Re: Today I have...
Today I spent 3 hours making a Tikka Masala. If anyone wants to give it a go, the ingredients are as follows. I even provide them in yank language because i'm kind.
1/4 cup cabbage
1/4 of a carrot
1/4 of a bell pepper
3 large white onions
3 garlic cloves
1 inch of ginger
^ Chop that lot finely. Then shallow fry until translucent and browning in 100ml of vegetable oil. Then add 1 large tomato, chopped. Then add enough water to just about cover all the onions, tomato. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Add 1 teaspoon of each of these:
Paprika
Fenugreek powder
Coriander
Turmeric (fry it for 30 seconds in very hot butter until it darkens, preferably)
Butter (actually, more like 3 teaspoons.. maybe 4... or 5)
Blend until it's smooth. Taste it. It won't taste great, edible but not much else. Don't fret! more to do..
Now fry the following for 30 seconds on a high heat in some Ghee/Vegetable oil:
1 tablespoon cumin powder
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons garam masala
A pinch of turmeric
Blend a couple more cloves of garlic and a half inch of ginger with some nice oil to make a nice oily ginger/garlic paste. Alternatively, buy garlic & ginger paste (lazy!).
Now add said garlic and ginger paste, and 2 large tablespoons of double concentrate tomato paste. Fry for a further 30 seconds.
Now add back the basic curry sauce mixture*****. There should be roughly 700 milliliters. A couple hundred either way doesn't really matter, just adjust spice levels to taste accordingly. Stir and simmer for a while to thicken it if you like. Add more water if you want it thinner. It doesn't really matter how long you simmer for now, it's basically cooked, the rest is just for flavor.
Grab a handful of fresh coriander. Chop it a little, add it to sauce. Blend it again if you don't want large pieces of coriander. Add a tablespoon of sugar if you want a little sweetness. Also add the juice of one lemon (a tablespoon or two) for a little sourness. Salt and pepper to taste. 300ml of Double Cream for..creaminess (pretty much necessary, wouldn't advise you skip this).
That should create enough curry to serve 3 decent sized portions if you add in plenty of chicken/beef and rice. It's nice. I'd recommend it.
***** WARNING. When you add the sauce back, the pan will likely be very hot as you just browned and fried some spices. THE SAUCE WILL INSTANTLY BUBBLE VIOLENTLY, YOU WILL SPLASH SAUCE ALL OVER YOUR KITCHEN. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A LID TO COVER THE PAN IMMEDIATELY! I made this mistake. I did not have a lid. There was a lot of mess. Plus, scolding hot curry sauce flying at you isn't fun.