Mild curry

[Kazal]

Any suggestions for making a really mild curry. My other half has not eaten curry for over 40 years since making a fool of himself while entertaining his new girl friend in an Indian restaurant and apparently ordered the hottest curry there was on the menu without realising it. I would like to try and make a very mild curry but don't want to waste alot of food if he won't eat it.

[Gnawer]

Whifffeys the curry king around here!

[Jan1957]

I've used this one Kazal for a friend who will only eat very mild curry and she really liked it.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1557/light-chicken-korma

[whifffey]

It depends on your notion of a curry. For me it is something special with a special taste and smell, and best delivered to my door by people who know what they are doing. If you want to home-cook then try one of the blandly mild and sugar-loaded Korma or Tikka Masala sauces available everywhere. My advice to you is to save your efforts in the kitchen, phone a nearby curry house, explain in detail what you want, and let them treat you - e.g rogan josh, bhuna, dopiaza.

[hammerman]

I use the jars of Patkas curry paste mixed up with greek yoghurt. There's absolutely no spice to that at all. You can then add chicken breast (or whatever you want), any veg or fruit you want such as sultanas, pineapple, peppers, mushrooms, onions etc. I also put in some garlic and some ginger and half a teaspoon of sugar to sweeten it up a bit. Finnish off with some cream coconut.

This is my recipe....

2 chicken breasts per person, diced
Fresh ginger, grated
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Stir fry them together with a bit of oil in a wok until the chicken is browned.

1 500 ml tub of greek yoghurt
1/2 pot (about 3 table spoons) Patkas curry paste (i use Tikka massala)

Add the above to the browned chicken and stir well.

Add sliced mushrooms, 1/2 sliced pepper, 1/2 chopped onion. pineapple, sultanas

Cook on a med-low heat on the hob until the chicken is cooked...usually about 20-30 minutes.

Add pinch sugar to sweeten if needed and a sachet of cream coconut.

And just for a bit of flavour, chop some fresh corriander and add right at the end of cooking.

Serve with popudoms or nan bread (peshwari is my fave) and pilau rice...

For the rice, cook as normal by boiling it but i add a good tablespoon of cumin seeds, 10 crushed cardamon seeds, 10 cloves and a star annisse.

At the end of cooking, remove the cardamon, cloves and star annisse.

Enjoy.

You can also cook this in the oven as a casserole or in the slow cooker too and it's sometimes nice to uase chicken thighs or diced pork....or even just lots of veg !!!!

Good luck

[Mortartube]

I would suggest the local takeaway and ask for a chicken Biriani. It is the very mildest dish I know. Consisting of chicken in rice with some very mild spices and a vegetable curry, also very very mild. The rice often contains sliced peppers, hard boiled egg, sultanas, tomato or other veg.

It is quite cheap as you don't need to order extra rice with it and will be about £6.00 for the entire dish. Once you have established if he likes it, then there are many recipes online.

If you do end up making your own curry remember that not only chilli adds heat. A high amount of ginger can also heat up a currys spice and make it unpalateable for beginners.

http://www.indobase.com/recipes/details/chicken-biryani.php

Above is one recipe for chicken Biriani. I would change one thing in it. If you boil the rice in chicken stock instead of water it adds so much flavour.

Whatever you do, I hope it turns out well.
Try a poppadum and a portion of onion bhajis with it is lovely. I started on this dish and now eat up to Madras strength, but still revisit it from time to time. I used to dislike curries and the owner of the very first restaurant that I went to recommended this as a start off dish.

I would still pale at the hottest dish on the menu even after 25+ years of curry eating.