Myanmar Potato Curry.

**mikehunt** · 24-01-2009, 12:47 AM

Myanmar Potato Curry. (Main meal - 2 to 4 people)

Utensils.
A blender (preferable) or a mortar & pestle.
A Wok or a large, deep pot with a thick base (large, deep, thick based pot is best).
A wooden spoon/spatula.
A "spatter sieve" (a flat steel mesh device, which can sit on top of the pot). This prevents "spatter". This is not a requirement.

Ingredients.
4 to 6 large white or brown peeled onions (the more onions, the more sause is produced).
A tablespoon of fresh ginger root (about the size of your thumb, peeled or unpeeled...doesn't matter).
A teaspoon of chilli powder (more or less can be used according to the required "heat").
A tablespoon of Turmeric.
3 to 6 cloves of garlic (peeled or unpeeled...doesn't matter).
6 to 9 tablespoons of Sesame oil.
4 to 6 large potatoes, peeled & cut into bite sized chunks.
500 grams of pork or beef, cut into "bite sized" pieces.
A teaspoon of salt.

Method.
In the blender (or Pestle & Mortar), blend the onions, ginger, garlic, chilli powder & Turmeric to a smooth paste. Small amounts of water may be added to help the blending process (if using electric blender). It is best to cut the onions into small pieces before blending.

Heat the sesame oil until it is barely smoking & carefully (slowly...bit by bit) add the blended mixture. Be careful as it will spatter greatly. Once all the blended mixture has been added to the hot oil, reduce the heat so that the mixture is simmering (slowly bubbling). Ensure that the mixture is stirred frequently to avoid sticking to the pot/wok. Small amounts of water may be added to ensure the mixture does not become too dry. This part of the process is very important. The mixture must change colour & smell. It may change to a green colour & the smell will become more aromatic & less acrid. This process usually takes about 15 to 30 minutes. It took me a few times to get this part right. IF THIS PART IS NOT DONE CORRECTLY, IT WILL TASTE BITTER & TERRIBLE.

Once the mixture is cooked, slightly increase heat & add the meat plus salt (whilst stirring) until all off the meat has changed colour (from red to pale brown - sealed).

Add the potatoes & enough water to just cover the potatoes.

Increase heat until simmering & then reduce heat to maintain simmering.

Simmer until potatoes are soft & most of the water has evaporated. The result should be a pot of potatoes & meat in a thick sauce.

Serve & enjoy.

This meal may be made without potatoes. Simply deduct potatoes (& the water) from the recipe & serve with boiled rice.

**daveboy** · 24-01-2009, 12:48 AM

Pics ?

**mikehunt** · 24-01-2009, 01:02 AM

No pics sorry. This is something I have been making for the past 7 or 8 years.

**a. boozer** · 24-01-2009, 08:45 AM

This sounds like Gaeng Haeng Lae. Absolutely delicious!

**English Noodles** · 24-01-2009, 09:24 PM

No good without pics.

**English Noodles** · 24-01-2009, 09:25 PM

Originally Posted by mikehunt

No pics sorry. This is something I have been making for the past 7 or 8 years.

Then you should have hundereds of pics to choose from.

**ceburat** · 24-01-2009, 09:46 PM

Have you ever cooked it without meat? If so, how did it taste?

**Rural Surin** · 24-01-2009, 09:48 PM

Good for you, make your curry from scratch!

**blackgang** · 24-01-2009, 09:49 PM

Originally Posted by mikehunt

IF THIS PART IS NOT DONE CORRECTLY, IT WILL TASTE BITTER & TERRIBLE

God damn it Mike, how the fuck I gonna get this part right,, I am going to try it,, could I just make sure it is cooked long enough, like over 1/2 hour and just make sure it don't get to dry? is it possible to over cook?

no need to answer CEBU, everyone knows ya can't live without MEAT.

**mikehunt** · 24-01-2009, 10:38 PM

Originally Posted by English Noodles

Originally Posted by mikehunt

No pics sorry. This is something I have been making for the past 7 or 8 years.

Then you should have hundereds of pics to choose from.

Next time I cook it, I'll take pics.

Originally Posted by ceburat

Have you ever cooked it without meat? If so, how did it taste?

Yes I have & it tasted the same as with meat. If you don't like meat, you may like to try kidney beans instead. I've never done that but I'd imagine it would be ok.

