CURRY GUIDE
Choosing the right curry dish can be a little daunting, there are so many to choose from. We understand that not everyone is familiar with Indian cuisine, some of the ingredients we use you may not of heard of.
At the Lal Qila Indian takeaway Southport we understand this and want to make sure you choose the right dish, so we have put together a brief guide to help you understand a little more about our cuisine and choose the right dish for you.
Korma: | Very mild. A delicious partnership of coconut cream and spices produce a very mild but creamy texture. Korma is the definitive mild curry on the Indian Cuisine menu. It is typically prepared with butter and thickened with single cream and coconut cream to give a very mild creamy sauce. Spicing would be subtle, and there would be more use of aromatic spices such as cardamom, clove and cinnamon, rather than the more robust spices such as chilli, cumin, black pepper etc. A traditional Korma will have a long slow cooking. In fact, Korma is not one particular dish, you will find it should not be bland and have more of a sweet taste. |
Massala: | Mild. One of the most popular traditional dishes on the menu and the cuisine should know whether they are providing a good example of the dish. What is a good example is all Massala dishes are to be made with tikka or tandoori items e.g. chicken tikka, king prawn tandoori etc. So the tikka or tandoori items should be of a slightly smoky and aromatic taste from the tandoor. The Massala sauce should be spiced consistently but not hot and should be rich and creamy and have hints of coconut. Massala is usually a deep red colour. |
Bhuna: | MEDIUM. A thoroughly garnished dish with onions, garlic, tomatoes, chillies and a few selected spices. Bhuna is first and foremost a cooking process where spices are gently fried in plenty of oil to bring out their flavour. The dish "bhuna" is an extension of that process where meat is added to the spices and then cooked in its own juices which results in deep strong flavours but very little sauce. The restaurant Bhuna is a well spiced curry with a thick sauce. It is often garnished with fried green peppers and shredded onions. |
Biryani: | MILD TO MEDIUM. The main item of these dishes is fried in oil together with specially cooked basmati rice, flavoured with saffron and served with a vegetable curry sauce. Biryani is not a curry at all, but the curry connection comes from the mixed vegetable curry with which it is served in most Indian restaurants. Biryani originated in Persia and, at its simplest, was rice and meat baked together in the oven. The meat and vegetables are pre-cooked and then mixed with the basmati rice. The cooks to the Mogul emperors took the biryani and transformed it into a courtly delicacy by adding aromatic spices and other exotic ingredients. Traditionally, Biryanis are baked in the oven for some time so the aromatic spices and juices from the meat permeate the rice. In the Indian restaurant however, all the dishes are made to order and the poor chef has to find a way of preparing the Biryani in double quick time. So the restaurant Biryani is often just basmati rice stir fried with chicken or lamb which has been cooked as an extra dry bhuna. The restaurant Biryani is usually garnished with almonds and sultanas and is accompanied by a mixed vegetable curry to add a little juiciness to the rice. |
Dhansak: | SWEET AND SOUR. A beautiful combination of spices with pineapple, lentils and garlic. A famous Parsee dish. Interestingly the Dhan part of the name means rice and a Dhansak is traditionally served with a pulao of fried and spiced rice. An authentic Dhansak will be made with lamb and contain vegetables and many different types of Dhal (the sak in the name). The curry house Dhansak is often referred to as "hot, sweet and sour with lentils". The "hot" is chilli powder, the "sweet" is sugar and the "sour" is lemon juice. Curry houses commonly use masoor dhal (split red lentils) but some restaurants now use chana dhal to good effect. If it is done well the Dhansak is an excellent curry with contrasting flavours and textures. The serving varies from restaurant to restaurant, but often expect a pineapple ring to be included in the curry for added sweetness and contrast. The strength depends on the chef . |
Dopiaza: | MEDIUM. A maximum quantity of onions, seasoned and fresh to produce a taste of medium to hot. Typically this is a fairly basic Indian restaurant curry, prepared as a Bhuna or Bhoona but with the addition of extra onions probably both in the cooking and as a garnish. It is also the same strength as a Bhuna which is medium, so not in the Madras league. The Dopiaza is a classic Indian dish dating back at least to Mogul times. The name Dopiaza broadly translates as "2 onions" or "double onions". Some traditional versions of the Dopiaza use twice the weight of onions compared to the weight of meat but a classic Indian Dopiaza is more likely to use the onions in 2 different ways, fried and boiled, at different stages of the cooking. The restaurant version has small fried pieces of onion in the sauce and then larger chunks of lightly cooked onion are added towards the end of the cooking. Medium hot. |
Jalfrezi: | FAIRLY HOT. Cooked with onions, tomato, green chillies, pepper and coriander. Jalfrezi is not a traditional Indian dish as such but, like the bhuna, is actually a method of cooking. It literally means "hot-fry" but is probably better translated as "stir-fry". The term Jalfrezi entered the English language at the time of the British Raj in India. Colonial households employed Indian cooks who would use the Jalfrezi method of cooking to heat up cold roasted meat and potatoes. But the restaurant Jalfrezi is not a version of the Anglo-Indian dish. The Indian restaurant chef uses the Jalfrezi method to stir-fry green peppers, onions and plenty of green chillies as the basis for a curry with just a little sauce. The chillies make the Jalfrezi taste very fresh but also make it one of the hotter curries on the restaurant menu. |
