Curry This You Filthy Casual, A Recipe

I've made curry 3 times now and it's gotten more and more delicious each time, and I'm going to tell you all of the details and tips you need to make a really tasty dinner. I will apologize ahead of time for only having 1 unappetizing photo of this dish and 1 photo of the ingredients, but I'll make that up to ya'll at another time. In my defense, Gordon's photo on his own website doesn't look much more tasty but I swear to you, this is delicious curry.

Curry is a tasty, spicy sauce or paste originating from India that has as many varieties as India has people. Chef Gordon Ramsay's curry is delicious in its own way and very easy to make, so once you’ve made this one and you’re happy with it, go bananas the 2nd time and change things around to make it your own. This guide will include a link to the original short and fast recipe followed by my own, in-depth guide that covers every possible thing any cook of any level will need to know in order to cook this dish: utensils, ingredients, how to prep, and how to cook.

Here's the original recipe, and uh... Yeah, let's start this guide.

 Utensils

A few prep bowls 

You can buy these at any big box store or Amazon. You need bowls to organize your ingredients beforehand, but you really could use cereal bowls if you must, the point is to be organized)  

Non-stick pan with high sides 

I use a 9-inch cast iron pan with medium tall sides and my curry just barely fits so keep that in mind when choosing which pan to use. Most non-sticks are great except Teflon. If you use Teflon, don't use metal utensils and be aware of having it on high temperatures for too long as the coating can flake off into your food. Yummy.

Box grater 

Chef’s knife 

Cutting board

Quality Nylon or Wooden cooking spoon or spatula

You wan the paddle kind of spatula, not the burger flippin’ kind.

Washable kitchen towel 

Stuff  into your pocket so you're not leaving curry stains all over the place like a toddler.

Shoes

If you don't wear any feet covering in the kitchen it's like you're begging for pain. Wear shoes.

Rolling Pin

You should just have one lying around but if you don't, you can used a washed and clean glass bottle carefully, obviously.

Ingredients and Prep

Roti (4 ingredients)

1/4 Cup Flour 

Not gonna lie, I began eyeballing these ingredients the 2nd time I made this, and the roti came out great. Anyway, sift your flour into a mixing bowl to avoid a lumpy dough. 

1/3 Cup Water   

I’m not going to tell you how to measure water, if you’re old enough to consider cooking this dish then you should know what a meniscus is. Add this to your mixing bowl. 

1 Teaspoon Salt  

Toss her in. 

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil 

Toss her in too why not? Mix well into a soft bowl of dough form. At this point, leave your dough ball in the mixing bowl and place it in the fridge. This’ll allow the flour and oil and water to become good friends and make a tastier dough when it comes time to cook at the end. Meanwhile, start your curry prep. 

Curry (12 ingredients)

2 Chicken Breasts, Diced  

Cut your chicken into cubes. The smaller your pieces the quicker it cooks, but the recipe uses roughly 1.5 inch square cuts I prefer to cut mine into little strips instead, but hey, you do you. Once diced or cut into strips, sprinkle ‘em with seasoning salt and some pepper. We do this first so when you’re prepping your other ingredients, the salt will draw out some moisture from the meat and yield a crispier chicken. Which... I guess is moot since It'll be covered in curry but shut up. 

1 Butternut Squash, Peel and Grated

After peeling your squash with a veg peeler, you’re gonna wanna cut the sucker right under the—excuse my English—bell end. This’ll reveal a cavity of seeds that you’ll want to scoop out with a spoon. Toss the seeds at this point or you can toast them on a baking sheet for a tasty snack. Your choice. 
Then, start grating it on the box grater. It'll give you a workout, but this method delivers a    wonderfully thick curry texture. Otherwise, you can use a food processor to course chop your squash but it’s harder to control the texture this way, you may even up processing it into a mush which is not what we want. Anyway, grate this stuff onto a wide plate. Don't rush unless you like bloody knuckles.

1 Medium Sized Red Onion  

Peel the outside layers of your onions and toss. Peal until you see a bright, beet-red layer and stop. Next, chop off the top, uh, mohawk-ish looking part so you have a flat starting surface to begin grating your onion with a box grater. It’s okay to cry. Make sure you grate this onto a wide plate (we want that onion juice) to make it easy to add to your pan later. 

1 inch of Ginger  

This is the wrong amount, ya’ll, go ahead and have 2 inches of ginger with the outside skin peeled away with a veg peeler. 

1/3 Cup of Frozen Peas  

Use frozen peas as they cook in seconds and keep their slight sweetness unlike mushy, bitter canned peas. Also, don’t measure out 1/3 cup, just add as little or as many peas as you want. Amounts are very relative when it comes to a dish like this. 

1 Can of Tomatoes, 10 to 16 ounces 

I like to go for canned plum or Roma tomatoes, but you use whatever variety you like. Use a can opener to open it up and set aside.  

1 Cup Coconut Milk  

Same as above dude. Buy the OG kind that comes in a tin can and not the modern stuff that comes in a carton that can be full of extra, unwanted sugar.

2 1/2 Teaspoons of Curry Powder  

Measure out as little or as much as you want for your tastes into a small bowl and set aside. 

