I am still searching for the best curry (powder or paste) locally and online to make a sauce that knocks my socks off.

Please share your online connections and/or ingredients for making your own powder.

Thanks !

Pataks.


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quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
Best I've found.

Thank you sir ... will check it out and try !

quote:

Originally posted by Pyker:
Pataks.


.

Found the website ...

While you can make better Thai curry paste yourself, Maesri is the best store-bought one I've found:

As posted above, The Spice House has several great Curry powders, as well as other spices.

It was news to me, but curry has been a staple in South Africa for centuries. The Dutch East Indies trading brought it in 1650s and further popularized as a British colony. My South African friend loves S&B Golden Curry

I don't like turmeric and my favorite curry is Thai Green curry. My favorite has been Kanokwan Green Curry Paste and it was shipped via USPS with an international stamp from Thailand.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
My South African friend loves S&B Golden Curry

S&B Golden Curry is Japanese-style curry, which itself is an offshoot/development of Indian curry, brought to Japan by British traders back in the late 1800s.



And S&B Golden Curry is kinda to Japanese curry what McDonalds is to hamburgers. S&B is not terrible, but it's basically just the cheap and readily-available option for premade Japanese curry. Not very high quality.

If you want that type of premade blocks of Japanese curry, I much prefer House Food's Java or Kokumaro. Still not super high quality like a homemade Japanese curry sauce could be, but either of those are better than S&B in my book.

Which kind...?

Japanese
Indian
or,
Thai

I really love Badia Jamaican curry powder, when I make my curry chicken I always use it and I could just bath in the stuff. There probably is better but it really appeals to my tastebuds.

^^^Yep

I too like the Maesri brand of thai curries. The cans of Panang, and Masaman, Karee, and Chu Chee are in the pantry now.

The malaysian brand Ayam is also good. The Laksa paste makes an excellent soup.

https://ayam.com/products/meal-pastes/curry-pastes

In my experience, adding coconut powder to the sauce is the key to enhancing the flavor. Please try Chao Thai brand, 2 oz packet.

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:
Which kind...?

Japanese
Indian
or,
Thai

Any or all of the three ... would like to try and compare.

For Thai curries - I have good luck with Mae Ploy, Arod-D and Maessi in that order of best to good enough. Mae Ploy has been hard to find since C-9. My standby is Aroy-D. Stick in them in the freezer if you are going through it slowly. Here is a good YT on them - Palin's Kitchen

I use Ca Ri Ni An Do for Vietnamese curry. This is a Madras style curry. I grew up with this so its my preference even though I have tried others.

For Indian curries, I have been making them from scratch following the YT internet recipes as I do not know which brand of cans/jar to get. The individual spices are surprisingly cheap found in the local DFW Indian/middle eastern stores. Also, assembling the Masala Dabba (Indian spice box) was a fun project that really allowed me to learn about the individual spices. Thinking about doing the same deep dive with the Thai\Loas curry in the future.

quote:

Originally posted by old dino:

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:
Which kind...?

Japanese
Indian
or,
Thai

Any or all of the three ... would like to try and compare.

Indian curry generally are broth or, water based, and made dry, (spices are mixed, pounded and/or toasted) so depending on the dishes usually are thinner than the other varieties; most of the Indian curry's we see are heavily influenced by the British. Types of curry like Tikka Masala are very general and mild in spice, Korma uses more dairy like butter and cream to smooth out the sauce, Trader Joe's has a pretty good Korma if you're looking for an introduction. Vindaloo is the notorious hot curry, go to a restaurant it'll be more complex than if you get a store bought variety.

Thai curry I like, generally comes in three types for us in the West: Red, Green or, Yellow and usually thinned using coconut milk and/or broth, thus many dishes have a smoother, velvety texture. This variety of curry is wet, the spices are mixed with veg and shellfish, thus the moisture which forms a paste. Usually you buy this, don't know anybody that makes their own, Mae Ploy is arguably the most popular sold in a tub, although you can purchase single-dish pre-mixes in jars; while you're there buy several cans of coconut milk also. Red paste is dried chili pepper based it's generally hotter than the other three, you see this used in meat dishes like beef or, those who like the more assertive spices. Green is my favorite, it's more in the middle for heat with a lemongrass and basil flavor, good for meats like chicken and seafood. Yellow is fairly mild, you get more turmeric and ginger/galangal flavor, you see this in a lot of fish and noodle dishes.

Japanese curry is a hybrid curry between Indian and Thai, and is usually sold in blocks that resemble bullion cubes, although you can also purchase it in powder form, heat level ranges from mild to volcanic, the boxes will be clearly labeled; Japanese are really good at packaging. What's distinct with Japanese curry a level of sweetness, apples and pears are used to round-out the sharpness in the flavor, which also pushes the spice to the back of the flavor profile..in other words, the heat creeps up on you. This variety of curry is made generally as a braise: stir-fry your meat & veg, add water and cover to continue cooking, once cooking is nearly complete, break-off the curry blocks/cubes add to the dish and stir until melted. The sauce will thicken to a gravy consistency, serve over a heaping pile of rice or noodles. Brands like S&B Golden Curry are found in just about every market these days, they're pretty general, other brands like House Foods, Vermont and Kokomura are equally popular. Vermont tends to be sweeter, so easier for kids to eat, Kokomura is my favorite.

There's other curry's such as African (usually Kenya and South Africa) from Indian migration, and Caribbean such as Jamaican which is also Indian influenced via British trade

corsair ... great write-up !

I prefer my curry more gravy like, maybe a little thinner. Also prefer made with coconut milk as I like flavor and the consistency and a bit on the spicier side.

Curry comes in a big, broad variety, there's so many spices and aromatics that go into the many blends that you don't want to get too locked into specific blocks. My dad who's 82 now, doesn't care for curry, however we went to a Singapore/Indonesian restaurant for lunch and he was crushing everything that we ordered. The curry style is more Thai influenced and he was loving everything, I think his impression of curry was that of hot soupy stews and over-cooked vegetables, which that was none of what we had.

Just starting out, the Japanese curries are easy to use, very convenient, especially if you like dishes served over a starch like rice/potatoes/noodles. Many curries are now being sold in jar/pouches, so the blending aspect is reduced, which I think is intimidating for many Westerners not used to complex or, involved methods. Play around, if it's too hot add a bit of water or coconut milk.

Nice summary characterizations, Corsair. Some new info for me.

By far, I eat Japanese style curry the most (home or restaurants). Several reasons behind this, not all based on taste. But, as is typical of most Japanese foods, the spice flavor profile (not the heat, the flavor) is on the milder side. When I cook Japanese style curry at home, I usually add Indian curry powders (towards the end of sauteing); either mixed powders or individual powders like turmeric, anise, cumin, etc. I prefer the more robust spice flavorings of Indian curry. Indian curry has been popular in Japan over the past 20 years, especially with the younger generations.

I like the Singaporean curry / chili sauces as well; Thai curry is good but generally too sweet and mild and watery for me. I like them but prefer Indian and Japanese style; I will always order a curry dish when eating at a Thai restaurant. I've tried Burmese curry which I really enjoy but hard to find. Not sure what's different but they are tasty.

I love Thai and Indian currys. If I hadn't just eaten a huge sandwich at my desk. I'd be off to my local indian shop for some food.