Breath of the Wild #60: Gourmet Poultry Curry

Ingredients: Raw Whole Bird, Hylian Rice, Goron Spice

Description: "Once served in Hyrule Castle, the poultry used in this dish is immensely high quality."

Back to indian style, this time I've got a butter chicken paste and some turkey. The recipe on the back of the paste sachet says I should get cream and ground cashews, check. And onions, oops I forgot to get those. Maybe some garlic and ginger will make up for that? Oh also don't mind that horrifying lump in a black tub on the right, thats a frozen slow-cooked turkey thigh.

For the rice I'm steaming it with turmeric, garam masala, cardamom pods and some shredded mint and coriander.

Bit of garlic and ginger to in ghee to start us off.. does this butter curry paste even have butter in it...?

Browning the chopped up turkey breast fillets.

Then I add the paste and let that sizzle for a couple mins..

Now a bit of water and that frozen turkey thigh can go in to thaw. I probably should have defrosted it beforehand, but we can just simmer this until its definitely warm. After all, its already cooked.

I'll just use my blender on the cashews. Yep thats ground!

In go the cashews and cream. The turkey leg will have added plenty of fat as well. It's got to be "immensely high quality"!

As that cooks for a bit longer we can plate up the rice which is gently aromatic.

*****

All round nailed it! The curry is mild and creamy, but the cashew powder adds a nice depth of flavour. This feels like what that first korma should have been. Maybe some vegetables and paneer would make this even better, but that's not in the brief.

Breath of the Wild #59: Prime Poultry Curry

Ingredients: Raw Bird Thigh, Hylian Rice, Goron Spice

Description: "The secret to this curry's flavor is taking it off the heat while you add the spices."

Middle curry! I've got bird thighs, and the graphic also had drumsticks so ill do a couple drumsticks as well. Ugh, effort. I wanted to mix it up from the indian curries a bit and use this thai style penang paste that I really like.

I forgot what I put in the rice last time... im adding turmeric to make it yellow, a bit of salt and garam masala. Swish it around and steam it. 

Since its prime, and im making a stewed curry, lets throw in a couple veg. I've got onions, coriander and some water chestnuts too!

I started browning the chopped thighs and a couple whole drumsticks, and then added the onions and a bit of water too.

Once they are looking a bit more cooked I throw in the water chestnuts, and a few tablespoons of that curry paste... I know it says to "take it off the heat when adding spices" but we're about to add some cold liquid, much the same if you ask me.

And chase it up with the coconut milk. We can add more curry paste if its looking a bit pale.

Once thats had a good while on the heat ill throw in the chopped coriander, I also have chopped chives for the garnish.

Here's the mixed up rice, looking good and yellow.

*****

Can't fault the flavour, it's so good! I have no idea why i tried to eat this with chopsticks though, off a plate, look at it. Silly. Anyway yeah its really good I would make it again, but skip the bone-in meat.

Breath of the Wild #58: Poultry Curry

Ingredients: Raw Bird Drumstick, Hylian Rice, Goron Spice

Description: "The savory meat pairs well with the aroma of spice in this common curry."

Return of the korma! time for the poultry version of the basic meat curry. The most basic version of chicken I can think of is probably this boneless wing meat. It's cheap. This one features yellow rice so we can add in some spices to that I think. I got some chives for topping as well, but no other veg. I didn't end up using that pineapple relish jar so ignore that.

I'll yellow it up by mixing in plenty of turmeric, and then ive got some salt, pepper, cumin seed and coriander in there.

Just give that a mix. Sorry i forgot to take an "after" pic of the rice but youll see it in a bit.

Frying up the chicken chunks in butter. Already less watery than the pork I cooked from frozen so thats good. I guess I can also just add a bit of salt and pepper and coriander, since that other korma was so bland.

Splat in the korma, very classy, can leave that to simmer for a while. 

And for the garnish, instead of the seaweed salt im gonna try and bring in that missing onion flavour with plenty of chopped chives.

***

Huge improvement over that pork korma. A bit more going on with the flavours, the chicken is cheap but not tough. Buuuut... well.. it's still a bit bland isn't it? I can't really say its an above average curry. Maybe korma just isn't that good? 

Breath of the Wild #57: Gourmet Meat Curry

Ingredients: Raw Gourmet Meat, Hylian Rice, Goron Spice

Description: "The high-quality meat used in this prized dish satisfied meat and curry lovers alike."

