huge spontaneous post that is too good not to sha
Here is a huge post of mine that I ended up making on the BB. It was so good,
came out so well and spontaneously that I can’t help myself! I have to post it
here for the people of my… more immediate BT family. Not that I’m getting
mushy-gushy emotional or anything… This came out in a huge mind-burst, very
complete, very lucid. Elaborations developed as I finished writing it as they
usually do but this is a piece of work I think I will treasure as one of my
“early works”. Vain I know, but this stuff, these various bits and pieces of
information just sit in my mind, fermenting over time and it is such a relief to
see them coalesce and crystallize into a nice piece, don’t you think?
Here it is:
curry ingredients
Posted By: verena O+ Australia ISFP <BarfussUwe@…
Date: Thursday, 29 November 2001, at 2:16 a.m.
what makes a curry powder a curry? I have several different powders stating to
be curry and different pastes also stating to be curry (Sharwood’s India - Hot
Curry Powder, Sharwood’s - Mild Curry Paste (Korma), Clive of India - All
purpose Curry powder, etc). They all have different ingredients. So my question
is, what has to be in it to make it a beneficial curry? Is it mainly the tumeric
or what? Also they all seem to have some avoids in it.
it’s mostly the turmeric that makes it HB
Posted By: ^heidi^ O+ ns iNFj <SouthLodge@…
Date: Thursday, 29 November 2001, at 11:45 a.m.
In Response To: curry ingredients (verena O+ Australia ISFP)
I asked Peter that question years ago, and that was the answer.
Curries can be made from an astonishingly wide variety of ingredients. There are
thousands of websites about curry and how to make different kinds! Some call for
a moisture base and fresh herbs, others involve toasting whole seeds/spices
before grinding into powder. I make my own these days in an electric
coffee-grinder, usually including turmeric, cumin, coriander, fennel seed,
cayenne, fenugreek, clove, ginger, paprika, and a selection of dried green
herbs. Start with turmeric and add just one or two others, then taste-test and
design your own curries. That’s what Indian cooks do… some are simple (just
ghee & fennel seed) and some have upwards of 30 separate elements…
enjoy!
Hi Heidi, I tasted tumeric
Posted By: verena O+ Australia ISFP <BarfussUwe@…
Date: Saturday, 1 December 2001, at 2:22 a.m.
In Response To: it’s mostly the turmeric that makes it HB (^heidi^ O+ ns iNFj)
by itself and I did not like it. Is yours tasting bitter as well or are there
different types of tumeric? All the other spices I like but somehow not this
one.
Should I just include it because it is beneficial and add the other spices to
mask the flavor of it? Or maybe it is an acquired taste?
Love
Verena
Well, just stuck my tongue in the turmeric jar..
Posted By: ^heidi^ O+ ns iNFj <SouthLodge@…
Date: Saturday, 1 December 2001, at 9:42 a.m.
In Response To: Hi Heidi, I tasted tumeric (verena O+ Australia ISFP)
You’re right, it is very slightly bitter, and has a “warm” (like pepper) flavor
as well. I’ve never noticed any bitterness when combining turmeric with cumin,
cayenne and ginger in simple curries. Maybe blending them is the way to go, if
your turmeric tastes very bitter to you.
The kind I have is made by Frontier, but your brand out there in Oz is
undoubtedly different. Is it fresh?
curry, kari, what’s the diff? Nothing. Everything!
Posted By: Axel O+ <a.hultman@…
Date: Saturday, 1 December 2001, at 9:55 p.m.
In Response To: curry ingredients (verena O+ Australia ISFP)
Going from what I’ve been exposed to, information wise, the answer to the
question of what curry IS is best answered by defining curry in terms of
linguistics. To do this we must trace back in time how the word curry arose in
the first place (which in this case is in the same language as the
questioner’s). From what I’ve read, the word curry is a gross
oversimplicification (ack! too late now have to keep going!) of kari, a leaf and
culinary herb originating in the sub-continent known as India (well duh on
that!). It comes from the kari plant (murraya koenigii). Its leaves have a
bitterish taste and a sweetish, pungent aroma almost like lemon grass. From the
regional differences of Indian cuisine it is used in the same way as coriander
leaves (aka cilantro!). The kari plant is also known as Meethe Neam ke Patte.
