Battle curry

It’s amazing what some drunken boasting can lead to. However, never before has it led to a battle of culinary skill. I must have been rather toasted at Ryan’s party if I somehow thought it was reasonable for Prasad and me to go head-to-head in an Indian curry challenge. What was I thinking? He’s Indian and actually from India. Sure, I’m pretty handy in the kitchen but I’m no sub-continent native. I don’t have spices running through my veins. I don’t eat raw green chilies as a snack. And, most importantly, I don’t have an Indian mother who, for sure, knows how to make awesome curry. I would get clobbered at a curry off. But, I was drunk, I said I could cook, and there was no way I was going to back down from a curry off.

Prasad and I chose a day. We chose a place. We invited friends to be the judges. All we needed were the chicken curries.

I started mine early in the afternoon for a seven o’clock showdown. It’s a pretty basic chicken curry. Toast some spices (green cardamom, black peppercorns, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cloves, dried red chilies) in some oil. Then sauté some garlic, onions, and ginger until brown. Toss in some green chilies and some cayenne and tumeric. Add some chopped tomatoes with a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste. Then, blend the mixture. Put the chopped chicken sprinkled with tumeric, cayenne, and salt in the hot pot. Add some plain yogurt. Stir in the blended tomato mix along with some water or stock. Simmer until it’s done. Then finish with some lemon and chopped cilantro. It’s not too tough, and I was ready well in advance.

Prasad showed up with his pot of curry with the lid duct-taped secure. As he went to park his car, Scott removed the duct tape and I had a quick peek. His was a darker color than mine and looked foreboding. I took a quick taste too. The first thing that hit me was the intensity of the spiciness. My eyes widened and my nostrils flared. I make a spicy curry and I can handle heat, but his curry was about to knock me down flat. I was nervous.

Prasad came back and we made several pots of basmati rice. We had beers as Scott stirred our curries over low heat. We chatted about hot sauce and chilies. We discussed cooking methods and ingredients. We waited for rice to cook and guests to arrive.

When the guest judges arrived, all 18 of them it turned out, we ladled up the curry. Mine was on one side of the plate, Prasad’s was on the other, and in between was a barrier of basmati. The visible difference between the curries was the color. One was dark with tinges of brown and green, whereas the other was more of an orangey-hued brown. We referred to them as “light” and “dark.”

Our judges dug in, mmm-ing at the curries while wiping sweat from their brow and reaching for more beer, water, or, in some cases, milk. They asked whose curry belonged to whom, but we kept tight lips. They went back for more rice. They went back for more curry. They went back and forth in their contemplation of whose curry they liked better. And, they were adamant to put the curries to a vote.

As Scott spearheaded the tallying of curry favorites, Prasad and I were relegated to the confines of the kitchen, amused and surprised at the intensity at which our friends were taking the judgment of curry. After all the drunken boasting of how awesome my curry is, I didn’t care that much anymore. We had friends over for food and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Or, maybe I didn’t care because I was anxious that my curry wouldn’t be the winning one. Maybe that was Prasad’s reason for not caring so much for the vote either. Was he nervous about losing a curry off to a Chinese girl?

Scott returned to the kitchen with the results and it turned out to be a dead tie. Eight votes for Prasad’s and eight votes for mine. Four people refrained from the vote, only because they knew who made what. There couldn’t have been a more unbelievable outcome and when the results were announced, no one believed it.

In the end though, I think our friends were the winners. They had a free dinner on a Sunday evening, and what’s not to like about a free dinner? But, we do have Curry Off 2007 in the works. It’ll be lamb.