posted
I'm an idiot. I had a list when I went to the grocery store this morning and I walked out without the cornstarch I need to thicken the slowcooker chicken curry I'm making for a potluck tonight.
So, Hatrack cooks, any suggestions? I really don't want to go back to the grocery store if I can avoid it. Am I doomed to have runny curry? Or will something else do?
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
when I make bacchamelle (with horribly butchered spelling, no less) I mix the flour really well with some soft or melted butter.
Posts: 4089 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I'm guessing that you don't have a box of potato starch on the shelf.
You need to make a roux to thicken the liquid. This is easy! In a pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter (or whatever fat you like). Stir in 2 tablespoons of flour. Cook them together in a paste so that the flour lightly browns. Ladle some of the cooking liquid from the curry into the roux. It will thicken right up. Then stir the whole mess into your curry pot. This much roux will suitably thicken about 4 cups of liquid.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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If you don't have cornstarch you probably won't have this either, but arrowroot powder is a thickener used in Asian cooking. A bit of flour is probably your best bet for this.
posted
Ooh, I might have arrowroot powder. I'll check. But I know I have flour. The thickening is at the end, which is why I'm not panicking. I won't need to do it til this afternoon. But I think it will work well just to make the roux Tante suggested. Thank you all very much...this is a new recipe to me so I really don't know how soupy it's going to be at the end. It's got over a pound of sweet potatoes in it, so I am thinking it may not be as soupy as I feared. We'll see. Thanks again!!
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I have used red lentils to thicken dishes before, but I'm not sure that that is exactly the way to go with your dish.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I don't have any red lentils, though it sounds kind of interesting. I'll have to try it on something else.
I have long been thinking that when we moved to this area this summer it was somewhat like moving into barbarian lands. I discovered one sign of this early on: no bagel shops. Yes, the horror of no fresh baked bagels for breakfast was hard to get over, but I've managed alright so far. But now I've learned that they are heathen barbarians herebouts, perhaps to criminal levels -- the closest east Indian restaurant is nearly 30 miles away! There are at least 60 Teriyaki places in easy walking distance, but not a single east indian restaurant. Or bagel shop. I may have to learn to make my own naan at this rate.
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Tante Shvester: I'm guessing that you don't have a box of potato starch on the shelf.
*giggle* That was my first thought as well. I actually find potato starch a better thickener for some things than cornstarch anyway.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I'd use some sort of starch. Arrowroot works best (it lasts longer then cornstarch if you change the temperature of the dish a lot (cooking, heating up, freezing, etc.).
Wheat flour, rice flour, etc. work well. Some people put some sugar in the flour then make a slurrie to stop clumping. I'm not sure if this actually does anything or is myth (I don't do it myself). You can use flour in a roux (for white equal portions of flour and butter cooked in a pot until it clumps togeather. For the darker colours cook longer. Watch out you don't cook it too long as it will develop a prounced nutty flavour that may or may not be desirable).
If you're not heating the dish up after you make it, you can use eggs as a thickener. Temper the eggs before adding to prevent curdling. As the protein coagulates liquid becomes trapped in a network of set proteins.
Sorry if this doesn't make much sense. I'm very busy studying presently and have given myself exactly 5 mins to check hatrack in the past 5 days Posts: 944 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Yep, I've used instant mashed potato flakes as well in a pinch - it works great. But it sounds like you have enough suggestions to keep you going.
Jeniwren, if you want a great naan recipe, let me know. Mine is fabulouso! Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Noemon: when you're adding raw eggs to a hot dish, if you just dump them in, you'll end up with some undesireable scrambled eggs. The best way to make sure they mix up properly is to add the hot stuff a little at a time -- that way, the eggs aren't shocked. I learned this lesson the hard way the first time I made creme puff filling a few years ago.
Posts: 4089 | Registered: Apr 2003
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As it turned out, I actually had to *add* liquid. The recipe called for removing the chicken and veggies then thickening the liquid and serving it with the breasts and veggies in a pile with the curry sauce poured over it. But I don't like it that way. I like my chicken shredded. So I pulled the breasts out and shredded them, then dumped them back in the pot. That made it much too dry. So I added a cup of hot chicken flavored water (used a boullion cube) slowly and that seemed to get it the right consistency. It could have even used more soupiness, I think. Next time...
I'd love the naan recipe, quid. I love naan and now that I live in the no-decent-restaurants outback, I'm relegated to eating my own cooking. Which will have to get better if that's going to happen. Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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I think this is the one. I'll double check.
Naan
500 gm white flour 1 1/2 teaspoon sugar 2 teaspoon dry yeast 2 tablespoon yoghurt 25 gm ghee or butter 1 teaspoon salt melted butter (optional)
Sieve the flour. Mix sugar and yeast in 1 cup warm water and stir until yeast dissolves. Cover and wait for 5 to 7 minutes until the yeast foams. Mix this liquid with yoghurt, ghee/butter, salt and flour, and make a soft dough, adding more water as necessary.
Knead the dough for 6 to 7 minutes. Let the dough rest under a damp cloth for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven (see below). Knead the dough briefly, divide into 20 pieces. Pat and gently stretch each piece into an oval shape about 1/4 inch thick.
Baking the naan: Place baking stone on the bottom rack of the oven, leaving a 1-inch space between the tile and the oven walls to allow air to circulate. Preheat the oven to 450 F.
As soon as the naans are formed, place them on the heated stone, and bake for about 4 minutes, until the bread has golden patches on top and a crusty browned bottom surface. (It's best to form the naans as you bake them, so that they don't rise too long).
Remove the naans and brush the tops with melted butter (optional).
Serve warm.
My comments: I've also fried this, and to me, it tasted better, but of course, that adds more fat to it. But then, I did that because my oven is cool - has to do with being hooked up to a propane tank - so it doesn't bake right in our oven. Also, make sure you knead the dough enough. If it isn't kneaded enough, you'll wind up with air pockets. The trick is to knead the dough while adding as little flour to the dough as possible.
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I don't have any red lentils, though it sounds kind of interesting. I'll have to try it on something else.![[Wink]](wink.gif)
(I don't do it myself). You can use flour in a roux (for white equal portions of flour and butter cooked in a pot until it clumps togeather. For the darker colours cook longer. Watch out you don't cook it too long as it will develop a prounced nutty flavour that may or may not be desirable).![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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