Just like when those funky lookin’ pilgrims heard the indigenous people of the
New World (such as the Narraganset and Iroquis) say askutasquash and
isquotersquash and ended up simply calling the whole impressive family of fruit
squash so too did those lovable, cuddly, merry old chaps of Britain end up
stamping the generic derivative “curry” to the combinations of flavors commonly
used in the cuisine of that intoxicatingly exotic sub-continent. The exact
specifics I am not entirely clear on, but I’m not going to define exactly what a
curry is (that, afterall, would be asking too much of me!). So there you have
it: it is a bastard word, the sociolinguistic product of the exposure
(collision?) between two wildly different cultures, I say bastard because
obviously there was little love (and hence no genuine marriage possible) between
the two peoples. I think as far as rectification of language goes we could all
refer to the herb/spice mix that make up the many varieties of curry as
“masalas”. A “masala”, from what I remember, is best translated as a blend of
aromatic spices. I’m sure many of you are familiar with the “garam masala” spice
mix, this is a heating and warming mix of spices, and most of us are familiar
with a garam masala mix that has a sweet theme. So be a linguist and call it a
masala! Impress your friends!
Turmeric! Perhaps it is bitter… but bitter is one of the “tastes” and can be
used wisely and effectively to build a beautiful bouquet for your palette! Julie
Sahni wrote of it in her book “Classic Indian Cooking”:
Turmeric is a perennial tropical herb (curcuma longa) belonging to the gingert
family and native to India. Like ginger root, the turmeric rhizome resembles a
short finger jutting out of the horizontally growing underground stem of the
plant. The roots are cleaned, boiled, dried, and powdered to produce a
nutty-tasting, aromatic powder. As you may know, turmeric is the main ingredient
in commercial curry powder. Good quality turmeric, aside from lending a
characteristic yellow color to a dish, also gives a wonderful woody aroma.
Turmeric is used in cooking throughout India, primarily as a coloring agent but
also to lend flavor, in various dal, vegetable, meat, poultry, and seafood
preparations. However, in the northern and northwestern regions, its use is
limited; saffron, and other color-imparting flowers, generally replace it.
Turmeric is never used in dishes containing cream, because its delicate scent
gets masked. OTOH, it blends beautifully with onion and tomato sauces. It is the
most important and sacred spice of Hindus and is used in religious and social
rituals. The sacred thread, the marriage symbol that is tied around the bride’s
neck by the bridegroom during the marriage ceremony, is dipped in turmeric
paste.
Thank you Julie! Yes…turmeric… sacred colors… marriage ceremonies… hindu
monks and bastard words! Structures of associations, ancient structures of
languages and symbols, structures of knowledge forming right before my very eyes
(inner eye? [ajna eye?])… Oh the associations!!! To think of the meaning in
the most mundane of things!!!
[Gasp! Pant! pant!pant!pant!pant!]
[WHOOOP!]
If turmeric is anything like ginger, the powdered form is going to be “stronger”
and maybe more drying. Try using some fresh turmeric if you ever find it. And if
you’re put off by the concept of a bitter flavor in your food remember what
cacao powder is, that New World (flip flopping from the Old to the New is fun!)
bean in all its multiple drugnificent glory!!!! Yes, the cacao legume, Drug
King-Pin, Head Kahoona of the Culinary New World! I should add for the
convenience of this discussion’s particapants that cacao (a.k.a. cocoa! LOL!) is
a New World food, just like it’s New World friends in the chile family . You
know all those different MIXES of herbs and spices used in CHILIS, this time I
don’t mean the incredible varieties of sweet-thru-hot fruit from the capsicum
family commonly known as chillies, right now I’m talking about the genre of
dishes originating from the combination of European and New World cultures
(another fun culture-collision, ain’t life grand?). But can you see how someone
might become confused by my use of words? And can you see how our language is
created over time? This food stuff is fascinating. Anyways, there is an
ingredient that makes many a traditional chili recipe OMG delicious, a
bitter-tasting ingredient that balances the sweetness and heat of the dish (both
of which can be provided by different combinations of chiles, which are a fruit)
and that is the bitterness of the cacao balanced with whatever other tastes
might be present (how many official “tastes” are there in culinary terms? any
takers?).
Yes. So, enjoy your chilis, your chillies, your cacao (cocoa?), your chili
powders, your masalas, your “garam” masalas (!!!!) and don’t forget your
curries! And if you’re REALLY adventurous like ME, you’ll enjoy ALL of them at
the SAME TIME and call it plain old home-cooking!!! Sometimes I wonder if it is
possible to appease all ancestors from the entire morphogenetic-field that is
our species’ morphogenic field (hey, didn’t the British scientist who coined
such terms spend a lot of time in India… and doesn’t his “New Age” scientific
theory seem really old? As if it had been enshrouded in the fog of ages long
ago?… doesn’t it seem uncannily compatible with the ancient structures of
knowledge contained within the religious, philosophical, cultural, etc.
contributions of a certain sub-continent?) 
Axel, O and very positive about it secretor status still unknown… though the
only extra sweetener I’d add to my garam masala chili at the moment would be
high-quality unsulphured blackstrap molasses… if that means anything to
anyone… (no!!! It cannot be!!!) I need more vitamin K, my fingers are starting
to bleed again!
Small farms w/ healthy natural foods in MN