Vietnamese beef stew (Thit Bo Kho)

Curry, a word from Tamil that means ‘sauce’ is generally thought of by many British and Americans as some specific mixture.  In other parts of the world, the term ‘curry’ is more of a an idea than it is a list of ingredients. In India for instance, every family seems to make their own curry. Its their own, because well, everyone caters it to their own sensibilities. That being said, the idea of Curry seems quite prevalent throughout South, Southeast and East Asia, with some curries even taking root in the west Indies.
To my mind at least, there are really two general types of curries: wet and dry. Dry curries tend to use ingredients that have been powdered before and are either cooked with other things, fried and then cooked with other ingredients, or simply used as a seasoning in a thickened liquid, like yogurt. They are easier to toss together and can be ready ahead of time in large quantities, and provided it is used within a few months, can be useful to get a dish out onto the table reasonably quickly.
A wet curry, sometimes called a rumpah, uses both powdered and fresh ingredients, and are then crushed in a mortar and pestle until it forms a paste.
Some of the ingredients used in curries are as follows:

General Ingredients

It would be beyond the scope of this one post to talk about all the varieties of curry that exist, or specific formulations for a specific type of curry. Note that not all of the above list is used in every curry. However in the future i will begin to add some specific curry mixes that can be worked with.

In the following case, I create a rumpah from the following:

Ingredients

Curries need not be spicy and in this case, you can add as many or remove the chillies as you so choose.

As noted, mince all the non-powdered ingredients fine.  While it is fine to mince and mix it all in a food processor, that just minimizes the amount of pounding done in a mortar and pestle. grinding in a mortar and pestle is important, as the flavors do not quite melt into one another as well with just a food processor. its the difference between cutting things and grinding (a process called maceration)

One use for a curry like this is in a Vietnamese beef stew, as below.

Ingredients

In a bowl, combine the beef with the rumpah mix well. Let stand 30 minutes.

Heat oil over high heat. Remove as much of the rumpah as possible and sear, about 3 minutes. Remove the meat and lower temperature to medium.
Heat the rumpah with oil, stirring continuously. The oil will be absorbed into the rumpah. Continue to add oil until the rumpah can no longer absorb oil. keep stirring the rumpah until oil starts to separate. You will know when this occurs because the oil will have a yellowish sheen. Be careful not to burn the rumpah.
Add the onion and stir fry until fragrant. Add the tomatoes, stirring about 3 minutes. Re-add the beef, star anise, salt to taste fish sauce and water to cover the mixture. cover and simmer about 1 1/2 hours

Add carrots potatoes and eggplant and simmer for 10 minutes.
Serve with whatever you like, but traditionally with rice, noodles or bread.

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