How do i top the simmered tandoori beef from prime meat curry? Volume, I guess! I got a whole leg of lamb. And then a bunch of stuff to try and make a curry sauce from scratch. 

Since I got a whole leg on the bone, I guess maybe I'll try and make it manageable by slow roasting it in a pot. I'll throw on plenty of crushed garlic and grated ginger to get the flavours... infusing..?

Once thats had like an hour in the oven, im going to make this sauce. I've got onions, garlic, ginger, fresh mint, chilli paste, star anise, cardamom, dried coriander, garam masala, turmeric, mild chilli powder, and some amchoor someone gave me? It's like.. dried mango powder? Oh yeah also not pictured, nows a good time to steam the rice.

This is my first time using ghee (clarified butter)! Lets gooo. lets gheeee

I've used a blender to grind up the onions, herbs, whole spices, etc.

In goes the paste! I accidentally dropped in way too much amchoor. It's probably fine..?

And let's not forget the tomato passata! Maybe I used too much of that as well... hmm. Well, it is a lot of meat.

It's nice and easy to cut up now, and its ok if its a bit pink because its still got to simmer for at least 30 more minutes with the sauce.

I was going to make a marinade for this before I decided to roast the whole thing... I thought I could make up for this by just mixing the meat chunks in some yogurt and tandoori powder before it goes in. Don't do this folks, this is clearly not correct, look up a real recipe, don't copy this... it's stupid.

It does look like a real curry though!!!

To plate up we have the basmati rice, and fresh coriander for sprinkles. And more of that pineapple relish stuff.

****

It's tangy and flavourful! Was the beef one better though..? I think it was... somehow for all that effort the flavours feel just a little underdeveloped. It's got a perfect heat and sourness, but its lacking in meatyness. I guess winging it can only take you so far. Oh! I just realised I didn't add any salt or sugar.

Breath of the Wild #56: Prime Meat Curry

Ingredients: Raw Prime Meat, Hylian Rice, Goron Spice

Description: "The high-quality meat in this curry has given it a deeper taste than most other curries."

We're on a MISSION...to make a better meat curry than the last one! For the in-between meat ive chosen a delectable beef shin. I've got a much more upmarket pre-made curry sauce, rogan josh style this time. And because the last sauce was so shamefully bland, ive also got some tandoori masala dry spices. And basmati rice, and the garnishes from last time plus a leaf of fresh coriander.

I chopped the meat up into nice big chunks and in goes the tandoori spice as i sear it with some vegetable oil. 

Once thats nicely browned we can put in the curry sauce, and because its a saturday I can actually let this simmer on a low hear for a good hour or so, really try to make that beef reasonably tender. We can add in a bit of water if it threatens to dry out.

That's looking good! Wow those spices have really turned it a rich red, it looks like a restaurant curry. 

*****

Wow! Big difference! The curry is much more flavourful. The beef could be more tender still, but the stewing has made a big difference. So has the tandoori spice, its done a huge amount for the depth of flavour and a pleasant tangy heat. This is probably the most british-indian takeout style curry ive ever made! 

Breath of the Wild #55: Meat Curry

Ingredients: Raw Meat, Hylian Rice, Goron Spice

Description: "The heat from the spice allows you to enjoy the large portion of the meat's savoriness."  

One thing about this game... lots of curries. Being the most basic of the meat curries, I thought i'd try to go the most basic of the basic. Just simple, cheap meat (diced pork), basmati rice, and one of the most cheap and basic curry sauces around here, the mild and popular korma!

Wow huh this meat is a bit cheap huh. I maybe should have drained the extra liquid as its kind added a bit of meat "fluff". I'm cooking it with a tbsp of butter. It's indeed very lean but hopefully stewing it in the curry should soften it a bit?

It's only meat, but half a jar of sauce should be plenty.

Rice looks good at least!

Oh! and we can add a bit of this pineapple relish and the seaweed salt as a nice garnish. This might add significant much-needed flavour.

**

Hmm, yeah, I don't know why I did this. Nobody forced me to get cheap ingredients and not add anything else. The curry sauce is blander than I expected, and the meat is quite tough and dry. I guess its an all-round perfectly edible meal, but the bar has been set for curries and this one... it's a little embarrassing.