Seems like everyone has their interpretation of curry. You can start broad, and look at the culture / country of origin level of curries and find (obviously) quite a lot of variance. But even when drilling into a specific region, curries can vary wildly.

The best way that I have found to make a curry is to read a lot of recipes and articles about different types of curry, and try to trace the common techniques between them. To me, curry means building layers and layers of flavor using spices, aromatics, and fats. Taking care to extract flavors at each layer.

Here is my best approximation of my favorite curry method to-date:

Mise en place

1. Dry spices
2. Aromatic paste
3. Sliced aromatics
4. Coconut fat
5. Coconut milk
6. Greens (optional)
7. Pre-blanched veg (optional)
8. Toppings

Dry spices

Select your spices. I like to do a personal interpretation (as in, what do I have on hand) of garam masala. This is loosely based on the blend from Nik Sharma's book Season.

My garam masala:

• 2 parts cumin seeds
• 2 parts coriander seeds
• 1 part black peppercorns
• a bit of ceylon cinnamon powder
• 12 whole cloves
• 1/2 part black cardamom
• 1/2 part freshly ground nutmeg
• 3 parts tumeric powder
• 1/4 part mace blade

Gather those, and separate the powders from the whole spices. Then dry toast whole spices in a pan over medium high until extremely fragrant. Don't burn them, but don't be afraid to get a solid toast on them. Keep them moving in the pan and adjust heat to avoid burning.

Grind the spices in a mortar and pestle, and then add in the powders and mix. Evacuate to a dish. The powder should be heady with scent.

Aromatic paste

Next up, we need our paste of strong aromatics. I like to use:

• 2 parts garlic cloves
• 2 parts fresh ginger
• 1 part shallot

Rough chop these and then add these into a mortar and pestle. Grind them down into a paste, using a healthy pinch of kosher salt to assist. This will take a good amount of grinding, but will be worth it. Evacuate the paste and any liquid accumulated into another dish.

Sliced aromatics

We've been stockpiling flavor, but now we need some texture (and more flavor). This doesn't have to be sliced, but it usually ends up being what I do. I always use a good amount of sliced onions. Here's how to slice them:

1. Cut the root and tip off the onions and peel
2. Cut the onions root-to-tip in half
3. Slice the onion in the root-to-tip direction, thinly

Slicing the onion this way minimizes how many cells are ruptured, and will keep the flavor less harsh. We have a lot of alliums in this dish, and the ones in the paste have been pulverized. That paste will give us plenty of that allium heat, so we are looking for allium sweetness here.

If you'd like, you can add other aromatics here too! Things that can be sautéed, and do not need much time.

Coconut fat & milk

When you buy full fat, unsweetened coconut milk in a can, find the one with highest fat content and least amount of listed ingredients. Bring it home and keep it on your counter with the side up you plan to open. Leave it here for a few hours to settle. Coconut milk cans will form a layer of cream that is a large amount of fat in the can.

When preparing your mise en place, open the can and skim off this layer of cream and reserve in a bowl. Usually the lid will have some to scrape off as well. You will know where the cream ends and the milk begins if you pay attention to the viscosity of what you are skimming - it will thin (a little) towards the milk.

Keep the milk in the can before use.

Greens (optional)

I think chopped spinach is great here. Chard or kale would work as well, but generally you want a fast cooking green. Also, be sure to chop this relatively fine. The goal is to incorporate it into the sauce, not have it stand out on its own.

Pre-blanched veg (optional)

We will be racing against the clock of burning our spices and overcooking everything, so its best to pre-blanch your veg. That way they don't need much cooking time. These are not super traditional, but just use what you have to build out the dish into a full meal! Such as:

• Broccolini cut into pieces
• Carrots roll cut
• Zucchini sliced
• Tomato wedges (don't blanch)
• Asparagus cut on a sharp bias
• Cauliflower halved florrets

Toppings

Use things that don't need to be cooked. Things like:

• Thinly sliced green onions or green garlic
• Lime wedges
• Cilantro leaves
• Mint leaves
• Thai (or sweet) basil leaves
• Lightly crushed, toasted nuts
• Chili flakes
• Pickled chilies
• Medium boiled egg

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There is a lot of mise en place for this, but the cook time is fast, so it's good to be fully prepared! A key feature of the upcoming method is to extract fat-soluble flavor compounds.

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Method

1. Heat vegetable (not olive) oil or ghee over medium high heat in a large skillet or other deep, wide pan that will fit everything eventually.
2. Pour in your spices and bloom in the hot fat. Stir often and do not allow to burn.
3. Add your paste and sauté it in the spiced fat. Add a little more fat if it threatens to burn before the paste feels cooked and fragrant.
4. Add in the sliced aromatics and cook, stirring constantly until they are softened.
5. Add in the coconut fat and incorporate. You want it to cook and almost caramelize a bit.
6. Deglaze! Add a little bit of appropriate vinegar to bump in the acid and cook it off slightly. Drop the heat to med-low or low..
7. Follow fast with the coconut milk and stir. Lift the pan off if the milk threatens to scorch.
8. Add the greens and and veg and allow everything to come to a bare simmer.
9. Season to taste with salt, and adjust acid levels.
10. Cook at that bare simmer until it tastes as you would like. Less cook time will keep the fresh, bright coconut flavor. As it cooks, it will mellow at. Don't take it too far though, or too hot, or it will loose its charm.
11. Remove and serve over something like roasted vegetables, rice, or alongside bread. Top with any toppings you want!