Korai: | MEDIUM. Small pieces of lamb or chicken cooked with onions, garlic, ginger, peppers, green chillies and fresh tomatoes. Many Indian restaurants had a balti-style curry on their menu long before the rise in popularity of balti cooking in the UK. They did not call the curry a Balti but rather a Korai or Karahi and many restaurants still carry one on their menu. Both the Balti and Korai contain stir fried meat and vegetables and both take their name from the utensil in which they are cooked. Because Korai is a style of cooking rather than a traditional recipe the curry house versions can vary considerably from restaurant to restaurant. It can be medium or hot and will usually contain green peppers, tomatoes and onions. |
Madras: | FAIRLY HOT. A south Indian version of curry dishes having a greater proportion of tomato purée and spices which lend a fiery taste to its richness. The curry house Madras is a restaurant invention which started life as simply a hotter version of the standard restaurant curry. Because it is a restaurant invention rather than a traditional recipe the Madras can vary considerably from one restaurant to another. The restaurant Madras can be hot or very hot, red or brown, a hotter version of a plain curry or quite rich in tomatoes. Mostly though it comes with plenty of sauce and is strongly spiced. It is the standard restaurant hot curry. |
Moghlai: | MILD TO MEDIUM. The Mogul dynasty ruled much of the Asian sub-continent for 3 centuries and left behind a fabulous legacy, not just in art and architecture, but also in sumptuous cuisine. There is not one particular Mogul style but the usual restaurant interpretation is rich and creamy. The curry house Moghlai contains plenty of ginger, ground almonds, yoghurt and cream. Some restaurants offer a Shahi Mogul dish which is garnished with a small omelette flavoured with chopped coriander leaves. Mild to medium. |
Passanda: | MILD. Derived from a court dish of the Mogul emperors the passanda is traditionally made with thinly sliced and marinated lamb fillets. It is sometimes called lamb badam passanda because the dish contains ground almonds, the "badam" of the title. The restaurant passanda is usually quite mild and contains ground almonds, cardamom pods, puréed tomatoes and cream. |
Patia: | SOUR AND HOT. Extensive use of garlic, tomato purée, red chilli and black pepper. A good alternative to one who likes madras or vindaloo. Like it's more famous cousin, Dhansak, Patia is a Parsee dish. A traditional Parsee Patia is made with fish cooked in a dark vinegar sauce. The restaurant Patia is hot, sweet and sour in equal measure. The restaurant Patia grew popular as a starter using prawns as the main ingredient. Many restaurants now offer the Patia as a main course as well and give you the choice of a prawn, chicken or lamb version. It is usually garnished with fried tomato pieces. |
Rogan Josh: | MEDIUM. A special preparation of pimento, garlic and garnished with tomatoes. Rogan Josh is another all time favourite on the curry house menu. It was originally a Kashmiri dish but is equally at home in the Punjab. An authentic Rogan Josh will be made with lamb and may, at its most elaborate, contain dozens of spices. The Kashmiri and Punjabi versions do differ (the Kashmiri does not traditionally contain onions or garlic), but they are both highly spiced and share a deep red colour derived from the liberal use of dried red Kashmiri chillies. The curry house Rogan is also red but the colour comes from red peppers and tomatoes rather than Kashmiri chillies. The restaurant Rogan is characterised by its garnish of tomato pieces and fresh coriander. |
Saag: | MEDIUM HOT. Saag gosht is a classic curry traditionally made with spinach and lamb. Saag is, strictly speaking, a general term for tender green leaves such as spinach, mustard greens and fresh fenugreek leaves. If you were talking about spinach on its own it would be called palak. Many restaurants these days will offer a chicken or a prawn alternative to lamb and so the dish will show on the menu as just "saag" or "palak" omitting the gosht (lamb) from the name altogether. The saag is usually served medium hot and is made in the bhuna style. |
Tikka: | Tikka is prepared in a similar way to a Tandoori dish. However it is usually a piece of fillet meat, chicken or fish that is cooked on a skewer, whereas Tandoori dishes are usually a whole portion of meat such as a Chicken quarter or half. |
Vindaloo: | VERY HOT. A south Indian dish widely known for its rich hot taste. Black pepper, lemon, garlic, red chilli and a few strong spices. The Vindaloo was originally a Portuguese dish which took its name from the 2 main ingredients which were "vinho", wine/wine vinegar, and "alhos", garlic. Over time it was spiced up, heated up and otherwise changed by the indigenous peoples of the ex- Portuguese colony of Goa. Not many restaurants produce an authentic Goan Vindaloo not least because the pork used by Christian Goans in their recipe would not be acceptable to Muslim chefs. In some restaurants the Vindaloo is just a pumped-up Madras i.e. the same recipe but with lots more chilli powder. Other restaurants have interpreted the "aloo" part of the name as meaning potato and introduced diced potato to a hot standard curry with added lemon juice for tartness and black pepper for extra pungency. |