Hello guest

Yes indeed, ground coriander seeds are a big part of most north Indian curries. You can make a curry without it, there will be of course one flavour missing. I do sometimes omit it in bhajie's (by bhaji, I mean 'a vegetable dish without a gravy or sauce) and they are quite nice. There is only one way to find out. Next time, make one without ground coriander seeds!

If you add green coriander leaves at the end, they give a nice flavour, although it is quite different from seeds.

Is there a special reason that you want to omit it?

Can I be nosey and ask why you want to leave them out ? Taste ? allergic ? can't find any near you ?

My mate doesn't like the taste of fresh coriander, but he's eaten enough of my curries loaded with it... :-)

Steve

Interesting Steve! My husband also dislikes fresh coriander, but if you chop it finely/disguise it, he doesn't know. However, a friend of ours actually can not eat fresh leaves, had aversion to it. It smells 'yuk' to him. Now he is Chinese and his dishes should have it, but he just can not tolerate it. I keep off it as well, when he is coming to dinner.

If you can't eat, then you have to try making it without coriander. Try adding a little ground cumin (not too much, it is quite strong). Keep the rest of the recipe exactly the same and see. I am sure it will be quite reasonable.

Is there any specific recipe that you are looking for?

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i like reasonably hot curry but nothing over the top. as a rule if i am eating out i always order the madras. the spices i use in other food are brown cardamom, cassia leaves, cassia bark, cumin, star aniseed, turmeric, black pepper, cloves, allspice and annatto. i favour cassia over the supermarket cinnamon and think it tastes much better. all of the above mentioned spices are sometimes used together in other dishes, with the exception of turmeric which i dont use as often. i also have fresh curry leaves.

Hello Jay

Any curry can be made hot, addition of more chillies or changing the chilli variety will do that.

I agree with you, I too use cassia. Indians generally use cassia bark in their curries, not true cinnamon, but call it cinnamon out of habit! So when I say cinnamon in my savoury dishes/curries, I too use cassia bark, along with most of the Indians in India. If I said cassia bark in my recipes, many people in India may not follow it, as they will know it as cinnamon.

We don't usually have star anise in north Indian food, but there is no reason for you not to use it.

Annatto is more south American than Indian, but again no reason why you shouldn't use it. Is there any special reason why you don't use turmeric? It doesn't only add flavour, it has many, many health benefits and almost all Indian curries have it.

Curry leaves are not used in many north Indian dishes, it is more of a southern Indian flavour. We do use it in some dishes in the north as well. But again, if you like the flavour, why not!

hi, i do use turmeric but don't use it much except for the curries.

Oh well, at least i am not allergic to any spices and am not a fussy eater so i dont spend any time standing there in the supermarket and reading (researching !!!)the ingredients on the food packet. So bring it on!!!

Actually, dislike of coriander is not "fussy eating" - a significant percentage of population find that it tastes like soap. Recent studies have found that this is very strongly correlated to two specific genes which are not well understood but are known to be associated with smell and taste.

I find basil like that sometimes !

Steve

...and I love basil. I put a few leaves in my black tea all the time. Basil in tea is a very Indian thing to do, it is very good for symptoms of cold/congestion.

Of course you can make curry without coriander, but, apart from the taste, coriander acts as a thickener, so I'd add more onions or somethng to make sure the curry isn't too runny.

To those above saying you can "disguise"

^ Sorry, hit enter by mistake. Personally I think if you're trying to disguise coriander into a dish then what's the point in having it at all? If you can't taste it there's no point.

Some of us are actually allergic to coriander. Trying to disguise it can be dangerous if you know someone prefers it left out

I agree completely. If someone is actually allergic to it, as opposed to not liking it, it is dangerous to give it to them disguised. I would rather cook something without it than taking a risk with their life.

Mamta

Why is it that, as soon as you say you don't like a food, such as coriander, cumin or garlic, people try sneaking it into your food in disguise to try to prove you wrong.

If I ever make a curry, because my family like them, I will leave out all three of the above ingredients and the result us delicious. You can really taste the meat properly.

Hello Andrew

I think that garlic is a recent phenomenon in Indian cooking. People of my parents generation, and many of mine ( I am in my seventies), did not touch garlic. My grandmother wouldn't allow onions and garlic in her kitchen. In my parents house, garlic was never even bought. Even onions were rarely used in vegetable curries. We had it in salad, but not often in cooking. We were a vegetarian family.

As for green coriander, many people actually feel sick if they eat it. My husband and one of the daughters are two such people. However, they are fine if it is added during cooking and not raw, as a garnish. You can of course have food without it, I usually do, but have to admit that it gives a nice taste even when it is added earlier during cooking stage. It is not that I am trying to get them to eat something they don't like, it is that it is not always fair to deprive everyone else of something they like.

After saying that, I will never disguise it and make them eat it that way.

Same goes for cumin. You can use other seeds for tempering like mustard, nigella, fennel, fenugreek etc. for 'tempering' foods. Roasted cumin is good in certain spicy street foods and Raitas, but a portion can easily be kept aside for someone that doesn't like it.

Cooking is all about the freedom to do what you want to eat, except in occasional circumstances.

Mamta