Originally Posted by blackgang

Originally Posted by mikehunt

IF THIS PART IS NOT DONE CORRECTLY, IT WILL TASTE BITTER & TERRIBLE

God damn it Mike, how the fuck I gonna get this part right,, I am going to try it,, could I just make sure it is cooked long enough, like over 1/2 hour and just make sure it don't get to dry? is it possible to over cook?

no need to answer CEBU, everyone knows ya can't live without MEAT.

BG, you can overcook it, which is why you need to keep a close eye on it & add small quantities of water while it's cooking.
The key thing to remember is that it must change colour...usually to a green colour & that it must lose the "sharp" smell & gain a more mellow & aromatic smell.
I must admit that it took me about 2 attempts before I got this part right.

I got the recipe from a Charmaine Solomon book - "The Complete Asian Cookbook", which I bought about 20 years ago. This book is fantastic!!!
Charmaine Solomon - Cookery Books

Also, you can make the "curry base" in large quantities & freeze it in small quantities. This way, when you want the curry, defrost the base & away you go.

One more tip with curries - make them about 5 days to a week before you eat them. Put them in the fridge for this period...it seems to "mature" them.

**English Noodles** · 24-01-2009, 10:45 PM

Originally Posted by mikehunt

Next time I cook it, I'll take pics.

Good man! Then I will give it a try.

**blackgang** · 24-01-2009, 11:40 PM

Thanks Mike, well if this Flu will leg go just a little I am going to try it, but it got me so down that I just took that bacon out of the smoker and put it in the fridge I use for curing and there she sets, I will have to either cut it up and put in plastic bags or have my wife do it soon.

**mikehunt** · 24-01-2009, 11:41 PM

Incidentally, I've made this dish twice in Thailand. On both occasions I used pork instead of the usual beef because Thai people would be eating it.

At first, my Thai friends were a bit dubious about it but once they tasted it, they couldn't get enough of it.

**mikehunt** · 24-01-2009, 11:44 PM

Originally Posted by blackgang

Thanks Mike, well if this Flu will leg go just a little I am going to try it, but it got me so down that I just took that bacon out of the smoker and put it in the fridge I use for curing and there she sets, I will have to either cut it up and put in plastic bags or have my wife do it soon.

Get well soon BG. If your flu is anything like the flu's that I've had since living in Thailand, they are MEAN!!

EDIT: Curry is great for clearing the head. Too bad it won't cure the flu.

**blackgang** · 24-01-2009, 11:57 PM

I have some beef too, but to bad it is Argentine Angus striploin, I just finished the last 3 NZ ribeye steak pak the otherday and I will hate to chop up some of the best beef I have had since I have been here to put in a curry.
But win some, lose some.

**mikehunt** · 25-01-2009, 01:14 AM

Originally Posted by blackgang

I have some beef too, but to bad it is Argentine Angus striploin, I just finished the last 3 NZ ribeye steak pak the otherday and I will hate to chop up some of the best beef I have had since I have been here to put in a curry.
But win some, lose some.

I used to live in Argentina...some of the best beef I've ever had. They use a very simple method for cooking their beef.

**ceburat** · 26-01-2009, 07:31 PM

MH I too use pork instead of beef in Thailand. At least I use to before I got sick again and had to change my diet again. Pork is nice and tender here and not too fat. Beef here is tough. In the US it has too much fat.

Since I got sick in November, again, I cut out meat along with many other things out of my diet. The only meat I eat now is fish. I am trying to get my wife to be a vegetarian (sp) but I don't think her Thai blood will allow that. She enjoys eating all of the things that I can't eat. I am diabetic with a heart that does not want to keep pumping. If it stops, maybe a few teakdoorers would celebrate LOL. Since November I have went from 77.5 kilos to 71 kilos and feel great. I love all curries. Great food. Thanks for the info.

BG I'm from Florida man and you know that. Get some mullet in that smoker.

**blackgang** · 26-01-2009, 09:23 PM

Originally Posted by ceburat

BG I'm from Florida man and you know that. Get some mullet in that smoker.

Ain't got no mullets here Dude, what ya think that you still doin duty on the Eagle,
We do have a mullet in Klamath Falls Oregon that come up to Klamath lake some how and then up a river, Wilson river I think it is, to spawn and they don't bite, you have to snag em which is legal, they are good sized fish and smoke up so damn good it is unbelievable how somethin so fuckin ugly could taste so good and I did smoke a shit load of em for other folks for half the product so I didn't have to drive 400 miles for my fish.

