Favourite Curry / Spicy food recipes

Mark Johnson, just cook the daal with a little salt, make the garnish separately and add to the cooked daal.
Try that and see how you like it.
The spice levels are normal for home cooked food for Indians, not wimpy at all.


Moong we get as whole moong, green grains, then split moong or green daal, and finally yellow moong daal.
Whole moong can be sprouted, then cooked.
Steamed, with chopped onions and lemon juice, it is a tasty snack. Green chillies and other things are optional.
 
One of my favourite curries is Mangalore-style chicken curry. Coconut gives it the flavour. You can find lots of recipes on line, but basically you start with either a chicken that is jointed and cut up, or about a kilo of chicken parts (I like drums and thighs with skin and bone still attached) and toss with a teaspoon of turmeric and some salt, and let that marinate for a bit. Then put about 1/3 cup dessicated coconut in a dry pan on medium heat, stir it now and then while it toasts until it is a nice medium brown, then set it aside. In the same pan add a bit of oil (coconut oil would seem appropriate) and fry a large coarsely chopped onion until it is also getting deep golden or brown. Put the fried onion, the toasted coconut, a couple of cloves of garlic, a few (5? 8?) dried red chilis (I usually seed them and remove the bitter membrane, but suit yourself), some fenugreek seeds, some coriander seeds and cumin seeds (say 1/4 tsp fenugreek, 2 tsp cumin, 1 tbsp coriander) into a blender and start blending, adding water as necessary to make a smooth paste. You might need a cup or more of water.
Now finely slice another onion, and fry that in some oil until it is soft and starting to turn golden, add the pureed mixture, and fry that until the oil is separating from the mass. Rinse the blender with a bit of water and add that to the pan and continue to fry until the moisture is gone, then reduce the heat and add the chicken, stir well to coat the meat with the masala, cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked and tender. Stir in a bit of chopped coriander leaf and maybe a teaspoon of garam masala at the end, let it sit for a bit, and serve.

When I tasted this at the restaurant of the President Hotel in Bengaluru I was in heaven.
 
On the whole I had good experiences with YouTube cooking videos.

There is one channel where the female presenter publishes some instructional videos in English and others in one of the Indian languages.
Sometimes I watch the Indian language ones for entertainment because the autogenerated subtitles by YT are hilarious and clearly have absolutely no relation at all to what she says! :)
 
That is if you know the local language...


@Nezbleu, try the Andhra style or Tamil style chicken dishes I have mentioned earlier, you can reduce the chillies to what you are comfortable with.
And try dry roast mutton, Tamil style.
Mutton seared then cooked with curry leaves, among other spices.
 
I finished the turkey biryani last night, so my house will smell like a Indian restaurant for the next day or so (not a bad thing). Being heretical and health conscious, I also put veggies in my biryani - corn, red capsicum, green beans, and spring onion, along with the usual tomatoes.

I use avocado or sesame oil for my cooking, as ghee does bad things to my LDL levels. Tempered in the oil - cumin seed, bay leaves, cinnamon, cloves, star anise. Once the spices are tempered - a handful of curry leaves to wither in the oil. Then it's the chopped onions. After that, the marinated turkey goes in. Then the vegetables. I add one can of light coconut milk to smooth the mix out, and an equivalent amount of chicken broth. This simmers for a while, then I layer in the soaked basmati rice on top.

This is all happening in an Instant Pot. I use the saute setting for the preliminary operations. Once the rice is in, I close the lid and set up the pot for 8 min at low pressure. A quick vent afterwards, then it's ready to eat. My colleagues at work also like the results, and one said my cooking made him homesick...
 
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Ghee, once heated to boiling, cooled and then tempered, has been said to actually help in reducing cholesterol.But that view is a little controversial.
Use any oil that is locally available, just heat to boiling or smoking, then reduce to regular temperature, and continue cooking.
The oil is there to take out the flavor from the spices, it must be fairly mild in flavor, and suit your digestion.
And it always helps if you have tasted home cooked food, the restaurants make very oily and spicy food, because it is a feast for the diners.
Home cooked food is generally much lighter on the spices and oil.
Of course, then your individual preferences also count.
 
You can make ghee from butter by simply reducing it over a gentle flame in a thick wok type vessel.
There must be videos on line.
And if you are about 80 kilos, one teaspoon per meal will not be bad.
The ghee you got may be mixed with vegetable fat, or you may have used too much.
Or rarely, it may simply not suit you, as it seems in your case.


Try Hing (asafoedita) as an additive, sprinkled over peanuts, or popcorn.
Added to daal temper (the oil), it is an excellent remedy for indigestion and flatulence.
A pinch per person is enough.