Because I love Indian food and make curries often, I like to have curry paste on hand rather than make it every time I need it.  It can be frozen in tablesppon portions and added frozen during the sautee process of a hot dish, or thawed for adding to a cold dish.  I use curry paste as both a condiment and an ingredient.  I like mine very spicy, but because most of the members of my household have a different SQ (spice quotient) than I do this recipe is pretty darned mild.

This recipe is based on a traditional Madras version of curry (Madras is now Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu on the Bay of Bengal.)  I've added some Thai elements like cilantro and lemongrass because I think it just enhances the flavor.  This is my recipe and I encourage feedback.   

My curry paste can be added to a simple sautee of vegetables along with light cream or coconut milk for a fantastic curry to serve with exotic rice or even pasta.

 

Ingredients:

 

3 Tbsp dry coriander seed

2 Tbsp fenugreek seed

1 Tbsp dry cumin seed

1 tspn mustard seeds

1 tspn cracked black peppercorn

1 tspn chili powder

1 tspn tumeric, ground

2 gloves garlic

1 small stalk lemongrass

1 bunch fresh cilantro (about 6 sprigs) (alternative: use parsley or Chinese parsley)

1 Tbsp cardamom seeds

1 tsp tamarind juice

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1 in. piece of ginger root

1 tsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp raw sugar

  

How to:

Take all dry ingredients except the sugar and grind in a clean spice grinder.  Set aside. 

In a separate dish, peel and crush garlic cloves.  Add thinly sliced (or grated) lemon grass.  Finely chop fresh cilantro/parsley and add to garlic mix.  Peel ginger root and grate into mixture.  Add tamarind juice and lemon juice.  Blend wet ingredients thoroughly, and begin to add ground spice mixture, a tablespoon at a time.  Blend well to form a paste.  Add sugar.   

This mixture should be used fresh for up to 5 days.  Freeze tablespoon sized portion for later use.  Frozen paste can be added during sauté process in curry recipes, or thawed for use in cold preparations.

Tips from my experience:  (1) When I do not have curry paste on hand, I use Palak’s Mild Curry paste from the market.  Hot version is good but really hot.  (2) Curry is a blend of spices, so find the flavor combinations that suit you.  I like to balance sweet with savory, aromatic with flavorful, and sweet with spicy.  In my version, most of the heat comes from the chili powder…adjust as preference dictates.  To make a powder and not a paste, remove the wet ingredients, substituting power versions where possible.  Crystallized ginger can be grated but has added sugar, so remove the raw sugar if using crystallized ginger.  (3) This version works well with vegetables.  It has a Thai influence with the lemongrass.  I’ve never tried it with meat or fish.