chickencurryfreezing
I've just made a tasteless chicken and veg curry. I have put various spices in, but it's still bland. It's cooled down now and I was going to freeze it tonight as I've made it to take camping next weekend, so will be heated up again then.
My question is – can I save it now? Can I add more spices to cold curry now, mix it and then freeze it? If so, what spices will give it more flavour?
If the English curry is similar to this, you are missing CREAM!
Indian curry traditionally has - in addition to the ginger, turmeric, cumin and chili (I assume you mean chili powder) that you used - a generous amount of garam masala, coriander powder, and garlic.
Sometimes you'll see "curry powder" used in recipes instead of garam masala; they are similar but not exactly the same.
Either one of these would be fine, and arguably the most important missing ingredient here. I'm not even sure you could legitimately call it a curry without one of the above.
Depending on your spice tolerance, you might need to add more chili powder as well.
Note that most spices in a curry will need to be heated before they'll really release their aromas (and therefore flavour), so you can't just add them cold, and I definitely don't think you'd want the taste of raw garlic/ginger in your curry, even if it is presently tasteless. Give it a good simmer after adding some garlic (powder is fine) and garam masala or curry powder and you might be able to salvage it.
Or you could try heating the new spices dry, for a very short time, to give them a bit of a head start aroma-wise; just be very careful not to burn them.
Best Answer
I have no idea how you're going to reheat your curry, but if we assume it's in a pot over the campfire, you have a few options:
Bring spices with you, bloom them in oil, then add your pre-made curry to reheat.
Make and cook a spice paste ahead of time (or buy one), as it won't have the 'raw' spice qualities that using a curry powder will. You can then stir it into the curry to taste as you heat it up. If you're using a curry roux, you may need to add a little extra liquid, as it'll act as a thickener.
Bring along chutneys, Indian relish, or similar things that people can mix-in to add flavor. (I like the 'hot' chutneys for adding flavor. Sweet chutneys are better for mellowing out a chutney than adding flavor on its own)
Serve it over heavily seasoned rice. Dice up some carrots and onions, cook them in oil with a (possibly heavy) pinch of salt, add any spice powders or seeds (tumeric, mustard seeds, whatever else you like in your curry), add the rice, let it toast a little bit like for risotto, then add your liquid and steam as you normally would. I'll sometimes also throw in a cinnamon stick or a few cloves in just before I add the liquid. But count the cloves and warn people, as eating under poor lighting conditions can result in surprises.
I wouldn't suggest reheating your curry in advance; camping typically suggests food storage without refrigeration, and you often have hungry people not waiting for food to fully heat back through. Because of this, it's best not to keep reheating / cooling off food unless you're going to bring it to a full boil each time, and that could start turning the meat and vegetables into mush.