Even with the very important spice of turmeric, Su Qingluan also understood that this was still far from the curry she had eaten in her previous life.
In fact, although the so-called "curry" is a spice produced in India, it does not refer to a specific spice, but a mixture of various spices, which is called "masala" in Indian languages. It's this "spice mush".
Not to mention anything else, Su Qingluan felt very sorry that there was no chili pepper.
However, as the saying goes, "There are always more solutions than difficulties." Su Qingluan looked at the twenty or thirty kinds of spices that he had bought, and said that there are always ways to make substitutes - after all, there are various "improvements" in modern times. "Curry", such as cream curry, coffee curry, etc., are also taste-adjusted.
So in the past few days, when she didn't go to Mu Xingzhi's house or visit Li's house to run errands, Su Qingluan stayed in the kitchen tinkering with the seasonings: cumin, evodia, black pepper, white pepper... constantly adjusting. Various ratios with turmeric are also ground into fine powder to make the taste more delicate.
For a moment, Su Qingluan even felt like she had gone back to the time when she first made jam, adding spices to various jams.
Although Su Qingluan occasionally ate curry-flavored food in his previous life, at that time he either bought ready-made food outside or bought beautifully packaged curry powder from the supermarket. Whether it was curry rice bowl or curry hot pot, he could eat as much as he wanted. Just throw it in and it's never happened that I had to make my own curry.
First, there was no ratio, and second, there was no formula other than turmeric. Su Qingluan could only cross the river by feeling the stones. Fortunately, Su Qingluan, who has been dealing with these spices for a long time and knows the taste of each spice clearly, has a general understanding of the new fragrance that can be produced by mixing them.
Although it is not possible to accurately control the mixing ratio, at least Su Qingluan can avoid the situation of which spices must not be mixed and will produce a strange smell.
After several days of tossing, Su Qingluan finally prepared a curry powder that was not very spicy but had a good taste. However, compared with the curry on the market before, Su Qingluan's curry does not have that rich feeling after cooking, so it can only be thickened with cornstarch powder.
In order to test everyone's acceptance of this pungent dark yellow seasoning, Su Qingluan initially did not plan to make the curry chicken rice bowl and curry hot pot that he had been coveting, but planned to make a curry spicy tofu.
Su Qingluan planned to use soft tofu to make this dish - anyway, as long as the door is not closed due to heavy snow, the salesman who sells tofu, bean sprouts, soy milk...all kinds of soy products is always out.
What's more, unlike frozen tofu, which has been frozen and has a loose and porous structure, which is more conducive to absorbing the flavor of the soup, the soft tofu before freezing has a smooth and tender texture, much like the texture of steamed egg custard, but it is not. It won't absorb too much flavor, which gives the originally spicy seasoning room to be buffered.
Moreover, Su Qingluan secretly observed the two "spicy noobs" of her younger brother and sister and found that maybe it was because the body needed more calories in winter, and the spicy taste can stimulate appetite and easily warm the whole body. Therefore, even the youngest Su Xueyan's tolerance for spicy seasonings is slightly higher than in summer.
The most intuitive expression is that in the past, if this little girl ate any spicy food, she would spit it out directly, and she would even shed two tears, which made her cry. But since the beginning of winter, she has even taken the initiative to eat spicy dishes, such as grilled fish stuffed in the belly of the fish.
In Su Xueyan's words, eating such dishes can make her "body warmer."
But horizontal dishes are still dishes. The little girl's level of spicy food every time is probably: carefully pick up a bean sprout, carefully pick away all the spices on it, try to eat this bean sprout, and then quickly pick it up Big mouthfuls of white rice.
Have the guts to try, but not much.
However, in order to make the curry powder more acceptable to his younger brother and sister, Su Qingluan added the "sweet milk tofu" that he bought in the town before that tastes a bit like cheese - it is said to be from the nomadic people in the north. The food is very popular among girls because of its sweet and milky taste.
This milk tofu is not as hard as the ones Su Qingluan had eaten in her previous life, and has a softer texture. And it was obvious that a lot of sugar had been added. Su Qingluan took a bite and found that it was so sweet that it made her feel sick. Eating it simply as a dessert would be a murder for Su Qingluan's taste buds.
However, if used as a seasoning, it can neutralize the spicy taste while also integrating a light milky flavor into it. It can even improve the previous problem that Su Qingluan's curry powder was too bland and not rich enough. Kill multiple birds with one stone.
This made Su Qingluan give up her original plan of giving this "sweet milk tofu" to her younger siblings as snacks.
Curry spicy tofu is not difficult to make, you just need to prevent the bottom of the pot from sticking. The other methods are very similar to Mapo tofu, and even simpler than Mapo tofu - because there is no need to stir-fry spicy seasoning.
But the curry paste still needs to be fried.
Originally, Su Qingluan planned to cut the soft tofu into pieces as big as a thumb in order to be tasty enough. But considering that her younger brother and sister needed a "non-spicy buffer zone," she changed her mind and changed the tofu cubes to be as big as dices. Although it was not as tasty as originally planned, she was able to smash large chunks of tofu into pieces. , which can be regarded as a remedial measure.
Carefully put the cut pieces of tender tofu inside the grate, then put the whole piece into the pot. Add the water until it completely covers the tender tofu cubes on the grate. Su Qingluan began to wait for the water to boil.
In addition to removing the unpleasant beany smell on the surface of the tofu, blanching the soft tofu in this way will also make the texture of the tofu firmer when heated. During the cooking process later, It is even less likely to "fall apart".
The tofu cubes were being blanched over there, and Su Qingluan was not idle either - other meals had been served, and only two furnaces were burning.
Su Qingluan first added the base oil, and then added curry powder and milk tofu at the same time - of course, Su Qingluan has experimented with this ratio many times, so that it will not be too sweet or greasy, nor will the spicy taste of the curry be too choking. .
After adding the base oil and curry powder, you must constantly use the back of a large spoon to rub the curry powder and milk tofu in circles. The base oil is to prevent the curry powder from sticking to the pan and allows the curry powder to spread more fully through the lubrication of the oil. The milk tofu also showed signs of gradually melting after being fully heated.
When the white milk tofu completely melts into the dark yellow curry sauce, the overall color of the curry is slightly lighter than the original dark yellow, and at the same time it exudes a faint sweet milk smell.
Su Qingluan knew that the heat was almost done, so he took out the blanched tofu cubes with the whisk and directly put them into the curry sauce with his backhand.