Originally Posted by mikehunt

I used to live in Argentina...some of the best beef I've ever had. They use a very simple method for cooking their beef.

This is Angus and not to fat and it is striploin and I got it for 480 a kg, I did salt roast one I think in "NY salt roast in Kitchens" should be a pix,, best damn beef I ever ate, and I just did a 1.5 kg one in my MELVBOT convection oven at 300F for 40 min and it is so tender that a samdwich of 1/4 inch slices dont even offer enough resistance to smash the bread of a sandwich when you bite it off.
The new guy Cowboy got some ,had it cut into 1 1/2" steaks and filled his freezer, no dummy that one.

Yea it is there

**tamadah** · 27-01-2009, 03:18 AM

Myanmar Potato Curry my arse!

This is Burmese Stovies like they serve up in Glasgow pubs when it gets nippy 'round the Gorbals.

Thanks for reposting the recipe though. I had lost it in the house fire.

**passengers** · 27-01-2009, 03:40 AM

Why do people refer to this as Myanmar Potato Curry ? I have eaten Burmese curry on many occasions and it is good. Only the crackpot generals refer to Burma as Myanmar!

**mikehunt** · 27-01-2009, 08:03 PM

Originally Posted by tamadah

Myanmar Potato Curry my arse!

This is Burmese Stovies like they serve up in Glasgow pubs when it gets nippy 'round the Gorbals.

Thanks for reposting the recipe though. I had lost it in the house fire.

Originally Posted by passengers

Why do people refer to this as Myanmar Potato Curry ? I have eaten Burmese curry on many occasions and it is good. Only the crackpot generals refer to Burma as Myanmar!

You can call it "One of the nastiest regimes in the world curry" for all I care. But as you said, it's a bloody good curry...one of the best in my opinion.

**blackgang** · 30-01-2009, 03:38 PM

OK, had a hell of a time finding Tumeric here but got some this am out at the new Big C, and it cooked and cooked and at 30 min didn't seem to have changed much so due to the fact that you said to add water as needed and my pots lose no water as they have 9 thin sheets of copper encapsulated in the bottom and will continue to bubble with the flame turned as low as it will go and are in fact waterless if you care to use them taht way, I thought maybe it needed to breath when cooking so I ran with the lid off for another while,
finally I tasted it and it has no bitter taste, but I ain't sure I gonna like it, my wife said she don't but I gonna have it for supper anyway so she might eat on the way home from work.

**mikehunt** · 30-01-2009, 07:04 PM

BG, it looks ok to me although the colour is a bit different & it looks a bit "watery" compared to what normally happens. For me, the blended mixture is a yellow colour. After cooking, it becomes a greeny yellowy colour.

Also, try using different onions. Brown onions are not as strong as white onions. I've used both types of onions & I prefer the white ones because I like spicy food.

I've cooked this in Thailand twice & I had the same result as I did with Australian products (when I lived in Australia). I did forget to mention that this preparation does not require a lid to be placed on the pot, however, an experienced "cook" will know whether to do this or not.

The next time I make it, I will take step-by-step pics (I don't have a movie camera).

**blackgang** · 30-01-2009, 08:02 PM

I always use the air tite lids on my pots as I can cook with a lot less fire and it prevents burning and drying out of the food, but I could have left the vent open, but the turmeric has a flavor that I just don't seem to like and of coarse I might have fucked it up myself, And I do not like Thai food either,, but the smoked salmon and rice was perfect, With that "FLU" I thought I had that was really Pneumonia for a couple weeks I hadn't eaten any of the salmon and only tasted one piece, and damn it is good so I will get on here tomorrow and order 2 more salmon if they still have any like I bought last time and 2 or 3 more of those Argentine Angus strip loins, I think I can get em in my freezer,even if I have to load the freezer on the big fridge up.

PS. I never added any water to it, all that liquid came from the onions, and I am an experienced cook, Thats why I paid $600 for that set of cookware by the time it got here that you see on the stove and not to shabby most folks that eat here say.

**English Noodles** · 23-10-2009, 08:15 PM

Originally Posted by mikehunt

Next time I cook it, I'll take pics.

Hurry up then, I was going to make this tonight.

Thread: Myanmar Potato Curry.

Thread Tools

Display

Myanmar Potato Curry.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

Posting Permissions