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This is a constant problem I have when cooking chicken dishes with low water content. I add my spices and a bit of water so that everything mixes. The problem exists in the end result. When I taste the curry the taste is very powdery. I could go as far to say that I could possibly taste the individual grains.

Recipe:

Ginger Garlic paste into hot Pan when oil is sizzling. Chicken later. Add spices : Black pepper,salt , Cumin, corrainder power , garam masala and water to dissolve.

Notes: Chicken Breast cooked for 12 minutes

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  • What type of chicken? How long are you cooking it? [& why no onions?]
    – Tetsujin
    Nov 19, 2022 at 8:47
  • The recipe in the edit still lacks any idea of whether you cook the spices in the oil or immediately add the water.
    – Chris H
    Nov 19, 2022 at 9:07
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    And the word 'dissolve' is misplaced. Spices simply don't dissolve. Important tasty compounds are soluble, some in water, others in oil, but the bulk isn't. So the goal is to soften and disperse the solids
    – Chris H
    Nov 19, 2022 at 9:08
  • @Tetsujin chicken breast, 12 mins, and because of laziness
    – Hopeful Whitepiller
    Nov 19, 2022 at 9:40
  • add water in 2-5 seconds of adding spices @ChrisH
    – Hopeful Whitepiller
    Nov 19, 2022 at 9:40

1 Answer 1

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After comments… 12 minutes is nowhere near enough time to cook in the spices, but is long enough to turn chicken breast into small pencil erasers.

'Because of laziness' all you have is some spices in water, not 'a curry'.
The basic gravy/sauce for a curry is onion, ginger & garlic, sautéed down then liquidised/blended/puréed… then simmered with your spices for several hours. For chicken breast curry, you add the chicken right at the end. Thighs you can simmer for hours, but breast is ruined if over-cooked.

The spices will never actually 'dissolve' as such; they'll remain solids, but they'll soften so there's no gritty edge left to them, and at the same time impart their flavours through the oil & water.

You can batch basic curry sauce & keep it in the freezer for months. Then all you need to make your final curry is the chicken.
You can freeze finished curries - but not chicken breast. Lamb, beef, chicken thigh will all improve for long-cooking. Chicken breast, if you ensure it's cooked in the sauce, will be over-cooked by the time the curry is cool enough to freeze, then will get another dose of over-cooking as you re-heat it.

You can even buy ready-prepped onion in the supermarket.

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  • I am a bit confused, should Ijust cook the spices and vegetables together for long?
    – Hopeful Whitepiller
    Nov 19, 2022 at 10:03
  • and 12 minutes is too much for chicken breast??
    – Hopeful Whitepiller
    Nov 19, 2022 at 10:04
  • A curry is the very essence of a 'long cook', as is a chilli or a goulash or a bolognese… anything you could basically call a "stew" will improve over time, between 2 & 4 hours [some even do better if you give them 2 hours one day, refrigerate overnight, then another 2 hours the following day, rendang-style]. A whole chicken breast may take 12 - 15 mins or so, depending on size, but bite-sized pieces will be cooked in 3.
    – Tetsujin
    Nov 19, 2022 at 10:08
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    That's what freezers are for. cooking.stackexchange.com/q/21068/42066
    – Tetsujin
    Nov 19, 2022 at 10:19
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    Also see - cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/109263/… - which contains a basic curry sauce method, top to bottom.
    – Tetsujin
    Nov 19, 2022 at 10:33

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