Chicken or Vegetable Stock 

A Boullion cube dissolved in hot water may add more flavor than ye old box of grocery store stock  or even homemade stock, but hey, you do you. You’ll need at least 2 tablespoons for this recipe, but if you want a less thick curry, add more. So, have at least 1 cup of it on stand by in a bowl or a drinking glass to make it easy to pour into the curry later.

1 Chili, Chopped (Leave the seeds in, wuss) 

Jalapeño, Thai, serrano, and habanero are all wonderfully delicious chilies so go wild here. Even if you don’t like hot, chop at least 1 chili with the seeds removed. Otherwise, chopped your chili with the  seeds intact and set aside. Trust me, with how thick this curry is you’re gonna want the heat to add  some excitement without lighting your mouth on fire. Personally, I prefer 2 habaneros without seeds, and 1 serrano with seeds. 

1/2 Cup of Spinach, Fresh Cilantro and fresh lime juice are optional 

Again, only measure this out if you’re a major pleab. I love spinach so I tend to add a lot of it. 

Olive Oil  

Any oil will do so long as it’s tasty. Miss me with that grapeseed oil though.

Great, now that all your ingredients are prepped and ready, revel in your organization skillz. This is the way to cook, I’m tellin’ you.  

Cooking the Curry 

1. Put your non-stick or cast-iron pan over medium high heat. Once it’s hot, add some a small glug of oil and your chicken bits. You want to hear some sizzilin’ and that’s how you know it’s hot enough. Give it a minute to brown up (mmm, flavor), and flip your chicken bits around to brown on the other side. One more minute annnnd done. Remove your chicken from the pan and set aside. 
   
   
2. To the same pan, add a touch more oil and then your grated squash. Remember, we want to hear that good-good sizzlin’ sound. Then add some salt, pepper, and your curry powder.  
   
   
3. Once the color begins to change a wee bit, add your onion along with its juice. Begin to cry for two minutes. Stir a little to make sure nothing browns, we're just sweating the veg here, not browning. 
   
   
4. Make a little well in the middle of the mixture and add your chilies right there so their flavor is intensified, and their hotness is reduced some. If there’s too much onion juice in your pan to make a well, stir your mixture occasionally until enough of it has evaporated away. This is called reducing and it’s another way to increase the flavor of a dish. 
   
   
5. After a minute of the chilies hanging out in the middle, mix around your curry and add the grated ginger into the curry along with its juice. 
   
   
6. Do a taste test to know if your curry is nicely cooked. You'll know when it's nicely cooked when yo taste it and you go "Mmm, it tastes good already". If nicely cooked, add your chicken and mix it around so it’ll finish cooking as well. At this point, increase the heat to make sure the curry begins to boil.
    
7. After about 2 minutes, add frozen peas if you’re gross. Then, add the canned tomatoes and combine as it cooks. Finally, add yer coconut milk and mix some more, cooking for another 2 minutes. Finally, add your 2 tablespoons of stock or more if you want a less thick curry, and cook until the chicken is done. This should take 3 or so minutes more.
   
   Take a bit a chicken and tear it open to see if it’s done. If so, add your handful (or handfuls) of spinach, mix it around until it’s wilted, and remove the curry from the burner. Done. Hooray! Now begin your roti. 

Cooking the Roti 

1. Place a clean non-stick pan with no oil in it on medium heat.
   
   
2. Grab your ball of dough from the fridge and tear her into golf-ball sized balls. Take 1 ball at a time and roll it into a thin sheet. Get it really thin, like, nearly-tearing thin, okay, because the thinner it is the tastier it'll be You want your small sheets in as round a shape as possible. 
   
   
3. Now that your pan is hot, add salt to the pan. Then, place your rolled-out dough and cook for 1-2 minutes per side until slightly charred. Once cooked, repeat until all your balls are flattened and cooked. Don’t forget to add more salt to your pan every other piece of dough. 
   
   
4. Finally, slice your crispy, salty roti into 4 pieces each. 
    

Plating 

Spoon the curry into a bowl and make sure everybody gets ‘em some chicken in there. Then, stick 2 pieces of roti partly into the curry, and let their backs rest against the side of the bowl. You’ll also want to serve more roti slices at the table and, well, I like lemonade so serve some of that too.  

Tips 

• This will make a thick curry, so if you want a thinner curry, add more stock. 
  
  
• Keep in mind all those flavors will get stronger the next day, including the heat from your chilies. So tomorrow's curry is the true test of whether or not you added too little or too many chilies.
  
  
• Once you get to the step where you add spinach, do a taste test, and adjust your seasoning (Add more salt, pepper, curry, etc. If you feel like it needs it). I usually add more salt, curry power,  and coconut milk at this point. You do you boo-boo. 
  
  
• This curry will thicken up even more overnight in the fridge, so add a couple drops of water when heating it back up the next day. 

Tricks 

• Resist the urge to constantly move your chicken around when you’re browning it. Check your meat with a wooden spoon, tongs, or fork, and if they’re browned up according to what the recipe calls for, flip ‘em over. If you’re taking your anxieties out on your meat, they won’t brown properly, and you risk 'em going dry. We want our meat juicy.
  
  
• Use a nonstick frying pan with high sides to make this dish. A properly seasoned cast iron pan will do as well. I’d avoid Teflon as it can break down at higher temperatures and get into your food.  
  
  
• If you didn’t know, cast iron handles get hot enough to burn, so make sure you have good potholders on hand if you prefer your skin attached to your body.