37
votes
Accepted
What is the basic difference between curry powder and garam masala?
Curry powder is used for spice, heat and flavour, whereas garam masala is used more for flavour and accent.
A general rule of thumb is curry powder is yellowish-brown whereas garam masala is greyish-...
35
votes
Accepted
How can I remove the smell of bicarbonate of soda?
Generally when one is cooking chickpeas with soda to soften them, one par-cooks the chickpeas with just water and soda, drains them, rinses them, and then finishes cooking them with the other ...
15
votes
Accepted
Is the liquid inside the canned chickpeas meant for consumption?
Assuming you meant to ask a food safety question, otherwise this is a duplicate:
The liquid in the can with your chickpeas is food safe; otherwise, there would be no way for the beans themselves to be ...
15
votes
Is the liquid inside the canned chickpeas meant for consumption?
It depends on what you’re making whether you want to use it or not.
If you’re cooking something that just calls for chickpeas, you probably don’t want to use it. Especially if they tell you to rinse ...
12
votes
How can I remove the smell of bicarbonate of soda?
I don't think you can remove the smell, it might be best to throw those ones out and start again.
You have added a lot of bicarbonate for the amount of chickpeas. Recipes that include bicarbonate ...
12
votes
Avoid charred marks when stir-frying with curry powder
I suspect you're seeing charred spices stuck to the veg.
A lot of stir frying advice assumes you want the veg lightly cooked, not softened very much. In that case you may well want to add the spice ...
11
votes
What is the basic difference between curry powder and garam masala?
Just for posterity:
"Masala" means spice mix in Hindi, Nepali, and a couple other languages. "Garam masala" means "warming spice" and refers to any of a few dozen ...
8
votes
Accepted
How do I make beef go soft for Indian beef curry?
Tough cuts of beef that are typically used in stews have lots of collagen, which is what makes them so tough. Collagen turns into gelatin when exposed to heat (and moisture) for a sufficiently long ...
8
votes
How can I remove the smell of bicarbonate of soda?
It's pretty unusual to add the bicarbonate during cooking.
The way they taught me, the bicarbonate goes in the soaking water. You let sit overnight then throw away the water with the bicarbonate, ...
4
votes
What is the basic difference between curry powder and garam masala?
The accepted answer is excellent, but just in case it's of use to you, I've always found a helpful analogy in home brewing.
Curry powder is like the bittering hops, added early in the boil for a bulk ...
3
votes
Accepted
Less saturated fat in curry
Well.. No. the problem is, that mouthfeel is the mouthfeel of saturated fat. You could substitute with palm kernel oil, with margarine, with suet… all because of their saturated fat content.
A bit of ...
2
votes
What is the basic difference between curry powder and garam masala?
Adding to the existing answers, there are regional differences to be taken into account. The Germans have a strong taste for fenugreek so the closer to Germany you are (Europe basically), the generic ...
2
votes
Secret to takeaway curry
Over a decade since this question was asked, let me throw in my own take on this.
Note: This is not a BIR recipe. It's a definite home version, one pot not four. They use bulk methods that you simply ...
2
votes
Accepted
Loose skin after making chicken curry in pressure cooker
Curries are moist, and you will never get crisp skin when it's cooked in a moist environment. Even if you cook the chicken separately in an oven and crisp up then skin before adding the curry sauce ...
2
votes
Avoid charred marks when stir-frying with curry powder
Adding powdered spice before even heating the oil is almost certainly going to result in burnt spices, so I believe this is what you are seeing when you refer to "charred marks" on your ...
1
vote
Avoid charred marks when stir-frying with curry powder
You toast your whole spices in the oil first. The whole spices are for a lack of a better word, raw. Toasting them releases all the oils and tannins and activates the flavours.
Then you add your ...
1
vote
Is the liquid inside the canned chickpeas meant for consumption?
Yes, and it can be very useful, as another answer states. We use chickpea aquafaba to make meringues, and in other recipes as an egg replacer, and it works quite well. Look up recipes for a few ideas!
...
1
vote
How do I make beef go soft for Indian beef curry?
It is not really correct that meat gets harder the more it is cooked, for most meat there is a "toughness curve", where cooking for either a short period or a long period produces tender ...
1
vote
How do I make beef go soft for Indian beef curry?
Beef has many cuts, some are inherently tender, like filet, sirloin and ribeye. Cooking those too long dries them out, and you don't want to do that.
Working cuts like shin/shank, neck, flank, brisket ...
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