Curry

If the ingredient list didn’t tip you off, the seven-hour cooking time makes it official: This recipe is a project that you make for people you love. They’ll be thankful.

This 22-minute South Indian-inspired chicken dinner is based on takeout versions served at Manhattan's Curry Row. 

Frying the paneer in a little oil before stirring it through the masala not only makes it crispy—it also adds loads of flavor.

I love the classic combination of beef, potato, and carrot cooked in a saucy, slightly sweet curry and ladled next to white rice. You can use whatever meat and vegetables you want, but for me, curry has two unbreakable rules: First, make sure that meat is nice and fatty. Second, embrace the premade blocks of Japanese curry roux. Curry is not health food, but neither are the deep-fried pork cutlets called tonkatsu, and I’m not planning to give those up either, no matter what my wife says!

The essential ingredients for this Portuguese-inspired Indian dish are wine, vinegar, and garlic. Additions of mustard seeds, cumin, turmeric, and chiles make it specifically colonial Goan.

This is a South Indian–inspired sweet, mild curry. Serve it with steamed white rice and a tangy fruit chutney like cranberry or mango for a perfect rainy day meal. The recipe calls for a rather small quantity of butternut squash, so you may want to reserve the rest for another recipe.

A warming stew of quick-cooking lentils, pearled couscous, and canned chickpeas topped with tangy lime yogurt, crunchy sliced almonds, and fresh herbs.

Don’t skip on the fresh herb garnishes for this recipe; they will serve as a good contrast to the curry.

There's a time for a 20-ingredient, four-hour curry, and it's not 5pm on Thursday. This shortcut version yields a hearty crowd-pleaser.

Combined with coconut milk, it’s the base for your next Thai curry.

Japanese eggplants are smaller, sweeter, and faster-cooking than other types. If using globe eggplants, slice them into half-inch rounds.

This Thai-inspired curry is ready in just 20 minutes with a little help from a rotisserie chicken.

This warming curry comes together in under an hour with all the deep flavor of a slow-simmered sauce.

This isn’t a super-saucy curry; the aromatics will brown and fry in the pan, yielding lots of yummy crisp bits. Serve with steamed rice.

While this easy curry is super satisfying served over rice or with naan, we wrapped it in some leftover crepes for a convincing dosa-like experience.

This fast one-pot dinner is rich enough to comfort, but light enough that it won’t weigh you down.

This flavorful tomato and cauliflower curry recipe is made with freshly ground spices, fresh chilies and ginger, and Hunt's® canned tomatoes. Created by Elizabeth Stark of Brooklyn Supper.

This dish, featuring many Indian flavors, is a little unusual. Instead of calling for lamb as the base, I use beef, which is not so common in Indian cuisine. But I find it goes very well with the cardamom, cinnamon, and curry leaves that make up the aromatics in the pot. It's a fragrant dish, not spicy-hot, but very flavorful. Since you can make it in advance, it's perfect for when you are having a lot of friends coming over and you want to be able to spend time with them. Like many of the recipes in this book, it will braise while you socialize.

Aromatic spices and tangy yogurt give great flavor to this quick riff on the Indian classic.

This curry is doubly rich from the coconut milk and the deep red curry, but the pineapple keeps it from being too heavy and gives a beautiful freshness to the dish. I like to cook the lobster in the shell because it makes for a more flavorful sauce, and I like to serve it that way too. You can be as refined as you like or, like me, pick up the shell and make an animal of yourself. If lobster is going to blow the budget, you can still have a delicious curry by substituting shrimp or monkfish.

Shrimp absorbs the flavors of a marinade rapidly, making this quick entrée ideal for a busy weeknight. Steaming gently cooks the shrimp and reduces the likelihood of overcooking. Regular coconut milk offers the best flavor for this dish, as the taste of light coconut milk is too subtle. I often serve it over brown rice or whole wheat noodles.

Toasting the curry powder with other aromatic ingredients before adding the liquid intensifies the flavor of this quick take on chana masala. You can roast the cauliflower and tomatoes a couple days ahead; cool, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use.

This beautifully simple, light curry is closely based on a wonderful recipe from chef Angela Hartnett. It's always preferable to use some carefully selected ground and whole spices in a recipe like this, but if you're in a hurry, use a ready-made curry powder instead of the dry spices.

Thai red curry paste typically has more than eight different ingredients, including hot red pepper and lemongrass, so buying it ready- made is certainly easier than making your own. Look for it in the ethnic foods section of your supermarket or at Asian grocers. You can add 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined, to the curry during the last few minutes of cooking, if you wish.