can be an awesome aide towards tasting the food.
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My first experience of curry was in literary form: Gerald Durrell’s account of working at Whipsnade Zoo, which I have to admit was one factor that delayed by a decade or more my actual tasting of curry. Heavily redacted, here it is:
“Do you like curry?”
“Um… yes, I do.”
“ Hot curry?” inquired Captain Beale, glaring at me suspiciously.
“Yes. My mother makes very hot curries.”
“Good,” said the captain with satisfaction. “Come to dinner … Thursday.”
[…]
The hall was redolent with the smell of curry. From the direction of the kitchen came a sound like a trainload of copper pans falling over a cliff.
[…]
Presently, the table laid, we trooped into the dining room and the first course was served. Great bowls of mulligatawny soup, the virulent yellow of a jaundice epidemic and of a piquancy that left you feeling faintly surprised that your lips did not burst into flame.
[…]
Eventually the last searing spoonful of soup had been imbibed and the captain lumbered out into the kitchen and reappeared bearing a monstrous tureen.
“Cen’t get enough meat for a decent curry with this damned rationing,” he grumbled, “so you’ll have to put up with this. This is rabbit.”
He removed the lid of the tureen and a cloud of curry-scented steam enveloped the table like a London fog. It seized hold of your throat with a hard, cunning, oriental grasp and built up in thick layers in your lung cavities. We all coughed furtively. The curry was delicious, but I thanked heaven that I came from a household which specialised in hot dishes; otherwise, my tongue and vocal chords would never have survived. After the first few mouthfuls everyone, their larynxes shrivelled and twisted, was mouthing incoherently and grasping at the water jug like drowning men at a straw.
“Don’t drink water!” roared the captain, the sweat pouring in cascades down his face, his spectacles misting with the heat. “Water makes it worse.”
“I told you that you were making it too hot, William dear,” remonstrated Mrs Beale, her face scarlet. […]
“If you had a curry like this every day you wouldn’t get colds in the winter.” Here, I must say, I was inclined to agree with the captain. With one’s body incandescent with his curry, one felt that the humble cold germ would not stand a chance.–Gerald Durrell, Beasts in My Belfry
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By far the best (and best value) curry I've had in Auckland was at Pakwan in Belmont. Massive servings, lots of free extras and samosas to clamber over broken glass for. They'd have massive vats sitting on the stoves cooking all day until the meat was so tender it'd fall apart on your fork. Sadly, it was replaced by a fairly generic place late last year.
I used to live around the corner from Sigdi in Devonport, and was a regular there for close to.a decade until I moved away. The mains are patchy in quality, but make up for it with variety, and if you eat in, try the green chilli and coriander naan-absolutely covered with both, and worth a visit on its own.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
My first experience of curry was in literary form: Gerald Durrell’s account of working at Whipsnade Zoo, which I have to admit was one factor that delayed by a decade or more my actual tasting of curry. Heavily redacted, here it is:
That's great. Nice job of editing it down into comment-length too!
Bummer that reading it scarred your youth, though ...
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Curried sausages. NZ answer to dealing with foreign muck. You know, macaroni cheese. Spaghetti in tins. Rice pudding. As far as restaurant eating goes:Tea rooms - Quarter cut white bread with smear of butter (none of this margarine shit), eggs on toast, baked beans. Bacon. Sophistication like nothing on earth.
Heh. I remember reading Graham Chapman's story of being in Oamaru (I think) and asking for a two egg omelet. He got: Two eggs ON an omelet!
I remember being at Cooks Beach where Tuatuas abound. A french (!) chef was staying and he was visibly shaking as we boiled up of these delicacies, dipped them in vinegar and slid them down our throats. When the next bucket came up he had obviously prepared himself and bravely suggested he cook them. Out came the fry pan, a bit of oil (not fat or butter) and some stuff called garlic. Bit of a shock actually when it tasted bloody nice!!!
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Ross Mason, in reply to
Would one of you people who cook up a mean sausage curry care to post a recipe?
My 43 year old Roberton Rd, Avondale, flat recipe copied out into my 43 year old recipe book written in by my (at the time 40 year old Mum:
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