My curry dishes are all watery! What am I doing wrong? (ingredients, chicken)

[usuario]

Hi everyone,

Whenever I try to make a curry dish, I put in, say, 3 tbsp oil, 2 tbsp clarified butter, three cups of yogourt, ground spices, and whatever meat / vegetables I'm having as my main dish (about 2 lbs in total). But when the cooking is done, the curry is all watery and lacks the texture and color of authentic curries. What am I doing wrong?

[calipoppy]

Try less yogurt. The three cups sound like a lot to me.

[JordanJP]

Have you tried letting it simmer for a little while with the lid off? and then let it stand a little bit before you eat it?

[usuario]

I'm not sure if Indian "curd" is different from Western yoghurt, but I get the same result if I use half as much yoghurt. The yoghurt tends to break off into small chunks instead of becoming part of the curry.

Letting it simmer for a while: do you mean waiting for water to evaporate?

[calipoppy]

Originally Posted by usuario

I'm not sure if Indian "curd" is different from Western yoghurt, but I get the same result if I use half as much yoghurt. The yoghurt tends to break off into small chunks instead of becoming part of the curry.

Letting it simmer for a while: do you mean waiting for water to evaporate?

How are you mixing the ingredients?

I would reduce the amount of yogurt and partially substitute coconut milk as well. So maybe instead of 3 cups of yogurt (which sound like a lot for only 2lbs of meat) I would do 1/2 to 3/4 cup yogurt and 1/2 coconut milk.

ETA: Also Jordan's advice of letting the dish simmer (on low to med/lowheat) uncovered will help reduce the "watery" too

[usuario]

I first put the oil and the clarified butter (ghee), then I put in the spices I ground up, wait two minutes, then I put in the chicken and the yoghurt at the same time. Then I cook until the chicken is done. Then I get disappointed because it looks like plain chicken and yellowish-brown water.

[Opyelie]

Erm....it should be approximately HALF a cup of yoghurt to approx 2.5 lbs of chicken - let it simmer for a while to evaporate some of the liquid if you feel it's too watery - you can also add a paste of cornflour and water then simmer some more to thicken it up........

[calipoppy]

Originally Posted by usuario

I first put the oil and the clarified butter (ghee), then I put in the spices I ground up, wait two minutes, then I put in the chicken and the yoghurt at the same time. Then I cook until the chicken is done. Then I get disappointed because it looks like plain chicken and yellowish-brown water.

Its the amount of yogurt....definitely reduce the amount of yogurt in the dish

[Opyelie]

Personally I tend to favour coconut cream over yoghurt for curries, but that's a personal taste.

[dens]

coconut milk is the answer...perfect!