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Curry

This esteemed dish, especially a favourite with those who have resided in India, is often rendered unpalatable by the same curry seasoning being used for every dish, however differently may be the viands of which it is composed. It must be evident that the same flavouring will not be suitable for a curry of chicken, of fish, or of calf's head. The seasoning should always be adapted to the character of the meat, and, if it can be ascertained, to the taste of those who have to eat it. The first thing to be attended to is to have good stock, secondly, suitable seasoning, and thirdly, plenty of properly prepared rice, for the rest of the dish is only intended to serve as a sort of relish to this most important part of it. The meat, whether it has been previously cooked or otherwise, should be cut into small convenient-sized pieces, and fried in hot butter until lightly browned, with sliced onions and mushrooms, or mushroom powder. A little good stock should then be added, which, after simmering a little while, should be thickened with curry powder, curry paste, and, if liked, a little ground rice. The boiled rice should be piled round the dish. Though fresh meat is always to be preferred as being more juicy, yet cold meat is excellent warmed up as a curry; and it should be remembered that it does not require so much stewing as fresh. When other proportions are not given, a tea-spoonful of curry powder, a teaspoonful of curry paste, a tea-spoonful of ground rice, and a breakfast-cupful of gravy may be allowed for every pound of meat. The addition of a sour apple, or a little grated cocoa-nut, or tomatoes, or cucumbers, or green gooseberries (seeded), or spinach, will greatly improve various curries. It must be remembered that the vegetables are to be stewed in the gravy until they have imparted their flavour to it, then passed through a sieve, and returned to the curry.